JP2005099227A - Process unit and image forming apparatus having it - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily detect, with a simple structure, whether a process unit matches the model of an image forming apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: A stirring member 20 is disposed in a waste toner box. Model identification slits 24 are formed on the flange 23 of a rotation transmission gear 22 attached to the rotary shaft 21 of the stirring member 20. An optical sensor 26 is disposed at a position corresponding to the flange 23 and outside the waste toner box 17. The apparatus model identification information of the apparatus type identification slits 24 is detected with the optical sensor 26, thereby making it possible to recognize whether the process unit is for an apparatus of a different model. In the case where the optical sensor 26 detects that the process unit is for the apparatus of a different model, the drive (operation) of the device is stopped on the basis of the detection signal. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic system such as an electrophotographic copying machine, a facsimile machine, a printer, or a combination of these, and a process unit used therefor.

  In general, image forming apparatuses that use toner on recording materials such as paper, plastic sheets, cloth, and OHP sheets, such as copiers, facsimiles, printers, or multi-function machines that have these functions are also formed on a photoreceptor. The transferred toner image is transferred to a recording material, and the recording material carrying the toner image is fixed by a fixing device, thereby forming an image on the recording material.

  In order to supply toner to the above-described photosensitive member, the developing roller of the developing device is disposed in the developing portion of the photosensitive member, and the toner is supplied from a detachable toner container (toner container) using a stirring means or a charging means. doing. Such a developing means may be configured as a developing unit alone or configured integrally with the photosensitive unit. Further, of the toner adhering to the photosensitive member, the toner remaining without being transferred to the recording material is captured and collected in a waste toner box by, for example, a sweep roller. Such a waste toner box may be configured as a single unit or configured to be detachable so as to be integrated with the photosensitive unit.

  More specifically, in an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic system, a toner container in which toner is accommodated can be attached to and detached from the apparatus main body, and the photosensitive member and the photosensitive member, for example, charging, exposure, development, transfer In some cases, means for collecting and fixing the waste toner is integrated as a process unit and is detachable from the apparatus main body.

  In an image forming apparatus provided with such a process unit, a specific process unit is mounted in correspondence with a specific type of image forming apparatus. As a means for detecting whether or not the process unit is suitable for the image forming apparatus as described above, there is known one in which concaves and convexes corresponding to each other are formed on the process unit side and the image forming apparatus main body side (for example, , See Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2.)

  By the way, in recent years, after developing one model, for example, a model having a different printing speed is developed as a development model. In this case, it is desirable to share the internal process unit among different models in order to improve production efficiency. However, when the number of models increases and the model whose printing speed changes greatly from the basic model, the internal settings are used to solve the problem of image formation. Need to change. If a unit having a different internal setting is attached to the main body of the image forming apparatus, there is an increased possibility that a malfunction will occur particularly in the charging / stirring mechanism.

  For this reason, a technique for providing a toner cartridge type identification protrusion to prevent diversion to another model is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 3).

JP 2003-140455 A (page 4, FIG. 3) JP 2001-125354 A (page 3, FIG. 3) JP 2001-272851 A (4th page, FIGS. 3 to 5)

  However, in the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 described above, it is necessary to mold the toner container with a different mold for each model, so that the mold cannot be shared and the cost is increased, and the production efficiency is reversed. It was something to do.

  In addition, since the technique disclosed in Patent Document 2 described above includes a switch drive unit, it can effectively prevent the occurrence of a problem that a toner container is erroneously attached to another model. There is a problem in terms of cost that the mold cannot be shared in the same manner as the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 in that it is necessary to change the arrangement position of the part with respect to the image forming apparatus main body.

  Further, the technique disclosed in Patent Document 3 described above has a problem in that a mandrel needs to be manufactured in the toner container because a cored bar needs to be placed in the toner container. Also in the technique according to Patent Document 3, since it is necessary to process concave portions having different positions for each model on the image forming apparatus main body side, man-hours are increased and labor is required.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a process unit capable of recognizing suitability corresponding to the model of an image forming apparatus.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of preventing image defects.

  The invention according to claim 1 includes a waste toner box disposed adjacent to the photoconductor, and is detachably attached to the main body of the image forming apparatus, and rotates around the rotation shaft in the waste toner box. The present invention relates to a process unit in which a driven stirring member is arranged. In the process unit according to the present invention, a model identification slit is formed in the flange portion of the rotary drive transmission gear mounted on the rotary shaft, and the process unit is located at a position corresponding to the flange portion outside the waste toner box. An optical sensor is disposed, and model identification information of the model identification slit is detected by the optical sensor.

  The invention according to claim 2 relates to the process unit according to claim 1. In the process unit according to the present invention, the waste toner box is provided so as to be combined with the photosensitive unit, and the rotational driving force of the photosensitive member is transmitted to the rotational shaft via the rotational driving transmission gear. It is said.

