US 9,285,748 B2Granted

Image forming apparatus

AssigneeRicoh Company, Ltd.

InventorTakashi Oida

Life of this patent

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Abstract

An image forming apparatus includes a toner container; a developing unit; a detection unit detecting toner in the developing unit; a measurement unit measuring as to whether there is a full amount of toner or no toner in the developing unit by using a detection history of the detection unit with regard to the toner; a supplying unit supplying the toner from the toner container to the developing unit; a toner-amount calculation unit calculating, using image data to be printed, an amount of toner consumption needed during printing; an accumulation unit calculating an accumulated amount of toner consumption by accumulating the amount of toner consumption every time printing is conducted; and a fault determination unit determining, using the accumulated amount of toner consumption, whether a measurement result by the measurement unit is normal or not as to whether there is a full amount of toner or no toner.

Claims6

Dependent claims

An image forming apparatus comprising;

a developing unit configured to form an image;
a detection unit configured to detect toner in the developing unit;
a measurement unit configured to make a measurement as to whether there is a full amount of toner or there is no toner in the developing unit by using a detection history of the detection unit with regard to the toner;
a supplying unit configured to supply toner to the developing unit;
a toner-amount calculation unit configured to calculate, using image data to be printed, an amount of toner consumption that is needed during printing;
an accumulation unit configured to calculate an accumulated amount of toner consumption by accumulating the amount of toner consumption every time printing is conducted;
and
a fault determination unit configured to determine, based on the accumulated amount of toner consumption, whether a measurement result obtained by the measurement unit is normal or not as to whether there is a full amount of toner or there is no toner.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 14/615,019Filed 5 Feb 2015 · continuation
Priority: JP 2013-02490512 Feb 2013
Published: US 2015/0147076 A128 May 2015
Granted: 15 Mar 2016
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification2 codes

G03G 15/556
Monitoring or warning means for exhaustion or lifetime end of consumables, e.g. indication of insufficient copy sheet quantity for a job: for…
G03G
Electrography

Family

Application14/162,884Parent of this continuation · filed 24 Jan 2014
US 2015/0147076 A1Pre-grant publication · published 28 May 2015
US 8,983,312 B2Parent of this continuation
US 2014/0226995 A1Published application
US 9,285,748 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.