CN115933343A

CN115933343A - Consumable, consumable chip and image forming apparatus

Info

Publication number: CN115933343A
Application number: CN202211584950.4A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 卜富伟; 尹爱国; 邵哲
Original assignee: Zhuhai Pantum Electronics Co Ltd
Current assignee: Zhuhai Pantum Electronics Co Ltd
Priority date: 2022-12-09
Filing date: 2022-12-09
Publication date: 2023-04-07

Abstract

The application relates to a consumable, a consumable chip and an image forming apparatus, wherein, the consumable is detachably installed on the image forming apparatus body, just the consumable includes: an imaging member; the imaging component is connected with a conductive contact which is used for receiving the power supply of a power supply module; the consumable chip comprises an electric contact, the electric contact comprises a power contact and a communication contact, and the communication contact is electrically connected with a communication pin on the side of the image forming device body when the consumable is installed on the image forming device body; and a conductive unit for electrically connecting the conductive contact with the power supply contact. The embodiment of the application can save the cost of structural design of the image forming device.

Description

Consumable, consumable chip and image forming apparatus

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of image forming, in particular to consumables and an image forming device.

Background

In the related art, consumables in the form of, for example, a toner cartridge or the like are detachably mounted in image forming apparatuses such as printers, copiers, and the like. Generally all install the consumptive material chip on the consumptive material, be equipped with the contact on the consumptive material chip, when the consumptive material was installed on the image forming device body, the contact on the consumptive material chip was connected with the pin of this side of image forming device to can realize the communication between consumptive material chip and the this side of image forming device.

However, the inventor of the present application found in research that, with the development of technology, the type of consumable materials may be gradually changed, for example, the integrated processing cartridge is changed to a split processing cartridge, or the number of consumable materials is gradually increased, the total number of contacts on the consumable material side is gradually increased, accordingly, for normal communication, more and more pins also need to be provided on the image forming apparatus body side, so that the structure on the image forming apparatus body side is larger and more complex.

Disclosure of Invention

Embodiments of the present invention provide a consumable and an image forming apparatus, which can reduce the number of pins on a body side of the image forming apparatus for electrically connecting with the consumable, and save the cost of structural design of the image forming apparatus.

In a first aspect, the present application provides a consumable detachably mountable to an image forming apparatus body, comprising:

an imaging member;

the imaging component is connected with a conductive contact which is used for receiving power supply of a power supply module;

the consumable chip comprises an electric contact, the electric contact comprises a power contact and a communication contact, and the communication contact is electrically connected with a communication pin on the side of the image forming device body when the consumable is installed on the image forming device body;

and a conductive unit for electrically connecting the conductive contact with the power supply contact.

With reference to the first aspect, in one possible implementation manner, the conductive unit includes a voltage regulating circuit, and the voltage regulating circuit is connected with the conductive contact and the power supply contact respectively.

With reference to the first aspect, in one possible implementation manner, the conductive unit is a wire.

With reference to the first aspect, in one possible implementation manner, the consumable chip includes a substrate, and the communication contact and the power supply contact are respectively located on different surfaces of the substrate; or the power contact and the communication contact are positioned on the same surface of the substrate, the power contact is positioned on one side of the substrate, and the communication contact is positioned on the other side of the substrate.

With reference to the first aspect, in one possible implementation manner, the consumable chip further includes:

the detection unit is connected with the conductive contact and is used for detecting whether the conductive contact acquires power supply;

and the chip control unit is used for acquiring a detection result of the detection unit after receiving a communication request sent by the image forming device body, not responding to the communication request when the detection result indicates that the conductive contact does not acquire power supply, and responding to the communication request when the detection result indicates that the conductive contact acquires power supply.

With reference to the first aspect, in one possible implementation manner, the imaging member includes any one of a charging roller, a developing roller, a powder feeding roller, and an image carrier for carrying developer when the image forming apparatus performs imaging.

With reference to the first aspect, in one possible implementation manner, when the imaging member is an image carrier for carrying developer in image formation of an image forming apparatus, the image carrier includes therein a conductive base body connected to the conductive contact.

In a second aspect, the present application provides a consumable chip, installed in a consumable, comprising:

a storage unit;

the electric contact comprises a power supply contact and a communication contact, and the communication contact is electrically connected with a communication pin on the side of the image forming device body when the consumable is installed on the image forming device body;

and the conductive unit is used for connecting the power supply contact with the conductive contact arranged on the consumable, wherein the conductive contact is electrically connected with the imaging component contained on the consumable and is used for receiving the power supply of the power supply unit when the consumable is installed on the image forming device body.

With reference to the second aspect, in one possible implementation manner, the conductive unit includes:

a voltage regulation circuit electrically connected to the conductive contact and the power contact, respectively.

With reference to the second aspect, in one possible implementation manner, the conductive unit is a wire.

With reference to the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the consumable chip includes a substrate, and the communication contact and the power contact are respectively located on different surfaces of the substrate, or the power contact and the communication contact are located on the same surface of the substrate, and the power contact is located on one side of the substrate, and the communication contact is located on the other side of the substrate.

