JP2007148006A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily perform manufacturing work without strictly requiring accuracy in attaching a toner bottle. <P>SOLUTION: Each of the toner bottles 21 to 24 for storing toner of a plurality of basic colors is constituted of a rotating part A and a fixed part B, and RFID tags 25 to 28 in which the attribute information of each toner is stored are attached to the top part of the fixed part B formed like a cover with respect to the rotating part A. When the toner bottles 21 to 24 are attached to the image forming apparatus, they are set to such positional relation that each of the RFID tags 25 to 28 attached to each of the toner bottles nearly faces to each of antennas 13 to 16 formed on an RFID-R/W board 12. The control circuit of the image forming apparatus applies electric wave having predetermined frequency to the RFID tag from the antenna, reads and writes information stored in the RFID tag according to response from the RFID tag, and reads out the attribute information of the information stored in the RFID tag, thereby finely adjusting the color in printing output. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus that forms an image.

  In general, an image forming apparatus that constitutes a printer, a copier, a facsimile, or an MFP that combines these forms a toner by supplying toner stored in a toner bottle to a developing unit. In the case of a color model, a plurality of basic colors (generally Y, M, C, K) are combined to form a color image. For this reason, a color image forming apparatus includes a plurality (types) of toner bottles for each color. The basic color toners stored in the toner bottle are slightly different in color and have different properties. For this reason, a conventional technique is known in which each toner bottle is identified and control according to the attribute of the toner, for example, fine color adjustment is performed.

  In the above-described conventional technology, a bottle identification chip storing information such as the attributes of toner stored in the toner bottle is mounted on the toner bottle. When the toner bottle is mounted on the MFP, The terminal of the circuit and the terminal of the identification chip are electrically connected. As a result, the above-described prior art enables the MFP control circuit to read and write information stored in the identification chip, identifies the toner bottle, and sets the attribute of the information stored in the identification chip. It is possible to read out information and finely adjust the color at the time of print output.

For example, a technique described in Patent Document 1 is known as a conventional technique related to an image forming apparatus in which a bottle management chip is attached to a toner bottle.
JP 2004-205797 A

  The above-described prior art requires a contact for electrically connecting the terminal of the internal circuit of the MFP and the terminal of the identification chip. Therefore, the precision of toner bottle mounting is strictly required, and much labor is required during manufacturing work. It has the problem that it requires.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems of the prior art, and to provide an image forming apparatus capable of easily performing a manufacturing operation without strictly requiring toner bottle mounting accuracy.

  In order to achieve the object of the present invention, a first means of the present invention is an image forming apparatus for forming an image, wherein the toner bottle for supplying toner, a substrate on which the toner bottle is mounted, and a toner bottle are mounted on the toner bottle side. And an antenna formed on the substrate for transmitting and receiving signals between the ID chip mounted on the toner bottle side and the ID chip mounted on the bottle side. The toner bottle is mounted on the opposite side of the substrate from the antenna formation surface so that the antenna faces the substrate.

  According to a second means of the present invention, in an image forming apparatus for forming an image, a plurality of toner bottles for supplying toner, a substrate on which the plurality of toner bottles are mounted, and an ID chip mounted on the toner bottle side And an antenna formed on the substrate for transmitting and receiving signals to and from the ID chip mounted on the toner bottle side, and an ID chip mounted on the bottle side and an antenna formed on the substrate At least one toner bottle is mounted on the opposite side of the substrate from the antenna formation surface so as to face each other through the substrate.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in an image forming apparatus that forms a color image by superimposing a plurality of basic colors, a plurality of toner bottles that supply toner for each basic color; and the plurality of toner bottles A substrate to be mounted, an ID chip mounted on the toner bottle side, and an antenna formed on the substrate for transmitting and receiving signals between the ID chip mounted on the toner bottle side and mounted on the bottle side The toner bottle is attached with the ID chip and the antenna formed on the substrate facing each other.

  According to a fourth means of the present invention, in an image forming apparatus for forming a color image by superimposing a plurality of basic colors, a plurality of toner bottles for supplying toner for each basic color; and the plurality of toner bottles A substrate to be mounted; an ID chip mounted on the toner bottle side; and an antenna formed on the substrate for transmitting and receiving signals between the ID chip mounted on the toner bottle side and formed on the substrate. A toner bottle is arranged so that a pair of toner bottle ID chips are arranged symmetrically on a substrate with respect to one of the antennas.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in an image forming apparatus that forms a color image by superimposing a plurality of basic colors, a plurality of toner bottles that supply toner for each basic color; and the plurality of toner bottles A substrate to be mounted; an ID chip mounted on the toner bottle side; and an antenna formed on the substrate for transmitting and receiving signals between the ID chip mounted on the toner bottle side and formed on the substrate. The toner bottle is disposed between a pair of adjacent toner bottles, and the toner bottle ID chip is disposed symmetrically with respect to one of the antennas formed on the substrate. Is arranged.

