JPH04190366A - electrophotographic equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent erroneous inspection action and reduce cost, by reading from the information recording area of a nonvolatile memory, identification information for making a device perform inspection action, so as to have the inspection action performed. CONSTITUTION:EEPROM54, as nonvolatile memory attached freely detachably to a main device, is provided with a service life recording range 54a, in which the service life of a photosensitive body drum is recorded as the numbers of printed sheets, and an information recording range 54b, in which identification information for making the main device perform inspecting action can be recorded. In this case, when a microcomputer 51 reads identification information for making the device perform inspection action from the information recording range 54b of the EEPROM54, it makes the inspecting action implemented. That is, when nonvolatile memory which stores identification information for making the device perform inspection action is attached to the information recording range 54b, the inspecting action is implemented, and when EEPROM54 which does not store identification information for making the device perform the inspection action is attached to the information recording area 54b, normal action can be performed. This eliminates the possibility that inspection action is performed instead of intended normal action because a dip switch, has not been cut off due to mistake.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an electrophotographic apparatus, such as a laser printer, equipped with a photoreceptor.

[Prior Art] As a conventional electrophotographic apparatus, such as a laser printer, the one shown in FIG. 4 is generally known. That is, a photoreceptor drum 1 made of a photoconductive substance, a charging section 2 consisting of a corona charger or the like that uniformly charges the surface of the photoreceptor drum 1, and an image on the photoreceptor drum 1 charged by the charging section 2. A laser scanner unit 3 that records information and forms an electrostatic latent image, a developer 4 that develops the electrostatic latent image on the photoreceptor drum 1 formed by the laser scanner unit 3 into a toner image, and this developer. The transfer unit 7 includes a corona charger, etc., which transfers the toner image developed by the device 4 onto a transfer material conveyed from the paper feed unit 5 via a pickup roller 6, and a heater. The transferred image on the transfer material is heat-fixed,
The fixing device 8 is equipped with a fixing device 8 that sends the image to a predetermined location via a conveyance roller.

Furthermore, a cleaning section 9 for cleaning toner remaining on the photoconductor 1 in preparation for recording the next image information, and a static eliminator 10 for eliminating static on the photoconductor 1 are provided near the photoconductor 1, and a transfer section A static elimination charger 11 is provided to eliminate static electricity from the transferred material transferred in step 7.

Note that 12 is a transport motor that drives the transport mechanism.

FIG. 5 shows a main block circuit of the control system that controls each part of the laser printer configured as described above, in which 13 is a microprocessor that constitutes the main body of the control unit, and 14 is a program data for processing performed by this microprocessor 13. 15 is a RAM (random access memory) in which a memory used by the microprocessor 13 is formed; EEPRO with a drum counter that counts the number of printed sheets
M (rewritable ROM), 17 is an input/output interface (10) for inputting/outputting information to/from the outside, and these are connected to each other via a data bus 18.

The I10 port 17 is connected to a motor drive circuit 19 for driving the transport motor 12 and a laser scanner unit 3.
, a high voltage power supply 2 that supplies high voltage to the charging section 2 and the transfer section 7
0, an operation panel 21, an interface 22 for receiving image data from a host computer, and two dip switches are connected, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 6, a cover 31 is placed on top of the housing 30.
and the operation panel 21 are provided, and when the cover 31 is opened upward, an EEP is installed inside as shown in FIG.
An insertion slot 32 for the ROM 16 is provided, and the EEPROM 16
can be freely inserted into and removed from this insertion port 32.

Then, by inserting the EEPROM 16 into the insertion slot 32, the lifespan of the photosensitive drum 1 is determined as the number of printed sheets.
It is recorded in PROM16.

In addition, when manufacturing equipment, for example, checking the operation of the heater,
Inspection operations such as checking for variations in the heater or checking the operation of the mechanisms of each part are required, but these inspection operations were performed by operating the dip switch 23.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, if the dip switch is used to perform the inspection operation in this way, for example, if the dip switch is forgotten to be turned off during normal operation, the inspection operation will not be executed. There was an inconvenience. Furthermore, there is a risk that the user may accidentally operate this dip switch, and if the process inspection operation mode is unintentionally set, there is a problem that normal operation will no longer be possible.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an electrophotographic apparatus that can perform an inspection operation, eliminates the risk of the inspection operation being executed when normal operation is desired, and can reduce costs.