With reference to the second aspect, in one possible implementation manner, the method further includes:

the detection unit is electrically connected with the conductive contact and used for detecting whether the conductive contact obtains power supply or not;

and the chip control unit is used for acquiring the detection result of the detection unit when receiving the communication request sent by the image forming device body, responding to the communication request when the detection result is that the conductive contact obtains power supply, and not responding to the communication request when the detection result is that the conductive contact does not obtain power supply.

In a third aspect, the present application provides a consumable detachably mountable to an image forming apparatus body, comprising an imaging member and the consumable chip of the second aspect, wherein the imaging member is connected to a conductive contact for receiving power supply from a power supply module.

With reference to the third aspect, in one possible implementation, the consumable includes a developer accommodating part.

With reference to the third aspect, in one possible implementation, the consumable is of a split structure, and includes a developing cartridge and a drum cartridge that are detachable from each other.

With reference to the third aspect, in one possible implementation manner, the consumable is of an integrated structure and includes a developer accommodating portion, a developing member, a developer conveying member, and a photosensitive member.

In a fourth aspect, the present application provides an image forming apparatus comprising:

an image forming unit for performing an image forming operation;

the conductive pins are used for electrically connecting conductive contacts arranged on the consumable when the consumable is installed in the image forming device, and the conductive contacts are respectively electrically connected with an imaging component and a consumable chip which are included by the consumable;

and the communication pin is used for being electrically connected with the communication contact contained in the consumable chip when the consumable is installed in the image forming device.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in one possible implementation manner, the method includes:

the switch circuit is electrically connected with the control module and the conductive pin respectively;

the control module is used for controlling the switching circuit to be in a conducting state or a cut-off state, when the switching circuit is in the cut-off state, the control module is used for sending a communication request to the consumable chip through the communication pin, and when response information corresponding to the communication request is received, the consumable is determined to be not in line with expectations.

In a fifth aspect, the present application provides an image forming apparatus including an image forming apparatus body and at least one consumable connected to each other detachably;

the consumable being a consumable according to the first aspect;

the image forming device body comprises a power supply module, a control module, a conductive pin and a communication pin; the power supply module is connected with the control module;

the conductive pins are used for being electrically connected with the conductive contacts when the consumable is installed on the image forming device body;

the communication pin is used for being electrically connected with the communication contact of the consumable chip when the consumable is installed on the image forming device body.

With reference to the second aspect, in one possible implementation, the consumables include consumables corresponding to four colors of black K, cyan C, magenta M, and yellow Y.

With reference to the fifth aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the image forming apparatus body further includes a switch circuit, and the switch circuit is respectively connected to the power supply module and the conductive pin;

the control module is used for controlling the switching circuit to be in a conducting state or a cut-off state, when the switching circuit is in the cut-off state, the control module is used for sending a communication request to the consumable chip through the communication pin, and when response information corresponding to the communication request is received, the consumable is determined to be not in line with expectation.

The utility model provides a consumptive material and image forming device, including formation of image component and consumptive material chip at the consumptive material end, the formation of image is found to be connected with conductive contact, when the consumptive material is installed on the image forming device body, the image forming device body passes through conductive contact and supplies power for formation of image component and consumptive material chip, the consumptive material chip just need not directly to hold lug connection with the image forming device body through the power contact like this, just need not the power pin that corresponds for the design of consumptive material chip at image forming device body end, thereby reduce the pin figure that image forming device body side is used for being connected with the consumptive material electricity, practice thrift image forming device structural design's cost.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings needed to be used in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious for those skilled in the art to obtain other drawings based on these drawings without inventive labor.

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 2a is a schematic structural diagram of a consumable according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 2b is a schematic structural diagram of a consumable according to another embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of an electrical connection structure of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of an electrical connection structure of another image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a consumable chip in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a partial structure of a consumable part in an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

For better understanding of the technical solutions of the present invention, the following detailed descriptions of the embodiments of the present invention are provided with reference to the accompanying drawings.

It should be understood that the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the invention, and not all embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

The terminology used in the embodiments of the invention is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used in the examples of the present invention and the appended claims, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

It should be understood that the term "and/or" as used herein is merely a relationship that describes an associated object, meaning that three relationships may exist, e.g., a and/or B, may represent: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. In addition, the character "/" herein generally indicates that the former and latter related objects are in an "or" relationship.

It should be understood that although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used to describe terminals in embodiments of the present invention, these terminals should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one terminal from another. For example, a first terminal may also be referred to as a second terminal, and similarly, a second terminal may also be referred to as a first terminal, without departing from the scope of embodiments of the present invention.

The word "if" as used herein may be interpreted as "at 8230; \8230;" or "when 8230; \8230;" or "in response to a determination" or "in response to a detection", depending on the context. Similarly, the phrases "if determined" or "if detected (a stated condition or event)" may be interpreted as "when determined" or "in response to a determination" or "when detected (a stated condition or event)" or "in response to a detection (a stated condition or event)", depending on the context.

The embodiment of the application provides an image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus may be used to perform image forming jobs, which may include, for example and without limitation, image generation, printing, receiving, and transmitting image data. In the embodiment of the present application, examples of the image forming apparatus include: an inkjet printer, a laser printer, an LED (Light Emitting Diode) printer, a copier, a scanner, or a multifunction Peripheral (MFP) that performs the above functions in a single device.

