JPS587519A - Remaining amount display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it possible to ensure the visual acknowledgement of the remaining quantity of paper and the like of a copying machine, by displaying the remaining quantity of a consuming material based on a discoloration obtained by the synthesis of light emitting state of light emitting elements. CONSTITUTION:When the lowest voltage is applied to an amplifier 40 based on the value of a variable resistor Rv under the state of no paper, the output of the amplifier 40 supplies the maximum current to an LED-D1 through an inverted amplifier 42 and a transistor 44. The output of the amplifier 40 is imparted to a non-inverted amplifier 42', a transistor 44' is turned OFF, and an LED-D2 does not emit the light. Meanwhile, under the state of the full load of the paper, the transistor 44 is turned OFF, the transistor 44' is turned ON, and only the D2 emits the light. When the paper quantity is one half, about a half the maximum current is flowed in the D1 and D2. Then both LEDs emit the light, and the synthesized color becomes an intermediate color such as e.g. yellow.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a remaining amount display device that displays the remaining amount of consumable materials that gradually decreases as the device is operated, and in particular, it is possible to display the remaining amount of consumable materials by color change ζ-. The present invention relates to a remaining amount display device suitable for, for example, displaying the remaining amount of paper in a copying machine.

Conventionally, this type of remaining amount display, for example, the remaining amount of paper in a copying machine, has mostly been done using a display means such as a monochrome LED or lamp that lights up only when the amount of paper is full. Yes. Or when the remaining amount of paper is low,
Some devices flash an LED or lamp display means to warn the user (:), but with these methods, the user does not know about it until the paper runs out (or is aware of the current situation). Since it is not possible to know the amount of paper remaining, it is difficult to replenish the paper appropriately when making a large amount of copies.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned points, and the present invention is a display that allows a user to visually and reliably recognize the status of the remaining amount of consumable materials such as paper in a copying machine, which gradually decreases as the device operates. The purpose is to provide equipment.

In the present invention, in order to achieve this objective, the amount of change in consumed materials is converted into an electrical output by a converter, and the output of a first amplifier circuit corresponding to this conversion output and the output of this first amplifier circuit are A plurality of light emitting elements are driven by the output of a second amplifier circuit having a predetermined relationship with the color change C2 obtained by combining the light emitting states of each light emitting element, and the remaining amount of the consumed material is displayed. It is said that

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a paper remaining amount display device for a copying machine will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a paper feeding device 10 of a copying machine.

12 is a cassette deck for storing the paper 11; 13 is a loading table lifted upward by a spring 14 and on which the paper 11 is placed; 15 is a pickup roller for conveying the paper 11; 13a is an upper and lower part depending on the remaining amount of paper 20 is a conversion device that converts the amount of displacement of this lever 13a into a minute displacement or rotation, and 30 is an output of the conversion device 2° (according to which the resistance value of the variable resistor Rv is It is a variable potentiometer.

FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of the paper remaining amount display device, and Rv is the variable resistance of the potentiometer 30 shown in FIG.
2 is a voltage limiting resistor for regulating the output from the variable resistor Rv; 40 is a voltage follower amplifier for stabilizing the output voltage from the potentiometer 30; R8
42 is an inverting amplifier that inverts and amplifies the output of the amplifier 40, and Rin and Rf are respectively connected to the inverting amplifier 42.
The gain can be adjusted by appropriately selecting the value of R7/R1n using the input resistance and the feedback resistance. 44 is a driver transistor, R4 is a resistor connected between the base and emitter of this transistor 44, and 50 is a variable color diode, for example, a red diode D and a green diode D2.
In the display section constituted by the module, R6 is a current limiting resistor of this red diode D1.

60 is a reference voltage source, and RIG+R2O is a voltage dividing resistor that generates a predetermined reference voltage by adjusting the resistance value of resistor R20. 40' is a voltage follower amplifier for stabilizing the output voltage from the reference voltage source 60;
R3' is a feedback resistor connected to the output terminal and the inverting input terminal of this amplifier 40', and 42' is a non-inverting amplifier that amplifies the output of the amplifier 40' in a non-inverting manner, R'in.

R'f is the input resistance and feedback resistance of this non-inverting amplifier 42', respectively, and the gain can be adjusted by appropriately selecting the value of R'in/7. 44' is a driver transistor, R'4 is a resistor connected between the pace emitter of this transistor 44', and Rf is a current limiting resistor of the green diode D2 mentioned above.