  The sixth means of the present invention is characterized in that, in the second or third means, the ID chip attached to the toner bottle arranged oppositely has a collision preventing function.

  According to the first to third means of the present invention, the information in the ID chip can be read and written wirelessly, the wiring is omitted, and the accuracy of toner bottle mounting is not strictly required, thereby facilitating manufacture. It can be carried out.

  According to the fourth to sixth means of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first means, one antenna can read and write to two ID chips, so the number of antennas can be reduced. The cost can be reduced, and the apparatus can be downsized.

  Embodiments of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

  As is well known, an image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied constitutes a composite apparatus, and has a CPU, an internal memory, etc., which controls the entire apparatus, and a document control unit such as paper. A scanner for reading the contents, information on the read document as electronic image data, code data input from the outside as electronic image data, and an image forming unit for printing these electronic image data on paper, etc. And a data storage unit capable of storing a large amount of information, such as a hard disk device for storing electronic image data, and an operation panel used by a user to operate the image forming apparatus. It may be.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a part required by the present invention of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a toner bottle opposed to the RFID-R / W board in FIG. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the structure of a toner bottle equipped with an RFID tag. 1 to 3, 11 is a control board, 12 is an RFID-R / W board, 13 to 16 are antennas, 17 is a CPU ASIC, 18 is a CPU, 21 to 24 are toner bottles, and 25 to 28 are RFID tags. is there.

  An image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention forms a color image, and a plurality (types) of toner bottles are interchangeably provided for each color, and each toner bottle is identified and stored. Control according to the attribute of the toner being used, for example, fine adjustment of the color is performed. In the embodiment of the present invention, an RFID tag that can read and write information wirelessly is used to identify each toner bottle.

  First, referring to FIG. 3, the structure of a toner bottle equipped with an RFID tag will be described. As shown in FIG. 3, the toner bottle includes a rotating part A that is formed in a cylindrical shape that stores toner, and a fixing part B that serves as a lid of the rotating part A. The rotating unit A supplies toner that is rotated and stored in the printing operation to the image forming unit that performs printing. At that time, the fixed portion B is combined in a cylindrical shape so that the fixed portion B and the rotating portion A can slip each other so that the fixed portion B does not rotate even by the rotation of the rotating portion A, There is no change in the mutual relationship between the RFID tag attached to the fixed part B and the antenna. In the example shown in FIG. 3, an RFID tag is provided on the top of the fixed part B. The arrangement position of the RFIC tag may be a side surface instead of the top of the fixing portion B.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention is provided in each toner bottle on a control board 11 on which a CPU ASIC 17 is mounted as a device control unit that controls the entire device. A signal is transmitted to and received from an RFID tag that is an ID chip, and an RFID-R / W board 12 on which each toner bottle is mounted is connected. The RFID-R / W board 12 is formed with antennas 13 to 16 having a loop pattern for transmitting and receiving signals to and from the RFID tag provided in each toner bottle. A CPU 18 that controls transmission / reception of signals between the RFID tags and transmission / reception of signals between the RFID-R / W board 12 and the control board 11 is mounted. Usually, the toner bottles of a plurality of basic colors (Y, M, C, K) are arranged in four lines (in-line) along the flow of image formation, and thus are formed on the RFID-R / W board 12. The antennas 13 to 16 are also formed in a four-line in-line so as to correspond to the arrangement of the toner bottles.

  Each of the toner bottles 21 to 24 has been described with reference to FIG. 3, but as shown in FIG. RFID tags 25 to 28 each storing attribute information of each toner are attached to the top of B. When the toner bottles 21 to 24 are attached to the image forming apparatus, each of the RFID tags 25 to 28 attached to each of the toner bottles 21 to 24 and an antenna formed on the RFID-R / W board 12 are used. The positional relationship is such that each of 13 to 16 is almost directly facing.

  As will be described later, the radiation electric field intensity with respect to the antenna pattern surface of the antennas 13 to 16 has bidirectional directivity, and generates an electric field on both surfaces of the substrate surface of the RFID-R / W board 12. All or part of the toner bottles 21 to 24 may be mounted on the side of the RFID-R / W board 12 opposite to the antenna forming surface.