In the embodiment of the present application, the image forming apparatus includes a control module for controlling the entire image forming apparatus and an image processing module for forming an image on a medium such as a sheet of paper conveyed under the control of the control module based on image data.

The control module may be a System on Chip (SoC), which is a micro System and is configured to control an image forming processing operation of the image forming apparatus, such as processing of linear correction, noise reduction, dead pixel removal, detail enhancement, and the like on image data, so as to improve the quality of image output, and is further configured to perform processing operations related to data transceiving, command transceiving, and engine control for printing a portrait, such as transceiving data, a print engine control command, status, and the like through an interface unit (including but not limited to a USB port, a wired network port, a wireless network port, or other interfaces).

The image forming apparatus in the embodiment of the present application includes an image forming apparatus body. The consumable material may be, for example, a powder cartridge, a developing cartridge, a drum cartridge, and the like, and may be other components, parts, units, such as a paper cassette, and the like, of the image forming apparatus, which need to be easily damaged and replaced. The consumable can be detachably mounted on the image forming apparatus body. Generally, a consumable chip is disposed on the consumable, when the consumable is installed on the image forming apparatus body, the electrical contact on the consumable chip can be electrically connected to the control module in the image forming apparatus body by electrically connecting to the electrical contact on the image forming apparatus body side, and can communicate with the control module, for example, detect the amount of carbon powder and other materials or the working status of components, and transmit the data to the control module. In the embodiment of the present application, the electrical contact may be a structure in the form of a conductive plane, a conductive probe, a conductive coil, etc., and for convenience of distinction, the electrical contact on the body side is referred to as a pin, and the electrical contact on the consumable chip side is referred to as an electrical contact.

Referring to fig. 1, in the embodiment of the present application, a schematic view of a partial structure of an image forming apparatus is provided.

In fig. 1, as an example of an image forming apparatus, an image forming module of the image forming apparatus may include: a developer accommodating portion 11, a developing member 12, a developer conveying member 13, a photosensitive member 14, a transfer member 15, a fixing assembly 5 and the like, wherein a paper to be printed moves along a paper feeding direction, sequentially passes through a powder feeding operation of the developer conveying member 13 and a developing operation of the developing member 12, reaches a clamping area between the photosensitive member 14 and the transfer member 15 for transfer, and then passes through the fixing assembly 5 for fixing to complete an image forming operation, wherein the developer accommodating portion 11 is used for accommodating a developer which can be a material such as toner, carbon powder and the like; the developing member 12 includes: a developing roller, etc.; the developer conveying member 13 includes: powder feeding rollers and the like; the photosensitive member 14 includes: a photosensitive drum, a charging roller for charging the photosensitive drum, and the like.

Generally, at least one consumable is detachably installed in an image forming apparatus, and taking the image forming apparatus shown in fig. 1 as an example, the image forming apparatus is detachably installed with 4 consumables (the consumables 1, 2, 3 and 4,4 are respectively used for providing the developing agent of four colors of black K, cyan C, magenta M and yellow Y for the image forming apparatus shown in fig. 1), of course, in other embodiments, the number of the consumables installed in the image forming apparatus may be increased or decreased, for example, 5 or 6 or more or less, and the like, which is not limited by the present invention. The embodiment of the present application is preferably mainly applied to a scene in which the number of consumables installed in the image forming apparatus is greater than or equal to 2.

In the present embodiment, for the consumable on which the consumable chip is mounted, in an implementable manner, the consumable may include only the developer accommodating part 11. In other implementations, the consumable may be a split structure, such as: the consumable (1, 2, 3, or 4) includes a developing cartridge and a drum cartridge that are detachable from each other, wherein the developing cartridge includes a housing, a developer accommodating portion 11, a developing part 12, and/or a developer conveying member 13; and the drum cartridge includes a photosensitive member 14, i.e., a photosensitive drum and a charging roller. The developer container 11 is located in the housing and is used for containing developer, the developer conveying element 13 is used for conveying the developer to the developing part 12, and the developing part 12 is used for conveying the developer to the photosensitive drum, wherein the developer conveying element can be a powder feeding roller or other parts such as a powder pushing screw rod. In other implementations, the consumable may also be a unitary structure, such as: the consumable (1, 2, 3, or 4) includes the developer accommodating portion 11, the developing member 12, the developer conveying member 13, the photosensitive member 14, and the like at the same time.

Referring to fig. 2a, a consumable provided in the embodiments of the present application is shown.

Specifically, the consumable 100 in the embodiment of the present application, which is detachably mounted on the image forming apparatus body, includes:

an imaging member 101; the imaging member 101 is connected with a conductive contact 1011, and the conductive contact 1011 is used for receiving power supply of a power supply module; a consumable chip 102, the consumable chip 102 comprising electrical contacts including power contacts and communication contacts, the communication contacts being electrically connected to communication pins of the image forming apparatus body side when the consumable 100 is mounted on the image forming apparatus body;

and a conductive unit 103 for electrically connecting the conductive contact 1011 with the power supply contact.

In one possible implementation, the power supply template may be provided on the image forming apparatus body.

