Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080228463 | Word boundary probability estimating, probabilistic language model building, kana-kanji converting, and unknown word model building - Calculates a word n-gram probability with high accuracy in a situation where a first corpus), which is a relatively small corpus containing manually segmented word information, and a second corpus, which is a relatively large corpus, are given as a training corpus that is storage containing vast quantities of sample sentences. Vocabulary including contextual information is expanded from words occurring in first corpus of relatively small size to words occurring in second corpus of relatively large size by using a word n-gram probability estimated from an unknown word model and the raw corpus. The first corpus (word-segmented) is used for calculating n-grams and the probability that the word boundary between two adjacent characters will be the boundary of two words (segmentation probability). The second corpus (word-unsegmented), in which probabilistic word boundaries are assigned based on information in the first corpus (word-segmented), is used for calculating a word n-grams. | 09-18-2008 |
20080319987 | SYSTEM, METHOD AND PROGRAM FOR CREATING INDEX FOR DATABASE - An entire document set is decomposed into a sum of subsets each having no common part. Next, a set of keywords appearing in each of the subsets divided in the aforementioned manner is categorized into groups on the basis of a remainder resulting from dividing a hash value of each of the keywords by a certain fixed integer value. Thereby, index files for the respective groups are created. Among the index files prepared for the respective subsets of the document in the aforementioned manner, ones each having the same group number are merged. Thereby, integrated index files corresponding to the respective individual group numbers are created. Such index files, however, exist as many as the number of group numbers, and have not yet become an index corresponding to the entire document set. In this respect, the index files existing as many as the number of group numbers are next merged into one, and thereby, an index file corresponding to the entire document set is created. | 12-25-2008 |
20090222407 | INFORMATION SEARCH SYSTEM, METHOD AND PROGRAM - A system, method and computer program product for searching at high speed for documents matching a dependency pattern from document data containing a large volume of text documents. The system includes a storage device for storing, index storage means for storing in the storage device occurrence information, receiving means for receiving information, reading means for reading from the index storage means, and searching means for comparing occurrence information. The method and computer program product include the steps of storing in the storage device, receiving information, reading from the storage device, comparing occurrence information, and searching. The computer program product includes instructions to execute the steps of storing each of the plurality of document data in the storage device, storing in the storage device occurrence information. | 09-03-2009 |
20090248628 | Methods and Apparatus for Optimizing Keyword Data Analysis - Techniques for analyzing keyword data for quality management purposes are provided. One or more keywords are selected. Each of the one or more keywords represent a category of quality management. A keyword time series is prepared for each of the one or more selected keywords. A set of fixed form time series is prepared for each of the one or more selected keywords. The set of fixed form time series comprises one or more fixed form time series representing statistical data related to the one or more selected keywords. One or more correction sets comprising one or more correction parameters are obtained. Each of the one or more correction parameters correspond to one of the one or more fixed form time series within each set of fixed form time series. A set of corrected time series is generated for each of the one or more correction sets. The set of corrected time series comprises a combination of the keyword time series and the set of fixed form time series for each of the one or more selected keywords, the combination being in accordance with the one or more correction sets. A similarity score is calculated for each set of corrected time series. The set of corrected time series with the highest similarity score is selected. The selected set of corrected time series comprises optimized keyword data for quality management purposes. | 10-01-2009 |
20100174528 | CREATING A TERMS DICTIONARY WITH NAMED ENTITIES OR TERMINOLOGIES INCLUDED IN TEXT DATA - A computer system of an embodiment of the disclosure can be used to automatically create or populate a terms dictionary using a set of computing units. A morphological analysis unit can acquire token sequence data by performing morphological analysis for the text data. A category distinguishing unit can distinguish tokens of the token sequence data by using a category dictionary to extract uncategorized words. An uncategorized-word comparing unit can compare each of the extracted uncategorized words with an uncategorized-word comparison rule to extract an uncategorized word matching the uncategorized-word comparison rule as a registration candidate word. A token-sequence comparing unit can compare a token sequence of the token sequence data with a token-sequence comparison rule to extract a token sequence matching the token-sequence comparison rule as registration candidate words. A permission unit can permit a user to select whether to register the registration candidate words in the category dictionary. | 07-08-2010 |
Patent application number | Description | Published |