  The invention described in claim 3 relates to the process unit described in claim 1 or claim 2. The process unit according to the present invention is characterized in that a developing unit is combined with the photosensitive unit.

  A fourth aspect of the present invention relates to a process unit according to any one of the first to third aspects. The process unit according to the present invention is characterized in that a plurality of the model identification slits are provided and arranged at a predetermined pitch along a rotation direction of the flange portion.

  The invention described in claim 5 relates to an image forming apparatus. An image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes the process unit according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

  The invention described in claim 6 relates to the image forming apparatus described in claim 5. The image forming apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that driving of the apparatus is stopped based on a detection signal of the optical sensor.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a process unit that can reliably recognize the compatibility corresponding to the model of the image forming apparatus.

  In addition, according to the present invention, it is possible to obtain an image forming apparatus that can prevent the use of process units of different models and can prevent the occurrence of defects in the formed image.

  Hereinafter, a process unit and an image forming apparatus according to the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described.

The process unit includes a waste toner box disposed adjacent to the photosensitive member, and is detachably attached to the image forming apparatus main body. Further, in this process unit, an agitating member that is driven to rotate about the rotation shaft is disposed in the waste toner box.
A model identification slit is formed in the flange portion of the rotation drive transmission gear mounted on the rotation shaft of the stirring member. Further, an optical sensor is disposed at a position corresponding to the flange portion (the portion where the model identification slit is formed) outside the waste toner box, and the model identification information of the model identification slit is detected by the optical sensor. It has become.

  For this reason, when the model identification slit formed in the flange portion of the rotational drive transmission gear is not formed at a predetermined pitch, the optical sensor detects the process unit as a different model. When such a process unit is attached to the main body of the image forming apparatus, it can be recognized that the process unit is a different model. When the optical sensor detects a process unit of a different model, the image forming apparatus is preferably set to stop driving (operation) of the apparatus based on the detection signal.

  Hereinafter, details of a process unit and an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, it should be noted that the drawings are schematic and the ratio of dimensions of each member is different from the actual one. Moreover, the part from which the relationship and ratio of a mutual dimension differ also in between drawings is contained.

(Schematic configuration of image forming apparatus)
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram schematically illustrating an image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment. The image forming apparatus 1 includes a sheet feeding unit 4 that feeds a recording sheet P as a recording material such as print paper or a plastic film from a sheet feeding tray 3 and a sheet feeding unit 4 A sheet conveying unit 5 that conveys the recording sheet P along the sheet conveying path R, an image forming unit 6 that forms an image on the recording sheet P conveyed by the sheet conveying unit 5, and a recording sheet by the image forming unit 6. A fixing unit 7 that fixes an image formed on P and a sheet discharge unit 9 that discharges the recording sheet P on which the image is fixed by the fixing unit 7 to a discharge tray 8 are roughly configured. As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming unit 6 includes a process unit 10 and a transfer roller 11 as a transfer unit.

(Process unit configuration)
As shown in FIG. 1, the process unit 10 includes a drum-type photosensitive member (hereinafter referred to as a photosensitive drum) 13, a charger (not shown) arranged around the drum-type photosensitive member, and a charger in the photosensitive drum 13. An exposure unit (not shown) that irradiates laser at a position downstream in the rotation direction, a developing unit 14 that forms a toner image by supplying toner to an electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 13, and a developing unit 14 A toner container 15 detachably attached to the image forming apparatus, a cleaning device 16 for removing toner remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 13 that has passed through the transfer roller 11 provided on the image forming apparatus main body 2 side, and a cleaning device 16. A waste toner box 17 for storing the collected toner is generally provided.

  In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the process unit 10 includes the image forming apparatus main body 2 in a state in which the photosensitive unit 30 including the photosensitive drum 13 and the developing unit 40 including the developing unit 14 are combined. It is a type that is attached to the side, but may be a type in which further subdivided units are connected.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the cleaning device 16 includes a fur brush 18 and a blade cleaner 19. The fur brush 18 has a width across the entire width of the photosensitive drum 13 and has a rotation axis parallel to the rotation axis of the photosensitive drum 13 so as to be in contact with the entire width of the photosensitive drum 10. It has become. The blade cleaner 19 is disposed on the downstream side of the photosensitive drum 13 in the rotation direction of the fur brush 18, and contacts the entire width of the photosensitive drum 13 to scrape the toner remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 13. Has a function to drop.

(Configuration of waste toner box)
Next, the configuration of the waste toner box 17 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state in which the side wall portion and the upper wall portion are omitted so that the inside of the waste toner box 17 can be seen.

