Image forming apparatus

US9503003B2 · US · B2

Patent metadata
FieldValue
Publication numberUS-9503003-B2
Application numberUS-201414332987-A
CountryUS
Kind codeB2
Filing dateJul 16, 2014
Priority dateJul 23, 2013
Publication dateNov 22, 2016
Grant dateNov 22, 2016

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  1. Title

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  2. Abstract

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  3. Assignees and inventors

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  4. Key dates

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  5. First independent claim

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  6. CPC / IPC classifications

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  7. Citations and related patents

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Abstract

Official abstract text for this publication.

An image forming apparatus drives and rotates at least one of a photosensitive drum and a transport roller with use of a stepping motor in a multi-phase excitation mode. The image forming apparatus includes: a constant-voltage control unit controlling the stepping motor by applying a constant voltage for each phase; a constant-current control unit controlling the stepping motor by regulating an amount of current for each phase by a chopping control; a measuring unit measuring a chopping count of each phase on a per-step basis; a chopping count determination unit determining whether the chopping count of each phase is less than or equal to a predetermined count; and a control switching unit causing the constant-voltage control unit to control the stepping motor when the chopping count determination unit determines affirmatively, and causing the constant-current control unit to control the stepping motor when the chopping count determination unit determines negatively.

First claim

Opening claim text (preview).

What is claimed is: 1. An image forming apparatus for driving and rotating, with use of a stepping motor in a multi-phase excitation mode, at least one of a photosensitive drum on which an electrostatic latent image is to be formed and a transport roller that transports a recording sheet, the image forming apparatus comprising: a constant-voltage control unit configured to control a drive of the stepping motor by applying a constant voltage for each phase according to a clock sign…

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What does patent US9503003B2 cover?
An image forming apparatus drives and rotates at least one of a photosensitive drum and a transport roller with use of a stepping motor in a multi-phase excitation mode. The image forming apparatus includes: a constant-voltage control unit controlling the stepping motor by applying a constant voltage for each phase; a constant-current control unit controlling the stepping motor by regulating an…
Who is the assignee on this patent?
Konica Minolta Inc
What technology area does this patent fall under?
Primary CPC classification H02P8/12. Mapped technology areas include Electricity.
When was this patent published?
Publication date Tue Nov 22 2016 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) (B2). Legal status and post-grant events are not shown on this page.
What related patents are in patentsdb?
We list 8 related publications on this page (citations in our corpus or others sharing the same primary CPC).