JP2001356670A - Image forming device, process cartridge and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily detect whether a process cartridge mounted in a main body of an image forming device is unused. SOLUTION: A nonvolatile memory 24 is mounted in a process cartridge 1, and a flag for new article showing that the process cartridge is unused is provided in the memory 24. When the process cartridge 1 is mounted in a device main body 19, an MPU 18 detects whether the flag for new article has been stood in the memory 24. When the flag for new article has been stood, the MPU 18 decides that the process cartridge 1 is unused and resets the flag for new article.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a laser printer or a copier, a process cartridge mounted on the image forming apparatus, and a storage medium mounted on the process cartridge.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic process, a photosensitive drum as an electrophotographic photosensitive member and a process means acting on the photosensitive drum are integrally formed into a cartridge, and this cartridge is used as an image forming apparatus. A process cartridge system detachable from the main body is employed. According to this process cartridge system,
Since the maintenance of the apparatus can be performed by the user himself without depending on a service person, the operability can be remarkably improved. Therefore, the process cartridge system is widely used in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus.

Here, the process cartridge refers to a unit in which a charging unit and / or a cleaning unit, a developing unit, and a photosensitive drum are integrally formed into a cartridge and can be attached to and detached from an image forming apparatus main body.

In the above-described process cartridge type image forming apparatus, the user must replace the process cartridge by himself / herself. Therefore, when the toner is consumed or when the parts such as the photosensitive drum have reached the end of their service life, the user is notified of the fact. Means to do this is required.

The life of the developing device in the process cartridge is when the toner is consumed and the image density becomes low. In this case, the remaining amount of toner is detected by various toner remaining amount detecting means and before the toner is completely exhausted. Is notified to the user in a state where the image quality is sufficiently satisfied.

The service life of the photosensitive drum and the cleaning device in the process cartridge is mainly defined as wear of the photosensitive drum itself, resulting in insufficient charge retention at the time of charging of the photosensitive layer, leading to image failure or remaining of the photosensitive drum. This is when the waste toner container in the cleaning device that cleans the toner is full of waste toner and falls outside without being able to accommodate it.In this case, too, the means for detecting the life of various photosensitive drums and the detection of the full state in the cleaning device The means is notified to the user that the life of the process cartridge is approaching at a time before causing an image defect or contamination in the image forming apparatus.

In this way, when the life of the process cartridge is detected, the user is notified that the life is expired, and then the printing operation of the image forming apparatus is forcibly stopped after a certain printing operation.

However, such control causes a problem in the following cases. For example, if the process cartridge is mounted in another image forming apparatus main body at the timing immediately before the image forming apparatus is stopped after the life notification, the image forming apparatus determines that the state of the process cartridge is the life, and then determines that the state of the process cartridge is the life. After performing the printing operation, the operation is forcibly stopped. For this reason, the number of prints that should be forcibly stopped exceeds the number of prints, and if this is repeated, the printing is forcibly performed at a stage that greatly exceeds the service life. turn into.

To solve this problem, it is conceivable to use a memory (storage medium) as means for detecting the life of the process cartridge. For example, a non-volatile memory is mounted on a process cartridge, a unit for writing and reading to and from the memory, and a microprocessor (MPU) are provided in the apparatus main body. Based on the performed electrophotographic operation, information relating to the life of the process cartridge is calculated, and control is performed so that information regarding the calculation result is written to the memory.

In this manner, the user is notified that the life of the process cartridge is approaching, and the printing operation of the image forming apparatus is forcibly stopped before the life of the process cartridge is reached by a certain printing operation. By performing the control, even if the process cartridge is mounted on another image forming apparatus in the middle, the state of the process cartridge can be accurately determined, and the forced stop control can be favorably performed.

Therefore, it was possible to print a large number of defective images while maintaining good image quality, and to prevent wasteful consumption of the transfer material and toner and generation of stains due to toner.

Further, by using the memory, the effect that the life of the process cartridge can be detected with high accuracy can be obtained.

[0013]

However, in the above-described image forming apparatus, it has not been possible to determine whether the process cartridge mounted on the image forming apparatus is unused or has already been used. .

The data to be written into the memory is only accumulated data such as the number of times of use and the time of use, and the date and time when the process cartridge is used for the first time is not stored. For this reason, even if the used process cartridge is collected from the user for recycle use, data on the use start date and time cannot be collected.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus, a process cartridge, and a storage medium which can easily detect whether or not a process cartridge mounted on an image forming apparatus main body is unused. It is.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus, a process cartridge, and a storage medium which can store the use start date and time of the process cartridge.

