Patents Examined by Milton Gonzales
  • Patent number: 8755707
    Abstract: An image forming device has a heating member, a thermal detecting unit, and a control unit. The heating member is positioned at an ambient temperature and heated by a heat source. The heating member fixes a developed image to a recording sheet. The thermal detecting unit is provided separately from the heating member. The thermal detecting unit detects a first temperature. The control unit uses a function to calculate a second temperature of the heating member on the basis of the detected first temperature. The control unit controls the heat source on the basis of the second temperature. The function has a rate of change that increases with decreasing the ambient temperature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 2009
    Date of Patent: June 17, 2014
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Masaki Yasuda, Fumitake Tajiri
  • Patent number: 8417142
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a latent image carrier, a latent image forming unit to form an electrostatic latent image on the latent image carrier, at least one developing device disposed to contact the latent image carrier to develop the latent image with developer stored therein, a cooling mechanism including at least one cooling device disposed close to the developing device to cool the developing device, a developer amount detector electrically connected to the developing device to detect an amount of the developer remaining in the developing device, and a cooling mechanism controller connected to the cooling mechanism to change a cooling power of the cooling mechanism according to a detection result generated by the developer amount detector. The developing device includes a rotary member whose shaft is rotationally supported by at least one bearing and is not to be supplied with new developer while any developer remains therein.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2013
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Limited
    Inventors: Yuusuke Furuichi, Nobuhiko Kita, Sei Onuma, Ryoh Idehara, Kazuyoshi Kondo, Genta Hagiwara, Kaoru Tada