JPH0675477A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Object] The present invention can accurately count the number of toner replenishments to a developing device, and when the number of toner replenishments reaches a predetermined number, further toner replenishment is prevented to extend the life of the developing device. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus which prevents the use beyond the limit and always obtains a good image quality recording. [Structure] A developing device that collects toner and supplies it to a photoconductor,
A toner cartridge that stores toner and is detachably attached to the main body of the developing device; the toner cartridge has a mark member holding portion formed therein, and the mark member is detachably held in the mark member holding portion. The main body of the developing device is provided with a mark member receiving portion that is held by the mark member holding portion of the toner cartridge and receives the mark member that comes out of the mark member holding portion. The mark member receiving portion receives a plurality of mark members. It is characterized in that it finally receives a part of the mark member.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic method, toner is supplied from a developing device to an electrostatic latent image forming surface of a photoconductor to visualize the electrostatic latent image formed on the photoconductor. We are developing. Therefore, in the developing device, the toner used for the development is stored inside the main body of the device and used for the development. Further, in order to maintain reliability, the developing device is replaced as a whole when the life of the developing device is a certain number of times.

By the way, in the developing device, the amount of toner accumulated in the main body of the device decreases as the toner is consumed for development. A developing device that does not replenish toner runs out of toner long before its life is reached. However, if the amount of toner corresponding to the life of the developing device is stored in advance in the main body of the apparatus, the main body of the apparatus becomes huge, which is not realistic.

Therefore, a toner cartridge containing toner is removably attached to the main body of the apparatus, the toner is supplied to the main body of the apparatus, and the toner cartridge is exchanged to supply the toner according to the decrease in the toner amount due to consumption. Is proposed. However, in this method, even if the life of the developing device is over, the user may not notice it and may continue to replenish the toner, resulting in a problem such as deterioration of recording image quality.

Further, in the recent image forming apparatus, when the developing device, the photoconductor, the cleaner and the waste toner accommodating portion are integrated into a unit, the amount of waste toner exceeds the capacity of the waste toner accommodating portion, and the apparatus The inside of the main body is overfilled with waste toner and soiled. For this reason, the number of toner replenishments per developing device is regulated, and when the developing device reaches the prescribed number of toner replenishments, the user is notified of that, or further toner replenishment is disabled. Means must be provided.

As a means for this, for example, a method of having the operator record the number of times of toner replenishment every time toner is replenished can be considered. However, there is a high possibility that the operator will fail to record the number of times of replenishment of toner. There is no means for prohibiting further toner replenishment even when the number of times of toner replenishment reaches the specified number.

Therefore, a method of providing a counter for recording the number of times of toner replenishment in the main body of the developing device in association with the toner replenishment operation such as replacement of the toner cartridge can be considered. Conventionally, as this type of counter, for example, a ratchet type gear provided in the developing device is rotated in association with the peeling operation of the toner hermetic seal of the toner cartridge, and the number of toner replenishment is counted by the rotation amount of the gear. The method of doing is adopted. However, in order to realize this mechanism, it is difficult to secure the reliability of the operation, and the number of parts is large, the mechanism is complicated, and the cost is increased.
Further, in order to prevent further toner replenishment when the prescribed number of toner replenishments is reached, in addition to this, a different mechanism must be provided.

In addition to the counter using the method using the above mechanism, the number of times of toner replenishment is counted by an electric method such as using a sensor, and the value is electrically stored in the image forming apparatus and set to a prescribed value. When it is determined that the number of times of toner replenishment has been reached, a method of displaying the fact on the display unit of the image forming apparatus and alerting the operator can be considered.

However, when this method is carried out, it is necessary to initialize the counter stored in the image forming apparatus every time the developing apparatus is replaced with respect to the image forming apparatus, and it is neglected for the operator to do this. There is a fear. Further, it is difficult to prevent the operator from ignoring the caution message and performing toner replenishment exceeding the prescribed number of toner replenishments.

[0010]

As described above, in the conventional apparatus, it is difficult to accurately count the number of times toner is replenished to the developing device by a simple method. There is a problem that the developing device is continuously used without noticing it, the image quality is deteriorated, the operation of the device is hindered, and the economical efficiency is poor.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and can accurately count the number of toner replenishments to a developing device, and when the number of toner replenishments reaches a predetermined number, further toner replenishment is blocked and development is performed. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of preventing the apparatus from exceeding its life span with a simple structure and always obtaining good image quality.

[0012]

In order to achieve the above object, an image forming apparatus of the present invention comprises a developing device for accumulating toner and supplying it to a photosensitive member, and a device for accommodating the toner and detaching the same from the main body of the developing device. A toner cartridge that can be attached to the toner cartridge, and the toner cartridge has a mark member holding portion formed therein and the mark member is detachably held in the mark member holding portion. Is provided with a mark member receiving portion that is held by the mark member holding portion of the toner cartridge and receives the mark member that comes out of the mark member holding portion. The mark member receiving portion receives the plurality of mark members and finally the mark member. It is characterized by receiving a part of.