[Means for Solving the Problems] This invention provides a charging section, an exposing section, a developing section, and a charging section around a photoreceptor.
After arranging the transfer section, charging the photoreceptor with the charging section according to the electrophotographic process, forming an electrostatic latent image using the exposure section, and applying toner to the electrostatic latent image using the developing section to form a toner image. In an electrophotographic device in which a toner image is transferred to paper by a transfer unit, a lifespan recording area that is removably installed in the main body of the device and records the lifespan of a photoconductor as the usage of the photoconductor and the device are inspected. a non-volatile memory provided with an information recording area capable of recording identification information for operating the apparatus; and a control means for executing an inspection operation when the identification information for operating the apparatus is read from the information recording area of the non-volatile memory. It consists of

[Operation] In the present invention having such a configuration, a test operation can be performed by inserting a nonvolatile memory in which identification information for testing the device on the apparatus is inserted into the information recording area. Furthermore, if a non-volatile memory in which no identification information for operating the apparatus is recorded is inserted into the information recording area, normal operation can be performed, and in this case, the test operation will not be performed erroneously.

[Example] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In this embodiment, the present invention will be described as applied to a laser printer.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of main parts, 51 is a microprocessor configuring the main body of the control unit, 52 is the microprocessor 5
ROM in which program data for processing performed by 1 is stored;
53 is a RAM forming a memory used when the microprocessor 51 performs processing; 55 is Ilo;
These are the same as the corresponding ones in FIG.

54 is an EEFROM as a non-volatile memory which is removably installed in the main body of the device as in the past;
As shown in FIG. 2, the ROM 54 is provided with a lifespan recording area 54a in which the lifespan of the photosensitive drum is recorded as the number of prints, and an information recording area 54b in which identification information for testing the apparatus can be recorded. There is. That is, in the information recording area 54b, identification information "1" for operating the device for testing or identification information "OJ" for operating the device normally is written.

The microcomputer 51 includes the ROM 52, R
It is connected to AM5B, EEPROM54 and 11055 via a data bus 56.

The microcomputer 51 is designed to perform the processing shown in FIG.

This process begins with the RAM 53 and the 11055
Performs initialization (initial processing).

Subsequently, identification information is read from the information recording area 54b of the EEPROM 54. The read identification information is “0”.
'', a general printing operation including charging, exposure, development, transfer, fixing, etc. steps is performed as a normal process.

Further, if the read identification information is "1", partial inspection operations such as checking the operation of the heater and checking for variations in the heater are performed as process inspection processing. (Control means) If the read identification information is neither "1" nor "0", it is assumed that the EEPROM 54 is not inserted, for example, and in this case, an error message such as a drum counter error is displayed. It is designed to be processed.

In this embodiment with such a configuration, the EEPRO
The identification information rlJ for testing the device is written in M54, and the identification information "rlJ" for normal operation.
Prepare one with "0" written on it.

Then, when it is desired to perform a test operation, the EEPROM 54 is written with identification information "1" for operating the device.
Insert it into the main body of the device. This ensures that only the inspection operation is performed.

Further, when normal operation is desired, an EEPROM 54 in which identification information "0" for normal operation is written is inserted into the main body of the apparatus. This ensures that only normal operations are performed.

When the inspection is completed and the device is shipped, the EEPROM 54 in which identification information "0" for normal operation is written is inserted into the device body and shipped. This prevents the user from erroneously performing an inspection operation, unlike in the conventional case.

Further, the information recording area 54b in which identification information for operating the device can be recorded can be formed in an empty area of the EEPROM 54 conventionally used for recording the life of a photoreceptor. Since it can be used for a specific purpose, costs can be reduced.

Incidentally, although the above embodiment describes the application of the present invention to a laser printer, the present invention is not necessarily limited to this.

[Effects of the Invention] As described in detail above, the present invention provides an electrophotographic apparatus that can perform an inspection operation, has no fear that the inspection operation will be executed when normal operation is desired, and can reduce costs. This is something that can be provided.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figures 1 to 3 show an embodiment of this invention.
Fig. 1 is a block diagram of the main parts, Fig. 2 is a diagram showing the memory configuration of EEFROM, Fig. 3 is a flowchart of the main processing performed by the microprocessor, and Figs. 4 to 7 show conventional examples. Figure 4 is a diagram showing the overall configuration, Figure 5 is a block diagram,
FIG. 6 is an external view, and FIG. 7 is a partial configuration diagram when the cover is opened. 51...Microprocessor, 54...EEPROM. 54a... Lifespan recording area, 54b... Information recording area. Applicant's agent Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue No. 1vA Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 5

Claims (1)

[Claims] A charging section, an exposure section, a developing section, and a transfer section are arranged around the photoconductor, and the photoconductor is charged by the charging section according to an electrophotographic process, and an electrostatic latent image is formed by the exposure section. In an electrophotographic device in which a developing section attaches toner to form a toner image, and a transfer section transfers the toner image onto paper, it is installed in an electrophotographic device that can be inserted into and removed from the main body of the device. A non-volatile memory has a lifespan recording area for recording the usage of the photoconductor and an information recording area where identification information for testing the device can be recorded, and the device can be tested from the information recording area of this non-volatile memory. 1. An electrophotographic apparatus comprising: a control means that executes an inspection operation when the identification information for the inspection is read.