JP2001194966A - Electrophotographic image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electrophotographic image forming device which can manage correctly the time for exchanging of a process cartridge. SOLUTION: Read-write of information necessary for the management of the time for exchanging a process cartridge 8 is made to a storage element of a cartridge non-contact communication means 3 by the control part of a main body non-contact communication means 2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an electrophotographic image forming apparatus capable of detachably mounting a process cartridge and forming an image on a recording medium.

Here, the electrophotographic image forming apparatus forms an image on a recording medium using an electrophotographic image forming method. Examples of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus include, for example, an electrophotographic copying machine, an electrophotographic printer (for example, a laser printer, an LED printer, and the like), a facsimile machine, a word processor, and the like.

A process cartridge is a cartridge in which a charging unit, a developing unit or a cleaning unit and an electrophotographic photosensitive member are integrally formed as a cartridge, and this cartridge is made detachable from an image forming apparatus main body. In addition, at least one of the charging means, the developing means, and the cleaning means and the electrophotographic photosensitive member are integrally formed into a cartridge so that the cartridge can be attached to and detached from the image forming apparatus main body. Furthermore,
This means that at least the developing means and the electrophotographic photosensitive member are integrally formed into a cartridge so as to be detachable from the image forming apparatus main body.

[0004]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic image forming process, a cartridge is integrally formed with an electrophotographic photosensitive member and process means acting on the electrophotographic photosensitive member, and the cartridge is used for image forming. A process cartridge system that can be attached to and detached from the forming apparatus main body is employed. According to this process cartridge system, the maintenance of the apparatus can be performed by the user himself without relying on a serviceman, so that the operability can be remarkably improved. Therefore, this process cartridge system is widely used in image forming apparatuses.

In such an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, there is provided a toner presence / absence detection means for detecting the absence of toner when the remaining amount of toner as a developer becomes a predetermined amount or less in the process cartridge. When the toner presence / absence detection means detects that there is no toner, the fact is displayed on a display unit of the image forming apparatus main body to urge the user to replace the process cartridge.

[0006]

However, in the above-described electrophotographic image forming apparatus, a plurality of recording media can be printed even after the absence of toner is detected by the toner presence / absence detecting means. For this reason, considering the convenience of the user, it is desirable to prompt the user to replace the process cartridge after printing a plurality of recording media after the toner presence / absence detection unit detects the absence of toner.

The present invention is a further development of the above-mentioned prior art, and a main object of the present invention is to provide an electrophotographic image forming apparatus capable of accurately managing the replacement time of a process cartridge.

[0008]

A typical configuration of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus according to the present invention for achieving the above object is a process in which a process cartridge is detachable from a main body of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus and a recording medium is provided. An electrophotographic image forming apparatus for forming an image on an electrophotographic photosensitive member includes: (a) an electrophotographic photosensitive member; developing means for developing an electrostatic latent image formed on the electrophotographic photosensitive member with a developer; Having a storage element for storing information, and cartridge non-contact communication means for non-contact communication of the predetermined information for storage in the storage element, and an electrostatic latent image formed by the developing means. Mounting means for removably mounting a process cartridge for transferring a developer image developed by a developer onto the recording medium during an image forming operation on the recording medium; A control unit for reading and writing, as the predetermined information, information necessary for managing the replacement time of the process cartridge in the storage element of the non-contact communication means, and reading and writing the storage element by the control unit An electrophotographic image forming apparatus, comprising: a main body non-contact communication unit for non-contact communication of the information for causing the cartridge to contact the non-contact communication unit.