  The waste toner box 17 is disposed at the rear of the process unit 10 (on the side away from the photosensitive drum 13). The waste toner box 17 includes a stirring member 20 that transports and stirs the toner separated and collected from the photosensitive drum 13 by the fur brush 18 and the blade cleaner 19 into the box.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the stirring member 20 includes both side wall portions (both side wall portions in the rotational axis direction of the photosensitive drum 13) 17A and 17B in the waste toner box 17, and the side wall 17B inside the side wall portion 17B. Is provided integrally with a rotating shaft 21 that is supported by a partition wall 17C that is parallel to the rotating shaft 21C. The stirring member 20 is provided integrally with the rotary shaft 21 so as to be disposed between the side wall portion 17A and the partition wall 17C.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, a rotational drive transmission gear 22 is coaxially provided on the rotation shaft 21 between the side wall portion 17 </ b> B and the partition wall 17 </ b> C. The rotational drive transmission gear 22 has a plurality of (two in this embodiment) model identification slits 24 formed at predetermined positions of a flange portion 23 having teeth formed on the peripheral surface. In the present embodiment, the pitch in the circumferential direction of the flange portion 23 is determined according to the number of model identification slits 24. Further, a light transmission window 25 for detecting the model identification slit 24 of the flange portion 23 is formed on the side wall portion 17B opposed to the rotational drive transmission gear 22.

  An optical sensor 26 is disposed outside the light transmission window 25. In this embodiment, as will be described later, the optical sensor 26 is provided on the image forming apparatus main body 2 side. However, a configuration in which the optical sensor 26 is provided on the process unit 10 side is also possible.

  The stirring member 20 includes a plurality of arm members 20A extending in a radial direction from the rotating shaft 21 and arranged at predetermined intervals so as to be parallel to each other, and the free ends of the arm members 20A are connected to each other. It is comprised from the connection frame part 20B formed so that it might make in parallel with the rotating shaft 21 so that it might connect.

  Further, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the stirring member 20 is configured such that the rotational driving force is transmitted from the photosensitive drum 13 side to the rotational driving transmission gear 22 via the rotational transmission gear 27 or the like. Yes.

(Schematic structure of image forming apparatus main body)
As shown in FIG. 3, the image forming apparatus main body 2 includes apparatus side frames 2R and 2L on both sides of the image forming apparatus main body 2, and a horizontal frame member provided on the apparatus side frames 2R and 2L. 2A. The horizontal frame member 2A is arranged in the width direction of the image forming apparatus 1 (indicated by an arrow W in the figure) so as to be parallel to the rotation axis of the photosensitive drum 13 when the process unit 10 is mounted on the image forming apparatus main body 2. (In the direction shown).

  In this embodiment, the horizontal frame member 2 </ b> A is arranged such that the horizontal frame member 2 </ b> A is positioned above the waste toner box 17 when the process unit 10 is mounted on the image forming apparatus main body 2.

  Further, on the inner side surface of the apparatus side frame 2L, the optical sensor 26 is located at a position facing the light transmission window 25 formed on the side wall portion 17B of the waste toner box 17 when the process unit 10 is mounted. Is arranged. The optical sensor 26 is connected to output a detection signal to the control unit 28. For this reason, the optical sensor 26 is connected to the rotational drive transmission gear 22 provided on the rotary shaft 21 so that the process unit 10 is mounted on the image forming apparatus main body 2 and the stirring member 20 in the waste toner box 17 rotates. When the rotational driving force is transmitted, the passage of the model identification slit 24 is detected from the presence or absence of reflected light, and the detection signal is output to the control unit 28.

  In addition, as the structure of the image forming apparatus main body 2, guide rails (not shown) are provided on the inner side surfaces of the apparatus side frames 2R and 2L facing each other, which serve as guides when the process unit 10 is attached and detached. . The guide rail is provided at a position that does not interfere with the sheet conveyance path R.

(Removal method of process unit)
In this embodiment, in order to mount the process unit 10 in the image forming apparatus main body 2, as shown in FIG. 1, after the upper part 2B of the image forming apparatus main body 2 is opened, the process unit 10 is moved to the arrow S in the figure. What is necessary is just to insert along the direction shown by. The process unit 10 is mounted on the image forming apparatus main body 2 side in a state where the photosensitive unit 30 including the photosensitive drum 13 and the developing unit 40 including the developing unit 14 are combined. As described above, as a modified example of such a process unit 10, a type in which further subdivided units are combined may be used. As described above, when the process unit 10 is mounted, the light transmission window 25 provided in the waste toner box 17 on the process unit 10 side is disposed at a position facing the optical sensor 26.

  In order to remove the process unit 10 from the image forming apparatus main body 2, the integrated process unit 10 may be pulled out along a guide rail (not shown) and taken out from the open upper part 2 </ b> B of the image forming apparatus main body 2.

