JP5433388B2 - Connector, toner cartridge including the connector, and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector, a toner cartridge including the connector, and an image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to a connector that stores information relating to the toner cartridge as electronic information, a toner cartridge including the connector, and the toner cartridge mounted thereon. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus.

  As an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic system or an electrostatic recording system, there are a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile machine, and a complex machine in which these are integrated. In these image forming apparatuses, the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive member is developed with toner supplied from the developing device, the developed toner image is transferred from the photosensitive member to a recording sheet, and the transferred toner is transferred. The image is fixed on the recording paper by heating and melting.

  In such an image forming apparatus, since the toner is gradually consumed as the image formation is repeated, it is necessary to appropriately replenish the consumed toner. For example, a hopper is provided on the developing device, and a toner cartridge is detachably mounted on the hopper, so that toner discharged from the toner cartridge is supplied to the developing device via the hopper.

Then, the amount of toner remaining in the toner cartridge is detected or the number of pixels is counted to calculate the amount of toner consumption. When the amount of remaining toner is low, the user is prompted to replace the toner cartridge, resulting in a lack of toner. This has been prevented.
In this manner, the toner cartridge is a consumable item, and the used toner cartridge that has been replaced is collected by a supplier, and after recycling, the toner cartridge is again delivered to the user as a recycled toner cartridge.

By the way, since the toner cartridge is a product that is distributed in the market as a consumable product, unfortunately, there is a possibility that an unauthorized product that is compatible with a genuine product only appears.
However, recent image forming apparatuses are required to have high performance corresponding to the toner as the image quality is improved. If a non-genuine toner cartridge is used, the desired image quality cannot be obtained. It can also cause malfunctions by contaminating.
Furthermore, the recycling of the toner cartridge cannot be repeated any number of times, and the number of times that the toner cartridge can be recycled is limited due to the mechanical life of the toner cartridge body.

  As described above, the situation surrounding the toner cartridge is complicated, and in recent years, a storage element capable of rewriting information is provided in the toner cartridge, and the storage element holds information specific to the toner cartridge. is there.

  As such a connector, which is a connector attached to the toner cartridge, a contact terminal that is electrically connected to the image forming apparatus is provided on the front side of the connector, and a memory IC board on which a storage element is mounted is connected to the connector. A connector is known which is provided on the back side and connects the contact terminals and the terminals of the memory IC board via spring-like contact terminals, and the memory IC board can be removed as necessary (for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2003-255780 A

When the collected toner cartridge is recycled, there is a cleaning operation in which a small amount of toner remaining in the toner cartridge is discharged outside while being blown off with compressed air.
However, the toner, which is a fine powder, and the inner wall of the toner cartridge come into intense contact with each other during the cleaning operation, and the toner cartridge is easily charged with static electricity.
In addition, when a new toner is filled after the cleaning operation, the toner cartridge is easily charged with static electricity due to the flow of the fine powder toner.
Such electrostatic charging can be as high as several thousand volts, especially in low-humidity environments in winter, and the memory element is destroyed if the charged static electricity is discharged all at once when the collected toner cartridge is recycled. There is a risk of being.
In addition, if the electrical contact portion that is electrically connected to the connected portion of the image forming apparatus is contaminated by the toner scattered during the recycling operation, a connection failure may occur.
Therefore, when recycling the toner cartridge, it is desirable to remove the storage element and the electrical contact portion from the toner cartridge in advance.

In the device described in Patent Document 1, since the memory IC board on which the memory element is mounted is configured to be removable from the connector, the memory IC board can be removed prior to recycling of the toner cartridge.
However, since the memory IC substrate is provided on the back side of the connector, the memory IC substrate cannot be removed unless the connector is removed from the toner cartridge, which is troublesome.
Further, since the contact terminal electrically connected to the connected portion of the image forming apparatus is provided separately from the memory IC substrate, the connector itself is removed from the toner cartridge in order to prevent the contact terminal from being contaminated during the recycling operation. Must be removed.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-described circumstances, and provides a connector that can easily remove a memory element and an electrical contact portion while having a simple configuration.

  The present invention provides a connector that is provided in a toner cartridge and is electrically connected to the image forming apparatus when the toner cartridge is attached to the image forming apparatus, and includes a storage element that stores related information related to the toner cartridge. A connector comprising: a substrate member formed with an electrical contact portion for electrically connecting the storage element and the image forming apparatus; and a housing member detachably mounted on the substrate member and fixed to the toner cartridge. Is to provide.

According to the present invention, since the substrate member having the storage element and the electric contact portion is detachably mounted on the housing member, the substrate member can be easily detached from the housing member as necessary.
Therefore, prior to recycling of the toner cartridge, only the board member can be removed in advance without removing the connector from the toner cartridge, the storage element is destroyed due to the static electricity charged in the toner cartridge being discharged all at once, and the toner Contamination of the electrical contact part due to scattering can be prevented.

  Further, since the substrate member can be detached from the housing member, when the toner cartridge reaches the upper limit of the number of times of recycling, the substrate member can be removed from the housing member and reused, and resources can be used effectively.