(Operation) In the above-mentioned electrophotographic image forming apparatus, the control unit of the main body non-contact communication means non-contactly reads and writes information necessary for managing the replacement time of the process cartridge to the storage element of the cartridge non-contact communication means. (Read and write). As described above, since the information necessary for managing the replacement time of the process cartridge is read / written from / to the storage element of the cartridge non-contact communication means by the control unit of the main body non-contact communication means, the control unit of the main body non-contact communication means is controlled by the cartridge The replacement time of the process cartridge can be determined using the information read from the storage element of the non-contact communication means. by this,
The process cartridge replacement time can be accurately managed, and the user can be warned with high accuracy of the process cartridge replacement time.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

First Embodiment First, referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, an electrophotographic image forming apparatus (laser beam printer) using an electrophotographic process according to the present embodiment and an electrophotographic image forming apparatus will be described. The process cartridge used will be described. FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating an example of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus (laser beam printer) according to the embodiment, and FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of a process cartridge.

(Overall Configuration) In FIG. 3, reference numeral 17 denotes a drum-shaped electrophotographic photosensitive member (hereinafter referred to as a "photosensitive drum"), which is rotationally driven at a predetermined peripheral speed (process speed) in a clockwise direction of an arrow a. You.

The photosensitive drum 17 is uniformly charged to a predetermined polarity and potential by a primary charging roller 19 as a charging means during its rotation. Scanning of the uniformly charged surface of the photosensitive drum 17 by a laser beam output from the laser scanner unit 307 and modulated (ON / OFF controlled) according to a time-series electric digital pixel signal of target image information. Exposure L is performed, and an electrostatic latent image of target image information is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 17.

The electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 17 is developed with a developer (toner) by a developing device 20 as a developing means and visualized.

On the other hand, a recording medium (hereinafter, referred to as "recording paper") S such as a recording paper, an OHP sheet, or a cloth stored in the paper supply cassette 302 is driven one by one by driving the paper supply roller 305. The toner is supplied to the transfer nip portion, which is a pressure contact portion between the photosensitive drum 17 and the transfer charging roller 321 as a transfer unit, at a predetermined control timing by the registration roller pair 306, and the toner on the photosensitive drum 17 surface side is applied to the surface of the recording paper S. Images are sequentially transferred.

The recording paper S that has exited the transfer nip is sequentially separated from the surface of the photosensitive drum 17 in the course of rotation, and is introduced into a fixing device 309 for fixing a toner image. The fixing device 309 includes a fixing film 309a, a pressure roller 309,
b, a ceramic heater 309c provided inside the fixing film 309a, and a thermistor 309d for detecting the surface temperature of the ceramic heater 309c. Then, the heat of the ceramic heater 309c is applied to the recording paper S passing between the fixing film 309a and the pressure roller 309b through the fixing film 309a, and the pressure is applied by the pressure roller 309b to heat the transfer toner image. Perform fixing processing.

The recording paper S that has exited the fixing device 309 is printed out on a stacking tray 312 by a discharge roller 311.

After the recording paper S is separated, the surface of the rotating photosensitive drum 17 is cleaned by a cleaning device 22 as a cleaning means to remove adhered contaminants such as transfer residual toner and the like, and is repeatedly charged. Is used for image formation in the electrophotographic process starting from.

In the laser scanner unit 307, 31
Reference numeral 3 denotes a laser unit which emits a laser beam modulated based on an image signal (image signal VDO) sent from an external device 331 such as a personal computer. Three
14 is a polygon mirror for scanning the photosensitive drum 17 with laser light from the laser unit 313, 314a is a motor for rotating the polygon mirror 314, 315 is an imaging lens group, and 316 is a return mirror.

Reference numeral 303 denotes a cassette presence / absence sensor for detecting the presence / absence of recording paper S in the cassette 302;
02, a cassette size sensor for detecting the size of the recording paper S (constituted by a plurality of micro switches);
Reference numeral 10 denotes a paper discharge sensor that detects the conveyance state of the recording paper S in the paper discharge unit. 329 is an exhaust heat fan.

Reference numeral 323 denotes a main motor which applies a driving force to the sheet feeding roller 305 via a sheet feeding roller clutch 324 and a registration roller pair 306 via a registration roller clutch 325. Driving force is also applied to each unit of the cartridge 8, the fixing device 309, and the paper discharge roller 311.