[0013]

The mark member provided on the toner cartridge moves toward the developing device each time the toner is supplied to the developing device,
The number of times of toner replenishment is recorded by receiving and holding the mark member by the mark member receiving portion provided in the developing device. Each time toner is replenished, the mark member receiving section will be overlaid in sequence, and when the toner has been replenished the specified number of times,
The mark member moves from the holding portion of the toner cartridge to the receiving portion of the developing device, and a part thereof enters the receiving portion. As a result, the toner cartridge is fixed to the main body of the developing device and cannot be removed, the number of times of toner replenishment can be accurately counted, and the toner replenishment more than the specified number of times can be prevented.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 1 of an embodiment of the present invention
This will be described with reference to FIG. 1 to 3 show a state in which a toner cartridge is attached to the developing device. In the figure, 1 is a developing device and 2 is a toner cartridge.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the developing device 1 has a device body 3. The apparatus main body 3 is a horizontally long one having a length larger than the width of the recording paper, and is opened on the upper surface for supplying toner. A collar portion 4a for receiving the collar portion 10a of the toner cartridge 2 is formed around the open portion 4 as will be described later, and the collar pressing member 5 is provided at a pair of side edge portions and one end portion along the length direction of the apparatus main body 3. Are formed respectively. The interior of the apparatus main body 1 is a space portion facing the open portion 4 for accumulating toner, and one side surface portion of the lower portion is the open portion 6
The developing roller 7 is disposed in the open portion 6. The apparatus body 3 is detachably mounted inside the apparatus body 2 of the image forming apparatus. The mounting position of the apparatus main body 3 is a position where the developing roller 7 faces the photosensitive drum 9 provided in the apparatus main body 3.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the toner cartridge 2 is a horizontally long one having a length substantially the same as that of the apparatus main body 3, one side surface portion is opened, and a flange portion is provided around the opening portion 10. 10a is formed. Toner T is stored inside the toner cartridge 2, and the opening 10 is sealed with a sheet 11 made of synthetic resin. This sheet 11 has twice the length of the toner cartridge plus the length of the knob portion, half of which is adhered to the collar portion 10a, and the other half is folded back to the outside.

A mark member holding portion 12 is formed on the other end of the toner cartridge 2. The mark member holding portion 12 has a pocket shape having a size to accommodate one coin-shaped mark member C, and has an open portion 12a formed in the same direction as the open portion 4 of the toner cartridge 2. One mark member C is put inside the mark member holding portion 12. Usually, the open portion of the mark member holding portion 13 is covered with the sheet 11.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a mark member receiving portion 13 is formed at the other end of the apparatus main body 3. The mark member receiving portion 13 is in the form of a pocket having a size in which three coin-shaped mark members C and half can be inserted, and an open portion 13a is formed in the same direction as the open portion 10 of the apparatus body 2. . The position of the mark member receiving portion 13 is set to the device main body 3
And the toner cartridge 2 are at the same position as the mark member holding portion 12 when the collar portions 4a and 10a are combined with each other. A window 14 is formed in the mark member receiving portion 13. The window 14 allows the number of accommodated mark members C to be visually recognized from the outside. The operation of replenishing the main body 3 of the developing device 1 with toner by the toner cartridge based on this configuration will be described.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 6, the toner cartridge 2 is arranged such that the open portion 10 is on the lower side, and the toner cartridge 2 is placed on the collar portion 4a from the upper side of the apparatus main body 3 of the developing device 1 and slid on the collar pressing member 5. Combine.

Next, as shown in FIG. 7, the seal 11 of the toner cartridge 2 is peeled off to open the opening portion 10.
Then, the toner T of the toner cartridge 2 is released from the opening portion 1
0 to enter the inside of the apparatus main body 3 through the opening 4. At the same time, the opening portion 12a of the mark member holding portion 12 of the toner cartridge 2 is also opened, and the mark member C accommodated in the mark member holding portion 12 drops and moves into the mark member receiving portion 13 of the apparatus main body 3. The mark member C enters the mark member receiving portion 12 in a standing state. The presence of the mark member C that has entered the mark member receiving portion 12 can be visually confirmed through the window 14. With this, the first toner supply is performed.

When the toner T supplied here is consumed, the toner cartridge 2 which is already empty for the second toner supply is removed from the apparatus main body 3 as shown in FIG. The first toner cartridge 2 is attached to the apparatus main body 3 as in the case of the first toner cartridge 2. Then, as shown in FIG. 9, as in the case of the first toner cartridge 2, the seal 11 of the toner cartridge 2 is peeled off and the toner is replenished for the second time. The mark member C accommodated in the mark member holding portion 12 of the toner cartridge 12 moves and enters the mark member receiving portion 13 of the apparatus main body 3. At this time, since the mark member C which has already entered at the time of the first toner replenishment is present in the mark member receiving portion 13, a new mark member C is placed on the mark member C in a standing state. At this time, the presence of the mark member C in the mark member receiving portion 12 can be visually confirmed through the window 14.