20140046654 | TEXT PROCESSING METHOD, SYSTEM AND COMPUTER PROGRAM - A method includes hierarchically identifying occurrences of some of the words in the set of sentences; creating a first index for each of some of the words based on the upper hierarchy of occurrences identified for each word; receiving input of a queried word; hierarchically identifying occurrences of the queried word in the set of sentences; creating a second index based on the upper hierarchy of occurrences identified for the queried word; comparing the first index and the second index to calculate an estimated value for the number of occurrences of a word in the neighborhood of the queried word; and calculating the actual value of the number of occurrences of a word in the neighborhood of the queried word based on an upper hierarchy and lower hierarchy of the occurrences on condition that the estimated value is equal to or greater than a predetermined number. | 02-13-2014 |
20140046953 | TEXT PROCESSING METHOD, SYSTEM AND COMPUTER PROGRAM - A method includes hierarchically identifying occurrences of some of the words in the set of sentences; creating a first index for each of some of the words based on the upper hierarchy of occurrences identified for each word; receiving input of a queried word; hierarchically identifying occurrences of the queried word in the set of sentences; creating a second index based on the upper hierarchy of occurrences identified for the queried word; comparing the first index and the second index to calculate an estimated value for the number of occurrences of a word in the neighborhood of the queried word; and calculating the actual value of the number of occurrences of a word in the neighborhood of the queried word based on an upper hierarchy and lower hierarchy of the occurrences on condition that the estimated value is equal to or greater than a predetermined number. | 02-13-2014 |
20150026553 | ANALYZING A DOCUMENT THAT INCLUDES A TEXT-BASED VISUAL REPRESENTATION - A hardware device analyzes a document that includes a text-based visual representation. A correspondence information hardware storage device holds known representations of graphical images as text-based visual representations. The graphical images depict portraits of physical objects. The text-based visual representations are associated with information that each describe one of the physical objects. An identification hardware device identifies a text-based visual representation within a document. The identification hardware device matches the text-based visual representation within the document to one or more of the text-based visual representations stored in the correspondence information hardware storage device. An editing hardware device retrieves information from the correspondence information hardware storage device that is identified, by the identification hardware device, as describing a text-based visual representation component within the document. The editing hardware device displays the text-based visual representation component within the document and information that describes the text-based visual representation on a display. | 01-22-2015 |
20150039535 | GRASPING A BIAS OF INFORMATION FROM AN INTERNET MEDIUM FOR SUPPORTING A SURVEY - In one embodiment of the present invention, an apparatus may be used for supporting a survey based on information in an Internet medium. The apparatus comprises: a first acquisition hardware unit, wherein the first acquisition hardware unit acquires first evaluation information representing a degree of evaluation acquired by a survey of a real society pertaining to a prescribed target; a second acquisition hardware unit, wherein the second acquisition hardware unit acquires second evaluation information representing a degree of evaluation in the Internet medium pertaining to the prescribed target; and an estimator hardware unit, wherein the estimator hardware unit estimates a bias in information in the Internet medium based on a deviation of the second evaluation information from the first evaluation information. | 02-05-2015 |
20150227620 | CATEGORIZING KEYWORDS - A keyword to be categorized is received. A category dictionary including categories having associated registered keywords, and a text corpus are received. Registered keywords are identified in the category dictionary having a degree of similarity to the keyword to be categorized that is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, and the categories associated with the identified registered keywords are extracted. Registered keywords are identified that are co-occurring in the text corpus with the keyword to be categorized, and the categories associated with the identified co-occurring registered keywords are extracted. A degree of importance is determined for each extracted category based on a function of the identified registered keywords in the category dictionary and/or a function of the identified co-occurring registered keywords. The extracted categories are outputted, with at least an indication of each category's relative importance, as category candidates for categorizing the keyword to be categorized. | 08-13-2015 |
20150242537 | PATTERN MATCHING BASED CHARACTER STRING RETRIEVAL - Embodiments relate to generating a retrieval condition for retrieving a target character string from texts by pattern matching. An aspect includes dividing a first text into words. Another aspect includes generating a converted character string by performing at least one of appending at least one character in at least either one of previous and subsequent positions of the target character string. Another aspect includes replacing at least one character of the target character string. Another aspect includes generating the retrieval condition for retrieval candidates in the words of the first text, the retrieval condition comprising determining that a retrieval candidate matches the target character string and does not match the converted character string based on a ratio of a part of the retrieval candidate which matches the converted character string and corresponds to the target character string is less than or equal to a reference frequency. | 08-27-2015 |
