JP2011095399A - Waste toner full state detecting device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a waste toner full state detecting device that has a simple configuration and can furthermore save space. <P>SOLUTION: A waste toner bottle 40 for accommodating waste toner includes a space S, in which waste toner in the waste toner bottle 40 falls when exceeding a predetermined full state position. A waste toner detecting means 63 for detecting waste toner is disposed at the bottom of the space S. When the waste toner detecting means 63 detects waste toner falling on the bottom of the space, it is determined that the waste toner in the waste toner bottle 40 has reached the full state position. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a waste toner full detection device, and more specifically, waste toner full detection for detecting a full position of waste toner in a waste toner bottle (in this specification, full means full and near full). Relates to the device.

  Conventionally, as a waste toner full detection device in a waste toner bottle of an image forming apparatus, Patent Document 1 includes a float member suspended by a support member in a residual toner collection box and floated by the collected toner. An apparatus is described in which a light blocking member is provided, and when the light blocking member blocks the optical path from the light emitting element to the light receiving element, it is detected that the waste toner bottle is almost full of recovered toner.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228561 describes a device that provides a sensor arm that moves in conjunction with the level of waste toner inside a drum unit, and performs full detection when the sensor arm blocks light from a photocoupler.

  Further, in Patent Document 3, a waste optical detection container is filled with a predetermined amount when the upper surface of the toner in the waste toner detection container almost reaches the focal position of the optical sensor by a reflective optical sensor that fluctuates the focal point at a predetermined distance. An apparatus for detecting this is described.

  In the devices disclosed in Patent Documents 1 to 3, since a detection member such as a float member or a sensor arm is required inside the waste toner bottle, the capacity of the waste toner bottle increases and the cost increases. Further, since the sensor is located above the waste toner bottle, a space for avoiding interference with other cartridges of the image forming apparatus is necessary, and there is a problem that the apparatus is enlarged.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-128782 JP-A-5-134487 JP 7-271259 A

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides a waste toner detection device that has a simple configuration and can save space.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides a waste toner bottle in which waste toner is accommodated with a space where the waste toner in the waste toner bottle falls when it exceeds a predetermined full position, and is provided at the bottom of the space. Waste toner detection means for detecting waste toner is provided, and when the waste toner detection means detects waste toner falling to the bottom of the space, it is determined that the waste toner in the waste toner bottle has reached a full position. is there.

  According to this configuration, when the waste toner in the waste toner bottle falls into the space beyond the full position, the waste toner detection means detects the waste toner falling to the bottom of the space. It can be determined that the full position has been reached.

  The space is a space in a detection container provided such that an opening is located in the waste toner bottle, and waste toner that exceeds a predetermined full position in the waste toner bottle is discharged from the opening of the detection container. It is preferable to fall into the internal space.

  Preferably, the detection container is provided outside the waste toner bottle and extends obliquely downward from the opening to the bottom of the waste toner bottle.

  Preferably, the detection container has a transparent wall at least at the bottom, and the waste toner detection means detects waste toner through the transparent wall.

  The waste toner detecting means includes a light emitting portion and a light receiving portion, and the waste toner is detected when an optical path from the light emitting portion to the light receiving portion through the transparent wall is blocked by the waste toner falling into the detection container. Preferably, the light emitting part and the light receiving part are located on both side surfaces of the detection container.

  The waste toner bottle is a rectangular parallelepiped detection container that is long in the left-right direction when viewed from the front, the opening of the detection container is covered with a case, and the waste toner is formed on the wall of the case that intersects the longitudinal direction of the waste toner bottle. It is preferable to form a dropping port.

It is preferable that a shutter that opens when the waste toner bottle is attached to the main body of the image forming apparatus is provided at the drop port of the case.

According to the present invention, the waste toner falling to the space beyond the full position is detected by the waste toner detection means, so there is no need to provide a component such as a waste toner detection member inside the waste toner bottle, The configuration can be simplified.
Further, since the waste toner detecting means can be arranged below the waste toner bottle, the image forming apparatus can be made compact compared to the case where the waste toner bottle is provided above or behind the waste toner bottle in which many peripheral members are arranged. Can do.

1 is a schematic front view of an image forming apparatus including a waste toner full detection device of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the waste toner bottle as viewed from the obliquely upper side on the back side. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional perspective view of a waste toner box showing a waste toner full detection device. The perspective view of a detection container and a case. The vertical sectional view of a case and a shutter. The horizontal sectional view of the case which shows the open state (a) and closed state (b) of a shutter. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a waste toner box showing a situation where waste toner falls into a space A of a detection container.