In the specific embodiment of the present application, the image forming member 101 includes any one of a charging roller, a developing roller, a powder feeding roller, and an image carrier for carrying developer at the time of image formation by the image forming apparatus. When the image forming member is an image carrier for carrying developer in image formation by the image forming apparatus, the image carrier includes a conductive substrate connected to the conductive contact, for example, the image forming member may be a photosensitive drum, and the conductive substrate may be a photosensitive drum conductive substrate.

In the embodiment of the present application, the imaging member 101 receives power supply of a power supply module, which may be a power supply module provided on the image forming apparatus body side, through the conductive contact 1011.

The consumable chip in the embodiment of the application comprises an electric contact, the electric contact comprises a power contact and a communication contact, the communication contact is electrically connected with a communication pin on the side of the image forming device body when the consumable is installed on the image forming device body, and the power contact is connected with a conductive contact of an imaging component through the conductive unit 103, so that the power contact of the consumable chip is not required to be connected with the side of the image forming device body, the side of the image forming device body is not required to be provided with the power pin corresponding to the power contact, and the structural cost of the image forming device body is reduced.

In the embodiment of the present application, the power supply module on the image forming apparatus body side can supply high voltage power to the conductive contact of the imaging component, and the power contact of the consumable chip needs low voltage power supply, so the conductive unit 103 can include a voltage adjusting circuit, such as a voltage dividing circuit, which divides the high voltage received by the conductive contact and then supplies the high voltage to the power contact of the consumable chip. In some embodiments, the voltage received by the conductive contacts of the imaging member may be equal to the supply voltage of the consumable chip, and the conductive unit 103 may be a wire.

In an embodiment of the present application, the consumable chip includes a substrate, and the communication contact and the power contact are respectively located on different surfaces of the substrate, thereby facilitating the communication contact to be electrically connected to the communication pin on the image forming apparatus body side, enabling communication, and the power contact is connected to the conductive contact of the imaging member through the conductive unit 103.

Above-mentioned this application embodiment provides a consumptive material and image forming device, including formation of image component and consumptive material chip at the consumptive material end, the formation of image component is connected with conductive contact, when the consumptive material is installed on the image forming device body, the image forming device body passes through conductive contact and supplies power for formation of image component and consumptive material chip, the consumptive material chip just need not directly to hold lug connection with the image forming device body through the power contact like this, just need not to set up the power pin that provides the power supply for the consumptive material chip at image forming device body end, thereby reduce the pin figure of image forming device body side, practice thrift image forming device structural design's cost.

In the subsequent embodiments of the present application, the image forming member may be exemplified by an image carrier that carries a developer when the image forming apparatus forms an image.

Referring to fig. 2b, the structure for electrically connecting consumables according to the embodiment of the present application is shown.

In the embodiment of the present application, the consumable 200 is detachably mounted to the image forming apparatus body. The consumable 200 comprises:

the image carrier 201 is used for carrying developer when the image forming device forms images, the image carrier 201 comprises a conductive substrate 2011, the conductive substrate 2011 is connected with a conductive contact 2013, and the conductive contact 2013 is used for supplying power from the image forming device body side when the consumable 200 is installed on the image forming device body;

a consumable chip 202, pins of the consumable chip 202 being connected with electrical contacts including power contacts (2021 shown schematically in fig. 2 b) and communication contacts (2022-2024 shown schematically in fig. 2 b), the communication contacts being electrically connected with pins on the image forming apparatus body side when the consumable 200 is mounted on the image forming apparatus body;

and a conductive unit 203 electrically connecting the conductive contact 2013 with the power supply contact 2021.

The above-mentioned this application embodiment provides a consumptive material, including like carrier and consumptive material chip at the consumptive material end, like the conductive substrate connection conductive contact of carrier, the pin connection electrical contact of consumptive material chip, the power contact in the electrical contact passes through the circuit and is connected with conductive contact, when the consumptive material is installed on image forming device body, image forming device body passes through conductive contact and supplies power for like carrier and consumptive material chip, the consumptive material chip just need not through the direct and image forming device body end lug connection of power contact like this, just need not the power pin that corresponds for the design of consumptive material chip at image forming device body end, thereby reduce the pin figure of image forming device body side, practice thrift image forming device structural design's cost.

The structure and the working principle of the consumable described above are explained in a more detailed embodiment of the present application.

Consumable 200 includes a housing. The consumable 200 includes an image carrier mounted in a housing. Specifically, the image carrier may be a photosensitive drum 201. The photosensitive drum 201 includes a photosensitive drum conductive base 2011 and a photosensitive film 2012 covering the photosensitive drum conductive base. The conductive substrate of the photosensitive drum can be, but is not limited to, a conductive aluminum substrate of the photosensitive drum made of an aluminum material. Generally, during the process of image formation, the photosensitive drum conductive aluminum base 2011 may be connected to one side of the image forming apparatus body through the conductive contact 2013, and a constant voltage is supplied from the image forming apparatus body side. The photosensitive film 2012 may be made of different materials, such as selenium, organic materials, or ceramic materials, according to different principles. In the image forming process, the photosensitive drum is subjected to processes such as charging, exposure, development, and the like, and can carry a developer such as toner, and the like on the surface. In a specific embodiment of the present application, since in the working state, the conductive aluminum base of the photosensitive drum can rotate, the conductive contact can be connected by providing a rotatable conductive steel shaft, specifically as shown in fig. 6, the conductive contact is 2013, the conductive contact 2013 is connected to the conductive steel shaft 26 through the conductive metal elastic sheet 27A, and the conductive steel shaft 26 is electrically connected to the conductive aluminum base of the photosensitive drum.

