JP2006106466A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus with a method for accurately detecting an amount of toner remaining in a toner storage container and the number of remaining prints that can be outputted, without involving a large-scale device and control even in the case of operating various functions and devices for environmental protection. <P>SOLUTION: An amount of toner remaining in the toner storage container is calculated from the number of times of toner replenishment operation of replenishing toner to the toner upper limit from the toner storage container by operating a toner replenishment mechanism when the toner lower limit in a toner hopper is detected, and from the amount of toner replenished for each toner replenishment operation. Further, the number of remaining prints that can be outputted is calculated from the number of prints in relation to the amount of toner replenished and the number of times of the toner replenishment operation. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus.

  Conventionally, in an image forming apparatus equipped with a toner storage container, it has been studied to accurately detect the remaining usable number of sheets by detecting residual toner in the toner storage container.

The amount of operation of the toner replenishment mechanism that operates until the toner discharged to the toner hopper reaches the upper limit predetermined storage amount from the lower limit predetermined storage amount is detected, and the correlation between the predetermined operation amount and the toner remaining amount in the toner storage container There has been proposed a toner remaining amount detection device that obtains a toner remaining amount based on a value. (For example, Patent Document 1)
In addition, the remaining remaining number detection by the remaining amount detection means and the prediction of the remaining usable number of recording media by the video count method capable of recording an image with the remaining recording material are used together to predict the next remaining usable number. An image forming apparatus reflecting the above has been proposed. (For example, Patent Document 2)
JP 2002-341441 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-40877

  However, in the method of Patent Document 1, when the variation in the toner replenishment amount per operation of the toner replenishment mechanism is large, or when the toner replenishment amount per operation of the toner replenishment mechanism is large, the operation amount and the toner replenishment amount. There is a case that the remaining amount cannot be accurately detected.

  Further, in the method of Patent Document 2, in recent years, images are often formed in a resource saving mode such as toner save mode or Nin1 from the viewpoint of environmental protection, and the correlation with the video count tends to be low. Further, in the toner recycling method and cleanerless method in which the residual toner on the image carrier is collected in the developing device and reused, the accuracy tends to be further lowered. If a plurality of remaining amount detection means are provided in the toner storage container, the accuracy of detection of the remaining amount is increased. However, the installation of the detection means makes the apparatus large and the control thereof becomes complicated.

  Therefore, the present invention accurately determines the remaining amount of toner and the number of remaining prints in the toner storage container without requiring a large-scale device or control even when various functions or devices for environmental protection are operated. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus capable of detecting the above.

  The object of the present invention can be achieved by the following constitution.

The invention according to claim 1
An image carrier, a developer for developing the image carrier with toner, a toner hopper for temporarily storing toner to be supplied to the developer, and a toner storage container for storing toner, the toner storage container In the image forming apparatus for supplying toner to the toner hopper from
Detecting means for detecting a lower limit and an upper limit of toner in the toner hopper;
Toner replenishment control means for replenishing toner from the toner storage container to the toner hopper until the upper limit is detected when the detecting means detects the lower limit of toner;
Replenishment operation counting means for counting the number of times the toner replenishment control means has replenished toner;
An image forming apparatus comprising: a toner remaining amount calculating unit that calculates a remaining amount of toner stored in the toner storage container based on the number of times counted by the replenishment operation counting unit.

The invention according to claim 2
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the toner storage container has a bottle shape and rotates to replenish toner.

The invention according to claim 3
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a toner recycling unit that collects toner on the image bearing member in the developing unit.

The invention according to claim 4
Print counting means for counting the number of prints;
And a remaining print number calculating means for calculating the number of remaining prints in the toner storage container based on the number of toner supply operations counted by the supply operation counting means and the number of prints counted by the print counting means. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is an image forming apparatus.