1 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing an overall configuration of an image forming apparatus to which a toner cartridge having a connector according to an embodiment of the present invention is mounted. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a control unit that controls the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1. 1 is a perspective view showing a toner cartridge provided with a connector according to an embodiment of the present invention and a developing device to which the toner cartridge is mounted. FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a series of control flows performed by a control unit of the image forming apparatus when a toner cartridge including a connector according to an embodiment of the present invention is attached to a developing device. 1 is a perspective view of a connector according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the connector shown in FIG. 5. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the connector shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the connector shown in FIG. It is a perspective view of the connector which concerns on the modification of embodiment of this invention. FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view of the connector shown in FIG. 9. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the connector shown in FIG.

  The connector according to the present invention is a connector that is provided in the toner cartridge and is electrically connected to the image forming apparatus when the toner cartridge is mounted on the image forming apparatus, and stores information related to the toner cartridge. A substrate member on which an element is mounted and an electrical contact portion for electrically connecting the storage element and the image forming apparatus is formed; and a housing member on which the substrate member is detachably mounted and fixed to the toner cartridge. To do.

In the connector according to the present invention, the toner cartridge is not particularly limited, but means a container configured to store toner for the purpose of supplying toner to the image forming apparatus and to be detachable from the image forming apparatus. To do.
Here, the image forming apparatus is not particularly limited, but a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile apparatus, a composite apparatus that forms an image on a recording medium by an electrophotographic method or an electrostatic recording method using a photoreceptor and toner. It means the entire image forming apparatus such as a printer.

The housing member means a connector housing fixed to the toner cartridge, and its structure and material are not particularly limited.
The substrate member includes a storage element that stores related information related to the toner cartridge, and an electrical contact portion that is electrically connected to the image forming apparatus when the toner cartridge is mounted on the image forming apparatus. It means a formed substrate, and various electronic circuits and electronic components other than the memory element may be provided on the substrate.

The related information related to the toner cartridge is not particularly limited, but includes, for example, both general information common to toner cartridges of the same type and information specific to each toner cartridge. In the present invention, rewritable electronic information and non-rewritable electronic information are stored in the storage element.
Information included in the related information can be broadly classified into, for example, specific information, history information, and recycling information.
Here, as the unique information, for example, information such as the product number, the content, the color of the contained toner, the lot number, the date of manufacture, and the manufacturer can be cited. Some or all of these are stored in the storage element as electronic information that cannot be rewritten.
Examples of the history information include information such as toner remaining amount, use start time, and actual use time.
Examples of the recycling information include information such as the number of times of recycling, the date of recycling, and the collection company. These history information and recycling information are usually stored in the storage element as rewritable electronic information.
Such related information mainly includes (1) alerting to the use of non-genuine toner cartridges, (2) prediction of toner cartridge replacement timing, (3) prevention of recycling exceeding the upper limit, (4) It is stored for the purpose of tracking investigation when defective products occur.

In the connector according to the present invention, the housing member may have a mounting portion for positioning and mounting the board member, and the mounting portion may have a rib in contact with the edge of the board member.
According to such a configuration, since the mounting portion has the rib in contact with the edge of the substrate member, positioning when mounting the substrate member on the mounting portion of the housing member is facilitated.

  In the above configuration in which the housing member has the mounting portion, the mounting portion is configured to releasably engage with a part of the substrate member, and to maintain the engagement between the substrate member and the engaging portion. There may be provided a biasing member for biasing and a notch formed by notching a part of the rib so as to expose a part of the edge of the substrate member to the outside of the housing member.

According to such a configuration, since the engagement between the substrate member and the engaging portion is maintained by the urging of the urging member, the engagement relationship with the substrate member can be released only by the engaging portion. This mechanism, for example, an elastically deformable claw that can be releasably engaged with a part of the substrate member, is eliminated, and the structure of the engaging portion is simplified.
Further, since the engagement between the substrate member and the engaging portion is maintained by the urging of the urging member, the edge of the substrate member exposed from the notch is operated to resist the urging of the urging member. When the substrate member is moved, the engagement between the substrate member and the engaging portion can be released, and the substrate member can be easily detached from the mounting portion.
Also, since the operation to remove the board member is an operation to move the board member against the urging force of the urging member, the operation feeling is easy for the operator to understand, and the housing member and the board member are damaged due to unreasonable removal. Can also be prevented.

In the above configuration in which the mounting portion has the biasing member and the notch portion, the substrate member is a square having side edges facing each other and front and rear edges facing each other, and the ribs are formed on both side edges and front edges of the substrate member. It may be provided so that it may touch.
According to such a configuration, since the ribs are in contact with both side edges and the front edge of the rectangular substrate member, the substrate member can be positioned with high accuracy.

  In the above-described configuration in which the substrate member is square and the ribs are provided so as to contact the both side edges and the front edge of the substrate member, the engaging portions are two protruding from the ribs so as to cover both ends of the front edge of the substrate member. The urging member may be configured to urge the rear edge of the substrate member such that both ends of the front edge of the substrate member engage with the pressing piece.

