JP2005181475A - Apparatus and method for discriminating toner bottle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a toner bottle discriminating apparatus and a discriminating method for attaining the reduction of a cost by simplifying the constitution of an apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: The apparatus includes the toner bottle 20, a recessed part 25 formed in the toner bottle 20, a reflection type photoelectric sensor 14 for detecting the recessed part 25, and a motor for rotating the toner bottle 20. The reflection type photoelectric sensor 14 is arranged so that it may face the recessed part 25 when the recessed part 25 looks upward (the recessed part 25 is located in the rotational origin.). A control means (CPU) controls so that the toner bottle 20 is rotated by the motor, and when the recessed part 25 is detected by the reflection type photoelectric sensor 14, it is judged by the control means (CPU) that the toner bottle 20 is loaded on the basis of on a change in the received light quantity. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a toner bottle discrimination device and a discrimination method used in an electrophotographic copying machine, a facsimile machine, a printer, a multifunction machine having both a copying function and a facsimile function, and the like.

  An image forming apparatus that rotates a toner bottle and supplies toner from the toner bottle to a developing device is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

In the technique described in Patent Document 1, it is determined whether or not the toner bottle is a genuine product by detecting, with a sensor, a rib that should be provided on the outer periphery of the toner bottle with a predetermined length. Further, based on the fact that the rotation load of the toner bottle changes according to the remaining amount of toner, the rotation speed of the toner bottle is detected by a sensor to determine whether or not the toner has become empty.
JP 2001-235934 A

  By the way, when the toner in the toner bottle runs out, it is necessary to replace the toner bottle with a new one. However, when the old toner bottle is removed from the apparatus or when a new toner bottle is installed in the apparatus, the toner provided in the toner bottle is removed. It is important to position the toner bottle at the rotation origin position (removable position) so that the toner does not leak from the discharge port (so that the discharge port faces upward when the toner bottle is attached / detached). . It is also important to detect whether a toner bottle is installed in the apparatus.

  In this case, since a sensor for detecting whether or not the toner bottle is at the rotation origin position and a sensor for detecting whether or not the toner bottle is mounted are necessary, the cost of the apparatus increases and the control becomes complicated. There's a problem.

  Incidentally, in the technique described in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, it is determined by one sensor whether or not the toner bottle is a regular product and whether or not the toner is close to empty. The determination of whether or not the toner is at the origin and the determination of whether or not the toner bottle is attached are not specified.

  The present invention has been made paying attention to such problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a toner bottle discriminating apparatus and discriminating method for simplifying the configuration of the apparatus and reducing the cost.

  In order to achieve the above object, a toner bottle discriminating device of the present invention includes a toner bottle, a detected portion provided in the toner bottle, a detecting means for detecting the detected portion, a motor for rotating the toner bottle, Control means for determining that the toner bottle is attached when the toner bottle is rotated by a motor and the detection means detects the detected portion.

  In this discrimination device, whether or not the toner bottle is attached is discriminated based on whether or not the detection means detects the detected portion of the toner bottle. In addition, if the detection means is arranged at the rotation origin position of the toner bottle (position where the toner bottle can be attached and detached), when the toner bottle is at the rotation origin position, the toner bottle rotates with the detection that the toner bottle is installed. The presence of the origin position is also detected.

  In this discrimination device, it is preferable that the detected portion is a concave portion formed on the outer peripheral surface of the toner bottle, and the detecting means is a reflective photoelectric sensor.

  The toner bottle determination method of the present invention includes a step of rotating the toner bottle by a predetermined angle, a step of determining whether or not the detected portion of the toner bottle is detected by the detecting means, and the detected portion is detected by the detecting means. And determining that a toner bottle is mounted.

  Similarly to the above-described determination device, this determination method can also detect the presence / absence of the toner bottle and the presence / absence of the toner bottle at the rotation origin position by the detection means.

  According to the present invention, a sensor for determining whether or not a toner bottle is attached and a sensor for determining the presence or absence of a toner bottle at the rotation origin position can be used as a single sensor, thereby simplifying the configuration of the apparatus. And cost can be reduced.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to embodiments.

  A configuration example of a facsimile apparatus according to the embodiment is shown in a block diagram in FIG. This facsimile apparatus is of an electrophotographic system that includes the toner bottle discrimination device and is configured as a multifunction machine having both a facsimile function and a copy function.

  This facsimile apparatus includes a main control unit (CPU) 1 as control means, an NCU (Network Control Unit) 2, a MODEM 3, a scanner 4, an operation panel 5, a ROM 6, a RAM 7, an image, A memory 8, a CODEC (Coder and Decoder) 9, a printer image processing circuit 10, a printer mechanism control circuit 12, and a bus 16 are provided.