Reference numeral 326 denotes an engine controller serving as a main body control unit for controlling the entire apparatus. The engine controller 326 controls the electrophotographic process by the laser scanner unit 307, the process cartridge 8, and the fixing unit 309, and forms the electrophotographic image by the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 1. The conveyance control of the recording paper S in the apparatus main body (hereinafter referred to as “printer main body”) 301 is performed.

Reference numeral 327 denotes a video controller, which is connected to an external device 331 such as a personal computer by a general-purpose interface (Centronics, RS232C, etc.) 330, and develops image information sent from the general-purpose interface into bit data. , And sends the bit data as a VDO signal to the engine controller 326 via the interface 328.

(Process Cartridge) On the other hand, the process cartridge comprises an electrophotographic photosensitive member and at least one
It has two process means. Here, as the process means, for example, a charging means for charging an electrophotographic photosensitive member, a developing means for developing an electrostatic latent image formed on the electrophotographic photosensitive member, a cleaning means for cleaning toner remaining on the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member Etc. As shown in FIG. 4, the process cartridge 8 of the present embodiment is a photosensitive drum 17 which is an electrophotographic photosensitive member having a photosensitive layer 17e.
Is rotated to apply a voltage to a charging roller 19 serving as a charging unit to uniformly charge the surface of the photosensitive drum 17.
The laser beam from 7 is exposed through an exposure opening 9 to form an electrostatic latent image, and the electrostatic latent image is developed by a developing unit 20.

The developing means 20 includes a toner storage frame 20.
The toner is supplied to the opening 20 of the toner storage frame 20a by a rotatable toner feeding member 20b2 which is a toner feeding means in the toner storage frame 20a.
g, the toner is sent into the toner developing frame 20f through the opening 20h of the toner developing frame 20f, the toner is stirred by the toner stirring member 20b1, and the developer rotator (the developer) containing the fixed magnet 20c is built in. Carrier)
The developing roller 20d is rotated, and a toner layer provided with a triboelectric charge by the developing blade 20e is formed on the surface of the developing roller 20d, and the toner is transferred to the photosensitive drum 17 according to the electrostatic latent image. A toner image is formed by this to make a visible image. In addition,
The developing roller 20 d rotates together with the photosensitive drum 17 to supply toner to the photosensitive drum 17.

After applying a voltage having a polarity opposite to that of the toner image to the transfer roller 321 to transfer the toner image to the recording medium 2, the toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 17 is scraped off by the cleaning blade 22a. Rake and remove toner storage unit 22
c to the photosensitive drum 1
7 is configured to remove residual toner.

The process cartridge 8 shown in this embodiment includes a toner storage frame 20a that rotatably supports a toner feeding member 20b2, a toner stirring member 20b.
b1, a developing roller 20d, a developing blade 20e and other toner developing frame 20f containing a developing member therein.
c, the photosensitive drum 17, the cleaning blade 22
a, the squeeze sheet 22b and the cleaning frame 13 holding the charging roller 8 are combined to form a cartridge. The process cartridge 8 is detachably mounted on a cartridge mounting means provided on the printer main body 301.

This cartridge mounting means opens a door (not shown) as an opening / closing member provided at the upper part of the printer main body 301 so as to be openable and closable about an axis, and a space of the cartridge mounting portion appears, and the left and right sides of the cartridge mounting portion appear. Guides (not shown) formed of bosses and ribs (not shown) provided on both outer side surfaces in the longitudinal direction of the process cartridge 8 are fitted into and guided by a cartridge mounting guide member (not shown) provided. It is detachable in the direction (see FIG. 3).