One embodiment of the present invention is constructed as described above, and its operation will be explained next. Now, assuming that there is no paper at all, the lowest variable voltage is applied to the non-inverting input terminal of the amplifier 40 according to the value of the variable resistor Rv of the potentiometer 30 at that time. time, amplifier 4
The output of 0 is the maximum voltage that can be varied by the variable resistor Rv by the inverting amplifier 42 via the input resistor Rin, and the maximum current is supplied to the LED D via the transistor 44 and resistor R6. On the other hand, the output of the amplifier 40 is also applied to the non-inverting input terminal of the non-inverting amplifier 42', and the lowest voltage that can be varied by the variable resistance meter is output from the amplifier 42', the transistor 44' is turned off, and no current flows to the LED D2. Not flowing. Therefore, on the display section 50, Dl emits red light, allowing the user to determine that there is no paper left.

Operation of the above-mentioned inverting amplifier 42 and non-inverting amplifier 42' (
-, and if the output of the former is S, the output of the latter is 1-3
becomes. That is, there is a complementary relationship between their outputs, and the following operation description (the same relationship holds true even if there are two LEDs), and this relationship is similar to the distribution ratio of the drive current of the LEDs D, , D2.

On the other hand, when the amount of paper is full, the transistor 44 is turned off and the transistor 44' is turned on, so only the green LED D2 emits light, so the display section 50 emits green light, for example, when the amount of paper is full. status (= the user can determine that it is present.Also, if the amount of paper is about half
, and D2 both emit light because about half of the maximum current flows through them, and their light emitting states are combined (the two emit light in a neutral color such as yellow. In this way, the user can determine the amount of paper remaining at a glance.

This state is illustrated in FIG. 3, which shows the color change characteristics of the display section 50 in which the horizontal axis (two-dimensional axis) and the vertical axis (C, diode D, D2in) indicate the amount of current flowing in percent. The solid line in the middle shows the current characteristics of the green diode D2 with respect to the amount of paper, and the dotted line shows the current characteristics of the red diode D1 with respect to the amount of paper.
represents the current. In addition, above the horizontal axis, as shown in the figure, the color change state obtained from the combination of the light emitting states of each diode D, D2 when current is applied (2) is shown. (The state of color change is illustrated.)

Although the above embodiment has explained the display of the remaining amount of paper in a copying machine, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the display of the remaining amount of liquid in a liquid dry type copying machine, the remaining amount of toner in a dry type copying machine, etc. (- It can also be used as a display device that displays the status of the remaining amount of various consumable materials that gradually decreases with the operation of devices other than copying machines.Also, it can be applied to display devices that display the remaining amount of various consumable materials that gradually decrease with the operation of devices other than copying machines. It will be more convenient for the user if a flashing display or the like is added in addition to a color display when the light is running out.Furthermore, a fluorescent display tube can be used instead of a light emitting diode (LED).

As explained above, the remaining amount display device according to the present invention is
In a display device that displays the status of the remaining amount of consumable materials that gradually decreases as the device operates, the amount of change in the consumable materials is converted into an electrical output (2) by a converter, and a first amplification corresponding to this converted output is applied. A predetermined relationship between the output of the circuit and the output of this first amplifier circuit, for example, a color obtained by driving a plurality of light emitting elements with the output of a congruent second amplifier circuit and combining the light emitting states of each light emitting element. Changes (2) Since the remaining amount of consumable materials is displayed, users can visually (-) recognize the remaining amount of consumable materials (-) at a glance, and especially (-) such as displaying the remaining amount of paper on a copying machine (2). This has an extremely large effect.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of the paper feeding mechanism of a copying machine, FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of the display device according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is an explanation showing the color change characteristics of the display unit shown in FIG. 2. It is a diagram. 10... Paper feeding device 20... Conversion section 30.
...Potentiometer 42...Inverting amplifier 42'
...Non-inverting amplifier 50...Display section, ,D
2...Light emitting diode

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1) As the device operates, C: gradually decreases (in a remaining amount display device that displays the state of the remaining amount of consumable materials, a conversion that converts the amount of change in the consumed materials into an electrical output) , the output of the first amplifier circuit which is proportional to the output of the converter, and the output of the second amplifier circuit which is proportional to the output of the first amplifier circuit. Synthesis of the light emitting state of the light emitting element by driving the light emitting element C: A remaining amount display device characterized by displaying the remaining amount of the consumable material. 2) The light emitting element is The remaining amount display device according to claim 1, which is a light emitting diode or a fluorescent display tube. 3) The device is a paper feed mechanism of a copying machine, and the main material is copy paper; Claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the converter is a potentiometer that is provided in the paper feed mechanism and converts the resistance value according to the amount of displacement (:) of the placing table on which the copy paper is placed. Remaining amount display device.