20150278312 | CALCULATING CORRELATIONS BETWEEN ANNOTATIONS - An apparatus for calculating a correlation between annotations includes a first obtaining unit configured to provide an annotator with a first data group capable of being evaluated to determine whether or not to attach annotations thereto, and obtaining a plurality of first confidence levels indicating certainty of the annotations in the first data group, the annotator outputting confidence levels indicating certainty of annotations to be attached to data when the data is given; a second obtaining unit configured to provide the annotator with a second data group used to calculate a correlation between the plurality of annotations, and thereby obtaining a plurality of second confidence levels indicating the certainty of the annotations in the second data group; and a computing unit configured to compute an estimated value of the correlation between the plurality of annotations based on the plurality of first and second confidence levels. | 10-01-2015 |
20150293907 | CALCULATING CORRELATIONS BETWEEN ANNOTATIONS - An apparatus for calculating a correlation between annotations includes a first obtaining unit configured to provide an annotator with a first data group capable of being evaluated to determine whether or not to attach annotations thereto, and obtaining a plurality of first confidence levels indicating certainty of the annotations in the first data group, the annotator outputting confidence levels indicating certainty of annotations to be attached to data when the data is given; a second obtaining unit configured to provide the annotator with a second data group used to calculate a correlation between the plurality of annotations, and thereby obtaining a plurality of second confidence levels indicating the certainty of the annotations in the second data group; and a computing unit configured to compute an estimated value of the correlation between the plurality of annotations based on the plurality of first and second confidence levels. | 10-15-2015 |
Patent application number | Description | Published |
20130289978 | METHOD FOR CLASSIFYING PIECES OF TEXT ON BASIS OF EVALUATION POLARITY, COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT, AND COMPUTER - A computer-implemented method, program product, and system, for extracting pieces of text from a plurality of pieces of text. The method includes: primarily evaluating a measure of positive expressions and a measure of negative expressions included in each of pieces of text; secondarily evaluating each of the pieces of text on the basis of a plurality of evaluation functions, where certain evaluation functions among the plurality of evaluation functions include, as variables, the measure of positive expressions and the measure of negative expressions; and extracting a piece of text having an evaluation result with a higher rating in preference to a piece of text having an evaluation result with a lower rating, where the individual evaluation results are based on the same evaluation function among the plurality of evaluation functions. | 10-31-2013 |
20150100306 | DETECTING DANGEROUS EXPRESSIONS BASED ON A THEME - Embodiments relate to a dangerous expression based on a particular theme. An aspect includes acquiring, by an electronic apparatus, from text data for learning, a subset of the text data associated with the particular theme and with particular time period information. Another aspect includes extracting text data containing negative information from the acquired subset of the text data. Another aspect includes extracting a word or phrase having a high correlation with the extracted text data or a word or phrase having a high appearance frequency in the extracted text data from the extracted text data. Yet another aspect includes determining that the extracted word or phrase is the dangerous expression based on the particular theme. | 04-09-2015 |
Patent application number | Description | Published |
20130141373 | STORAGE MEDIUM STORING INFORMATION PROCESSING PROGRAM TO BE EXECUTED BY COMPUTER OF INFORMATION PROCESSOR - An information processing program stored in a storage medium allows the computer ( | 06-06-2013 |
20130150165 | INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEM, INFORMATION PROCESSOR, INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD AND RECORDING MEDIUM - An example system includes a display part that displays an image; a first touch panel that is provided in the display part and detects a touch position; a second touch panel that detects a touch position; a change calculating part that calculates a change in the touch position on the second touch panel; and an information processing part that executes information processing in accordance with the touch position detected by the first touch panel and the change calculated by the change calculating part. | 06-13-2013 |
20130169565 | COMPUTER-READABLE NON-TRANSITORY STORAGE MEDIUM, INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEM, AND INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD - An exemplary system includes: an information processing unit; a storage unit which stores information processed by the information processing unit; a touch panel which is a touch input unit which accepts a touch input; and an acceleration sensor equivalent to a force detection unit which detects a force applied to an apparatus or the touch panel at a time of the touch input, and the information processing unit evaluates an input area of the touch input and performs predetermined information processing in accordance with the input area and an acceleration value which is a detection value of the force. | 07-04-2013 |
