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:
Nov. 14, 2017
Filed:
Sep. 29, 2016
Naohiro Kawashima, Kanagawa, JP;
Koichi Yamazaki, Kanagawa, JP;
Nobuo Takami, Kanagawa, JP;
Atsushi Nakamoto, Kanagawa, JP;
Shinnosuke Koshizuka, Kanagawa, JP;
Tatsuya Kubo, Kanagawa, JP;
Kazunori Suzuki, Kanagawa, JP;
Hiroshi Hosokawa, Kanagawa, JP;
Tetsuro Hirota, Kanagawa, JP;
Kenji Kikuchi, Kanagawa, JP;
Naohiro Kawashima, Kanagawa, JP;
Koichi Yamazaki, Kanagawa, JP;
Nobuo Takami, Kanagawa, JP;
Atsushi Nakamoto, Kanagawa, JP;
Shinnosuke Koshizuka, Kanagawa, JP;
Tatsuya Kubo, Kanagawa, JP;
Kazunori Suzuki, Kanagawa, JP;
Hiroshi Hosokawa, Kanagawa, JP;
Tetsuro Hirota, Kanagawa, JP;
Kenji Kikuchi, Kanagawa, JP;
Ricoh Company, Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A powder amount detector includes a vibration plate secured to a powder container to contain powder and positioned at a predetermined position in a stationary state, a shaft to rotate inside the powder container, a contact member attached to the shaft, a vibration detector to detect vibration of the vibration plate, and a detection result processor to determine an amount of the powder in the powder container according to a detection result generated by the vibration detector. The contact member is to flip the vibration plate to cause the vibration plate to repeat elastic deformation and reversion to vibrate. The contact member is to exit an area opposed to the vibration plate after the contact member flips the vibration plate by the time the vibration plate returns to the predetermined position.