The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 26, 2015
Filed:
May. 13, 2014
Taichi Urayama, Kanagawa, JP;
Ryuji Yoshida, Kanagawa, JP;
Tomoko Takahashi, Kanagawa, JP;
Shotaro Hoshi, Kanagawa, JP;
Hiroyuki Sugiyama, Kanagawa, JP;
Ryusuke Mase, Kanagawa, JP;
Masahiko Shakuto, Kanagawa, JP;
Takamasa Ozeki, Kanagawa, JP;
Hideki Zemba, Kanagawa, JP;
Yoshinori Nakagawa, Kanagawa, JP;
Taichi Urayama, Kanagawa, JP;
Ryuji Yoshida, Kanagawa, JP;
Tomoko Takahashi, Kanagawa, JP;
Shotaro Hoshi, Kanagawa, JP;
Hiroyuki Sugiyama, Kanagawa, JP;
Ryusuke Mase, Kanagawa, JP;
Masahiko Shakuto, Kanagawa, JP;
Takamasa Ozeki, Kanagawa, JP;
Hideki Zemba, Kanagawa, JP;
Yoshinori Nakagawa, Kanagawa, JP;
Ricoh Company, Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An image forming apparatus includes a latent image carrier to carry a latent image on a surface thereof, a developing device to develop the latent image with toner to form a toner image on the surface of the latent image carrier, a transfer unit to transfer the toner image onto a recording medium, and a controller. The controller executes an image density adjustment control of adjusting a developing bias to obtain a target image density. The controller further executes a forced toner consumption control of forcibly consuming the toner contained in the developing device by attaching the toner to the latent image carrier to form a toner pattern on the surface of the latent image carrier. The controller executes the forced toner consumption control to forcibly consume a smaller amount of toner in response to a higher developing bias as adjusted by the image density adjustment control.