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

  FIG. 1 shows an image forming apparatus 11 which is a tandem color laser printer. The image forming apparatus 11 includes a main body 11a, a process cartridge 12, a transfer unit 13, an exposure unit 14, a paper feed unit 15, and a cleaning unit 16.

  The process cartridges 12 are arranged at four locations along the intermediate transfer belt 18 of the transfer unit 13, and image formation of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (Bk) is performed from the cleaning unit 16 side, respectively. As a result, a color image is formed on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 18.

  The transfer unit 13 bridges the intermediate transfer belt 18 between the pair of support rollers 27 and 28, drives the support roller 27 by a power transmission device (not shown), and drives the intermediate transfer belt 18 in the arrow A direction. The transfer unit 13 is opposed to a primary transfer roller 31 that constitutes a primary transfer portion facing the photosensitive drum 20 and a support roller 27, as typically shown by a yellow photosensitive drum 20. And a secondary transfer roller 33 constituting a secondary transfer portion.

  The exposure unit 14 irradiates the photosensitive drum 20 with a laser beam to form an electrostatic latent image corresponding to image data sent from a personal computer (not shown).

  The sheet feeding unit 15 sequentially conveys the recording medium S accommodated in the sheet feeding cassette 35 and the manual sheet feeding cassette 36 to the secondary transfer unit via the conveyance roller 37. The toner image formed on the intermediate transfer belt 18 is transferred to the recording medium S transported to the secondary transfer unit, and the toner image transferred by the fixing unit 38 is fixed, and then transferred to the discharge tray 39. The

  The cleaning unit 16 can come into contact with and separate from the intermediate transfer belt 18, and collects and cleans toner remaining on the intermediate transfer belt 18 when approaching.

  Each process cartridge 12 includes a charging device 21, a developing device 22, and a cleaning device 23 around the photosensitive drum 20, as typically shown by a yellow process cartridge 12.

  The charging device 21 gives a predetermined charge to the surface of the photosensitive drum 20. This surface potential becomes an electrostatic latent image when exposed by the exposure unit 14.

  The developing device 22 supplies toner to the photosensitive drum 20 to develop the electrostatic latent image. A toner cartridge 26 that replenishes toner to the developing device 22 is detachably installed above the developing device 22.

  The cleaning device 23 collects and cleans the toner remaining on the surface after the transfer to the photosensitive drum 20.

  As shown by hatching in FIG. 1, a waste toner bottle 40 that receives waste toner from the cleaning device 23 of each process cartridge 12 and waste toner from the cleaning unit 16 is provided on the front side of the image forming apparatus 11. ing.

  FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the waste toner bottle 40 as seen obliquely from the rear side. The waste toner bottle 40 is a rectangular parallelepiped container that is long in the left-right direction when viewed from the front of the image forming apparatus 11. A waste toner receiving port 41 that engages with a waste toner outlet of the cleaning device 23 is formed on the back surface of the waste toner bottle 40 in order to receive waste toner from the cleaning device 23 of each process cartridge 12. Further, on the back surface of the waste toner bottle 40, a waste toner receiving port 42 that engages with a waste toner carry-out port of the cleaning unit 16 is formed in order to receive waste toner from the cleaning unit 16. Inside the waste toner bottle 40, a screw 43 (see FIGS. 3 and 7) having a horizontal drive shaft for leveling the waste toner inside can be rotated by obtaining a driving force from the main body 11a of the image forming apparatus 11. It has become.

  In the middle of the back surface of the waste toner bottle 40, specifically, a concave portion 44 that is recessed toward the front side is formed between the yellow and magenta waste toner receiving ports 41, and the detection container 45 is provided in the concave portion 44. It is attached. As shown in FIG. 3, the opening 46 at the upper end of the detection container 45 is located in the waste toner bottle 40, the middle portion extends obliquely downward, protrudes through the wall on the back of the waste toner bottle 40, and protrudes to the outside. Is located near the bottom of the waste toner bottle 40. Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the bottom of the detection container 45 is within the range of the outer shape as viewed from the side of the waste toner bottle 40.