The invention according to claim 5
5. A notifying means for notifying one or more of the remaining amount of toner calculated by the remaining toner amount calculating means and the remaining number of printed sheets calculated by the remaining print number calculating means. The image forming apparatus described in the above.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the lower limit of the toner in the toner hopper is detected, the toner supply mechanism is operated to supply the toner up to the upper limit of the toner, so that the number of supply operations is 1 count. The toner replenishment amount per time is almost constant.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the toner storage container rotates in a bottle shape to replenish the toner, and the toner is not required even if there is no remaining toner measurement function or an incorrect measurement function. From the replenishment amount and the number of replenishment operations, it is possible to estimate the remaining amount of toner in the toner storage container relatively accurately without using a device or control with a large amount.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, the amount of toner replenished from the toner storage container can be accurately calculated regardless of the amount of toner recycled.

  According to the fourth aspect of the invention, it is possible to predict an appropriate toner replacement time by predicting the remaining number of prints from the remaining amount of toner in the toner storage container by counting the number of toner supply operations and the number of prints. Become.

  According to the fifth aspect of the invention, it is possible for the user or administrator to predict the replacement time of the toner storage container by notifying the remaining amount of toner or the number of remaining prints.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  First, prior to the description of the embodiment of the present invention, the configuration of an image forming apparatus provided with the toner remaining amount detection device of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

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

  Documents are placed on the document feeder 11 of the automatic document transport unit 1 serving as an automatic document transport unit with the image surface facing upward, sent one by one by the operation of the feed roller 12, and temporarily stopped by the registration roller 13. After the leading edge is adjusted, the image is read by the image reading unit 2 as an image reading unit in the process in which the document is conveyed to the conveying drum 14 and the original is integrally rotated counterclockwise along the drum surface. Thereafter, the drum branches from the drum surface at a substantially half-circumferential position and is discharged to the discharge table 15. The automatic document feeder 1 has a transport function for duplex scanning in addition to the transport function for single-sided scanning, but this operation is omitted.

  In the image reading unit 2, a first mirror unit 23 including a light source 23 a and a mirror 23 b reads and sequentially illuminates a passing document at a position immediately below the transport drum 14, and is arranged so as to be orthogonal to the moving direction of the document. The light is reflected by a second mirror unit 24 including a mirror 24b and a mirror 24b, and is imaged on a line-shaped image sensor 26 via an imaging lens 25 to be image information. There is also a function of placing a document on a stationary document table 27 and moving and reading the first mirror unit 23 and the second mirror unit 24.

  The image information of the original image read by the image reading unit 2 is subjected to image processing by an image processing unit (not shown) and temporarily stored in the memory as image information.

  When the image forming unit 3 as an image forming unit using an electrophotographic process is activated, the image information is read from the memory and input to the image writing unit 33, and modulated according to the image information from a laser emitter (not shown). The scanned laser beam performs main scanning exposure by rotating the polygon mirror. Then, the photosensitive drum 31 as an image carrier to which a charging potential is applied in advance by the charger 32 is subjected to main scanning exposure in the axial direction of the photosensitive drum 31 and sub scanning by rotation of the photosensitive drum 31 to perform photosensitive. An electrostatic latent image based on image information is formed on the layer. The electrostatic latent image is reversely developed by the developing device 34 to be a toner image. The toner is supplied to the developing device 34 by the toner replenishing unit T10, which will be described in detail later.

  In parallel, recording paper is fed from a manual paper feed unit 19 as recording paper supply means or a paper feed tray 4 for storing recording paper. The paper feed tray 4 has, for example, three stages of 4A, 4B, and 4C, and any of the paper feed rollers 51A, 51B, and 51C is operated to carry out the recording paper, and the feed rollers 55 and 56 and the timing roller 39 The toner is fed and fed to the photosensitive drum 31 in synchronization with the toner image on the photosensitive drum 31.

  The toner image on the photosensitive drum 31 is applied with a voltage of opposite polarity by the transfer device 35 and transferred to the recording paper side and transferred. The recording paper to which the toner image has been transferred is discharged by the static eliminator 36 and is transferred to the photosensitive drum. 31 is conveyed to a fixing device 38 as a fixing means through a conveying belt, and is fused and fixed by heat of a pair of heat rollers, and is discharged from a fixing discharge roller 61 of the discharge unit 6 and discharged. It is discharged to the tray 64. On the other hand, the photosensitive drum 31 from which the recording paper has been separated is subjected to a cleaning process for removing residual toner in a cleaning device 37 after undergoing a residual potential removing process. The toner recycling means transports the toner removed by the cleaning device 37 to the developing device 34 by the recycling screw 37a, and mixes it with the developer in the developing device 34 together with the toner newly supplied from the toner supply unit T10.