20150081788 | SERVER APPARATUS, NON-TRANSITORY COMPUTER-READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM HAVING INFORMATION PROCESSING PROGRAM STORED THEREIN, INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEM, AND INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD - In an example system, information about a browse action which is a predetermined operation performed, for a content posted by a user, by another user browsing the content, is stored. Next, the display manner for the content is determined based on the browse action information about the content. At this time, the display manner is determined so that the display manner becomes different from a display manner for a content in a normal state. Then, browse source data for displaying the content in the determined display manner is generated. | 03-19-2015 |
Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090014367 | Floating materials removal system - New floating materials removal system, which can catch floating materials such as big jellyfishes, wood chips, waste plastics and other things floating instantly, release the floating materials caught efficiently and discharge them to discharge line smoothly, is proposed. The system in this invention is characterized to have the following equipments, the main rotating removal screen which catches the floating materials such as big jellyfishes, wood chips, waste plastics and other things floating in water by endless rotation and has kind of nets to send the floating materials caught to the position higher than water surface, the receiving tray which receives the floating materials caught by the main rotating removal screen and sends them to discharge line, the secondary lifting devise which cooperates with above mentioned main rotating removal screen to lift and transfer the floating materials caught to the receiving tray, the water jet system which drops the floating materials caught, that are lifted higher than the receiving tray because hooked on the rotating removal screen and not released from it, to the receiving tray, and the cutting water jet system of floating materials caught which is attached to the receiving tray. | 01-15-2009 |
20100016785 | Suction catheter and suction-catheter system - Provided is a suction catheter including: a catheter main body made of a flexible lengthy body having a lumen inside; a leading-end case portion positioned at a leading-end portion of the catheter main body and including an opening for retrieving an object; and object cutting means partially exposed through the opening and movable in the axial direction within the leading-end case portion. The object cutting means includes a cutting portion exposed through the opening portion, and a power receiving portion driving the cutting portion when receiving power from outside. A leading-end side of the suction catheter is inserted into a blood vessel while a base-end portion of the suction catheter is connected to a suction apparatus. An object sticking to the internal wall of the blood vessel is cut off by operating the object cutting means in the opening of the leading-end case portion while the lumen is vacuumed. The cut-off object is immediately sucked in and retrieved. | 01-21-2010 |
20110184450 | ANEURYSM EMBOLIZATION DEVICE - An aneurysm embolization device includes at least: a sac-shaped balloon dome part which is inserted into an aneurysm in a blood vessel, then expanded and left therein; and a balloon plane part which is provided at an opening of the balloon dome part and covers an aneurysm mouth part. The balloon plane part includes: a first hole and a second hole communicating with the inside and the outside of the balloon dome part, respectively. The balloon dome part includes a gap forming member which forms a non-contact region where, when the balloon dome part is expanded in the aneurysm, an outer surface of the balloon dome part does not come into contact with an inner surface of the aneurysm. When the aneurysm embolization device is placed and deployed in an aneurysm having a blood vessel branching therefrom, a gap is formed between the outer surface of the balloon dome part and the inner surface of the aneurysm. Thus, a treatment for the aneurysm can be carried out without occluding an entrance of the branched blood vessel. | 07-28-2011 |
Patent application number | Description | Published |
20150206071 | INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD AND INFORMATION PROCESSING PROGRAM - An information processing apparatus acquires the number of users reserving reservation frames. When the number of users in a first reservation frame is smaller than the minimum number of users, the apparatus searches for a second reservation frame in which a total amount of this number of users and the number of at least part of the users reserving the first reservation frame is equal to or larger than the minimum number of users, from among reservation frames in which the number of users is smaller than the maximum number of users. The apparatus outputs information of giving a user reserving a reservation frame, which is the first or second reservation frame, and in which the number of users is smaller than the minimum number of users, a proposal to change the reservation to the other of the first reservation frame and the second reservation frame. | 07-23-2015 |
20150213377 | INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD, AND INFORMATION PROCESSING PROGRAM - Places that are reservable for a time period desired by a user are flexibly searched for. An information processing apparatus identifies a desired time period for a user to use a place. The information processing apparatus searches for places reservable throughout the identified desired time period. The information processing apparatus also searches for combinations of two or more places that would be reservable continuously throughout the desired time period if the place to be reserved were changed during the identified desired time period. Then the information processing apparatus causes the result of the search for places reservable throughout the desired time period and the result of the search for combinations of two or more places reservable continuously throughout the desired time period to be presented in a mutually distinguishable form. | 07-30-2015 |