  According to such a configuration, the engaging portion made of two pressing pieces is provided on the front edge side of the substrate member, and the urging member for urging the rear edge is provided on the rear edge side of the substrate member. The substrate member and the mounting portion can be engaged or disengaged by a simple and easy operation of sliding the substrate member toward the front edge or the rear edge.

  That is, when the substrate member is mounted on the mounting portion, the substrate member is placed on the mounting portion while pressing the trailing edge of the substrate member against the biasing member, and then the substrate member is moved according to the biasing of the biasing member. When the mounting portion is slid toward the front edge, both ends of the front edge of the board member engage with the two pressing pieces, respectively, and the board member is fixed at that position.

  On the other hand, when removing the board member from the mounting portion, after the board member is slid toward the rear edge against the bias of the biasing member, the engagement between both ends of the front edge and the two pressing pieces is released. When the front edge of the substrate member is lifted while pressing the rear edge of the substrate member against the biasing member, the substrate member is detached from the mounting portion, and the substrate member can be removed.

  As described above, the attachment / detachment of the substrate member is performed according to the urging of the urging member or by the operation of sliding the substrate member on the mounting portion against the urging member. However, it is very easy for the operator to understand and has excellent workability. In addition, since the operational feeling is easy to understand, damage to the housing member and the substrate member due to excessive attachment and detachment is also prevented.

In the above configuration in which the engaging portion includes two pressing pieces that engage with both ends of the front edge of the substrate member, and the urging member urges the rear edge of the substrate member, the notch portion is one of both side edges of the substrate member. Each part may be formed so as to be exposed.
According to such a configuration, the substrate member can be removed by operating a part of both side edges of the substrate member exposed from the notch, and the workability is excellent.
When operating part of both side edges, the part may be directly gripped by the operator's hand, or a jig suitable for operating part of both side edges may be used.

In the above-described configuration in which the engaging portion includes two pressing pieces that engage with both ends of the front edge of the board member, and the biasing member biases the rear edge of the board member, the notch is the center of the front edge of the board member. May be formed so as to be exposed.
According to such a structure, the removal operation of the substrate member can be performed by operating the center of the front edge of the substrate member exposed from the notch, and the workability is excellent.
When operating the center of the front edge, the center part may be directly gripped by the operator's hand, or a jig suitable for operating the center part may be used.

In the connector according to the present invention, the electrical contact portion includes a plurality of elongated contact terminals extending from the storage element onto the substrate member, and the plurality of contact terminals are arranged in a connection direction in which their longitudinal directions are connected to the image forming apparatus. And arranged in parallel on the substrate member.
According to such a configuration, since the plurality of contact terminals are arranged on one plane of the substrate member, the configuration of the substrate member is simpler than the case where the contact terminals are arranged on a plurality of surfaces. Thus, it can be easily mounted on the housing member.
In addition, since the plurality of contact terminals are arranged on the substrate member so that their longitudinal directions are arranged in parallel along the connection direction connected to the image forming apparatus, the contact terminals can be smoothly connected to the image forming apparatus.

From another point of view, the present invention also provides a toner cartridge having the above-described connector according to the present invention.
According to the toner cartridge of the present invention, the same effect as that obtained with the above-described connector of the present invention can be obtained.
That is, prior to recycling of the toner cartridge, the substrate member on which the storage element is mounted and the electrical contact portion is formed can be easily removed. When the toner cartridge reaches the upper limit of the number of times of recycling, the substrate member is removed. Can be reused.
Also, by providing the image forming apparatus with relevant information on toner cartridges stored in the storage element, various notices such as alerting the use of non-genuine toner cartridges, preventing mis-installation of non-compliant toner cartridges, and managing the number of recycling Can produce various effects.

  From another point of view, the present invention is an image forming apparatus in which the above-described toner cartridge according to the present invention is detachably mounted, and includes an image forming unit that forms an image according to image information, and an image forming unit. A sheet conveying unit that conveys the sheet, and a control unit that controls the image forming unit and the sheet conveying unit, and the image forming unit is electrically connected to a connector of the toner cartridge when the toner cartridge is mounted; The control unit also provides an image forming apparatus that reads information related to the toner cartridge from the connector and writes information to be updated or added to the connector.

  According to the above image forming apparatus of the present invention, the control unit reads information related to the mounted toner cartridge from the connector, and writes information to be updated or added to the connector, so that the non-genuine toner cartridge can be used. Various effects such as alerting, prevention of erroneous mounting of a non-conforming toner cartridge, and management of the number of times the toner cartridge is recycled can be achieved.

  Hereinafter, an image forming apparatus to which a toner cartridge having a connector according to an embodiment of the present invention is mounted will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

Overall structure and operation Figure 1 is an explanatory view schematically showing an overall configuration of an image forming apparatus in which the toner cartridge provided with a connector according to an embodiment of the present invention is mounted in the image forming apparatus, FIG. 2 is shown in Figure 1 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a control unit that controls the image forming apparatus. FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, an image forming apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention is a color laser printer that records a color image on a recording sheet, and an image forming unit 10 that forms an image according to image information; Mainly composed of a sheet conveying unit 20 that conveys a sheet to the image forming unit, and a control unit 40 (see FIG. 2) that controls the image forming unit 10 and the sheet conveying unit 20.
The image forming unit 10 includes an exposure unit 1, image forming stations Pa, Pb, Pc, Pd, an intermediate transfer belt unit 2, a fixing unit 3, and the like.
On the other hand, the paper transport unit 20 includes a paper transport device 4, a paper feed tray 5, a paper discharge tray 6, and the like.