  Next, a toner replenishing mechanism according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an outline of the toner supply mechanism shown in FIG.

  The toner supply unit T10 includes a toner bottle T30 mounted from the outside, a toner hopper T40 as a toner storage unit that temporarily stores toner taken out from a toner bottle (also referred to as a toner storage container) T30, and the like.

  The toner bottle T30 is cylindrical and has a spiral protrusion T31 protruding from the cylindrical peripheral surface portion. As will be described later, the protrusion T31 moves the contained toner from the right part of FIG. 2 to the left container opening by the rotation of the toner bottle T30. In addition, a detachable fixed lid T32 and a telescopic lid T33 that can be expanded and contracted in the cylindrical axis direction are provided at the mouth of the toner bottle T30.

  The toner bottle T30 is mounted by screwing a screw provided on the outer periphery of the fixing lid T32 into the container receiving member T44 of the image forming apparatus main body. In this mounted state, the extendable lid T33 of the toner bottle T30 abuts against a wall T421 provided on the container receiving member T44 of the apparatus main body and is compressed as shown in the drawing to form a tip lid T327 that forms a part of the fixed lid T32. An opening that allows toner to pass therethrough is formed between the two. Next, a container receiving member T44 that receives the fixing lid T32 of the toner bottle T30 is rotatably provided on the main body of the image forming apparatus, and is fixed to a gear T47. By driving the gear T47 by a motor (not shown), the container receiving member T44 and the toner bottle T30 are rotated as indicated by the arrow A, and the fixed lid T32 is similarly rotated. The toner T in the toner bottle T30 moves from the right side to the left side in FIG. 2 along the bottom of the cylindrical portion of the toner bottle T30 by the feeding action of the protrusion T31 by the rotation of the toner bottle T30. At the mouth of the toner bottle T30, the toner T is scraped off by a scraping member T321 provided on the fixed lid T32. The toner T thus scraped slides down on the conveyance slopes T323 and T324, falls on the conveyance screw T43 as indicated by an arrow B, is conveyed by the conveyance screw T43, and is replenished to the developing device from the opening T50.

  A toner amount sensor Z as a toner detection unit is provided on the side wall of the toner hopper T40. The toner amount sensor Z has a piezo element (not shown), and the piezo element is in contact with the toner in the toner hopper T40.

  The toner amount sensor Z is means for detecting the presence or absence of the toner T in the toner hopper T40. The toner amount sensor Z is turned on when the toner T discharged from the toner storage container T30 to the toner hopper T40 reaches the upper limit predetermined storage amount, and the toner T is replenished to the developing unit and the toner T in the toner hopper is below the lower limit predetermined storage amount. When it becomes, it turns OFF.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram conceptually showing the functional structure of the image forming apparatus shown in FIG.

  The image forming apparatus includes a control unit 170, a storage unit 180, an image forming unit 3, a toner replenishing unit T 10, a toner amount sensor Z, and an operation unit 120, and these units are connected by a system bus 140.

  The control unit 170 includes a CPU (central processing unit) (not shown), a ROM storing a control program, a work memory, and the like, and comprehensively controls each unit connected to the system bus 140.

  The control unit 170 functions as a print counting unit 171, a replenishment operation counting unit 172, a remaining toner amount calculating unit 173, a remaining print number calculating unit 174, and a toner replenishing control unit 175 according to the present invention.

  The storage unit 180 includes a storage unit including a non-volatile memory such as an HDD or an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM), and has a function of storing a reference number of times to a remaining print number, which will be described later. And various setting information and image data input from a host computer (not shown).

  The image forming unit 3 has a function of forming image data sent from the image reading unit 2 and the host computer (not shown) shown in FIG. 1 on a recording sheet.