  In the above description, the toner in each of the toner bottles 21 to 14 is supplied to the image image forming unit while rotating the rotating unit A of the toner bottle, but the fixing unit B of the toner bottle does not rotate. The RFID tag attached to the fixed part B and the antenna do not change in relation to each other. In addition, the toner in each toner bottle may spill slightly during use, but the toner bottle is usually installed in a nearly horizontal state. As a result, the substrate surface of the RFID-R / W board 12 is vertical. In addition, since signals are transmitted and received wirelessly between the RFID tag and the antenna, it is possible to set a wide space between the RFID tag and the antenna (8 mm ± 2 mm in the first embodiment of the present invention). Therefore, the RFID-R / W board 12 and the RFID tag provided on the toner bottle can be protected from the spilled toner.

  In the above description, the fixing portion B of the toner bottle is configured not to rotate even when the rotating portion A rotates. However, an RFID tag is attached to the top of the fixing portion B. In this case, even when the fixing part B of the toner bottle is rotated with the rotation of the rotating part A, signals can be transmitted and received wirelessly between the RFID tag and the antenna.

  When the RFID tag is attached to the side surface of the fixed part B, the toner bottle may be arranged so that the RFID tag on the side surface of the fixed part B and the antenna on the RFID-R / W board 12 face each other. . In this case, the toner bottles are installed in a nearly horizontal state, and the antennas 13 to 16 on the RFID-R / W board 12 are placed so that the surface of the fixing part B to which the RFID tag is attached is on the upper side or the lower side. If the RFID-R / W board 12 is made to face the RFID provided in the fixing portion B of each toner bottle, the substrate surface of the RFID-R / W board 12 becomes horizontal, so that the RFID-R / W board 12 is protected from spilled toner. In this case, it is preferable that the surface of the fixing part B to which the RFID tag of the toner bottle is attached is on the upper side, and the RFID-R / W board 12 is arranged on the upper side of the toner bottle.

  In the first embodiment of the present invention as described above, the control circuit of the image forming apparatus applies a radio wave having a predetermined frequency to an RFID tag as an ID chip from an antenna and receives the radio wave. The information stored in the RFID tag is read and written in response to a response from the tag, the toner bottle is identified, the attribute information of the information stored in the RFID tag is read, and the color details at the time of printing are read. Adjustment and the like can be performed, and information in the RFID tag can be read and written wirelessly, so that wiring can be omitted, and the accuracy of toner bottle mounting is not strictly required, and the image forming apparatus Manufacture can be performed easily. Further, when the toner bottle is replaced, even if a wrong color toner bottle is attached, it can be detected and notified to the user.

  FIG. 4A is a diagram for explaining the arrangement of toner bottles in the image forming apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4B is the directivity of the antenna formed on the RFID-R / W board 12. It is a figure which shows a pattern. The reference numerals in FIGS. 4A and 4B are the same as those in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 4B, the antenna used for communication with the RFID tag has a bidirectional directivity with respect to the antenna pattern surface, and the substrate of the RFID-R / W board 12 is used. An electric field is generated on both sides of the surface. The second embodiment of the present invention uses a phenomenon in which a similar electric field strength distribution exists from the antenna at such a (mirror surface) contrast position, and (mirror surface) contrast with respect to one antenna. In this position, a pair of RFID tags is arranged.

  That is, in the second embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 4A, only two antennas 13 and 14 are formed on the substrate surface of the RFID-R / W board 12, and the RFID-R / W board is formed. Two toner bottles 21, 22, 23, and 24 are arranged on both surfaces of each of the twelve substrates, and RFID tags 25, 26, 27, and 28 provided in the respective toner bottles are connected to the antenna 13, 14.

  With such a configuration, the board area of the RFID-R / W board 12 can be reduced, and one antenna can read and write to two RFID tags, so the number of antennas is reduced to ½. Therefore, the cost can be reduced and the size of the apparatus can be reduced.

  However, in the case of the second embodiment of the present invention, when the control circuit of the image forming apparatus applies a radio wave having a predetermined frequency to the RFID tag as the ID chip from the antenna, the two RFID tags receive the radio wave. If this response is made at the same time, a communication error will occur. For this reason, RFID tags that share one antenna need to have a collision prevention function so that communication collisions do not occur. This collision prevention function can be obtained by making the response times of the two RFID tags different when radio waves are applied to the RFID tag from the antenna.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the arrangement of toner bottles in the image forming apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention. The reference numerals in FIG. 5 are the same as those in FIG.

  In the third embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 5, when an RFID tag is attached to the side surface of the fixing portion B of each toner bottle, a pair of antennas are placed in a position of contrast with each other (mirror surface). This is an example in which the same RFID tag as that of the second embodiment of the present invention described above can be obtained.

