JP2003057937A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To accurately estimate the number of times that a toner container is replaced, in an image forming device in which toner supply is carried out by the replacement of the toner container. SOLUTION: The image forming device has a remaining toner quantitative detecting means that determines whether the amount of remaining toner is small or not, and a toner consumption estimating means, and a toner container replacement estimated number counting means. In the case the amount of remaining toner is not small when the toner consumption estimating means determines whether or not the remaining toner is equal to or larger than a predetermined amount, a control device increases the count value of the toner container replacement estimated number counting means by 1, thereby estimating the number that the toner container is replaced.

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 for developing using powder toner, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus in which a toner container is replaced for replenishing toner.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an image forming apparatus, toner is consumed by development and the toner stored in advance in the image forming apparatus is insufficient, making it difficult to print a large number of sheets in succession. The toner is replenished before it becomes impossible to print a high quality image due to the toner shortage. Generally, as a means for replenishing toner, a toner container storing toner is used, and it is attached to a toner hopper to supply the toner in the toner container.
When more toner is consumed and toner needs to be replenished,
The toner container is replenished by replacing the empty toner container with a toner container storing toner.

To manage or monitor the usage status of the image forming apparatus, the number of prints is managed and monitored, and the toner consumption (the number of times the toner container is replaced) is also managed and monitored.

[0004]

In order to detect the replacement of the toner container, there is a method in which an expensive detecting device such as a sensor is provided at the mounting portion of the toner hopper to which the toner container is mounted. In addition to being costly, if the toner container is once removed from the toner hopper for repair or the like, and the toner container is removed or attached for purposes other than toner replenishment, the toner container replacement intended by the present invention can be performed. There was a risk of false detection.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus capable of accurately estimating the number of toner container replacements at low cost and reliably grasping toner consumption.

[0006]

An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus for replenishing toner by replacing a toner container for storing toner, in which the remaining amount of toner is insufficient.
a remaining toner amount detecting means for detecting whether or not it is ow, a toner consumption amount estimating means for estimating a toner consumption amount, and a toner container estimated replacement number counting means for estimating a replacement number of the toner container, When the toner remaining amount detecting unit never detects that the toner remaining amount is Low while the toner consumption amount estimating unit measures a predetermined toner consumption amount or more, the control unit estimates the number of toner container replacements. This is achieved by an image forming apparatus characterized in that the number of times the toner container is replaced is estimated by adding +1 to the count value of the counting means.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Prior to the description of the present invention, an image forming apparatus in which toner is supplied by exchanging a toner container for storing toner will be described with reference to FIG. .

A developing device 2 is provided so as to face the rotating photosensitive drum 1. Inside the developing device 2, a rotating developing sleeve 21, a conveying roller 22, and a supplying roller 23 are provided, and the two-component developer including toner and carrier is uniformly stirred by the conveying roller 22. The supply roller 23 supplies the toner to the peripheral surface of the developing sleeve 21 to which the developing bias is applied, and the toner adheres to the opposing electrostatic latent image portion on the photosensitive drum 1 to perform the development. When the toner concentration detection sensor SL detects that the toner is consumed by the development and the toner concentration in the apparatus (the ratio of the toner to the carrier) is lowered, the control unit causes the toner stored in the toner hopper 3 to be supplied to the toner supply roller 32. Is rotated to replenish the inside of the developing device 2 through the toner supply pipe 34.

Toner hopper 3 having toner stored therein
Has a toner container receiving portion 33 to which the toner container 4 is attached, and a toner agitating screw 31 is provided inside the toner hopper 3 to uniformly lower the level of the toner as the toner is consumed. Toner hopper 3
A toner remaining amount detection sensor SP using, for example, a piezo element is provided on the lower wall surface of the. When the toner remaining amount detection sensor SP continuously prints a plurality of measured values equal to or less than the reference value indicating the toner remaining amount shortage, a Low signal indicating the toner remaining amount shortage is output.

L output from the toner remaining amount detection sensor SP
Based on the ow signal, a request for toner container replacement is displayed from the control unit, and the user removes the already empty toner container 4 and replaces it with a toner container 4 that is newly filled with toner. By attaching the container opening 41 of the toner container 4 to the toner container receiving portion 33, both the closed container opening 41 and the toner container receiving portion 33 are opened,
The toner inside the toner container 4 falls into the toner hopper 3.

The toner replenishment of the image forming apparatus using the two-component developer has been described above. The present invention is not limited to such an image forming apparatus and is similarly applied to a developing device using a one-component developer. That is, instead of the toner concentration detection sensor SL, a toner level detection sensor that outputs a toner replenishment signal when the one-component developer (toner) in the developing device becomes less than a predetermined amount is used. The same is done by performing (quantity) detection.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the toner remaining amount in the toner hopper 3 and the toner Low signal output by the toner remaining amount detecting sensor SP in the toner remaining amount state in the toner hopper 3.

The toner remaining amount detecting sensor SP outputs a Low signal indicating the toner remaining amount shortage when a plurality of measurement values equal to or less than the reference value indicating the toner remaining amount are continuously printed. This Low signal may be erroneously detected, and once the toner Low
After detecting the
At the stage of transitioning to a state where the remaining amount of toner is low,
Not so reliable. However, when the toner is sufficiently in the toner hopper 3, the Low signal is rarely output, and even if there is a situation in which the Low signal is not output, such a situation can be relied upon.