  The toner replenishing unit T10 has a function of replenishing toner for developing the electrostatic latent image formed by the image forming unit 3.

  The toner amount sensor Z has a function of measuring the amount of toner in the toner hopper (T40 in FIG. 2) included in the toner supply unit T10.

  The operation unit 120 includes notification means 121 according to the present invention, and is provided with a switch, an LCD display, and the like (not shown). Further, it has a function of inputting printer mode settings (recording paper selection, density selection, enlargement / reduction, etc.) and recording material information for image formation.

  Next, an example of the control operation of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing processing when a toner storage container according to the present invention is newly inserted.

  Step S1 proceeds to step S2 when it is confirmed that a new toner storage container T30 has been inserted into the toner supply unit T10 (YES).

  In step S2, when a new toner storage container is inserted, the reference number of times, the number of toner supply operations, the number of prints, etc. stored in the storage unit 180, which is a non-volatile memory, are initialized.

  The reference number of times, the number of toner supply operations, and the number of prints that are initialized in step S2 of FIG. 4 will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 6 shows a series of registers for storing the results counted by the counting means and the results calculated by the calculating means according to the present invention. These series of registers are referred to as a register module. These registers are allocated in the storage unit 180. One square indicates a 1-byte memory.
As described above, since the storage unit 180 is a non-volatile memory, the contents are stored even when the power is turned off. When the power is turned on again and the image forming apparatus is operated, the count continues. And the result is stored.
The location of each register in the storage unit 180 is arbitrary, but the moving average print sheet number register 134 is continuous with 20 bytes (2 bytes X10) of memory.

  The details of the reference number of times, the number of toner supply operations, and the number of printed sheets will be described with reference to FIGS.

  As described above, when the toner in the toner hopper (T40 in FIG. 2) is replenished to the developing unit and becomes less than the lower limit predetermined storage amount, the toner amount sensor (Z in FIG. 2) is turned off, and the toner storage container (T30 in FIG. 2). ) Is supplied to the toner hopper (T40 in FIG. 2) and becomes ON when the upper limit predetermined storage amount is reached. For this reason, the amount of toner replenishment from the toner storage container (T30 in FIG. 2) is almost constant. The number of times the toner is replenished to the toner hopper until the toner filled in the new toner storage container becomes empty is the reference number. The reference number is stored in a reference number register (131 in FIG. 6).

  For example, in the case of a toner hopper having a toner replenishment amount of 3.6 g, the reference number of times for a new toner storage container containing 600 g of toner is 166 in decimal. In other words, a new toner storage container is emptied when the toner hopper is replenished with toner 166 times.

  The number of toner replenishment operations is the number of times toner is replenished from the toner storage container (T30 in FIG. 2) to the toner hopper (T40 in FIG. 2). The number of toner replenishment operations is stored in a toner replenishment operation number register (132 in FIG. 6). The initial value is 0.

  Further, the number of printed sheets means the number of times printing is performed between the toner replenishing operation and the next toner replenishing operation, and the recording paper is discharged to the paper discharge tray. Actually, the number of printed sheets is counted by a sensor (not shown) at the exit of the discharge tray. The number of prints is stored in a print number register (133 in FIG. 6). The initial value is 0.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a process for predicting the remaining amount of toner in the connected toner storage container and the number of remaining prints according to the present invention.

The activation of the task is input by the operator from the switch of the operation unit (120 in FIG. 3), or the toner amount in the toner hopper (T40 in FIG. 2) is below the lower limit predetermined storage amount by the toner amount sensor (Z in FIG. 3). This is done when it is detected.
When starting from the operation unit, the display request flag is turned ON.

  First, the print number, moving average print number, and remaining print number used in this flowchart will be described with reference to FIG.

  As described above, the number of printed sheets indicates the number of sheets printed between the toner replenishing operation and the toner replenishing operation, and is incremented each time the sheet is discharged to the discharge tray after printing. The number of prints is stored in the print number register 133. When the number of prints is hexadecimal FFFF, no further increment is made even if more recording sheets are discharged. When the toner supply operation is performed, the number of prints is moved to the moving average print number register 134. Thereafter, the print number register is initialized to zero.