20150220606 | INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD, AND INFORMATION PROCESSING PROGRAM - A reservation for two or more continuous time frames can be easily made. An information processing apparatus searches for two or more time continuous frames that can be reserved according to a user's request. In addition, the information processing apparatus searches for two or more continuous time frames including at least one reserved time frame in response to a request from the user and having a possibility of being able to be reserved as another user who has reserved the reserved time frames accepts movement of the reserved time frames. Then, a result of a search for two or more continuous time frames that can be reserved and a result of a search for two or more continuous time frames that include a reserved time frame and have a possibility of being able to be reserved are presented in modes distinguishable from each other. | 08-06-2015 |
20150220855 | INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD AND INFORMATION PROCESSING PROGRAM - An information processing apparatus judges, based on a reservation history, a user who is shy to make a reservation of a reservation frame which has not been reserved by any person. The information processing apparatus acquires a browsing history of the reservation frame which has not been reserved by any person and is specified based on a request for the reservation frame information from the first user who is shy to make the reservation of the reservation frame which has not been reserved by any person. The information processing apparatus extracts, based on the browsing history, a second user who has browsed the reservation frame information. The information processing apparatus causes a profile of the second user to be presented to the first user in association with the reservation frame whose reservation frame information has been browsed. | 08-06-2015 |
Patent application number | Description | Published |
20150075478 | PISTON STRUCTURE FOR ENGINE - A piston structure for an engine is provided. The piston structure includes a piston for reciprocating within a cylinder, a connecting rod having a smaller-end part and a larger-end part in both ends, respectively, the smaller-end part coupled to the piston, the larger-end part coupled to a crankshaft, a cross-sectionally hollow piston pin coupling the piston to the smaller-end part, and a dynamic absorber provided inside the piston pin, including a fixed part fixed to the piston pin and a movable part pivotally supported by the fixed part, and for suppressing the piston, the piston pin, and the smaller-end part from integrally resonating with respect to the larger-end part of the connecting rod on combustion stroke. The dynamic absorber includes an assemblable dynamic absorber in which the movable part is formed by attaching a mass adjusting part to the fixed part. | 03-19-2015 |
20150075479 | PISTON STRUCTURE FOR ENGINE - A piston pin structure for an engine is provided, which suppresses integral resonance of a piston, a piston pin, and a smaller end part of a connecting rod with respect to a larger end part of the connecting rod on the combustion stroke, as well as suppresses an increase of noise on other strokes, and restricts the fixed dynamic absorber inside the piston pin from coming off and ensures a coming-off function. | 03-19-2015 |
20150219181 | PISTON STRUCTURE FOR ENGINE - An engine piston structure includes: a piston ( | 08-06-2015 |
20150354439 | COMBUSTION CHAMBER STRUCTURE FOR DIESEL ENGINE - A structure of a combustion chamber is provided. The structure includes a cavity formed in a central part of a crown surface of a piston and a wall surface constituting the cavity. The wall surface has a central ridge portion bulging farther toward a bottom surface of a cylinder head toward a center of the cavity, a periphery concave portion formed radially outward of the central ridge portion to concave radially outward, and a lip portion formed between the periphery concave portion and an opening edge of the cavity to convex radially inward. An outer circumferential part of the crown surface has a first portion and a second portion located radially outward of the first portion. A stepped portion is formed between the first and second portions. A stepped portion volume ratio of a stepped portion volume to a top dead center volume is set to 0.1 or smaller. | 12-10-2015 |
20160076649 | OIL RING - An oil ring to be attached to a ring groove of a piston for an engine is provided. The oil ring includes two annular ring bodies having a common axis and arranged in tandem, and an expander for biasing the ring bodies radially outward. A sliding surface is formed at an outer circumference of each ring body to bulge radially outward and slides on a cylinder inner circumferential surface. The sliding surface of one of the ring bodies has a tip portion and first and second curved surfaces. In cross sections of the first and second curved surfaces, the first and second curved surfaces are connected while tangent lines to the cross sections at the tip portion align with each other, and when positional change rates are compared between points on the first and second curved surfaces, a change rate of the first curved surface is lower. | 03-17-2016 |
Patent application number | Description | Published |
20110241975 | HEAD MOUNTED DISPLAY - There is provided a head mounted display including a glasses-type frame to be worn on a head of an observer; two optical modules including two image creation devices, and two light guides having two light guide plates coupled one-to-one with the two image creation devices and placed closer to a center of a face of the observer than the image creation devices are as a whole, that guide light beams output from the image creation devices and output the light beams toward pupils of the observer; and an optical plate supporting the two light guides, wherein the optical plate is attached to a center part of the frame. | 10-06-2011 |