  In the example shown in FIG. 5A, toner bottles of a plurality of basic colors (Y, M, C, K) are arranged in four lines (in-line) along the flow of image formation, and two adjacent toner bottles are arranged. The RFID tag attached to the side surface of the fixing part B is configured to face each other, and an antenna is arranged between adjacent toner bottles. That is, in the example shown in FIG. 5, four toner bottles 21 to 24 are arranged in quadruplicate so that two adjacent toner bottles 21 and 22 are paired so that the attached RFID tags 25 and 26 face each other. In addition, between the RFID tags 25 and 26 attached to the toner bottles 21 and 22 so that the two adjacent toner bottles 23 and 24 are paired so that the attached RFID tags 27 and 28 face each other. The antennas 13 and 14 formed on the RFID-R / W board 12 divided into two parts are arranged between the RFID tags 27 and 28 attached to the toner bottles 23 and 24, respectively. It is.

  Further, the example shown in FIG. 5B is the same as the example described in FIG. 5A, with the tops of the fixing portions B of the two toner bottles 21 and 22 paired, and the two toner bottles 23 paired. Four toner bottles 21 to 24 are arranged so as to face the top of the fixing portion B of 24, and between the RFID tags 25 and 26 attached to the toner bottles 21 and 22 and to the toner bottles 23 and 24. Antennas 13 and 14 formed on one RFID-R / W board 12 are arranged between the attached RFID tags 27 and 28.

  Also in the third embodiment of the present invention in which the toner bottle is arranged as described above, as in the case of the second embodiment of the present invention described above, the RFID tags sharing one antenna have a communication collision with each other. It is necessary to provide a collision prevention function so that no problem occurs.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a portion required by the present invention of an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a top view illustrating a state in which a toner bottle is disposed to face the RFID-R / W board in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a structure of a toner bottle equipped with an RFID tag. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the arrangement of toner bottles in an image forming apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating the arrangement of toner bottles in an image forming apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

11 Control Board 12 RFID-R / W Board 13-16 Antenna 17 CPU ASIC
18 CPU
21-24 Toner bottle 25-28 RFID tag

Claims (6)

In an image forming apparatus that forms an image,
A toner bottle for supplying toner; a substrate on which the toner bottle is mounted; an ID chip mounted on the toner bottle side; and a substrate for transmitting and receiving signals between the ID chip mounted on the toner bottle side. Having an antenna formed,
The toner bottle is mounted on the opposite side of the substrate from the antenna forming surface so that the ID chip mounted on the bottle side and the antenna formed on the substrate face each other through the substrate. Image forming apparatus. In an image forming apparatus that forms an image,
To transmit and receive signals between a plurality of toner bottles for supplying toner, a substrate on which the plurality of toner bottles are mounted, an ID chip mounted on the toner bottle side, and an ID chip mounted on the toner bottle side An antenna formed on the substrate,
At least one toner bottle is mounted on the opposite side of the substrate from the antenna formation surface so that the ID chip mounted on the bottle side and the antenna formed on the substrate face each other through the substrate. An image forming apparatus. In an image forming apparatus that forms a color image by superimposing a plurality of basic colors,
A signal is transmitted between a plurality of toner bottles supplying toner for each basic color, a substrate on which the plurality of toner bottles are mounted, an ID chip mounted on the toner bottle side, and an ID chip mounted on the toner bottle side. Having an antenna formed on the substrate for transmitting and receiving;
An image forming apparatus, wherein a toner bottle is mounted with an ID chip mounted on the bottle side facing an antenna formed on the substrate. In an image forming apparatus that forms a color image by superimposing a plurality of basic colors,
A signal is transmitted between a plurality of toner bottles supplying toner for each basic color, a substrate on which the plurality of toner bottles are mounted, an ID chip mounted on the toner bottle side, and an ID chip mounted on the toner bottle side. Having an antenna formed on the substrate for transmitting and receiving;
An image forming apparatus, wherein a toner bottle is arranged so that an ID chip of a pair of toner bottles is arranged symmetrically on a substrate with respect to one of the antennas formed on the substrate. In an image forming apparatus that forms a color image by superimposing a plurality of basic colors,
A signal is transmitted between a plurality of toner bottles supplying toner for each basic color, a substrate on which the plurality of toner bottles are mounted, an ID chip mounted on the toner bottle side, and an ID chip mounted on the toner bottle side. Having an antenna formed on the substrate for transmitting and receiving;
The antenna formed on the substrate is disposed between a pair of adjacent toner bottles, and an ID chip of a pair of toner bottles is disposed symmetrically with respect to one of the antennas formed on the substrate. An image forming apparatus, wherein a toner bottle is arranged as described above.   4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the ID chip mounted on the toner bottle disposed oppositely has a collision preventing function.

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