  The moving average print number register 134 is a register with 1 word of 2 bytes, and increments an address (referred to as a pointer here) sequentially each time the number of prints is moved. The address is Start add. 134b, counting up sequentially, End add. When it becomes 134c, Start add. The ring form returns to 134b. The pointer register 135 is a 2-byte register and stores an address to which the moving average number register is pointed. Since the moving average print number register 134 is 10 words, the print number data exceeding 10 times is overwritten with the oldest data. That is, the latest print number data is stored in the moving average number register 134. In the flowchart of FIG. 5, (pointer) indicates that the moving average number register of the address pointed to by the pointer is shown.

For example, 177 (00B1H) is written as an initial value in the moving average print number register 134 at the time of factory shipment. This is a numerical value derived from the fact that about 177 sheets can be printed with toner by one toner replenishment operation when printing on A4 size recording paper at a printing rate of 5%.
Returning to FIG.
In step S11, it is determined whether the display request flag is ON, that is, whether the operation is activated by switch input of the operation unit (120 in FIG. 3). If the switch input from the operation unit is used (YES), the process proceeds to step S15. If not (NO), that is, if activated by detecting the toner lower limit storage amount, the process proceeds to step S12.

  In step S12, the toner supply control means (175 in FIG. 3) performs a toner supply operation from the toner storage container (T30 in FIG. 2) to the toner hopper (T40 in FIG. 2).

  In step S13, it is determined whether or not the toner amount sensor (Z in FIG. 2) detects that the toner amount in the toner hopper (T40 in FIG. 2) exceeds the upper limit predetermined storage amount during the toner supply operation. If it is detected (YES), the process returns to step S14. If not (NO), the process returns to step S12 and the toner supply is continued.

  In step S14, the number of toner supply operations is incremented by the supply operation counting means (172 in FIG. 3). The incremented value is stored in the toner supply operation count register (132 in FIG. 6). Next, the process proceeds to step S15.

  In step S15, the toner remaining amount is calculated from the reference number of times and the number of toner replenishment operations by the toner remaining amount calculating means (173 in FIG. 3). The calculation result is stored in a toner remaining amount register (not shown) in a work area (not shown) in the control unit of FIG. Next, the process proceeds to step S16.

  The calculation method performed by the remaining toner calculating means subtracts the number of toner replenishment operations that have already been replenished from the reference number of times indicating the amount of toner filled in a new toner storage container, and divides the result by the number of times of reference. As a result, the ratio of the remaining amount of toner in the toner storage container is obtained. Further, by multiplying the value by 100, the remaining amount of toner displayed in percentage (%) can be derived. For example, if the reference number with toner is 166 and the result of incrementing the number of toner replenishment operations is 138, the remaining amount of toner is 16.9%, and 16.9% for a new toner storage container filled with toner. % Of toner remains.

  If it is determined in step S11 that the operation unit (120 in FIG. 3) is activated by a switch input, the remaining toner amount is calculated by the remaining toner calculating unit (173 in FIG. 3) in this step as well. However, in this case, since the number of toner supply operations has not been incremented, the content is calculated based on the number of toner supply operations when the previous toner supply operation was executed.

  In step 16, it is determined whether the display request flag is ON. If the display request flag is ON (YES), the process proceeds to step S25. If the display request flag is OFF (NO), the process proceeds to step S17.

  In step S17, the pointer is set to End add. It is determined whether or not it matches (134c in FIG. 6). The pointer moves to End add. If it matches (134c in FIG. 6) (YES), the process proceeds to step S18. If they do not match (NO), the process proceeds to step S19.

  In step S18, the pointer is set to Start add. (134b in FIG. 6) is rewritten. Since the moving average register (134 in FIG. 6) has a ring format, if the pointer is the last address of the moving average register, the pointer is not counted up, and Start add. Returning to (134b in FIG. 6). Next, the process proceeds to step S20.

  In step S19, the pointer is counted up by 1 word. Next, the process proceeds to step S20.