[0017]

The above object is achieved by an image forming apparatus, a process cartridge, and a storage medium according to the present invention. In summary, the present invention relates to a storage medium mounted on a process cartridge that is detachable from a main body of an image forming apparatus, the storage medium having unused information indicating that the process cartridge is unused. is there.

According to another aspect of the present invention, in a process cartridge detachable from an image forming apparatus main body,
An electrophotographic photosensitive member, a process unit acting on the electrophotographic photosensitive member, a communication unit with the image forming apparatus main body, and a storage medium having unused information indicating that the process cartridge is unused. A process cartridge is provided.

According to another aspect of the present invention, in an image forming apparatus in which a process cartridge is detachable, an electrophotographic photosensitive member, process means acting on the electrophotographic photosensitive member, and the process cartridge being unused. Mounting means for mounting a process cartridge having a storage medium having unused information indicating the following and communication means with the image forming apparatus main body, and an unused process cartridge being mounted for the first time. And an unused detection unit for detecting the unused information, and resetting the unused information when it is detected that the process cartridge is mounted for the first time.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the unused detecting means determines whether or not data indicating the date and time when the process cartridge is first mounted on the image forming apparatus main body in the storage medium is in an initial state. Is detected, and when the data is in the initial state, data indicating the date and time when the process cartridge is first mounted on the image forming apparatus main body is written into the storage medium, and the unused information is reset.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a developer remaining amount detecting means for detecting the remaining amount of the developer in the process cartridge. Ignore the detection result of the remaining amount of the medicine.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, when it is detected that the process cartridge is unused, the stirring means of the process cartridge is driven for a predetermined time, and the detection result by the developer remaining amount detecting means is obtained. The unused information is reset when is full.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, manufacturer information of the process cartridge is stored in the storage medium, and when it is detected that the process cartridge is unused, the manufacturer information is stored. The image is displayed on a display unit provided in the image forming apparatus main body or on a display means of an external device connected to the image forming apparatus.

[0024]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an image forming apparatus, a process cartridge, and a storage medium according to the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.

Embodiment 1 A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

First, a laser printer which is an electrophotographic image forming apparatus of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

As shown in the figure, in the laser printer of this embodiment, the process cartridge 1 is detachably mounted to the laser printer main body, that is, the apparatus main body 19 via mounting means 40.

The process cartridge 1 includes a photosensitive drum 5, which is an electrophotographic photosensitive member, a charging roller 22, which is a charging means, a developing device 2, which is a developing means, and a cleaning device including a cleaning blade 33a and a cleaning container 33b. The means 33 is integrally formed.

The developing device 2 contains a developing chamber 6 having a developing sleeve 3 disposed in proximity to the photosensitive drum 5 and a developing blade 4 for regulating the amount of toner on the developing sleeve 3, and a developer (toner) T. And a toner container 7.
An antenna 9 for detecting the remaining amount of toner is arranged in the developing chamber 6 in parallel with the developing sleeve 3, and a toner stirring member as stirring means for stirring and transporting the toner T is provided in the toner container 7. 8 is provided, and an opening 10 as a toner supply port is formed between the developing chamber 6 and the toner container 7.

The process cartridge 1 is provided with a non-volatile memory 24 as a storage medium. The memory 24 has an unused flag (hereinafter referred to as a “new flag”) indicating that the process cartridge 1 is unused. ),
That is, unused information is stored. Note that the memory 2
4 has communication means (not shown), and M
The communication with the PU 18 is enabled.

A transfer roller 29 as a transfer means is disposed below the photosensitive drum 5 so as to be in contact with the photosensitive drum 5, and further below the transfer roller 29 is provided a paper feed cassette 28 for accommodating the recording material P.

The apparatus main body 19 is provided with a printer control device for controlling a laser scanner for image formation,
A microprocessor (MPU) 18 for controlling the driving of various motors for conveying the recording material P and controlling the high-voltage power supply required for the electrophotographic process is provided.

Upon receiving a print command and image information from the external device 20 such as a personal computer via the general-purpose interface 21, the printer control device conveys the recording material P and sequentially executes the electrophotographic process as described below. To form an image.

That is, the photosensitive drum 5 uniformly charged by the charging roller 22 is irradiated with a laser beam L based on image information from the laser scanner section 26 to form an electrostatic latent image. The electrostatic latent image is developed by the developing device 2 as a toner image.

On the other hand, the recording material P in the paper feed cassette 28 is fed out one by one by a paper feed roller 30 and is synchronized with the toner image by a registration roller 31 to form the photosensitive drum 5 and the transfer roller 29. The toner image is transferred to the recording material P by the action of the transfer roller 29.