The consumable chip comprises a substrate, and the substrate is provided with the electric contact.

The consumable chips may have different packages and different numbers of pins depending on the consumable chip selected. In the illustration of fig. 2b, consumable chip 202 is only illustrated as a chip having 4 electrical contacts, namely power contact VCC, clock contact CLK, DATA contact DATA, and ground contact GND. In the prior art, according to the electric contact number of consumptive material chip side, all need design corresponding pin in order to realize electric connection when the contact at image forming device this side, like this when consumptive material figure is many, just need design many pins on this side, the cost is higher.

As an improvement, in the embodiment of the present application, the power contact of the consumable chip 202 is connected to the conductive contact 2013 through the predetermined conductive unit 203, so that when the consumable 200 is installed on the image forming cost body side, the body end can simultaneously supply power to the photosensitive drum 201 and the consumable chip 202 through the conductive contact 2013, the space of the power pins of the lower chip can be saved at the body end, and the number of the saved power pins is increased as the number of the consumable is increased. The beneficial effect of this application embodiment improvement still lies in, no longer need design power pin to be connected with the consumptive material chip in the body side, in the dismantlement or the installation back of consumptive material many times, can not cause the unstable phenomenon of power supply of consumptive material chip yet.

In the embodiments of the present application, the consumable chip and the power contacts and the communication contacts included in the consumable chip may have different design forms. Taking FIG. 5 as an example, consumable chip 202 includes substrate 22 with communication contacts and power contacts on different surfaces of the substrate. In fig. 5, power contacts 2021 of consumable chip 202 are disposed on the upward side of the substrate, while GND contacts 2024, CLK contacts 2022, and DATA contacts 2023 of consumable chip 202 are disposed on the downward side of the substrate. In other embodiments, the power contact 2021 and the communication contact are located on the same surface of the substrate 22, wherein the communication contact includes a GND contact 2024, a CLK contact 2022, and a DATA contact 2023, and the power contact is located on one side of the substrate 22, the communication contact is located on the other side of the substrate 22, and a distance between the power contact and the communication contact farthest from the plurality of communication contacts is greater than a preset value (the preset value may be set according to actual conditions), that is, the power contact is located on the left side or the right side of all the communication contacts, that is, the power contact is closer to the conductive contact, so that the power contact and the conductive contact are more conveniently connected, and the design cost is lower.

In FIG. 6, the power contact 2021 and the communication contact of the consumable chip 202 are on different sides of the substrate, and to facilitate electrical connection, the power contact 2021 points toward the conductive contact 2013, and the conductive contact 2013 coagulates the power contact 2021 through the conductive metallic carbon patch 27B.

In the embodiment of the present application, the power contact 2021 in fig. 2b is connected to the conductive contact 2013 through the conductive unit 203. The conductive element 203 can have different designs, and in fig. 6, the conductive element is simplified to be a conductive metal spring 27B, i.e. a conductive wire. This kind of form is mainly applied to the scene that the voltage that image forming device body side supplied power for the electrically conductive aluminium base of sensitization drum equals with the mains voltage of consumptive material chip, for example the electrically conductive aluminium base of sensitization drum and the power supply voltage of consumptive material chip are + 5V's scene. In other scenarios, for example, the supply voltage of the conductive aluminum base of the photosensitive drum is higher than the supply voltage of the consumable chip, the conductive unit 203 may also be a voltage regulating circuit, the supply voltage of the conductive aluminum base of the photosensitive drum can be regulated by the voltage regulating unit to obtain a voltage meeting the power supply requirement of the consumable chip, the voltage regulating circuit may include, but is not limited to, a voltage dividing circuit, and the like, and certainly, for stable transmission of signals, the conductive unit 203 may further include a voltage stabilizing circuit, a filter circuit, and the like, which is not described in detail herein. The voltage dividing circuit is used for performing voltage dividing processing on the signal received by the voltage dividing circuit to obtain a divided signal, and specifically can be used for reducing the voltage of the signal input into the voltage dividing circuit; the voltage stabilizing circuit is used for performing voltage stabilizing processing on the signal received by the voltage stabilizing circuit to obtain a stabilized signal, can play a role in stabilizing voltage and prevent the circuit from being damaged due to overhigh voltage, and can also comprise components or circuits which can play a role in stabilizing voltage; and/or the filter circuit is used for filtering the signal received by the filter circuit to obtain the filtered signal, specifically, part of the signal can be filtered out, so that a module connected with the filter circuit is prevented from being broken down, and the circuit can be protected from being damaged. In an embodiment of the present application, the consumable chip may further include: and the detection unit is connected with the conductive contact and is used for detecting whether the conductive contact acquires power supply. The consumable chip can further comprise a chip control unit, wherein the chip control unit is used for acquiring a detection result of the detection unit after receiving a communication request sent by the image forming device body, not responding to the communication request when the detection result indicates that the conductive contact does not acquire power supply, and responding to the communication request when the detection result indicates that the conductive contact acquires power supply.

