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:
Jun. 30, 2015
Filed:
Jul. 10, 2013
Yoshiyuki Shimizu, Osaka, JP;
Tomohiro Kubota, Osaka, JP;
Shoh Tsuritani, Osaka, JP;
Manabu Hamada, Osaka, JP;
Masato Tsuji, Osaka, JP;
Masanari Fujita, Osaka, JP;
Naoki Nakatake, Hyogo, JP;
Yoshiyuki Shimizu, Osaka, JP;
Tomohiro Kubota, Osaka, JP;
Shoh Tsuritani, Osaka, JP;
Manabu Hamada, Osaka, JP;
Masato Tsuji, Osaka, JP;
Masanari Fujita, Osaka, JP;
Naoki Nakatake, Hyogo, JP;
Ricoh Company, Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An image forming apparatus includes a powder container containing powder used for image forming and including an inlet through which the powder is supplied, a powder supply unit including an outlet that is removably connected to the inlet and supplying the powder to the powder container with the outlet connected to the inlet of the powder container, a powder amount detector detecting whether a present powder level in the powder container is equal to or greater than a threshold, and a controller controlling an amount of powder supply from the powder supply unit and controlling the present powder level in the powder container after replenishment to remain in a range from the threshold and a position corresponding to an upper edge of the inlet. A powder transport unit includes a transport decelerating part to decelerate the speed of powder transport and a detection area in the image forming apparatus.