After the transfer, the toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 5 is removed by the cleaning blade 33a and accumulated in the cleaning container 33b.

The recording material P onto which the toner image has been transferred is conveyed to the fixing device 25, where the toner image is fixed on the recording material P by heating and pressurizing.

Next, features of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

When the process cartridge 1 is mounted on the apparatus main body 19, the MPU 18 as an unused detecting means is
It is detected through the communication means whether a new flag is set in the memory 24 (S1). If the brand-new flag is not set, the process cartridge 1 has already been used, and the process ends.

On the other hand, when the new flag is set,
It is determined that the process cartridge 1 has not been used, and the new flag is reset (S2).

As described above, the process cartridge 1
Equipped with a non-volatile memory 24 provided with a new flag,
By detecting the new flag on the apparatus main body 19 side, that is, by detecting the new flag by the MPU 18, it is possible to detect whether or not the process cartridge is unused.

Embodiment 2 Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

This embodiment is substantially the same as the first embodiment except that the date and time when the process cartridge 1 is used for the first time (First) is stored in the memory 24 of the process cartridge 1.
The first embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that data of the Install Date is read and whether or not the process cartridge is first mounted is detected based on whether the data is in an initial value, that is, in an initial state.

As shown in FIG. 3, the date and time when the process cartridge is used for the first time (First Install)
Data) is read, and it is determined whether or not the data is an initial value (S11). If the data is in the initial value, that is, in the initial state, First Install
Data is written into the memory 24 (S12), and thereafter,
The new flag is reset (S13).

If it is not the initial value in step S11, the process is terminated.

As described above, according to this embodiment, since the time when the process cartridge is used for the first time can be known, the manufacturer or the like collects the used process cartridge and confirms the contents of the memory so that the process cartridge can be processed by the user. The usage status of the cartridge can be grasped, which can be used for improving the product.

Embodiment 3 Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

The image forming apparatus of this embodiment has the same configuration as that of the first embodiment. Therefore, the description of the same parts will be omitted, and different parts will be mainly described.

As described with reference to FIG. 1, the opening 10 as a toner supply port is provided between the developing chamber 6 and the toner container 7 in the developing device 2 of the process cartridge 1. As shown in FIG. 4, the opening 10 before the use of the process cartridge 1 is covered with a toner seal material 11 to prevent the toner T from leaking. More specifically, the toner sealing material 11 is uniformly folded over the edge of the opening 10 after covering the opening 10 uniformly, and one end 12 thereof extends in the opening direction, that is, the direction of the arrow Y. And go out.

When the process cartridge 1 is used, first, the end portion 12 of the toner seal material 11 is pulled out in the direction of arrow Y, and the opening portion 10 is opened before use.

The process cartridge 1 from which the toner seal material 11 has been peeled off is mounted on the mounting means 4 of the image forming apparatus main body 19.
0, and the toner T
Is transported to the developing chamber 6 to prepare for image formation.

Next, detection of the remaining amount of toner in the process cartridge 1 will be described with reference to FIG.

The detection of the remaining amount of toner is performed by detecting the electrostatic capacity between the developing roller 3 and the antenna 9 by the remaining amount detecting means for toner, which will be described below.

An AC bias on which a DC component is superimposed is applied from the developing bias generating circuit 13 to the developing sleeve 3, and the antenna 9 and the developing sleeve 3 form a capacitor. Varies with quantity. That is, the AC voltage generated in the antenna 9 also changes according to the toner amount. The AC voltage is rectified by the rectifier circuit 14, converted into a DC voltage by the voltage conversion circuit 16, converted into a DC voltage Vtn that can be input to the analog input port AN0 of the MPU 18, and input.

On the other hand, the capacitor 23, the rectifier circuit 15, and the voltage conversion circuit 17 form a circuit for generating a reference voltage Vtr for detecting the remaining amount of toner.

The capacitor 23 has the same capacity as the capacity between the developing sleeve 3 and the antenna 9 when the toner amount is determined to be small. The same developing bias as that of the developing sleeve 3 is applied to one electrode of the capacitor 23. AC generated according to this capacitance is applied to the other electrode.
The voltage is rectified by the rectifier circuit 15, converted to a voltage by the voltage conversion circuit 17, and set as a reference voltage Vtr for the remaining amount of toner.
Is input to the analog port AN1.

Therefore, the MPU 18 compares the voltages Vtn and Vtr input to AN0 and AN1 to obtain
The remaining amount of toner can be detected.