In another aspect of the embodiments of the present application, a consumable chip is also provided.

The consumable chip comprises:

a storage unit;

an electrical contact including a power contact and a communication contact electrically connected to a communication pin of the image forming apparatus body when the consumable is mounted on the image forming apparatus body;

and the conductive unit is used for connecting the power supply contact with a conductive contact arranged on the consumable, wherein the conductive contact is electrically connected with an imaging component contained on the consumable and is used for receiving the power supply of the power supply unit when the consumable is installed on the image forming device body.

The consumable chip can be installed in the consumable in the foregoing embodiment, and details are not repeated here, and reference can be made to the description of the consumable in the foregoing embodiment.

In one aspect of the embodiments of the present application, there is also provided an image forming apparatus.

An image forming apparatus includes:

an image forming unit for performing an image forming operation;

the conductive pin is used for electrically connecting a conductive contact arranged on the consumable when the consumable is installed in the image forming device, and the conductive contact is respectively and electrically connected with an imaging component and a consumable chip which are included by the consumable;

Referring to fig. 3 and 4, the image forming apparatus will be described in detail in an embodiment of the present application.

Referring to fig. 3, in one embodiment of the present application, there is also provided an image forming apparatus.

In this embodiment, the image forming apparatus includes an image forming apparatus body 300 and at least one consumable 200 detachably connected to each other.

An image forming apparatus body 300 including a power supply module 301, a control module 302, and an image processing module 303; the power module 301 is respectively connected with the control module 302 and the image processing module 303, and the control module 302 is connected with the image processing module 303.

Specifically, the power module 301 includes a commercial power interface, and the power module 301 is connected to a commercial power (for example, but not limited to, a 220V ac power) through the commercial power interface. The power module 301 further includes a rectifying circuit for converting ac power into dc power, and the power module 301 further includes a voltage varying circuit for converting the dc power into dc voltages of different values, such as +24V, +12V, +5V, +3.3V, +1.8V, for supplying power to different chips and devices in the control module 302 and the image processing module 303.

The control module 302 may be a system-on-chip for controlling the image forming apparatus as a whole. The control module 302 is connected with a conductive pin by design for connecting with a communication contact of the consumable side when the consumable 200 is installed on the body side, and a specific one is as follows: the conductive pin CLK of the control module 302 is connected to the communication contact 2022 on the consumable side.

The image processing module 303 is also provided with a conductive pin, which is electrically connected to the conductive contact 2013 when the consumable 200 is mounted on the image forming apparatus body 300, so that the image processing module 303 can supply power to the conductive substrate 2011 of the image carrier 201.

For the consumable side, the consumable 200 includes a housing. The consumable 200 includes an image carrier mounted in a housing. Specifically, the image carrier may be a photosensitive drum 201. The photosensitive drum 201 includes a photosensitive drum conductive base 2011 and a photosensitive film 2012 covering the photosensitive drum conductive base. The conductive substrate of the photosensitive drum can be, but is not limited to, a conductive aluminum substrate of the photosensitive drum made of an aluminum material. Generally, during the process of image formation, the photosensitive drum conductive aluminum base 2011 may be connected to one side of the image forming apparatus body through the conductive contact 2013, and a constant voltage is supplied from the image forming apparatus body side. The photosensitive film 2012 may be made of different materials, such as selenium, organic materials, or ceramic materials, according to different principles. In the image forming process, the photosensitive drum is subjected to processes such as charging, exposure, development, and the like, and can carry a developer such as toner, and the like on the surface. In a specific embodiment of the present application, since in the working state, the conductive aluminum base of the photosensitive drum can rotate, the conductive contact can be connected by providing a rotatable conductive steel shaft, specifically as shown in fig. 6, the conductive contact is 2013, the conductive contact 2013 is connected to the conductive steel shaft 26 through the conductive metal elastic sheet 27A, and the conductive steel shaft 26 is electrically connected to the conductive aluminum base of the photosensitive drum.

The power pin VCC of the consumable chip 202 is connected to the power contact 2021, and the power contact 2021 is connected to the conductive contact 2013 through the predetermined conductive unit 203, so that when the consumable 200 is mounted on the image forming cost side, the body end can simultaneously supply power to the photosensitive drum 201 and the consumable chip 202 through the conductive contact 2013, the space of the power pin of the lower chip can be saved at the body end, and the number of the saved power pins is increased along with the increase of the number of the consumable. The beneficial effect of this application embodiment modified still lies in, no longer need design power pin to be connected with the consumptive material chip at the body side, in the dismantlement or the installation back of many times consumptive material, can not cause the unstable phenomenon of power supply of consumptive material chip yet.

