Patents by Inventor Toshio Kitazawa

Toshio Kitazawa has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 8588626
    Abstract: An apparatus that uses plural kinds of consumable items different from each other, the apparatus including a consumption status detecting device to detect a respective consumption status for each of the plural kinds of the consumable items, a memory to store a plurality of settings for each of the plural kinds of the consumable items, each of the settings including presence or non-presence of information output, and an output device to output the consumption status detected by the consumption status detecting unit, according to the setting of the presence or the non-presence of information output stored in the memory.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2013
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Yoshiya Inoue, Yasuyuki Igarashi, Takeshi Fujita, Yuka Saito, Toshio Kitazawa
  • Publication number: 20130136463
    Abstract: An apparatus in which a plurality of consumable items are loadable to the apparatus. The apparatus includes a consumption status detecting unit to detect a respective consumption status of each of the consumable items, a consumption information output setting unit to set whether an exchange message for each of the consumable items is to be output, and a consumable item information output unit to output the exchange message, which is indicative of an exchange time of the respective consumable item, based on the respective consumption statuses detected by the consumption status detecting unit and the setting of the consumption information output setting unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 28, 2013
    Publication date: May 30, 2013
    Inventors: Yoshiya INOUE, Yasuyuki Igarashi, Takeshi Fujita, Yuka Saito, Toshio Kitazawa
  • Patent number: 8391731
    Abstract: An apparatus in which a plurality of consumable items are loadable to the apparatus. The apparatus includes a consumption status detecting unit to detect a respective consumption status of each of the consumable items, a consumption information output setting unit to set whether an exchange message for each of the consumable items is to be output, and a consumable item information output unit to output the exchange message, which is indicative of an exchange time of the respective consumable item, based on the respective consumption statuses detected by the consumption status detecting unit and the setting of the consumption information output setting unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 17, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2013
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Yoshiya Inoue, Yasuyuki Igarashi, Takeshi Fujita, Yuka Saito, Toshio Kitazawa
  • Publication number: 20120308245
    Abstract: An apparatus in which a plurality of consumable items are loadable to the apparatus. The apparatus includes a consumption status detecting unit to detect a respective consumption status of each of the consumable items, a consumption information output setting unit to set whether an exchange message for each of the consumable items is to be output, and a consumable item information output unit to output the exchange message, which is indicative of an exchange time of the respective consumable item, based on the respective consumption statuses detected by the consumption status detecting unit and the setting of the consumption information output setting unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 17, 2012
    Publication date: December 6, 2012
    Inventors: Yoshiya Inoue, Yasuyuki Igarashi, Takeshi Fujita, Yuka Saito, Toshio Kitazawa
  • Patent number: 8300248
    Abstract: A printing control system includes a host interface, a user interface, a printing unit, and a controller. The host interface communicates with a host device that submits a print job. The user interface communicates with a user. The printing unit executes the print job. The controller suspends operation at the printing unit in response to a suspend request received at one of the host interface and user interface. The controller measures an elapsed time since the suspension, and transmits one of first and second commands upon determining that the elapsed time exceeds a given reference time. The first command causes the printing unit to automatically resume the suspended operation. The second command causes the host interface to send a notification of the suspension.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2008
    Date of Patent: October 30, 2012
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Limited
    Inventors: Hiroya Uruta, Toshio Kitazawa, Tsuyoshi Sakuma, Yuka Saito
  • Patent number: 8270854
    Abstract: An apparatus in which a plurality of consumable items are loadable to the apparatus. The apparatus includes a consumption status detecting unit to detect a respective consumption status of each of the consumable items, a consumption information output setting unit to set whether an exchange message for each of the consumable items is to be output, and a consumable item information output unit to output the exchange message, which is indicative of an exchange time of the respective consumable item, based on the respective consumption statuses detected by the consumption status detecting unit and the setting of the consumption information output setting unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 11, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 18, 2012
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Yoshiya Inoue, Yasuyuki Igarashi, Takeshi Fujita, Yuka Saito, Toshio Kitazawa
  • Patent number: 8248639
    Abstract: An apparatus, method, system, computer program and product each capable of storing supply information of a printer supply of an image forming device, and generating a supply information list including the supply information to be printed on a recording sheet according to print settings information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 23, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 21, 2012