  In this image forming apparatus 100, recording sheets are stacked and accommodated in the paper feed tray 5, pulled out from the paper feed tray 5 one by one by the pickup roller 7-1, and transferred to the registration roller 8 by the transport roller 4-1. It is conveyed. Alternatively, the recording paper is placed on the manual feed tray 9, pulled out by the pickup roller 7-2, and conveyed to the registration roller 8 by the conveyance rollers 4-6 to 4-4.

The registration roller 8 temporarily stops the recording paper, aligns the leading edge of the recording paper, and records at the timing when the leading edge of the recording paper overlaps the leading edge of the toner image formed on the intermediate transfer belt 11 of the intermediate transfer belt unit 2. The sheet is conveyed to the secondary transfer roller 33.
The image forming stations Pa to Pd respectively form black (K), cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y) toner images, and transfer the toner images of the respective colors to the intermediate transfer belt of the intermediate transfer belt unit 2. 11 is transferred.
These image forming stations Pa to Pd include developing devices 21a, 21b, 21c, and 21d, toner cartridges 22a, 22b, 22c, and 22d, photosensitive drums 23a, 23b, 23c, and 23d, and chargers 24a, 24b, 24c, and 24d. And cleaner units 25a, 25b, 25c, 25d and the like.

The photosensitive drums 23a to 23d are respectively pressed by the primary transfer rollers 26a, 26b, 26c, and 26d via the intermediate transfer belt 11, and have the same peripheral speed as the intermediate transfer belt 11 that rotates and moves in the moving direction B. The intermediate transfer belt 11 is rotated. The primary transfer rollers 26 a to 26 d also rotate following the intermediate transfer belt 11 at the same peripheral speed as the intermediate transfer belt 11 that rotates and moves in the movement direction B.
The chargers 24a to 24d are of a roller type, a brush type, or a charger type that come into contact with the photosensitive drums 23a to 23d, respectively, and uniformly charge the surfaces of the photosensitive drums 23a to 23d.

The exposure unit 1 includes a laser light source 1a that emits laser light to the photosensitive drums 23a to 23d, and a plurality of mirrors 1b that guide the emitted laser light to the photosensitive drums 23a to 23d, respectively. The laser beams are irradiated to the surfaces of the photosensitive drums 23a to 23d while modulating the respective laser beams according to the image data, thereby forming electrostatic latent images on the surfaces of the photosensitive drums 23a to 23d, respectively.
As the exposure unit 1, a write head in which light emitting elements such as EL and LED are arranged in an array may be used.

  The toner cartridges 22a to 22d contain black, yellow, magenta, and cyan toners, respectively. Toners 21a to 21d are supplied with toner from toner cartridges 22a to 22d, respectively. The developing units 21a to 21d attach the toners of the respective colors to the electrostatic latent images on the surfaces of the photosensitive drums 23a to 23d to form the toner images of the respective colors on the surfaces of the photosensitive drums 23a to 23d. The toner images of these colors are transferred from the photoconductive drums 23a to 23d to the intermediate transfer belt 11 and superimposed.

  The intermediate transfer belt unit 2 includes an intermediate transfer belt 11, primary transfer rollers 26a to 26d, a driving support roller 31, a driven support roller 32, a secondary transfer roller 33, and the like. The driving support roller 31 and the driven support roller 32 are stretched so that the intermediate transfer belt 11 can be rotated. The primary transfer rollers 26 a to 26 d and the secondary transfer roller 33 are pressed against the stretched intermediate transfer belt 11. Yes.

The intermediate transfer belt 11 is formed of a synthetic resin film having a thickness of about 100 to 150 μm, for example. The secondary transfer roller 33 is supported so as to be movable in the left-right direction in the drawing, and when it is moved rightward, the intermediate transfer belt 11 is sandwiched between it and the drive support roller 31 to form a nip region.
The drive support roller 31 is rotationally driven while serving as a backup roller for pressing the intermediate transfer belt 11 against the secondary transfer roller 33, and each nip area between the primary transfer rollers 26a to 26d and the photosensitive drums 23a to 23d is provided. The intermediate transfer belt 11 is rotationally moved in the movement direction B so as to sequentially move to the downstream side. Thereby, each nip area is stably maintained.

In order to more stably form the nip areas between the primary transfer rollers 26a to 26d and the photosensitive drums 23a to 23d, either the primary transfer rollers 26a to 26d or the photosensitive drums 23a to 23d are used. Is preferably made of a hard material and the other is made of an elastic material.
For example, the primary transfer rollers 26a to 26d are formed by coating the outer periphery of a metal shaft having a diameter of 8 to 10 mm with a conductive elastic material (EPDM, urethane foam, or the like).
The primary transfer rollers 26a to 26d have a bias voltage opposite in polarity to the toner charging polarity in a state where the intermediate transfer belt 11 is sandwiched in the nip region between the primary transfer rollers 26a to 26d and the photosensitive drums 23a to 23d. Is applied.