  The opening 46 of the detection container 45 is covered with a case 47 as shown in FIG. The case 47 includes a front wall 47a, a left side wall 47b, a right side wall 47c, a bottom wall 47d, and an upper wall 47e, and has a shutter 48 inside. The case 47 is inserted from an attachment hole 49 formed on the upper surface of the waste toner bottle 40, and the flange 50 provided on the upper wall 47 e is brought into contact with the upper edge of the attachment hole 49 of the waste toner bottle 40, so that the peripheral wall of the case 47 is By attaching the claw portion 51 provided at an appropriate position to the lower edge of the mounting hole 49 of the waste toner bottle 40, the opening 52 on the back side of the case 47 and the opening 46 of the detection container 45 are connected. It has been. A waste toner drop port 53 is formed in the left wall 47b or the right wall 47c of the case 47 (in this embodiment, the right wall 47c on the right side when viewed from the front of the waste toner bottle 40).

  As shown in FIG. 5, the shutter 48 inside the case 47 passes through the upper wall 47 e and is vertically engaged with a horizontal support plate 54 provided on the inner surface of the left side wall 47 b of the case 47. A tubular shaft 56 that is extrapolated to the vertical shaft 55 and rotates integrally with the vertical shaft 55, an arm 57 that extends perpendicularly from the tubular shaft 56, and a shutter main body 58 provided at the tip of the arm 57. Has been. A lever 59 is attached to the vertical shaft 55 protruding from the upper wall 47e. The lever 59 is configured to open the shutter 48 by being pressed by a rib (not shown) provided on the main body 11a when the waste toner bottle 40 is mounted on the main body 11a of the image forming apparatus 11. In the vicinity of the lever 59, a guard 60 is provided on the upper wall 47e to prevent the user from touching the lever 59. A torsion coil spring 61 is attached to the tubular shaft 56, and the shutter main body 58 is configured to be urged in a direction to close the drop port 53. On the outer surface of the shutter main body 58 facing the drop port 53, two ribs 62a and 62b that project close to the upper and lower edges of the drop port when the drop port is closed project.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a waste toner detection device 63 that detects waste toner is disposed in the main body 11 a of the image forming apparatus 11 in the vicinity of the bottom of the detection container 45. The waste toner detection device 63 includes a light emitting unit 64 and a light receiving unit 65 that are respectively located on both side surfaces of the bottom of the detection container 45. The detection container 45 is made of a transparent resin so that the light emitted from the light emitting unit 64 travels in the left and right longitudinal directions of the waste toner bottle 40 and is received by the light receiving unit 65, but only the both side surfaces of the bottom are transparent. There may be. The waste toner detection device 63 detects waste toner when the optical path from the light emitting unit 64 through the transparent wall of the detection container 45 to the light receiving unit 65 is blocked by the waste toner falling into the detection container 45.

  The operation of the waste toner full detection device having the above configuration will be described.

  When the waste toner bottle 40 is mounted at a predetermined position of the image forming apparatus 11, the lever 59 is pressed by a rib (not shown) of the main body 11 a, and the shutter 48 rotates around the tubular shaft 56 against the urging force of the torsion coil spring 61. As a result, the drop port 53 is opened.

  The waste toner bottle 40 receives waste toner from the cleaning device 23 and the cleaning unit 16 of each process cartridge 12 in accordance with the image forming operation. The waste toner in the waste toner bottle 40 is leveled by the screw 43, and its level increases as the image forming operation proceeds. When the waste toner bottle 40 is full of waste toner, the waste toner bottle 40 needs to be replaced. For this reason, when the level of the waste toner reaches a predetermined full position (near full), the waste toner falls from the drop opening 53 of the case 47 to the space S in the detection container 45 as shown in FIG. When the waste toner falls to the bottom of the space S of the detection container 45, the optical path from the light emitting unit 64 to the light receiving unit 65 of the waste toner detection device 63 is blocked, so that the light receiving unit 65 transmits the light from the light emitting unit 64. It is determined that light is not received and the waste toner in the waste toner bottle 40 has reached the full position.

  When the waste toner detection device 63 detects that the waste toner is full, a full display or a display prompting the user to replace the waste toner bottle 40 is performed on a panel (not shown) of the image forming apparatus 11. In order to replace the waste toner bottle 40, the user removes the full waste toner bottle 40 from the image forming apparatus 11. At this time, since the lever 59 of the full waste toner bottle 40 is separated from the rib (not shown) of the main body 11 a, the shutter 48 is rotated around the tubular shaft 56 by the biasing force of the torsion coil spring 61, and the drop port 53 is moved. Even when the user closes and tilts the waste toner bottle 40 while moving, it is possible to prevent the waste toner from dropping further into the detection container 45.