Further, the process cartridge 8 of this embodiment has an antenna rod 20i as a developer remaining amount detecting means for detecting the remaining amount of toner at a position separated by a certain distance from the developing roller 20d. This antenna rod 20i
The remaining amount of the toner is measured by measuring the capacitance with the developing roller 20d. That is, the toner sent from the toner storage frame 20a by the toner sending member 20b2 is interposed between the antenna rod 20i and the developing roller 20d. The antenna rod 20i and the developing roller 20d are respectively electrically connected to electrodes (not shown) exposed on the exterior of the process cartridge 8, and these electrodes are further connected to the printer main body 3.
It is connected to an electrode (not shown) arranged on the 01 side.
The engine controller 32 of the printer body 301
Reference numeral 6 constantly monitors the capacitance between the antenna rod 20i and the developing roller 20d. More specifically, when the toner is consumed and the toner in the toner storage frame 20a is exhausted, and further the toner between the antenna rod 20i and the developing roller 20d is consumed, the capacitance decreases. When the capacitance becomes smaller than the predetermined value, the engine controller 326 transmits information indicating that the remaining amount of toner is small to the video controller 3.
Notify 27. Upon receiving the result, the video controller 327 displays the fact on a display unit (not shown) provided in the printer main body 301 or a display device (not shown) of the external device 331.

(Process Cartridge Replacement Timing Management Configuration) Next, a process cartridge replacement timing management configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 3 and 5. FIG. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a positional relationship between a non-contact transmitting unit and a cartridge detecting element on the printer main body side and a non-contact receiving unit on the process cartridge side in the electrophotographic image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment, and FIG. It is a block diagram showing a schematic structure of a contact transmitting unit and a non-contact receiving unit.

The configuration for managing the replacement time of a process cartridge shown in the present embodiment is such that a nonvolatile memory as a storage element is mounted on the process cartridge and the nonvolatile memory is mounted on the printer main body in order to accurately manage the replacement time of the process cartridge. A control unit for reading and writing image formation information in the volatile memory. The non-volatile memory is useful to the user as predetermined information necessary for managing the replacement time of the process cartridge, such as image formation information (print number information) obtained by forming an image on recording paper by the process cartridge. Information is written in a non-contact manner, and the image forming information previously written in the non-volatile memory is read from the non-volatile memory to the printer main body in a non-contact manner, and the image forming information can be printed by the process cartridge. The engine controller determines whether the specified number of recording sheets has been reached.

This will be described in more detail. 1 and 3, 3
Reference numeral denotes a non-contact receiving unit as a non-contact cartridge communication means mounted on the process cartridge 8. The non-contact receiving unit 3 is attached to the upper surface of the process cartridge 8 on the front end side of the cleaning frame 13. Then, as shown in FIG. 5, a communication antenna 3a for non-contact communication with a non-contact transmission unit 2 described later as a non-contact communication unit attached to the printer main body 301, and a non-volatile memory as a storage element Memory (hereinafter referred to as “non-volatile memory”) 3b. Note that communication between the non-contact transmission unit 2 and the non-contact reception unit 3 is performed by AM modulating a carrier in the present embodiment. The contactless receiving unit 3 according to the present embodiment uses, as a power supply, a voltage electromagnetically induced in the communication antenna 3a by an electromagnetic field of a carrier wave emitted from the communication antenna 2a of the contactless transmission unit 2. Therefore, no external power supply is required. At the same time, a signal of print number information (image formation number information), which will be described later, emitted from the communication antenna 2a of the contactless transmission unit 2 is transmitted to the communication antenna 3a.
To read / write (read / write) the information on the number of prints in the nonvolatile memory 3b. In addition, the nonvolatile memory 3
b, when writing the print number information to the communication antenna 3
In a, the print number information already written in the non-volatile memory 3b is configured to appear as a change in impedance.

Reference numeral 2 denotes a non-contact transmission unit attached to the printer main body 301. This non-contact transmission unit 2
Is mounted at a position facing the non-contact receiving unit 3 with the process cartridge 8 mounted on the printer main body 301, and is electrically connected to the engine controller 326. Then, as shown in FIG. 5, a communication antenna 2a for performing non-contact communication with the non-contact receiving unit 3 mounted on the process cartridge 8, and reading and writing of the number of prints to the non-volatile memory 3b. And a control unit 2b. In the contactless transmission unit 2 shown in the present embodiment, the communication antenna 2a is
b to generate an electromagnetic field that electromagnetically induces a voltage in the communication antenna 3a of the non-contact receiving unit 3, and at the same time emits a print number information signal to the communication antenna 3a of the non-contact receiving unit 3, The number of prints is written to the nonvolatile memory 3b through 3a. At this time, the communication antenna 3a of the non-contact receiving unit 3
The print number information already written in the non-volatile memory 3b appears as a change in impedance, is received by the communication antenna 2a, is read as print number information by the control unit 2b, and is sent to the engine controller 326. is there.