20120162878 | DISPLAY DEVICE - A display device includes a display main body having a housing having an opening formed through the front surface and a display unit attached to the housing to close the opening and displaying an image, a stand base placed on a mounting surface, and at least one support connected to the display main body at one end and connected to the stand base at the other end, in which the support includes a cable inputting/outputting power or signals to/from the display main body and a coating covering the cable. | 06-28-2012 |
20140092539 | ELECTRONIC APPARATUS - Provided is an electronic apparatus that has enhanced strength and reduced weight. An electronic apparatus includes: a housing having two faces that face each other, having an accommodation space therein, and having an opening on one of the two faces; and an electronic device contained in the accommodation space. The housing is configured of a first member and a second member that are divided in the faces, and has a device insertion opening on at least one of opposing faces of the first member and the second member. | 04-03-2014 |
20150109679 | HEAD MOUNTED DISPLAY - A display that includes a frame to be worn on a head of an observer, two image creation devices, two light guides to guide light beams output from the image creation devices and to output the light beams toward pupils of the observer, and an optical plate attached to a center part of the frame and attached to a periphery part of the light guides via an adhesive. The center part of the frame is thicker than an outside part of the frame. | 04-23-2015 |
Patent application number | Description | Published |
20110182610 | DEVELOPMENT DEVICE AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A development device includes a developing section to visualize a latent image formed on a latent image carrier with developer including toner and carrier. The development device has a developer supply opening and a developer collection opening, a circulation unit to transport the developer collected from the developer collection opening of the developing section to the developer supply opening of the developing section and including a developer container to store the developer collected from the developing section disposed upstream from the development section in a direction in which the developer is circulated, and a developer cooler to cool the developer contained in the developer container. | 07-28-2011 |
20110229207 | DEVELOPING DEVICE AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A developing device includes a developer supply part and a developer collecting part, wherein the developer supply part has a developer inlet port for introducing a developer supplied from a reservoir into the developer supply part and a developer extraction port provided on the side of the developer inlet port to remove a portion of the developer so as to define a quantity of the developer to be introduced in the developer supply part, and wherein the developer extraction port and the developer collecting part are connected to the reservoir. | 09-22-2011 |
20120057890 | Development device and image forming apparatus incorporating same - A development device includes a development portion, to develop a latent image formed on a latent image carrier with developer, disposed close to the latent image carrier; a developer agitation container to agitate the developer, provided separately from the development portion; a transport system connecting the development portion and the developer agitation container, through which the developer is transported from the developer agitation container to the development portion by air; and a developer retainer to temporarily retain the developer, disposed downstream from the transport system, to which the developer remaining in the transport system escapes. | 03-08-2012 |
20120114349 | Developing Device And Image Forming Apparatus - In a disclosed developing device, a developing part includes a developer carrier for circulating a developer inside the developing part and for supplying the developer to an image carrier, a developer supply member for supplying the developer to the developer carrier, and a developer collection member for collecting the developer which is not used. A developer stirring part is arranged at a different position from a position of the developing part. A developer conveyance part carries the developer by an air conveyance in a developer conveyance path from the developer stirring part to the developing part. A developer detection part includes an opening which communicates between the developer supply member and the developer collection member, is arranged at a downstream side in a flow direction of the developer below and near the developer supply member, and detects whether the developer exists in a vicinity of the developer supply member. | 05-10-2012 |
20120230733 | DEVELOPMENT DEVICE AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS INCORPORATING SAME - A development device includes a development portion to develop a latent image; an agitation container to contain developer; a circulation system through which the developer is circulated between the development portion and the agitation container; a developer replenishing device to supply fresh developer to the agitation container; an agitator, provided inside the agitation container, to agitate and mix the developer collected from the development portion and the fresh developer from the developer replenishing device; and a developer escape chamber to discharge surplus developer in the agitation container, projecting from and continuous with the agitation container, the developer escape chamber defining a communication pathway in a side of the agitation container between the agitation container and the developer escape chamber through which the developer is moved between the agitation container and the developer escape chamber and having a discharge opening whose lower end is positioned higher than the communication pathway. | 09-13-2012 |