The present invention uses the sensor output of the toner remaining amount detecting sensor SP for detecting that the toner remaining amount is low, and conversely estimates the state in which the toner is abundant, thereby reducing the cost. In order to estimate the number of times of replacement of the toner container with high reliability, the following constituent elements are included.

The image forming apparatus of the present invention includes the toner remaining amount detecting sensor SP described above, a toner consumption amount estimating means for estimating the toner consumption amount, and a toner container estimated exchange number counting means for estimating the toner container exchange number. When the toner remaining amount detecting unit never detects that the toner remaining amount is Low while the toner consumption amount estimating unit measures a predetermined toner consumption amount or more, It is characterized in that the toner container replacement frequency is estimated by adding +1 to the count value of the toner container estimated replacement frequency counting means.

The toner consumption amount estimating means used here estimates the toner consumption amount with a blackening rate of 5% with respect to the number of prints counted by the print number counter.
Needless to say, the toner consumption may be estimated by directly measuring the blackening rate from the printed image.

The predetermined toner consumption amount referred to herein is a toner consumption amount preferably set to 25% or more and 70% or less of the toner container capacity, and for example, the toner capacity in the filled toner container is 1 kg. In case of, 250g
It is desirable that an arbitrary toner consumption amount of up to 700 g is set as the predetermined toner consumption amount.

The inventors of the present invention have described an image forming apparatus in which the toner container is replaced as shown in FIG.
While the toner consumption amount estimation means measures the toner consumption amount of 25 kg to 70% of the toner container capacity during the toner container replacement of the toner container of 1 kg capacity of 0 example When the toner remaining amount detection sensor SP does not detect that the toner remaining amount is Low at all, it is confirmed that the toner remaining amount is always Low only once during one toner container replacement. There was a case to detect. On the other hand, the toner container capacity of 25
In the case where the toner remaining amount detection sensor SP does not detect that the toner remaining amount is Low only once while measuring the toner consumption amount less than 1%, Low is changed twice during one toner container replacement. 1 out of 2000 cases that occur
It happened once. Further, in the case where the toner remaining amount detection sensor SP does not detect that the toner remaining amount is Low only once while measuring the toner consumption amount exceeding 70% of the toner container capacity, the toner container is used once. During the exchange, the Low never occurred once in 2000 cases.

From such experimental data, the preferable predetermined toner consumption amount in the present invention is 25% of the capacity of the toner container.
It is set between 70%.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for estimating the number of toner container replacements according to the present invention.

First, initialization processing is performed, the number of toner replacements is set to 0, and Old Sign in the toner remaining amount detection sensor is set.
al is set to Low, and the toner consumption variable Star
The consumption amount at t is cleared to 0, and the consumption amount at the variable End is cleared to 0 (F1).

Next, the toner remaining amount detecting sensor New S
signal is set to the output state (Low or High) of the current left toner residual detection sensor (F2), and the toner remaining amount detection sensor is set to Old Signal and New Signal.
It is checked whether and are equal (F3), YES
In the case of (No change in Signal), the process returns to (F2).

Old Signal and New Sign
In the check (F3) whether or not al is equal, N
If O (Signal changed), New
It is checked (F4) whether or not the Signal is in the Low state. In the case of NO (changed from Low to High), the toner amount of the variable Start is set as the current toner consumption amount (F5), and Old Signal is set to N.
After substituting ew Signal (F6), the process returns to (F2).

YES (High) in the check (F4) as to whether or not New Signal is in the Low state.
(Changed from Low to Low), the toner amount of the variable End is set as the current toner consumption amount (F7).

From the toner consumption of the variable End, the variable Sta
It is checked whether the value obtained by subtracting the toner consumption amount of rt exceeds a predetermined toner consumption amount (for example, 500 g corresponding to 50% of 1 kg capacity) (F8), and NO.
In the case of (the predetermined toner consumption amount does not reach 500 g), New Signal is substituted for Old Signal (F6), and the process returns to (F2).

If the value obtained by subtracting the toner consumption amount of the variable Start from the toner consumption amount of the variable End is a predetermined toner consumption amount (for example, 500 g) (F8), YES.
When it is (exceeded), +1 is added to the number of toner replacements (F9), and Old Sign is New Sign.
After substituting al (F6), the process returns to (F2).

By following the above flow, it is possible to accurately estimate the number of toner container replacements without providing a toner container replacement detection means for directly detecting the replacement of the toner container in the toner container mounting portion.

[0028]

According to the present invention, since the number of times the toner container is replaced can be estimated at a very low cost, the toner consumption amount in the long-term range can be accurately estimated. Based on this, proper management of the image forming apparatus will be performed, and a great effect will be achieved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a main part of an image forming apparatus.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship between a remaining toner amount and an output of a remaining toner amount detection sensor.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for estimating the number of times the toner container is replaced according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 photoconductor drum 2 Development device 3 toner hopper 4 toner container SP toner remaining amount detection sensor

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Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An image forming apparatus that replenishes toner by replacing a toner container that stores toner, the remaining toner amount detecting means detecting whether or not the remaining amount of toner is low. A toner consumption amount estimating means for estimating the toner consumption amount, and a toner container estimated exchange number counting means for estimating the number of times the toner container is exchanged. When the toner remaining amount detecting means does not detect that the toner remaining amount is Low at any time while measuring the amount or more, the count value of the toner container estimated replacement number counting means is increased by +.
An image forming apparatus, wherein the number of times the toner container is replaced is estimated by adding only 1. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined toner consumption amount is 25% or more and 70% or less of a toner container capacity.