Reference numeral 5 denotes a cartridge detecting element as cartridge detecting means mounted on the printer main body 301. The cartridge detecting element 5 is mounted on the lower surface of the process cartridge 8 mounted on the printer main body 301 at a position facing the developing unit D. Here, the lower surface is a surface located below when the process cartridge 8 is mounted on the printer main body 301. The cartridge detecting element 5 is configured to detect the presence or absence of the process cartridge 8 by using a mechanical, electrical, optical or magnetic detecting element. The cartridge detection element 5 is electrically connected to the engine controller 326. Then, when it is detected that the process cartridge 8 is mounted on the printer main body 301, a cartridge detection signal is sent to the engine controller 326.

The engine controller 326 includes a laser scanner 307, a process cartridge 8, and the fixing device 30.
In the electrophotographic process control 9, a toner image (developer image) obtained by developing the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 17 of the process cartridge 8 with toner by the developing unit 20 is transferred onto the recording paper S by the transfer charging roller 321. The image forming information at the time of the printing operation (image forming operation) to be transferred is sent to the non-contact transmitting unit 2. In the present embodiment,
As image formation information, the process cartridge 8 is stored in a counting circuit (not shown) of the engine controller 326.
Sends the information of the number of prints of the recording paper S counted every time the printer performs a printing operation to the non-contact transmission unit 2. The engine controller 326 sends the print number information to the contactless transmission unit 2 each time the process cartridge 8 performs a printing operation, or as needed. Thus, the content of the print number information stored in the nonvolatile memory 3b of the non-contact receiving unit 3 is updated.

Next, the operation will be described. First, when the cartridge detection element 5 detects the process cartridge 8 mounted on the printer main body 301, the cartridge detection element 5 sends a cartridge detection signal to the engine controller 326. This allows the engine controller 3
26 causes the contactless transmission unit 2 to start operation. As a result, the contactless transmission unit 2 starts operating, and communication with the contactless reception unit 3 becomes possible.

The engine controller 326 controls the laser scanner 307, the process cartridge 8, and the fixing device 309.
Is controlled to form an image on the recording paper S, the engine controller 326 sends out the information on the number of prints of the recording paper S counted by the counting circuit based on the printing operation by the process cartridge 8 to the non-contact transmission unit 2.

The non-contact transmission unit 2 is configured such that the control unit 2b receives the information on the number of prints from the engine controller 326 and issues a signal of the number of prints through the communication antenna 2a and the communication antenna 3a of the non-contact reception unit 3. The information on the number of prints is written in the nonvolatile memory 3b of the non-contact receiving unit 3. When the print number information sent from the engine controller 326 is updated in the non-volatile memory 3b of the non-contact receiving unit 3, the print number information already written in the non-volatile memory 3b is communicated as a change in impedance. Appears on antenna 3a, which is
In step a, the reception controller 2b reads the information as the number of prints and sends it to the engine controller 326.

Then, the engine controller 326
When the information on the number of prints sent from the non-contact transmission unit 2 is received and the information on the number of prints reaches the specified number of printable sheets S printable by the process cartridge 8, it is time to replace the process cartridge 8. The signal is notified to the video controller 327. The video controller 327 receives the result, and
Is displayed on a display unit provided in the external device 331 or a display device of the external device 331 to prompt the user to replace the process cartridge 8.

As described above, according to the electrophotographic image forming apparatus of this embodiment, the non-volatile memory 2b mounted on the process cartridge 8 stores the number of prints and the like as image forming information necessary for managing the replacement time of the process cartridge 8. Is stored, it is possible to determine whether or not the process cartridge 8 has reached the replacement time by using the information. As a result, the replacement time of the process cartridge 8 can be accurately managed and predicted, and the user can be warned of the replacement time of the process cartridge 8 with high accuracy.