The electric field generated by the application of the bias voltage acts on the toner on the surfaces of the photosensitive drums 23a to 23d via the intermediate transfer belt 11, and the toner on the surfaces of the photosensitive drums 23a to 23d is attracted to the intermediate transfer belt 11 and transferred. The As a result, the toner images of the respective colors are transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 11 and superimposed.
A brush or the like may be used as the primary transfer rollers 26a to 26d instead of the rollers.

The cleaning unit 34 is, for example, a cleaning blade that is in sliding contact with the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 11 and removes toner remaining on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 11 to prevent fogging of an image to be printed next time.
The multicolor (color) toner image transferred and superimposed on the intermediate transfer belt 11 in this way is conveyed to the nip region between the drive support roller 31 and the secondary transfer roller 33 as the intermediate transfer belt 11 rotates.
At this time, the registration roller 8 conveys the recording sheet to the nip area at a timing when the leading edge of the multicolor toner image conveyed to the nip area coincides with the leading edge of the recording sheet, and the multicolor toner image is transferred to the recording sheet. The

Next, the recording paper is conveyed to the fixing unit 3 where it is sandwiched between the pressure roller 3a and the heating roller 3b. As a result, the multicolor toner image on the recording paper is heated and melted and fixed as a color image on the recording paper.
Thereafter, the recording paper is discharged to the paper discharge tray 6 by the paper transport device 4 and is placed on the paper discharge tray 6 by a face-down method with the image forming surface facing downward.

  Note that it is also possible to form a monochrome image using only the image forming station Pa and transfer the monochrome image to the intermediate transfer belt 11 of the intermediate transfer belt unit 2. Similarly to the color image, this monochrome image is also transferred from the intermediate transfer belt 11 to the recording paper and fixed on the recording paper.

  When printing on both sides of the recording paper as well as on both sides, the toner image transferred on the surface of the recording paper is fixed by the fixing unit 3, and then the recording paper is discharged by the transport roller 4-3. In the middle of being conveyed toward the tray 6, the conveying roller 4-3 is stopped and then reversely rotated, the recording sheet is passed through the reversing path 4 r, the front and back are reversed, and then guided to the registration roller 8. Similarly to the image formation, the toner image is transferred and fixed on the back surface of the recording paper, and the recording paper is discharged to the paper discharge tray 6.

  Although not shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 100 includes a control unit that integrally controls the whole. As shown in FIG. 2, the control unit 40 includes a CPU 41 that performs arithmetic processing, a ROM 42 that stores a control program executed by the CPU 41, a RAM 43 that provides a work area to the CPU 41, and various types of the image forming apparatus 100 under the control of the CPU 41. It is a microcomputer comprising an I / O port 44 that inputs and outputs sensors and control signals, a driver circuit 45 that drives various drive units provided in the image forming apparatus 100 under the control of the CPU 41, and the like. 1 and the image forming apparatus 100 including the image forming stations Pa to Pd are comprehensively controlled.

Constitution of toner cartridge The toner cartridges 22a to 22d are detachably attached to the image forming stations Pa to Pd. Specifically, the toner cartridges 22a to 22d are detachably attached to the developing devices 21a to 21d of the image forming stations Pa to Pd, respectively. Will be.
Hereinafter, the toner cartridges 22a to 22d will be described. Since the toner cartridges 22a to 22d have a common configuration, the toner cartridge 22a will be described as an example.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the toner cartridge and the developing device to which the toner cartridge is mounted according to the embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 3, the toner cartridge 22a that accommodates toner is provided with a connector 60 having a storage element 81 (see FIG. 6).
The storage element 81 of the connector 60 alerts the user to use a non-genuine toner cartridge, prevents erroneous mounting of a wrong color toner cartridge, predicts the replacement timing of the toner cartridge 22a, prevents recycling beyond the upper limit, and defective products. For the purpose of follow-up investigation or the like when this occurs, related information related to the toner cartridge 22a is stored as electronic information.

The related information can be broadly divided into three types: specific information, history information, and recycling information. Specific information includes information such as product number, content, toner color, lot number, date of manufacture, manufacturer, etc. included.
Further, the history information includes information such as the remaining amount of toner, use start time, actual use time, toner end time, accumulated use amount data (for example, total accumulated print number), and the like.
The recycling information includes information such as the number of times of recycling, the date of recycling, and the collection company.

As shown in FIG. 3, when the toner cartridge 22a is attached to the developing device 21a, the toner discharge port 51 of the toner cartridge 22a and the toner receiving port 52 of the developing device 21a coincide with each other so that toner can be supplied. The connector 60 provided in the toner cartridge 22a is electrically connected to the connected portion 53 provided in the developing device 21a.
Although not shown, a shutter member is provided at the toner discharge port 51 of the toner cartridge 22a and the toner receiving port 52 of the developing device 21a, and the shutter member opens only when the toner cartridge 22a is attached to the developing device 21a. The discharge port 51 and the toner receiving port 52 communicate with each other.