In the embodiments of the present application, the consumable chip and the power contacts and the communication contacts of the connection included in the consumable chip may have different design forms. Taking FIG. 5 as an example, consumable chip 202 includes substrate 22 with communication contacts and power contacts on different surfaces of the substrate. In fig. 5, the power contacts 2021 of the consumable chip 202 are disposed on the upward facing surface of the substrate, and the GND contact 2024, the CLK contact 2022, and the DATA contact 2023 of the consumable chip 202 are disposed on the downward facing surface of the substrate. In other embodiments, the power contact 2021 and the communication contacts are located on the same surface of the substrate 22, wherein the communication contacts include a GND contact 2024, a CLK contact 2022, and a DATA contact 2023, and the power contact is located on one side of the substrate 22, the communication contact is located on the other side of the substrate 22, and the distance between the power contact and the communication contact farthest from the plurality of communication contacts is greater than a preset value (the preset value may be set according to actual conditions), that is, the power contact is located on the left side or the right side of all the communication contacts, that is, the power contact is closer to the conductive contact, thereby facilitating the connection between the power contact and the conductive contact, and reducing design cost.

In fig. 6, the power contact 2021 and the communication contact to which the consumable chip 202 is connected are on different sides of the substrate, and to facilitate electrical connection, the power contact 2021 is directed to the conductive contact 2013, and the conductive contact 2013 coagulates the power contact 2021 by a conductive metallic carbon patch 27B.

In the embodiment of the present application, the power supply contact 2021 in fig. 2 is connected to the conductive contact 2013 through the conductive unit 203. The conductive element 203 can have different designs, and in fig. 6, the conductive element is simplified to be a conductive metal spring 27B, i.e. a conductive wire. This kind of form is mainly applied to the scene that the voltage that image forming device body side supplied power for the electrically conductive aluminium base of sensitization drum equals with the mains voltage of consumptive material chip, for example the electrically conductive aluminium base of sensitization drum and the power supply voltage of consumptive material chip are + 5V's scene. In other scenarios, for example, the supply voltage of the conductive aluminum base of the photosensitive drum is higher than the supply voltage of the consumable chip, the conductive unit 203 may also be a voltage regulating circuit, the supply voltage of the conductive aluminum base of the photosensitive drum can be regulated by the voltage regulating unit to obtain a voltage meeting the power supply requirement of the consumable chip, the voltage regulating circuit may include, but is not limited to, a voltage dividing circuit, and the like, and certainly, for stable transmission of signals, the conductive unit 203 may further include a voltage stabilizing circuit, a filter circuit, and the like, which is not described in detail herein. The voltage dividing circuit is used for performing voltage dividing processing on the signal received by the voltage dividing circuit to obtain a divided signal, and specifically can be used for reducing the voltage of the signal input into the voltage dividing circuit; the voltage stabilizing circuit is used for performing voltage stabilizing processing on the signal received by the voltage stabilizing circuit to obtain a stabilized signal, can play a role in stabilizing voltage and prevent the circuit from being damaged due to overhigh voltage, and can also comprise components or circuits which can play a role in stabilizing voltage; and/or the filter circuit is used for filtering the signal received by the filter circuit to obtain the filtered signal, specifically, part of the signal can be filtered out, so that a module connected with the filter circuit is prevented from being broken down, and the circuit can be protected from being damaged.

In summary, when the consumable 200 is installed on the image forming apparatus body 300, the image forming apparatus body 300 can stably supply power to the image carrier 201 and the consumable chip through the power module 301, so that the control module 302 does not need to design a corresponding power pin for the consumable chip, thereby saving the design cost.

In an embodiment of the present application, the consumable chip may further include: and the detection unit is connected with the conductive contact and is used for detecting whether the conductive contact acquires power supply. The consumable may further include a chip control unit configured to obtain a detection result of the detection unit after receiving a communication request sent by the image forming apparatus, not respond to the communication request when the detection result indicates that the conductive contact does not obtain power supply, and respond to the communication request when the detection result indicates that the conductive contact obtains power supply.

Referring to fig. 4, in an embodiment of the present application, another image forming apparatus is provided.

In the present embodiment, the image forming apparatus includes an image forming apparatus body 300 and at least one consumable 200 detachably connected to each other.

The consumable 200 is a consumable described in the foregoing embodiments, and details thereof are not repeated, and it should be noted that in this embodiment, the conductive unit 203 is simplified as a conductive wire.

The image forming apparatus body 300 includes a power supply module 301, a control module 302 (in the present embodiment, the control module may be the SOC 302), and an image processing module 303. The power supply module 301 is connected to and supplies power to the SOC 302 and the image processing module 303, respectively, and the SOC 302 is connected to the image processing module 303.

The image processing module 303 is provided with a conductive pin for electrically connecting with the conductive contact 2013 when the consumable 200 is mounted on the image forming apparatus body 300.

The SOC 302 is provided with communication pins (e.g., CLK, DATA, and GND) for electrically connecting with communication contacts (e.g., 2022 to 2024) of the consumable chip when the consumable 200 is mounted on the image forming apparatus body 300.

The difference between the embodiment of the present application and fig. 3 is that the image forming apparatus body 300 of the embodiment of the present application further includes a switch circuit, the switch circuit is respectively connected to the power module and the conductive pin, and the control module is connected to a control terminal of the switch circuit.

In the embodiment of the present application, the switch circuit is electrically connected to the control module and the conductive pin, respectively; the control module is used for controlling the switch circuit to be in a conducting state or a cut-off state, when the switch circuit is in the cut-off state, the control module is used for sending a communication request to the consumable chip through the communication pin, and when response information corresponding to the communication request is received, the consumable is determined to be not expected.

Specifically, the operation principle of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present application is as follows:

the image forming apparatus body 300 is connected to the commercial power, and the consumable 200 is mounted on the body.