In the present embodiment, the case where the replacement time of the process cartridge 8 is predicted by storing information such as the number of prints in the non-volatile memory 2b of the process cartridge 8 is described. Of the replacement time of the antenna rod 20
It is also possible to improve the accuracy of management and prediction of the replacement time of the process cartridge 8 by using together with the toner presence / absence detection sensor such as i. When used with the toner detection sensor,
It is desirable to complement parts with low accuracy with each other.

In this embodiment, the presence / absence of the process cartridge 8 is detected by using the cartridge detecting element 5.
The presence / absence of the process cartridge 8 may be detected by also serving as an electrode for applying a voltage to the next charging roller 19 and the photosensitive drum 17 and an electrode for detecting the presence / absence of toner.

The cartridge detecting element 5 includes:
A function of detecting whether the process cartridge 8 is correctly set in the printer main body 1 may be provided. The engine controller 326 controls the cartridge detection element 5
From the information obtained from the non-contact transmission unit 2, the abnormality of the cartridge detection element 5 or the communication with the process cartridge 8, for example,
Can be detected. If the contactless transmission unit 2
When the information from the cartridge detection element 5 and the information from the cartridge detection element 5 conflict, the abnormality is notified to the user. In this case, the print operation may be continued as long as the print function is not affected. For example, when the remaining amount of toner is stored in the non-volatile memory 2b, and there is a large difference between the remaining amount of toner stored in the non-volatile memory 2b and the remaining amount of toner detected from the antenna rod 20i on the main body side, Memory 2b
If the toner is zero and the amount detected by the antenna rod 20i is full of toner, the printing operation can be continued.

Second Embodiment An electrophotographic image forming apparatus according to a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 2A is an explanatory view showing the positional relationship between the non-contact communication unit and the non-contact receiving unit when the process cartridge is inserted into the guide member of the printer main body, and FIG. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a positional relationship between a non-contact communication unit and a non-contact receiving unit after auto loading or when the photosensitive drum rotates.

The electrophotographic image forming apparatus according to this embodiment is effective when the actual image forming operation position and posture are changed after the process cartridge is mounted on the printer main body. Note that the operation of the process cartridge replacement time management configuration in the electrophotographic image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment is the same as that described in the first embodiment described above, and thus will not be described.

In the electrophotographic image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment, the position of the communication antenna on the process cartridge side is changed between when the process cartridge is mounted on the cartridge mounting means of the printer main body and when the image forming operation of the process cartridge is performed. During the image forming operation of the process cartridge, the process cartridge is arranged in the cartridge mounting means so that the mutual position of the communication antenna on the process cartridge side and the communication antenna on the printer body side can communicate printer number information in a non-contact manner. It is configured to be.

This will be described in more detail. As shown in FIG. 2A, when the process cartridge 8 is inserted into the cartridge mounting means of the printer body 1, the non-contact transmission unit 2
And the non-contact receiving unit 3 are far apart, and are not close enough after both parties communicate. Thereafter, in order to shift the process cartridge 8 to the printer standby state, the pre-rotation of the main motor 323 is performed. Here, the printer standby state means that after a predetermined start period, the drive of the main motor 232 is temporarily stopped, the rotation drive of the photosensitive drum 17 is stopped, and the printer main body 1 remains in the state until the image forming start signal is input. Standing (standby) state. The pre-rotation means that the main motor 323 is driven by input of an image formation start signal.
Is restarted, the photosensitive drum 17 is driven to rotate again, and the printer main body 1 executes a predetermined operation before the image forming operation for a while. At this time, a driving force is applied to the process cartridge 8 by the main motor 323, and the process cartridge 8 shown in FIG.
The posture is changed as shown in FIG. At this time, the non-contact transmission unit 2 and the non-contact reception unit 3 approach a sufficient distance for performing communication, and can perform good communication. Thereafter, the cartridge unit 8 is set at the position shown in FIG.

