1. A device for autonomous power supply of power-using devices set in the proximity of a road along which vehicles are travelling, comprising:
one or more electric-current generator elements of a piezoelectric type,
at least one structural element deformable in an elastic way in at least one direction in response to a perturbation of the environment adjacent to the path of a vehicle, said at least one structural element comprising at least one area of deformation, said electric-current generator element of a piezoelectric type being associated to said area of deformation;
wherein said at least one structural element comprises a first structural element of a plurality of structural elements, said plurality of structural elements is at least one of shaped and interconnected so as to represent a plant or a shrub.
2. The device according to claim 1, wherein said perturbation of the environment adjacent to the path of a vehicle travelling comprises a displacement of air caused by said vehicle.
3. The device according to claim 1, wherein said perturbation of the environment adjacent to the path of a vehicle travelling comprises a vibration caused on the ground by the passage of the vehicle and transmitted by the ground to said device.
4. The device according to claim 1, wherein said power-using devices comprise a lamp for lighting.
5. The device second according to claim 1, wherein said at least one structural element comprises a first structural element of a plurality of structural elements.
6. The device according to claim 1, wherein said plurality of structural elements is at least one of shaped and interconnected so as to represent a plant or a shrub.
7. The device according to claim 6, wherein said electric-current generator elements of a piezoelectric type are associated to points of bending of branches of said plant or shrub.
8. The device according to claim 6, wherein said electric-current generator elements of a piezoelectric type are associated or integrated in leaves of said plant or shrub.
9. The device according to claim 1, further comprising an accumulator, which is electrically connected to said one or more piezoelectric elements and is able to accumulate electrical energy to supply the energy to said power-using devices.
10. The device according to claim 1, wherein said power-using devices comprise a data-acquisition control unit.
11. The device according to claim 1, wherein said power-using devices comprise one or more panels for displaying information.
12. A process for supplying autonomously power-using devices set in the proximity of a road along which vehicles are travelling, which comprises:
arranging one or more electric-current generator elements of a piezoelectric type;
setting in the proximity of the road at least one structural element deformable in an elastic way in at least one direction in response to a perturbation of the environment adjacent to the path of a vehicle travelling along said road, the at least one structural element comprising a first structural element of a plurality of structural elements and the plurality of structural elements at least one of shaped and interconnected so as to represent a plant or a shrub; and
associating said generator of electric current of a piezoelectric type to at least one area of deformation identified in said at least one structural element.
13. A method for generating electric energy from a flow of air, comprising:
providing at least one piezoelectric electric current generator element configured to be actuated by the flow of air, wherein the at least one piezoelectric generator element is associated to at least one structural element elastically deformable in at least one direction when subjected to the flow of air, the at least one structural element comprising at least one area of deformation, the at least one piezoelectric electric current generator element associated to the at least one area of deformation; and
locating the at least one piezoelectric generator element in the proximity of a road along which vehicles are travelling, such that the piezoelectric generator element exploits the displacement of air caused by the vehicles travelling along the road to generate electric current.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein the at least one structural element is a supporting arm of a reflector.
15. The method of claim 13, wherein the at least one structural element is a supporting arm of a reflector.
16. The method of claim 13, further comprising electrically connecting an accumulater to the at least one piezoelectric element and accumulating electrical energy to supply the energy to at least one power-using device.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein the at least one power-using device comprises a data-acquisition control unit.
18. The method of claim 16, wherein the at least one power-using device comprises one or more panels for displaying information.
19. The method of claim 16, wherein the at least one power-using device comprises a lamp for lighting.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. An image forming apparatus comprising:
an image bearing member on which an electrostatic image is capable of being formed;
a charging apparatus configured to charge the image bearing member in a charging section;
a developing apparatus containing developer which includes toner and carrier, the developing apparatus being configured to develop, in a developing section, an electrostatic image formed on the image bearing member;
a transfer apparatus configured to transfer a toner image formed on the image bearing member to a transfer medium in a transfer section;
a charging auxiliary apparatus including a charging auxiliary member contacting with the image bearing member at a position downstream of the transfer section and upstream of the charging section in a moving direction of the image bearing member, and a voltage applying device configured to apply a voltage to the charging auxiliary member, the charging auxiliary apparatus being able to change a charge amount of the toner on the image bearing member;
a current detecting device configured to detect a current flowing in the charging auxiliary member during a period of non-image formation when the voltage is applied to the charging auxiliary member;
a toner density detecting device configured to detect information regarding a toner density of the developer in the developing apparatus; and
a toner supply control device configured to control supply of the toner to the developing apparatus based on a detection result of the current detecting device and a detection result of the toner density detecting device.
2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the toner supply control device controls the supply of the toner to the developing apparatus based on a differential value between a maximum value and a minimum value of the toner density, which is obtained within a reference time by a detecting operation of the toner density detecting device.
3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the toner supply control device controls the supply of the toner to make the toner density of the developer closer to a target value, and changes the target value in a direction to reduce the toner density when the differential value is larger than a reference value.
4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the toner density detecting device includes a sensor configured to detect a reflection density of a detection-adapted toner image obtained by developing a detection-adapted electrostatic image, which is formed on the image bearing member, by the developing apparatus.
5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the toner density detecting device includes an optical sensor or a permeability sensor configured to detect the toner density of the developer in the developing apparatus.
6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the current detecting device is configured to compare the differential value between the maximum value and the minimum value of the current, which is obtained within the reference time by the detecting operation, with a reference value, and
the image forming apparatus further comprises:
a display device configured to display an abnormality of the image forming apparatus when results of the comparison performed by the current detecting device plural times indicate that a state where the differential value is larger than the reference value in the comparison occurs successively over a reference number of times.
7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the developing apparatus is configured to be able to recover, in a developing operation, the toner remaining on the image bearing member after a transfer operation by the transfer apparatus.