  The CPU 1 comprehensively controls each part constituting this apparatus in accordance with a program stored in the ROM 6. As will be described in detail later, the CPU 1 rotates the toner bottle 20 (see FIG. 2) by the motor 13, and the reflective photoelectric sensor (detection means) 14 detects the concave portion (detected portion) 25 of the toner bottle 20. At this time, it has a function of determining that the toner bottle 20 is attached.

  The NCU 2 controls the connection with the public telephone line network (PSTN) 17 that is a communication line, and also detects a function of sending a dial pulse corresponding to the telephone number (including the FAX number) of the communication partner and an incoming call. It has a function.

  MODEM3 is an ITU (International Telecommunication Union) -T recommendation T.264. 30, T.M. 4 according to the facsimile transmission control procedure (facsimile communication procedure) according to FIG. 17, V. 27ter, V.I. The transmission data is modulated and the received data is demodulated in accordance with 29. The MODEM 3 also has a function of modulating transmission data, which is a digital signal, into an analog voice signal for transmission to the public telephone line network 17 via the NCU 2, and an analog received from the public telephone line network 17 via the NCU 2. The audio signal is demodulated into a digital signal.

  The scanner 4 optically scans and reads image data of a document when performing facsimile transmission or copying. The scanner 4 can also read a color image. In the case of color reading, the scanner 4 optically scans an original image and obtains color separation signals of RGB three colors.

  The operation panel 5 includes a numeric keypad, a mode switching key, a one-touch key, an abbreviated key, a registration key, a start key, a stop key, and the like. The numeric keypad is for inputting a telephone number, a FAX number, and other numerical values. The mode switching key is used to switch and set various operation modes. The one-touch key is used to call a destination telephone number or FAX number with one touch. An abbreviated dial can be input by operating this key and a two-digit numeric key. The registration key is used for one-touch abbreviated registration of the telephone number or FAX number of the other party or for other registrations. The start key is used to instruct the start of facsimile communication or copy operation. The stop key is operated to stop various processing operations.

  The operation panel 5 also has an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) 5a for displaying icons, key buttons, message contents necessary for data transmission / reception, telephone numbers and FAX numbers inputted by the various keys.

  The ROM 6 stores a program for controlling the operation of the entire apparatus. The RAM 7 stores data necessary for control by the CPU 1 and data that needs to be temporarily stored during the control operation. The image memory 8 encodes the image data read by the scanner 4 and stores it in a compressed state. The image memory 8 has a storage area for storing encoded and compressed data and a storage area for storing image data obtained by decoding the image data stored in the storage area.

  The CODEC 9 encodes (encodes) the read image data by the MH, MR, MMR method or the like in order to transmit or store the read image data. Further, the CODEC 9 decodes (decodes) the image data received in the compression-coded state for recording by the printer.

  The printer image processing circuit 10 controls the LED head 11 as an exposure device so that an electrostatic latent image corresponding to image information is formed on the outer peripheral surface of a photosensitive drum (not shown).

  The printer mechanism control circuit 12 controls a motor (toner bottle DC motor) 13 that rotates the toner bottle 20. Further, the printer mechanism control circuit 12 receives a signal from a reflection type photoelectric sensor 14 as a detecting means, and from a cover sensor 15 that detects opening and closing of a cover for opening and closing the toner bottle provided in the apparatus to be openable and closable. Are captured.

  The toner bottle used in the facsimile machine configured as described above has a form as shown in FIG. 2 (plan view) and FIG. 3 (cross-sectional view), for example. The toner bottle 20 has a toner discharge port 21, and a spiral rib 22 for moving the toner to the discharge port 21 by rotation of the toner bottle 20 is provided therein. Further, a concave portion (slit) 25 as a detected portion is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the toner bottle 20. Here, the recess 25 is positioned so as to face the same direction as the discharge port 21. That is, when the concave portion 25 is directed upward, the discharge port 21 is also directed upward exactly the same.

  In a state where the toner bottle 20 is mounted on the apparatus, the reflective photoelectric sensor 14 is disposed at a position close to the outer peripheral surface of the toner bottle 20 and facing the recess 25 [(a) of FIG. ]. The reflective photoelectric sensor 14 is disposed at the rotation origin position (a position where the concave portion 25 of the toner bottle 20 faces upward). Therefore, the reflective photoelectric sensor 14 detects the recess 25 when the recess 25 is at the rotation origin position (state (a) in FIG. 3). Of course, the toner bottle 20 is supported by a rotation support mechanism (not shown) so as to be rotatable in the direction of the arrow [(b) of FIG. 3].