With this configuration, communication between the non-contact transmitting unit 2 of the printer main body 1 and the non-contact receiving unit 3 of the process cartridge 8 can be performed during the image forming operation of the process cartridge 8. Therefore, during the image forming operation of the process cartridge 8, the non-contact transmission unit 2 on the process cartridge 8 side
Information such as the number of prints can be stored in the non-volatile memory 2b, and the information such as the number of prints can be used to determine whether the process cartridge 8 has reached the replacement time. It is possible to accurately manage and predict the replacement time of the cartridge 8, and to notify the user of the replacement time of the process cartridge 8.
A warning can be issued with higher accuracy.

The present embodiment is an example in which the attitude of the process cartridge 8 is changed by the driving force of the main motor 323.
May be loaded into the printer main body 1. For example, after the user sets the process cartridge 8 in the printer main body 1, the process cartridge 8 is loaded to a final position (a position where a printing operation is actually performed) by some driving force, for example, a spring by an auto-loading method. A mechanism may be provided in which the distance between the communication antennas 2a and 3a of the contact transmitting unit 2 and the non-contact receiving unit 3 is an optimum position for performing communication.

[Other Embodiments] The case where the electrophotographic image forming apparatus shown in the above-described embodiment communicates information such as the number of prints with a process cartridge for forming a monochrome image in a non-contact manner is exemplified. However, in the electrophotographic image forming apparatus according to the present invention, a developing means is provided for each of a plurality of cartridges as process cartridges, and a plurality of cartridges for forming images of a plurality of colors (for example, a two-color image, a three-color image, or a full-color image) are provided. The present invention can also be suitably applied to an image forming apparatus that communicates information such as the number of prints in a non-contact manner.

Further, the electrophotographic photosensitive member of the process cartridge shown in the above-described embodiment is not limited to the photosensitive drum, and includes, for example, the following. First, a photoconductor is used as a photoconductor. Examples of the photoconductor include amorphous silicon, amorphous selenium, zinc oxide, titanium oxide, and an organic photoconductor (OP).
C) and the like. For example, a drum-shaped or belt-shaped one is used as the shape on which the photoconductor is mounted. For example, in the case of a drum-type photoconductor, a photoconductor is deposited or coated on a cylinder of aluminum alloy or the like. It was done.

Various developing methods such as a known two-component magnetic brush developing method, a cascade developing method, a touch-down developing method, and a cloud developing method can be used as the developing method.

In the above-described embodiment, a so-called contact charging method is used for the structure of the charging means. However, as another structure, a metal shield such as aluminum is provided around three sides of a conventionally used tongue wire. Naturally, a configuration may be used in which positive or negative ions generated by applying a high voltage to the tongue wire are moved to the surface of the photosensitive drum, and the surface of the drum is uniformly charged.

The charging means may be a blade (charging blade), a pad type, a block type, a rod type, a wire type, or the like, in addition to the roller type.

As a method of cleaning the toner remaining on the photosensitive drum, the cleaning means may be constituted by using a blade, a fur brush, a magnetic brush or the like.

The process cartridge described above is
For example, an electrophotographic photosensitive member and at least one of the process means
It has one. Therefore, as an aspect of the process cartridge, in addition to the above-described embodiment, for example, an electrophotographic photosensitive member and a charging unit are integrally formed into a cartridge and can be attached to and detached from the apparatus main body. The electrophotographic photosensitive member and the developing means are integrally formed into a cartridge,
A device that can be attached to and detached from the device body. An electrophotographic photosensitive member and a cleaning means are integrally formed into a cartridge so that the cartridge can be attached to and detached from the apparatus main body. Further, there is a type in which an electrophotographic photoreceptor and two or more of the above-mentioned process means are combined into a cartridge to be integrally detachable from the apparatus main body.