A series of control flows performed by the control unit 40 (see FIG. 2) when the toner cartridge 22a is attached to the developing device 21a will be described based on the flowchart shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 4, when the toner cartridge 22a is attached to the developing device 21a (step S1), the control unit 40 stores the above-described relation stored in the storage element 81 via the connected portion 53 of the developing device 21a. The information is read (step S2), it is determined whether or not the mounted toner cartridge 22a is a genuine product that conforms to the model (step S3), and if it is determined that the toner cartridge 22a is a non-genuine product that does not conform to the model, A warning is issued to prompt the user to replace with a compatible genuine toner cartridge 22a (step S4). Alternatively, although not shown in the flowchart, instead of step S4 for alerting, a step for confirming the user's intention may be provided, and if the user wants to use it, a non-genuine product may be used as it is. . In this case, since there is a high possibility that the storage element is also a non-genuine product that does not conform to the model, the steps after step S5 are omitted, and the toner end is detected by, for example, a magnetic permeability sensor of the developing cartridge.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S3 that it is a genuine product that conforms to the model, it is determined whether or not the wrong color toner cartridge 22a is erroneously mounted (step S5), and the wrong color toner cartridge is determined. If it is determined that the toner cartridge 22a is attached, a warning is issued to attach the correct color toner cartridge 22a (step S6).

  If it is determined in step S5 that the correct color toner cartridge 22a is installed, the lot number of the currently installed toner cartridge 22a is compared with the lot number of the toner cartridge 22a that has been installed so far. (Step S7) If the lot numbers are different, it is determined that a new toner cartridge 22a has been installed, and the storage device 81 of the connector 60 has the use start time, actual use time (ie, zero), and remaining toner amount (ie, full). Initial information is written through the connected portion 53 (step S8).

Further, while the image forming apparatus 100 is in operation, the information on the actual use time is updated every predetermined time (for example, 1 hour), and cumulative use is performed every time a predetermined number of sheets (for example, 100 sheets) are printed. The amount data is updated, and information on the remaining amount of toner is updated every time toner is supplied from the toner cartridge 22a to the developing device 21a (step S9).
When it is determined that the information on the remaining amount of toner has become equal to or less than the predetermined amount (step S10), it is determined that the toner cartridge 22a needs to be replaced soon, and the user is alerted to urge the user to prepare a new toner cartridge ( Step S11). If the remaining toner information indicates empty, it is determined that the toner has been consumed (step S12), the toner end timing information is written in the storage element 81 (step S13), and the series of flows is terminated.

Construction of the connector will now be described in detail the structure of the connector.
5 is a perspective view of the connector according to the embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the connector shown in FIG. 5, FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the connector shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the connector shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the connector 60 according to the embodiment of the present invention is a board member including a board 82 on which a storage element 81 that stores related information related to the toner cartridge 22 a (see FIG. 3) is mounted. 80 and a housing member 70 on which the substrate member 80 is detachably mounted and fixed to the toner cartridge 22a.

As shown in FIG. 6, the board member 80 has a square shape having a front edge 82a and a rear edge 82b facing each other and side edges 82c and 82d facing each other, and serves as an electrical contact portion on the front edge 82a side. Four contact terminals 83a, 83b, 83c, 83d are formed, and the memory element 81 is mounted on the rear edge 82b side.
Contact terminals 83 a, 83 b, 83 c, 83 d formed on the front edge 82 a side of the substrate member 80 and a storage element 81 mounted on the rear edge 82 b side of the substrate member 80 are formed on the surface of the substrate 82 (not shown). They are electrically connected by a circuit.

The front edge 82a of the substrate member 80 on which the contact terminals 83a, 83b, 83c, and 83d are formed becomes the tip of the substrate member 80 when the connector 60 of the toner cartridge 22a is connected to the connected portion 53 of the developing device 21a. The contact terminals 83a, 83b, 83c, and 83d are arranged in parallel along the connection direction C (see FIG. 3) connected to the connected portion 53.
Although not shown in the drawing, similar contact terminals are formed on the connected portion 53, and when the connector 60 is connected to the connected portion 53, the contact terminals 83a, 83b, 83c, 83d formed on the board member 80 are connected. The contact terminals of the part 53 are electrically connected to each other.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the housing member 70 has a mounting portion 71 for positioning and mounting the substrate member 80. The mounting portion 71 has a shape corresponding to the substrate member 80, and ribs 72 are erected on the periphery thereof so as to define the region of the mounting portion 71. The rib 72 includes a front edge portion 73 that contacts the front edge 82a of the substrate member 80 when the substrate member 80 is mounted on the mounting portion 71, and side edge portions 74 that contact the side edges 82c and 82d of the substrate member 80, respectively. 75. The front edge portion 73 is a portion that becomes the tip of the connector 60 when the connector 60 is connected to the connected portion 53.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 7, the rear edge 82 b of the board member 80 to be mounted is located at the back of the mounting portion 71 from the front edge portion 73 in the direction opposite to the connection direction C (see FIG. 3). A leaf spring 76 is provided as an elastic member that urges toward 82a.
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 8, the substrate member 80 is placed on the mounting portion 71 while pressing the rear edge 82 b of the substrate member 80 against the leaf spring 76, and then the substrate member 80 is moved according to the urging force of the leaf spring 76. When sliding on the mounting portion 71, the front edge 82 a of the substrate member 80 abuts on the front edge portion 73 of the rib 72, and the substrate member 80 is positioned on the mounting portion 71.
The elastic member may be any elastic member that can be elastically deformed and can urge the substrate member 80. For example, a coil spring or a sponge can be used in addition to the plate spring 76 as in the present embodiment.