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Limited
    Inventors: Takeshi Fujita, Yoshiya Inoue, Toshio Kitazawa, Yasuyuki Igarashi, Yuka Saito
  • Patent number: 8150274
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus is provided with a process cartridge that is removable from the image forming apparatus. When the process cartridge is installed, the image forming apparatus automatically searches a print job that matches the process cartridge that is currently installed onto the image forming apparatus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 2008
    Date of Patent: April 3, 2012
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Satoshi Miyazaki, Tomoyuki Takahira, Toshio Kitazawa, Kazuma Saitoh, Hideaki Matsui
  • Publication number: 20120027429
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus which uses a consumable item is disclosed. The image forming apparatus includes a consumed status detecting unit which detects a value of the consumed status of the consumable item, a determining unit which determines whether to output an exchange message of the consumable item by comparing the value of the consumed status of the consumable item detected by the consumed status detecting unit with a predetermined value, an exchange message output setting unit which sets presence or non-presence of an output of the exchange message, and a consumed status output setting unit which sets presence or non-presence of an output of the consumed status of the consumable item detected by the consumed status detecting unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 11, 2011
    Publication date: February 2, 2012
    Inventors: Yoshiya INOUE, Yasuyuki Igarashi, Takeshi Fujita, Yuka Saito, Toshio Kitazawa
  • Patent number: 8064784
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus in which a first consumable item and a second consumable item are loadable to the image forming apparatus, includes a consumption status detector that detects an end status and a near-end status for each of the first and second consumable items, wherein the end status is a consumption status in which the consumable item must be exchanged immediately and the near-end status is a consumption status in which the consumable item must be exchanged in the near future; a consumption information output setting unit that sets settings indicating whether to output information for each of the end status and the near-end status of the first and second consumable items detected by the consumption status detector; and a consumption information output unit configured to output the information for each of the end status and the near-end status of the first and second consumable items based on the settings set by the consumption information output setting unit and a detection result of the consumpti
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 2010
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2011
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Yoshiya Inoue, Yasuyuki Igarashi, Takeshi Fujita, Yuka Saito, Toshio Kitazawa
  • Patent number: 8032037
    Abstract: A cartridge used for image formation is detachably accommodated in a main body of an image forming apparatus. A cartridge determining unit determines a cartridge type, which is a type of the cartridge, and a print-job determining unit determines a print job type, which is a type of a print job received from an external device. If the print job type and the cartridge type do not match, an inhibiting unit inhibits an image formation process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 8, 2008
    Date of Patent: October 4, 2011
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Limited
    Inventors: Toshio Kitazawa, Tomoyuki Takahira, Satoshi Miyazaki, Hideaki Matsui, Kazuma Saitoh
  • Publication number: 20110091223
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus which uses a consumable item is disclosed. The image forming apparatus includes a consumed status detecting unit which detects a value of the consumed status of the consumable item, a determining unit which determines whether to output an exchange message of the consumable item by comparing the value of the consumed status of the consumable item detected by the consumed status detecting unit with a predetermined value, an exchange message output setting unit which sets presence or non-presence of an output of the exchange message, and a consumed status output setting unit which sets presence or non-presence of an output of the consumed status of the consumable item detected by the consumed status detecting unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 28, 2010
    Publication date: April 21, 2011
    Inventors: Yoshiya Inoue, Yasuyuki Igarashi, Takeshi Fujita, Yuka Saito, Toshio Kitazawa
  • Patent number: 7890001
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus including a plurality of consumable items. The apparatus includes a consumption status detecting unit that detects a respective consumption status of each of the consumable items; a consumption information output setting unit that sets presence or non-presence of information output for each of the consumption statuses detected by the consumption status detecting unit; and a consumable item information output unit that outputs information on the consumable items based on the respective consumption statuses detected by the consumption status detecting unit and the setting of the presence or the non-presence of information output set by the consumption information output setting unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 6, 2010
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2011
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Yoshiya Inoue, Yasuyuki Igarashi, Takeshi Fujita, Yuka Saito, Toshio Kitazawa