That is, the above-mentioned process cartridge is one in which the charging means, the developing means or the cleaning means and the electrophotographic photosensitive member are integrally formed into a cartridge, and this cartridge is detachably mountable to the main body of the image forming apparatus. . In addition, at least one of the charging unit, the developing unit, and the cleaning unit and the electrophotographic photosensitive member are integrally formed into a cartridge so that the cartridge can be attached to and detached from the image forming apparatus main body. Further, it refers to a device in which at least the developing means and the electrophotographic photosensitive member are integrally formed into a cartridge so as to be detachably mountable to the image forming apparatus main body. The process cartridge can be attached to and detached from the apparatus main body by the user himself. Therefore, the maintenance of the apparatus main body can be performed by the user himself.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, a laser beam printer is exemplified as an electrophotographic image forming apparatus. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, an electrophotographic copying machine, a facsimile machine, a word processor, etc. Of course, it is also possible to use it for the electrophotographic image forming apparatus.

[0059]

As described above, according to the electrophotographic image forming apparatus of the present invention, the information necessary for managing the replacement time of the process cartridge is transmitted to the cartridge non-contact communication means by the control unit of the main body non-contact communication means. Since the read / write operation is performed on the storage element, the control unit of the main body non-contact communication unit can determine the replacement time of the process cartridge using the information read from the storage element of the cartridge non-contact communication unit. This makes it possible to accurately manage the replacement time of the process cartridge, and to warn the user of the replacement time of the process cartridge with high accuracy.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a positional relationship between a non-contact transmission unit and a cartridge detection element on a printer main body side and a non-contact reception unit on a process cartridge side in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2A is an explanatory diagram illustrating a positional relationship between a non-contact communication unit and a non-contact receiving unit when a process cartridge is inserted into a guide member of a printer main body. (B)
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a positional relationship between a non-contact communication unit and a non-contact receiving unit after auto-loading when the process cartridge is mounted on the printer main body or when the photosensitive drum rotates.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating an overall configuration of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a process cartridge.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a contactless transmission unit and a contactless reception unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printer main body 2 Non-contact transmission unit 2a Communication antenna 2b Control part 3 Non-contact reception unit 3a Communication antenna 3b Non-volatile memory 5 Cartridge detection element 8 Process cartridge 17 Electrophotographic photosensitive member 19 Charging means 20 Developing means 22 Cleaning means

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An electrophotographic image forming apparatus in which a process cartridge is detachable from an electrophotographic image forming apparatus main body and forms an image on a recording medium, comprising: (a) an electrophotographic photosensitive member; A developing unit for developing the electrostatic latent image formed on the body with a developer; and a storage element for storing predetermined information, wherein the predetermined information for storing in the storage element is not contacted. A process cartridge for transferring a developer image obtained by developing the electrostatic latent image with a developer by the developing unit to the recording medium during an image forming operation on the recording medium; (B) the process cartridge as the predetermined information in the storage element of the cartridge non-contact communication means. A control unit for causing the read-write information needed to manage replacement timing of di,
An electrophotographic image forming apparatus, comprising: a main body non-contact communication unit for non-contact communication of the information for reading and writing to the storage element by the control unit with the cartridge non-contact communication unit. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the process cartridge changes a position of the cartridge non-contact communication unit between when the cartridge is mounted on the mounting unit and when an image is formed on the recording medium. 2. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the cartridge non-contact communication unit and the main body non-contact communication unit are arranged on the mounting unit such that a mutual position of the information can be communicated without contact. Photographic image forming device. 3. An electrophotographic image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a cartridge detecting means for detecting whether said process cartridge is correctly mounted on said mounting means. . 4. An electrophotographic image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said storage element of said cartridge non-contact communication means is a nonvolatile recording element. 5. The electrophotographic image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information is image forming information in an image forming operation for forming an image on the storage medium by the process cartridge. 6. The electrophotographic photoconductor, wherein the process cartridge includes at least one of a charging unit for charging the electrophotographic photoconductor, a cleaning unit for removing a developer remaining on the electrophotographic photoconductor, and the electrophotographic photoconductor. 2. An electrophotographic image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said cartridge and said developing means are integrally formed as a cartridge, and said cartridge is detachably mountable to said electrophotographic image forming apparatus main body.