Next, the control of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

When the process cartridge 1 is mounted on the apparatus main body 19, the MPU 18
It is detected whether or not a new flag is set in the memory 24 mounted in the printer (S31). If the new flag is set, it is determined that an unused process cartridge 1 is mounted, and the toner remaining is immediately determined. First, the toner T in the toner container 7 is stirred for a predetermined time by the toner stirring member 8 without performing the amount detection (S32). Then
The remaining amount of toner is detected, that is, whether the toner is full or not is checked (S33). When the toner is full, the new flag is reset (S34), and the remaining toner is detected. (S35).

If it is detected in step S31 that the new flag is set, the result of the toner remaining amount detection performed before that is detected is ignored.

If the new flag is not set at step S31, the remaining toner amount is immediately detected (S35).

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when it is confirmed that a new process cartridge 1 has been installed, toner agitation is first performed, so that an erroneous remaining amount of toner that is likely to occur when a new process cartridge is installed is performed. Detection can be prevented beforehand.

Embodiment 4 Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

When the process cartridge 1 is mounted on the apparatus main body 19, the MPU 18
It is detected whether or not a new flag is set in the memory 24 mounted on the printer (S21). If the new flag is set, the manufacturer information on the process cartridge 1 stored in the memory 24 in advance is used for image formation. It is displayed on the display of the apparatus or on the display of an external device such as a personal computer connected to the image forming apparatus (S22), and thereafter, the new flag is reset (S2).
3).

As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to determine that the process cartridge is unused by providing the brand-new flag, and to display the manufacturer information so that the process cartridge is a legitimate process cartridge. It can be confirmed that there is.

[0066]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the image forming apparatus, the process cartridge, and the storage medium of the present invention, the storage medium mounted on the process cartridge indicates that the process cartridge is not used. By having the unused information shown, it can be easily detected whether or not the process cartridge mounted on the image forming apparatus main body is unused.

Further, it is detected whether or not data indicating the date and time when the process cartridge is first mounted in the image forming apparatus main body in the storage medium is in an initial state. By writing data indicating the date and time when the process cartridge was first attached to the image forming apparatus main body to the storage medium and resetting the unused information, it is possible to grasp the status of use of the process cartridge by the user, and to provide services. Improvement can be achieved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram illustrating an embodiment of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a flow of new flag detection according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing another embodiment of the flow of new product flag detection according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a toner seal material of the process cartridge.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an example of detecting a remaining amount of toner in the image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing another example of the flow of new flag detection according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing another embodiment of a flow of new flag detection according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Process cartridge 5 Photosensitive drum (electrophotographic photoreceptor) 8 Toner stirring member (stirring means) 18 MPU (unused detecting means) 24 Non-volatile memory (storage medium) 40 Mounting means

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A storage medium mounted on a process cartridge detachable from an image forming apparatus main body, the storage medium having unused information indicating that the process cartridge is unused. 2. A process cartridge detachably mountable to an image forming apparatus main body, wherein: an electrophotographic photosensitive member; a process unit acting on the electrophotographic photosensitive member; a communication unit with the image forming apparatus main unit; A storage medium having unused information indicating use. 3. An image forming apparatus in which a process cartridge is detachable. The image forming apparatus includes an electrophotographic photosensitive member, processing means acting on the electrophotographic photosensitive member, and unused information indicating that the process cartridge is unused. Attachment means for attaching a process cartridge having a storage medium and communication means with the image forming apparatus main body to the image forming apparatus main body, and unused detection means for detecting that an unused process cartridge has been mounted for the first time. An image forming apparatus, comprising: resetting the unused information when detecting that the process cartridge has been mounted for the first time. 4. The unused detecting means detects whether data indicating the date and time when the process cartridge is first mounted on the image forming apparatus main body in the storage medium is in an initial state, and the unused data is detected. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein when the process cartridge is in an initial state, data indicating a date and time when the process cartridge is first mounted on the image forming apparatus main body is written into the storage medium, and the unused information is reset. Image forming device. 5. A developer remaining amount detecting means for detecting a remaining amount of the developer in the process cartridge, and detecting by the developer remaining amount detecting means when it is detected that the process cartridge is unused. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein a result is ignored. 6. When detecting that the process cartridge is unused, the stirring means of the process cartridge is driven for a predetermined time, and when the result of the detection by the developer remaining amount detecting means is full, the unused amount of the developer cartridge is determined. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the usage information is reset. 7. The storage medium stores manufacturer information of the process cartridge. When it is detected that the process cartridge is unused, the manufacturer information is provided in the image forming apparatus main body. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 3 to 6, wherein the image is displayed on a display unit or a display unit of an external device connected to the image forming apparatus.