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. 30, 2017
Filed:
Feb. 22, 2016
Konica Minolta, Inc., Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, JP;
Tomohiro Kato, Okazaki, JP;
Kazuki Kobori, Toyokawa, JP;
Hirohisa Shirai, Toyokawa, JP;
Hisashi Murata, Toyohashi, JP;
Masato Kimura, Toyoake, JP;
KONICA MINOLTA, INC., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An image forming apparatus has: an image supporting member, a charger, a power source unit, an amperometric detector, and a processor. The power source unit applies a plurality of charging voltages, which includes alternating voltages respectively, to the charger sequentially while no print medium is fed. The alternating voltages have different peak-to-peak voltages for a forward discharge range and different peak-to-peak voltages for a reverse discharge range, respectively. The amperometric detector detects values of alternating current flowing in the charger during application of the charging voltages. The processor derives characteristic lines of alternating current value with respect to alternating voltage for the forward discharge range and for the reverse discharge range, respectively, from the values detected by the amperometric detector. The processor derives a peak-to-peak voltage to be used in a process in a different way depending on a difference in slope between the characteristic lines.