(Detection of suitability of process unit)
When the rotation drive transmission gear 22 that transmits the rotation drive force to the stirring member 20 rotates, the optical sensor 26 detects the passage of the model identification slit 24 formed in the flange portion 23 through the light transmission window 25, and A detection signal is output to the control unit 28. Based on this detection signal, the control unit 28 determines whether a process unit 10 suitable for the image forming apparatus main body 2 or an unsuitable process unit is mounted, and a suitable process unit is mounted. If so, control is performed to stop the operation of the entire apparatus. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, the control unit 28 performs control to stop driving of the drive source M such as a motor. For this reason, when a process unit for a different model is used by mistake or intentionally, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of a defect in an unimage.

(Effect of Example)
In the process unit 10 and the image forming apparatus 1 as described above, the number and pitch of the model identification slits 24 formed in the rotational drive transmission gear 22 are detected by the optical sensor 26, so that the image forming apparatus 1 can be used for different models. Whether or not the process unit is mounted can be easily detected.

  Therefore, after developing one model of the image forming apparatus, when developing a model having a different printing speed, for example, as a development model, no special processing is performed on the process unit side (simply identifying the model of the rotational drive transmission gear 22). It is only necessary to change the number of slits 24, the pitch, etc.), and it is sufficient to manufacture process units having the same structure that differ only in internal settings. Therefore, the process unit can share the structure between different models, and can improve the production efficiency.

  In this way, when manufacturing a model whose printing speed changes significantly from the basic model, in order to eliminate defects in image formation, the internal settings can be set even though the process unit has the same shape. Need to change. If process units having different internal settings are attached to the image forming apparatus main body 2, the possibility of occurrence of a problem particularly in the charging / stirring mechanism increases. However, as in this embodiment, the number, pitch, and the like of the model identification slits 24 of the rotational drive transmission gear 22 that rotationally drives the rotational shaft 21 of the stirring member 20 of the waste toner box 17 are set for each model. Thus, it is possible to easily detect whether or not the process unit is compatible with the model of the image forming apparatus.

  In this embodiment, since the optical sensor 26 is provided on the image forming apparatus main body 2 side, it is not necessary to provide wiring between the process unit 10 and the image forming apparatus main body 2, and the process unit 10 can be attached and detached. Can be improved.

(Other examples)
It should not be understood that the above description and drawings, which form part of the disclosure of the embodiments of the present invention, limit the present invention. From this disclosure, various alternative embodiments and examples and operational techniques will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the model identification slit 24 is formed in the flange portion 23 that forms the teeth of the rotational drive transmission gear 22, but a disk-like flange portion that is parallel to the gear portion is formed coaxially and integrally. Alternatively, the disc-shaped flange portion may be provided with a model identification slit as the gear.

  In the above-described embodiment, the number of model identification slits 24 formed in the flange portion 23 of the rotational drive transmission gear 22 is two. However, since the number and pitch are different depending on the model, a single number or three or more is provided. Of course, the model identification slit 24 may be formed.

  Furthermore, although the above-described embodiments have been described by applying the present invention to a copying machine, it can be applied to an image forming apparatus such as a facsimile, a printer, or a multifunction machine having both functions. Nor

  The present invention can be used in the field of manufacturing copiers, facsimiles, printers, image forming apparatuses such as multifunction machines having these functions, and process units used for these.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view which shows the process unit which concerns on the Example of this invention. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a main part of an image forming apparatus body according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view which shows the positional relationship of the rotational drive transmission gear and optical sensor which concern on the Example of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Image forming apparatus, 2 ... Image forming apparatus main body, 6 ... Image forming part, 10 ... Process unit, 13 ... Photoconductor drum, 14 ... Developing device, 16 ... Cleaning device, 17 ... Waste toner box, 20 ... stirring member, 21 ... rotating shaft, 22 ... rotary drive transmission gear, 23 ... flange, 24 ... model identification slit, 26 ... optical sensor, 30 ... photoconductor Unit, 40 ... Developing unit

Claims (6)

A waste toner box disposed adjacent to the photosensitive member is provided. The waste toner box is detachably attached to the image forming apparatus main body, and a stirring member that is driven to rotate around a rotation shaft is disposed in the waste toner box. Process unit,
A model identification slit is formed in the flange portion of the rotary drive transmission gear mounted on the rotary shaft, and an optical sensor is disposed at a position corresponding to the flange portion outside the waste toner box, A process unit characterized in that model identification information of the model identification slit is detected by a sensor.   2. The process according to claim 1, wherein the waste toner box is provided so as to be combined with a photosensitive unit, and a rotational driving force of the photosensitive member is transmitted to the rotating shaft through the rotational driving transmission gear. unit.   3. The process unit according to claim 1, wherein a developing unit is combined with the photosensitive unit.   The process according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a plurality of the model identification slits are arranged at a predetermined pitch along a rotation direction in the flange portion. unit.   An image forming apparatus comprising the process unit according to claim 1.   6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the driving of the apparatus is stopped based on a detection signal of the optical sensor.

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