Here, as shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, the two pressing pieces 77 as the engaging portions cover both ends of the front edge 82 a of the board member 80 at both ends of the front edge portion 73 of the rib 72. Are formed respectively.
For this reason, if the board | substrate member 80 is mounted on the mounting part 71 as mentioned above and it slides on the mounting part 71 and the front edge 82a contact | abuts to the front edge part 73 of the rib 72, both ends of the front edge 82a will become. Dive under the holding piece 77.
As a result, both ends of the front edge 82a of the substrate member 80 are engaged with the two pressing pieces 77 extending from the front edge portion 73 of the rib 72, and the substrate member 80 is fixed in a positioned state.
In this state, since the plate spring 76 continues to urge the rear edge 82b of the substrate member 80 toward the front edge 82a, the substrate member 80 is not moved unless the substrate member 80 is moved against the urge of the plate spring 76. The engagement between both ends of the front edge 82a and the pressing piece 77 is maintained.

When the board member 80 is thus mounted on the mounting portion 71 of the housing member 70 and the connector 60 is assembled, the storage element 81 of the board member 80 is in the space S (see FIG. 7) provided in the housing member 70. Contained and protected from dust and impact.
The assembled connector 60 is attached to the toner cartridge 22a by screwing using a screw hole (not shown) formed on the surface of the housing member 70 that contacts the toner cartridge 22a (see FIG. 3). .

The connector 60 may be mounted on the toner cartridge 22a after being assembled as described above, or only the housing member 70 may be mounted on the toner cartridge 22a in advance.
Further, the method of attaching the housing member 70 to the toner cartridge 22a is not limited to the screwing as described above, and the housing member 70 may be attached using an adhesive or a double-sided tape. Further, the toner cartridge 22a and the housing member 70 may be integrally formed.

As described above, the connector 60 attached to the toner cartridge 22a is connected to the connected portion 53 of the developing device 21a when the toner cartridge 22a is detachably attached to the developing device 21a of the image forming apparatus 100.
At this time, the rib 72 of the mounting portion 71 is formed so that the thickness of the front edge portion 73 that first contacts the connected portion 53 is gradually reduced toward the connection direction C (see FIG. 3). Since both ends of the portion 73 are formed with rounded corners, the connector 60 is smoothly connected to the connected portion 53 without being caught by the connected portion 53.

On the other hand, when removing the board member 80 from the mounting portion 71, a procedure reverse to the mounting procedure is performed.
Here, as shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, a part of the side edges 82 c and 82 d of the board member 80 mounted on the mounting portion 71 is formed on the side edge portions 74 and 75 of the rib 72. Two cutout portions 78 formed by cutting out part of the side edge portions 74 and 75 so as to be exposed to the outside are respectively formed.

Then, in order to remove the board member 80 from the housing member 70, after gripping part of the side edges 82c and 82d of the board member 80 exposed from the notch 78 using a jig or the like, as shown in FIG. The board member 80 is slid on the mounting portion 71 toward the rear edge 82b against the urging of the leaf spring 76, and the engagement between the both ends of the front edge 82a and the pressing piece 77 is released.
Thereafter, when the front edge 82a side of the board member 80 is lifted while the rear edge 82b of the board member 80 is pressed against the leaf spring 76, the board member 80 is detached from the mounting portion 71, and the removal of the board member 80 is completed.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the substrate member 80 is attached / detached according to the urging of the leaf spring 76 or by the operation of sliding the substrate member 80 on the mounting portion 71 against the urging of the leaf spring 76. Therefore, the attachment / detachment is very easy. In addition, the operational feeling is very easy for the operator to understand and the workability is excellent. Further, since the operational feeling is easy to understand, damage to the housing member 70 and the substrate member 80 due to excessive attachment / detachment is also prevented.
Further, part of the side edges 82c and 82d of the board member 80 are exposed to the outside of the housing member 70 from the notch 78, and part of the side edges 82c and 82d exposed from the notch 78 is operated from the outside. As a result, the substrate member 80 can be removed from the mounting portion 71, so that only the substrate member 80 can be removed without removing the connector 60 from the toner cartridge 22 a.

For this reason, when recycling the used toner cartridge 22, only the substrate member 80 on which the storage element 81 is mounted can be easily removed in advance, and the storage element 81 due to the static electricity generated during the recycling operation being discharged at once. Can be prevented.
Further, by removing the substrate member 80 in advance prior to recycling, the contact terminals 83a, 83b, 83c, 83d can be prevented from being contaminated by toner scattered during the recycling operation, and the contact terminals 83a, 83b, 83c, 83d can be prevented. It is possible to prevent poor connection due to contamination.

