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:
Dec. 20, 2016
Filed:
Dec. 03, 2015
Applicants:
Hiroshi Hosokawa, Kanagawa, JP;
Tetsuro Hirota, Kanagawa, JP;
Kenji Kikuchi, Kanagawa, JP;
Inventors:
Assignee:
Ricoh Company, Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G03G 15/08 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
G03G 15/0831 (2013.01); G03G 15/0858 (2013.01); G03G 15/086 (2013.01);
Abstract
A powder detector to detect an amount of powder in the powder container includes a wall without a through hole, a vibration plate attached to an inner face of the wall, a contact member to vibrate the vibration plate, and a vibration detector to detect a vibration state of the vibration plate. The vibration detector is attached to an outer face of the wall to face the vibration plate via the wall. The powder has flowability, and the vibration state of the vibration plate is affected by the powder in the powder container.