  In this case, if the toner bottle 20 is rotated by a rotation angle at which the toner bottle 20 rotates at least approximately once, the concave portion 25 passes through the rotation origin position at least once. Therefore, when the toner bottle 20 is attached, when the concave portion 25 reaches the rotation origin position, the light from the reflective photoelectric sensor 14 is reflected by the concave portion 25 and the reflected light is received by the reflective photoelectric sensor 14. Accordingly, it is determined that the toner bottle 20 is attached based on the change in the amount of received light at this time. On the other hand, when the toner bottle 20 is not attached, there is no change in the amount of received light even if the rotation support mechanism is rotated by an angle at which the toner bottle 20 makes one rotation. Determined.

  In FIG. 3, the concave portion 25 is shown as the detected portion provided in the toner bottle 20, but instead of the concave portion 25, a tape having a high reflectance may be attached to the outer peripheral surface of the toner bottle 20. Alternatively, a protrusion may be provided on the outer peripheral surface of the toner bottle 20, and a transmissive photoelectric sensor may be disposed on both sides of the protrusion. In this case, if the light is blocked by the protrusion, it is determined that the toner bottle is mounted, and if not blocked, it is determined that the toner bottle is not mounted. However, since protrusions are provided on the outer peripheral surface of the toner bottle, it is important to consider that there is no hindrance to the removal and attachment of the toner bottle. In addition, a magnetic material may be affixed to the outer peripheral surface of the toner bottle, or a part of the outer peripheral surface may be made of a magnetic material, and the magnetic material may be detected by a magnetic sensor, or a mark may be placed on the outer peripheral surface of the toner bottle. The mark may be optically read.

  Next, an operation relating to whether or not a toner bottle is attached in this facsimile apparatus will be briefly described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, when the cover for the toner bottle in / out of the apparatus is closed, in step ST1, the printer mechanism control circuit 12 drives the motor 13 for a predetermined time in response to a cover close detection signal from the cover sensor 15. The predetermined time here is the time required for the toner bottle to rotate at least approximately once.

  Next, in step ST <b> 2, it is determined whether or not the reflective photoelectric sensor 14 has been turned on, that is, whether or not the reflective photoelectric sensor 14 has detected the presence of a toner bottle by detecting the recess 25. This determination is made based on whether or not the amount of light received by the reflective photoelectric sensor 14 has changed as described above. If the result of determination is that a toner bottle is attached, steps ST3 and ST4 are skipped and the process is terminated.

  If the toner bottle is not attached, the motor 13 is stopped in step ST3, “please attach a toner bottle” is displayed on the LCD 5a in step ST4, and the process is terminated.

  According to this facsimile apparatus, it is possible to determine whether or not the toner bottle 20 is at the rotation origin position and to determine whether or not the toner bottle 20 is attached to the apparatus by using one reflective photoelectric sensor 14. Can do. Thereby, the structure of an apparatus can be simplified and cost can be reduced.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a facsimile apparatus (a multi-function machine having both a facsimile function and a copy function) according to an embodiment. FIG. 3 is a plan view of a toner bottle used in the facsimile apparatus. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view (a) when the concave portion of the toner bottle shown in FIG. 2 is at the rotation origin position, and a cross-sectional view (b) when the concave portion is other than the rotation origin position. 6 is a flowchart for explaining an operation related to whether or not a toner bottle is attached in the facsimile apparatus. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

1 CPU (control means)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Printer image processing circuit 12 Printer mechanism control circuit 13 Motor (DC motor for toner bottles)
14 Reflective photoelectric sensor (detection means)
15 Cover sensor 20 Toner bottle 21 Discharge port 22 Rib 25 Concave portion (detected portion)

Claims (3)

  Toner bottle, detected portion provided in the toner bottle, detection means for detecting the detected portion, a motor for rotating the toner bottle, and when the toner bottle is rotated by the motor and the detection means detects the detected portion And a toner bottle discriminating device, comprising: a control means for judging that the toner bottle is mounted.   2. The toner bottle discriminating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the detected portion is a concave portion formed on the outer peripheral surface of the toner bottle, and the detecting means is a reflective photoelectric sensor.   A step of rotating the toner bottle by a predetermined angle, a step of determining whether or not a detected portion of the toner bottle is detected by the detecting means, and a determination that the toner bottle is mounted when the detected portion is detected by the detecting means And a step of determining a toner bottle.

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