Next, modifications of the connector according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 is a perspective view of a connector according to a modification, FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view of the connector shown in FIG. 9, and FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the connector shown in FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 9 to 11, the connector 160 according to the modification is obtained by modifying the rib 72 of the mounting portion 71 of the connector 60 according to the above-described embodiment.
That is, in the above-described embodiment, the cutout portions 78 are formed in the side edge portions 74 and 75 of the rib 72 of the mounting portion 71, but the connector 160 according to the modified example is a front edge portion of the rib 172 of the mounting portion 171. A cutout portion 178 is formed in 173, and the cutout portion is eliminated from the side edge portions 174 and 175.

  Accordingly, when removing the substrate member 80, a part of the front edge 82a of the substrate member 80 exposed from the notch 178 formed in the front edge portion 173 is pressed toward the rear edge 82b of the substrate member 80 and pressed. A simple operation of lifting the front edge 82a side of the substrate member 80 while releasing the engagement with the piece 177 is sufficient, and the workability is further improved.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Exposure unit 1a Laser light source 1b Mirror 2 Intermediate transfer belt unit 3 Fixing unit 3a Pressure roller 3b Heating roller 4 Paper conveyance device 4-1, 4-2, 4-3, 4-4, 4-5, 4-6 , 4-7, 4-8 Transport roller 5 Paper feed tray 6 Paper discharge tray 7-1, 7-2 Pickup roller 8 Registration roller 9 Manual feed tray 10 Image forming section 11 Intermediate transfer belt 20 Paper transport section 21a, 21b, 21c , 21d Developer 22a, 22b, 22c, 22d Toner cartridge 23a, 23b, 23c, 23d Photosensitive drum 24a, 24b, 24c, 24d Charger 25a, 25b, 25c, 25d Cleaner unit 26a, 26b, 26c, 26d Primary Transfer roller 31 Drive support roller 32 Driven support roller 33 Secondary transfer roller 3 Cleaning unit 40 control unit 41 CPU
42 ROM
43 RAM
44 I / O port 45 Driver circuit 51 Toner discharge port 52 Toner receiving port 53 Connected part 60, 160 Connector 70, 170 Housing member 71, 171 Mount part 72, 172 Rib 73, 173 Front edge part 74, 75, 174 175 Side edge portion 76 Leaf spring 77, 177 Presser piece 78, 178 Notch portion 80 Substrate member 81 Memory element 82 Substrate 82a Front edge 82b Rear edge 82c, 82d Side edge 83a, 83b, 83c, 83d Contact terminal 100 Image forming apparatus Pa, Pb, Pc, Pd Image forming station S space

Claims (8)

A connector that is provided in a toner cartridge and is electrically connected to the image forming apparatus when the toner cartridge is mounted on the image forming apparatus, and includes a storage element that stores related information related to the toner cartridge. A substrate member having an electrical contact portion for electrically connecting the image forming apparatus and the image forming apparatus, and a housing member that is detachably mounted on the substrate member and fixed to the toner cartridge . The housing member positions the substrate member. A mounting portion to be mounted; the mounting portion has a rib in contact with an edge of the substrate member; the mounting portion includes an engaging portion that releasably engages with a portion of the substrate member; and the substrate member and the engaging portion. A biasing member that biases the board member so that the engagement of the board member is maintained, and a notch formed by notching a part of the rib so as to expose a part of the edge of the board member to the outside of the housing member Connector; and a-away portion. 2. The substrate member according to claim 1 , wherein the substrate member has a rectangular shape having side edges facing each other and front and rear edges facing each other, and the ribs are provided so as to contact both side edges and the front edge of the substrate member. Connector. The engaging portion is composed of two pressing pieces projecting from the ribs so as to cover both ends of the front edge of the board member, and the biasing member is a board so that both ends of the front edge of the board member are engaged with the pressing pieces, respectively. The connector according to claim 2 , wherein a rear edge of the member is biased. The connector according to claim 3 , wherein the notch is formed so as to expose part of both side edges of the board member. The connector according to claim 3 , wherein the notch is formed so as to expose the center of the front edge of the board member. The electrical contact portion includes a plurality of elongated contact terminals extending from the memory element onto the substrate member, and the plurality of contact terminals are disposed on the substrate member along a connection direction in which the longitudinal direction is connected to the image forming apparatus. connector according to any one of claims 1-5, characterized in that disposed so as to line up in parallel. Toner cartridge, characterized in that it comprises a connector according to any one of claims 1-6. An image forming apparatus to which the toner cartridge according to claim 7 is detachably mounted, an image forming unit that forms an image according to image information, a paper transport unit that transports paper to the image forming unit, and an image A control unit that controls the forming unit and the sheet conveying unit, and the image forming unit is electrically connected to a connector of the toner cartridge when the toner cartridge is mounted, and the control unit is connected to the toner cartridge from the connector. An image forming apparatus that reads related information and writes information to be updated or added to the connector.

Images