Similarly, as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the toner cartridge 2 is used to replenish the main body 3 of the apparatus with the toner T for the third time. In this case, the toner cartridge 2
The second mark member C is inserted from the mark member holding portion 12 into the mark member receiving portion 13 of the apparatus body 3.

In this way, after the third replenishment of the toner T, the fourth replenishment of the toner T is performed as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13. The number of mark members C that have entered and overlapped the mark member receiving portion 13 of the apparatus main body 3 by the previous three times of toner supply has reached three, and the mark member C at the time of the fourth toner supply is overlapped thereon. Mark member receiving portion 13
Since the depth of is 3.5 times the diameter of the mark member C,
The fourth mark member C is not entirely housed in the mark member receiving portion 13, and is located over both the mark member holding portion 12 of the toner cartridge 2 and the mark member receiving portion 13 of the apparatus main body 3. When attempting to remove the toner cartridge 2 from the apparatus main body 3 in this state, the mark member C is caught by the mark member receiving portion 13 of the apparatus main body 3 and the mark member holding portion 12 of the toner cartridge 2 and the toner cartridge 2 cannot slide, and thus the apparatus cannot be moved. It cannot be removed from the body 1.

Therefore, even if the toner T of the developing device 1 is consumed and the toner T is replenished for the fifth time, a new toner cartridge 2 cannot be attached, so that the developing device exceeds the prescribed number of toner replenishment times. You cannot use 1.

This makes it possible to accurately count the number of times toner is replenished to the developing device 1, so that the operator can continue to use the developing device 1 without noticing the life of the developing device 1, resulting in deterioration of the image quality and the apparatus. Can be prevented from interfering with the operation of.

Moreover, the mark receiving portion 1 is provided on the main body 3 of the apparatus.
3, the toner cartridge 2 is provided with a mark member holding portion 1
2 is provided and the mark member C is used, so that the structure is simple and economical.

[0027] Incidentally. The developing device of this embodiment can replenish toner up to four times, but by changing the depth of the mark member receiving portion 13 of the device main body 3 and the diameter of the mark member C, the desired number of times of toner replenishment can be specified. can do.

The window for confirming the number of mark members is the apparatus main body 3
Is not limited to being provided in the mark member receiving portion 13 of
As shown in FIG. 14, it is also possible to provide it on the mark member holding portion 12 of the toner cartridge 2. Reference numeral 15 in the drawing denotes a window formed in the mark member holding portion 12. In this case, the mark member C shown in FIG. 15A can be used. The mark member C is not limited to the coin shape, and can be variously modified and implemented. FIG. 15 shows various types of mark members C. It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but can be modified and implemented in various ways.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention, the mark member holding portion of the toner cartridge is provided and the mark from the mark member holding portion of the toner cartridge is provided on the main body of the developing device. Mark for receiving a member Mark for receiving a member With a simple structure that only provides a member receiving part, the number of times toner is supplied to the developing device can be accurately counted, and when the number of times toner is supplied reaches a preset number, further toner supply is blocked. As a result, it is possible to prevent the developing device from being used beyond its life, and it is possible to obtain an image forming device which can always obtain excellent image quality.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a state in which a toner cartridge is attached to a developing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the same.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the same.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a toner cartridge.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a toner cartridge with a seal attached.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a toner cartridge is attached to the developing device during the first toner supply.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the mark member is moved to the developing device during the first toner supply.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing a state in which a toner cartridge is attached to the developing device at the time of second toner supply.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the mark member has moved to the developing device during the second toner supply.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view showing a state in which a toner cartridge is attached to the developing device at the time of third toner supply.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the mark member has moved to the developing device during the third toner supply.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view showing a state in which a toner cartridge is attached to the developing device at the time of the fourth toner supply.

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the mark member has moved to the developing device during the fourth toner supply.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing another example of a window.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing another example of the mark member.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Developing device, 2 ... Toner cartridge, 3 ... Device main body, 12 ... Mark member holding part, 13 ... Mark member receiving part, C ... Mark member.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A developing device for supplying toner to a photoconductor, and a toner cartridge for accommodating the toner and being detachably attached to a main body of the developing device, wherein the toner cartridge has a mark member holding portion. And a mark member is detachably held in the mark member holding portion, and the apparatus main body of the developing device receives the mark member held by the mark member holding portion of the toner cartridge. An image forming apparatus, wherein a mark member receiving portion is provided, and the mark member receiving portion receives a plurality of the mark members and finally receives a part of the mark members.