United States Patent [i9]
Shibuya et al.
[54] COLOR IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS
HAVING A FUNCTION OF DETERMINING A
CHARGE VALUE CHARGED ON A
CUSTOMER ACCORDING TO AN AMOUNT
OF RECORDING MATERIAL
[75] Inventors: Kunihiro Shibuya, Kawasaki; Hiroki Kanno, Yokohama, both of Japan
[73] Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba,
Kanagawa-ken, Japan
[21] Appl. No.: 576,065
[22] Filed: Dec. 21, 1995
[30] Foreign Application Priority Data
Dec. 27, 1994 [JP] Japan 6-325564
[51] Int. CI.6 G03G 15/01
[52] U.S. CI 3997178; 377/14; 399/50;
399/54; 399/197
[58] Field of Search 355/326 R, 327,
355/245, 202, 200, 308; 377/13-16
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US005604578A [ii] Patent Number: 5,604,578 [45] Date of Patent: Feb. 18, 1997
[56] References Cited
U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
5,373,349 12/1994 Ito 355/202
5,383,129 1/1995 Farrell 377/15 X
5,506,661 4/1996 Hanzawa 355/311 X
Primary Examiner—R. L. Moses
Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Limbach & Limbach
[57] ABSTRACT
An image forming apparatus includes a reading section for fetching first color image data subjected to color separation, a circuit for converting the first color image data into second color image data, a unit for forming a duplicate image of the first color image data by using recording materials of different types based on the second color image data, a unit for calculating the consumptions of the recording materials used for image formation in the image forming unit, and a unit for calculating a charge value for image formation based on the consumption.
28 Claims, 22 Drawing Sheets