  • Patent number: 7831156
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a sensor, a notification unit, and a controller. The sensor detects a supply-end condition of consumable supplies. The notification unit notifies a message based on the supply-end condition detected by the sensor, and provides an operation key used for setting a condition for the image forming apparatus. The notification unit includes a print-stop setting and a print-continue setting, settable for a consumable supply and used when a printing operation is suspended due to an occurrence of the supply-end condition. The controller suspends the printing operation based on the print-stop setting and continues the suspended printing operation based on the print-continue setting.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 2006
    Date of Patent: November 9, 2010
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Yasuyuki Igarashi, Yoshiya Inoue, Toshio Kitazawa, Takeshi Fujita, Yuka Saitoh
  • Publication number: 20100104295
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus which uses a consumable item is disclosed. The image forming apparatus includes a consumed status detecting unit which detects a value of the consumed status of the consumable item, a determining unit which determines whether to output an exchange message of the consumable item by comparing the value of the consumed status of the consumable item detected by the consumed status detecting unit with a predetermined value, an exchange message output setting unit which sets presence or non-presence of an output of the exchange message, and a consumed status output setting unit which sets presence or non-presence of an output of the consumed status of the consumable item detected by the consumed status detecting unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 6, 2010
    Publication date: April 29, 2010
    Inventors: Yoshiya INOUE, Yasuyuki Igarashi, Takeshi Fujita, Yuka Saito, Toshio Kitazawa
  • Patent number: 7672601
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus which uses a consumable item is disclosed. The image forming apparatus includes a consumed status detecting unit which detects a value of the consumed status of the consumable item, a determining unit which determines whether to output an exchange message of the consumable item by comparing the value of the consumed status of the consumable item detected by the consumed status detecting unit with a predetermined value, an exchange message output setting unit which sets presence or non-presence of an output of the exchange message, and a consumed status output setting unit which sets presence or non-presence of an output of the consumed status of the consumable item detected by the consumed status detecting unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 3, 2007
    Date of Patent: March 2, 2010
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Yoshiya Inoue, Yasuyuki Igarashi, Takeshi Fujita, Yuka Saito, Toshio Kitazawa
  • Publication number: 20090116854
    Abstract: A cartridge used for image formation is detachably accommodated in a main body of an image forming apparatus. A cartridge determining unit determines a cartridge type, which is a type of the cartridge, and a print-job determining unit determines a print job type, which is a type of a print job received from an external device. If the print job type and the cartridge type do not match, an inhibiting unit inhibits an image formation process.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 8, 2008
    Publication date: May 7, 2009
    Inventors: Toshio Kitazawa, Tomoyuki Takahira, Satoshi Miyazaki, Hideaki Matsui, Kazuma Saitoh
  • Publication number: 20090103933
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus is provided with a process cartridge that is removable from the image forming apparatus. When the process cartridge is installed, the image forming apparatus automatically searches a print job that matches the process cartridge that is currently installed onto the image forming apparatus.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 17, 2008
    Publication date: April 23, 2009
    Inventors: Satoshi Miyazaki, Tomoyuki Takahira, Toshio Kitazawa, Kazuma Saitoh, Hideaki Matsui
  • Publication number: 20080180743
    Abstract: A printing control system includes a host interface, a user interface, a printing unit, and a controller. The host interface communicates with a host device that submits a print job. The user interface communicates with a user. The printing unit executes the print job. The controller suspends operation at the printing unit in response to a suspend request received at one of the host interface and user interface. The controller measures an elapsed time since the suspension, and transmits one of first and second commands upon determining that the elapsed time exceeds a given reference time. The first command causes the printing unit to automatically resume the suspended operation. The second command causes the host interface to send a notification of the suspension.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 30, 2008
    Publication date: July 31, 2008
    Inventors: Hiroya URUTA, Toshio Kitazawa, Tsuyoshi Sakuma, Yuka Saito
  • Patent number: 7362464
    Abstract: A printing apparatus includes an image data input means for receiving input data, image data processing means for processing the image data and drawing the image data in an image memory unit, printing means for forming an image on a transfer sheet using the image data drawn in the image memory unit, and display means for displaying, either dynamically or successively, which process the image data is undergoing at any given moment, beginning with image data reception and ending with image data printing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 12, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 22, 2008
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventor: Toshio Kitazawa