  In step S20, it is checked whether the number of prints is hexadecimal FFFF. If the number of printers is FFFF in hexadecimal (YES), the process proceeds to step S21. Otherwise (NO), the process proceeds to step S22.

  In step S21, the decimal number 177 is written in the moving average print number register (134 in FIG. 6) pointed to by the pointer to set the print number to 0, and the flow proceeds to step S23.

  In step S21, since the number of prints is an abnormal value of the hexadecimal number FFFF, in order to prevent an abnormal calculation result in the calculation of the remaining print number, which will be described later, the moving average print number register (134 in FIG. 6) has a Default value. Write a decimal number 177.

  In step S22, the number of prints is written in the moving average print number register (134 in FIG. 6) pointed to by the pointer, the number of prints is set to 0, and the flow proceeds to step S23.

  In step S23, the contents of the moving average print number register (134 in FIG. 6) are summed, and the value divided by 10 is the average print number. The average number of printed sheets is temporarily stored in a work area (not shown) of the control unit (170 in FIG. 3), and the process proceeds to step S24.

  The average number of printed sheets means the average value of the number of printed sheets per toner replenishment during the last 10 toner replenishments.

  In step S24, the product of the value obtained by subtracting the number of replenishment operations from the reference number of times and the average number of prints is written in the remaining print number register (136 in FIG. 6), and the process proceeds to step S25.

  That is, the number of prints that can be made with the toner remaining in the toner storage container is calculated.

  For example, if the reference number is 166, the number of supply operations is 138, and the average number of printed sheets is 171, the remaining number of printed sheets is 4788.

  In step S25, the notifying means (FIG. 6) calculates the remaining toner amount temporarily stored in the work area of the control unit (170 in FIG. 3) and the content read from the remaining print number register (136 in FIG. 6). 3), 121). For example, “toner remaining amount = 16.9%” and “remaining print number = 4788 sheets” are displayed. If the display request flag is determined to be ON in step S16, the same display is performed.

  In the present embodiment, a copying machine has been described as an example of the image forming apparatus, but the present invention can also be applied to a printing apparatus such as a laser printer.

  In addition, the detailed configuration and detailed operation of each component constituting the image forming apparatus can be changed as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

1 is a cross-sectional view of an image forming apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a detailed view of a toner replenishing unit shown in FIG. 1. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a processing flow when a toner storage container is inserted. 6 is a flowchart showing a flow of a series of processes of toner supply, toner remaining amount calculation and remaining print number calculation performed in the image forming apparatus of the present invention. 3 is a schematic diagram conceptually showing register allocation in a storage unit of the image forming apparatus of the present invention. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 3 Image formation part 31 Photosensitive drum 34 Developing device 37 Cleaning apparatus 37a Recycling screw 120 Operation part 170 Control part 180 Storage part T10 Toner replenishment part T30 Toner storage container (toner bottle)
T40 toner hopper

Claims (5)

An image carrier, a developer for developing the image carrier with toner, a toner hopper for temporarily storing toner to be supplied to the developer, and a toner storage container for storing toner, the toner storage container In the image forming apparatus for supplying toner to the toner hopper from
Detecting means for detecting a lower limit and an upper limit of toner in the toner hopper;
Toner replenishment control means for replenishing toner from the toner storage container to the toner hopper until the upper limit is detected when the detecting means detects the lower limit of toner;
Replenishment operation counting means for counting the number of times the toner replenishment control means has replenished toner;
An image forming apparatus comprising: a toner remaining amount calculating unit that calculates a remaining amount of toner stored in the toner storage container based on the number of times counted by the replenishment operation counting unit. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the toner storage container has a bottle shape and rotates to replenish toner. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a toner recycling unit that collects toner on the image carrier in the developing unit. Print counting means for counting the number of prints;
And a remaining print number calculating means for calculating the number of remaining prints in the toner storage container based on the number of toner supply operations counted by the supply operation counting means and the number of prints counted by the print counting means. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is an image forming apparatus. 5. A notifying means for notifying one or more of the remaining amount of toner calculated by the remaining toner amount calculating means and the remaining print number calculated by the remaining print number calculating means. The image forming apparatus described in 1.

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