The control module 302 on the image forming apparatus body 300 controls the switch circuit to be switched off, so that the image carrier 201 is powered off, and the power supply of the consumable chip 202 is also cut off at the same time, at the moment, the control module 302 sends a communication instruction to the consumable chip 202 to judge whether the consumable chip 202 has feedback, if the consumable chip 202 has feedback, it is determined that the consumable is not in accordance with expectation, and the possible reason is that the consumable chip also has a path for obtaining power supply, so that some potential safety hazards exist.

When the consumable item is determined to meet the predetermined condition, the control module 302 controls the switch circuit to close, and the power module 301 may provide a stable voltage supply (e.g., + 5V) to the aluminum base 2011 of the image carrier 201. Because the power pin VCC of the consumable chip 202 is connected to the power contact 2021, and the power contact 2021 is electrically connected to the aluminum base, the power module 301 on the main body side can supply power to the consumable chip at the same time. The consumable chip 202 may communicate with the control module 302, for example, the consumable chip 202 may send toner or quantity data to the control module. Meanwhile, a detection unit may be provided at the consumable chip 202 to detect whether the aluminum base is normally connected to the image forming apparatus body. When the aluminum base is detected to be normally powered on, the consumable chip normally responds to the communication request of the image forming device body side, and if the power supply signal is not detected, the consumable chip does not respond to the communication request of the body side.

The control module 302 can be further configured to control the conductive pin to be grounded when the image processing module 302 performs image processing, and control the conductive pin to be connected to a preset operating voltage (+ 5V) when the image processing module completes image processing, so as to reduce DD220295I

Interference factors in image processing such as printing.

To sum up, the consumptive material and image forming device that this application embodiment provided, include like carrier and consumptive material chip at the consumptive material end, like the conductive substrate connection conductive contact of carrier, the pin connection electrical contact of consumptive material chip, the power contact in the electrical contact passes through the circuit and is connected with conductive contact, when the consumptive material is installed on the image forming device body, the image forming device body passes through conductive contact and supplies power for like carrier and consumptive material chip, the consumptive material chip just need not through the direct and image forming device body end lug connection of power contact like this, just need not the power pin that corresponds for consumptive material chip design at image forming device body end, thereby reduce the number of image forming device consumptive material side contact and the pin figure of image forming device body side, practice thrift the cost of image forming device structural design.

The above description is only for the purpose of illustrating the preferred embodiments of the present invention and is not to be construed as limiting the invention, and any modifications, equivalents, improvements and the like made within the spirit and principle of the present invention should be included in the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A consumable detachably mountable to an image forming apparatus body, comprising:

an imaging member;

2. The consumable according to claim 1, characterized in that the conductive unit comprises a voltage regulating circuit connected with the conductive contacts and the power supply contacts, respectively.

3. The consumable according to claim 1, wherein the conductive unit is a wire.

4. The consumable according to claim 1, wherein the consumable chip comprises a substrate, the communication contacts and the power contacts being located on different surfaces of the substrate, respectively; or the power contact and the communication contact are positioned on the same surface of the substrate, the power contact is positioned on one side of the substrate, and the communication contact is positioned on the other side of the substrate.

5. The consumable of claim 1, wherein the consumable chip further comprises:

6. The consumable of any of claims 1-5, wherein the imaging member comprises any of a charging roller, a developing roller, a powder feeding roller, an image carrier for carrying developer when the image forming apparatus is imaging.

7. The consumable according to claim 6, wherein when the imaging member is an image carrier for carrying developer in imaging by an image forming apparatus, the image carrier includes therein a conductive base connected to the conductive contact.

8. The utility model provides a consumptive material chip installs in the consumptive material, its characterized in that includes:

a storage unit;

9. The consumable chip of claim 8, wherein the conductive unit comprises:

10. The consumable chip of claim 8, wherein the conductive element is a wire.

11. The consumable chip of claim 8, comprising a substrate, wherein the communication contacts and the power contacts are located on different surfaces of the substrate, respectively, or the power contacts and the communication contacts are located on the same surface of the substrate, and the power contacts are located on one side of the substrate and the communication contacts are located on the other side of the substrate.

12. The consumable chip of claim 8, further comprising:

13. A consumable detachably mountable to an image forming apparatus body, comprising an imaging member and a consumable chip according to any one of claims 8 to 12, the imaging member having electrically conductive contacts coupled thereto for receiving power from a power supply module.

14. The consumable according to claim 1-7 or 13, wherein the consumable comprises a developer receptacle.

15. A consumable according to claim 1-7 or 13, which is of split construction, comprising a developing cartridge and a drum cartridge which are mutually detachable.

16. The consumable according to claim 1-7 or 13, which is of a unitary construction, comprising a developer accommodating portion, a developing member, a developer conveying member, and a photosensitive member.

17. An image forming apparatus, comprising:

an image forming unit for performing an image forming operation;

18. The image forming apparatus according to claim 17, comprising:

19. An image forming apparatus includes an image forming apparatus body and at least one consumable connected to each other detachably;

a consumable as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7;

20. The image forming apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the image forming apparatus body further includes switching circuits that connect the power supply module and the conductive pins, respectively;