  Further, in order to replace or check the process cartridge 12 and other units of the image forming apparatus 11 while the waste toner in the waste toner bottle 40 has not yet reached full capacity, the user can remove the waste toner bottle 40 from the image forming apparatus. 11 is removed from the main body 11a, and the waste toner bottle 40 may be tilted in the front-rear direction before the shutter 48 closes the drop port 53. Thus, even if the waste toner bottle 40 is tilted back and forth, as shown in the figure, the opening 46 of the detection container 45 is covered with the front wall 47a of the case 47 in the front-rear direction, and only at one place in the left and right longitudinal directions. Since there is the drop port 53, it is difficult for the waste toner to fall from the drop port 53. Therefore, when the waste toner box 40 is returned to the main body 11a of the image forming apparatus 11, the fullness of the waste toner is not erroneously detected. Further, even if the waste toner box 40 is removed and accidentally dropped or falls, the drop port 53 is closed by the shutter 48, so that the waste toner does not enter the detection container 45, and the waste toner box 40 is removed. When the toner is returned to the main body 11a of the image forming apparatus 11, the waste toner fullness is not erroneously detected.

  According to the embodiment, the waste toner detection device 63 is disposed at the bottom of the detection container 45 and further has an optical path from the light emitting unit 64 to the light receiving unit 65 in the longitudinal direction of the waste toner bottle 40. The depth dimension in the front-rear direction of the detection device 63 can be reduced, and the image forming apparatus 11 can be downsized.

  In addition, since the waste toner detection device 63 detects waste toner that falls into the space of the detection container 45 beyond the full position, there is no need to provide a component such as a waste toner detection member inside the waste toner bottle 63. Is simple.

  Further, since the waste toner detection device 63 is arranged below the waste toner bottle 40 with few peripheral members, the waste toner detection device 63 has many peripheral members such as the process unit 12 and the toner box 26 as in the prior art. Compared with the case where the toner bottle 40 is provided at the upper part or the rear part, the image forming apparatus 11 becomes compact.

  In the above-described embodiment, the level of waste toner detected by the waste toner detection device is set to near full to prompt the user to prepare for replacement of the waste toner container. However, the present invention is not limited to this. It may be full. For this purpose, the position of the lower edge of the drop opening 53 where the waste toner falls may be changed up and down.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Image forming apparatus 11a Main body 40 Waste toner bottle 45 Detection container 46 Opening part 48 Shutter 53 Drop port 63 Waste toner detection apparatus 64 Light emission part 65 Light reception part

Claims (7)

  A waste toner bottle for storing waste toner is provided with a space for dropping when the waste toner in the waste toner bottle exceeds a predetermined full position, and waste toner detection means for detecting waste toner is provided at the bottom of the space. When the waste toner detecting means detects waste toner falling to the bottom of the space, it is determined that the waste toner in the waste toner bottle has reached the full position.   The space is a space in a detection container provided such that an opening is located in the waste toner bottle, and waste toner that exceeds a predetermined full position in the waste toner bottle is discharged from the opening of the detection container. The waste toner full detection device according to claim 1, wherein the waste toner full detection device falls into an internal space.   The waste toner full detection device according to claim 2, wherein the detection container is provided outside the waste toner bottle and extends obliquely downward from the opening to the bottom of the waste toner bottle.   4. The waste toner full detection device according to claim 2, wherein the detection container has a transparent wall at least at the bottom, and the waste toner detection means detects waste toner through the transparent wall.   The waste toner detecting means includes a light emitting portion and a light receiving portion, and the waste toner is detected when an optical path from the light emitting portion to the light receiving portion through the transparent wall is blocked by the waste toner falling into the detection container. The waste toner full detection device according to claim 4, wherein the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit are located on both side surfaces of the detection container.   The waste toner bottle is a rectangular parallelepiped detection container that is long in the left-right direction when viewed from the front, the opening of the detection container is covered with a case, and the waste toner is formed on the wall of the case that intersects the longitudinal direction of the waste toner bottle. The waste toner full detection device according to claim 2, wherein a drop opening is formed.   The waste toner full detection device according to claim 6, wherein a shutter that opens when the waste toner bottle is attached to the main body of the image forming apparatus is provided at a drop port of the case.

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