JP2011203442A - Toner supply device and image forming apparatus mounting the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a toner supply device that uses an existing antenna substrate without changing the shape of a toner container according to every corresponding color, and to provide an image forming apparatus mounting the same.SOLUTION: The toner supply device is mounted in the apparatus body (2) of the image forming apparatus (1) and supplies toner of the corresponding color to a developing device (51). The toner supply device is constructed to be able to supply the toner of the corresponding color and includes: toner containers (77, 78, and 79) to which wireless IC tags (97, 98, and 99) including information related to each corresponding color are attached, respectively; and an antenna substrate (60) including radio antennas (67, 68, and 69) each of which emits radio wave for communication with each wireless IC tag and is disposed at predetermined intervals. In the toner container, a tag attachment unit (88) is formed including a communalization margin (92) in order to achieve communalization of the antenna substrate, to which the wireless IC tag is attached, shifting according to the pitch of a toner container for another model.

Description

  The present invention relates to a toner replenishing device used in an image forming apparatus represented by a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile, and the like, and an image forming apparatus equipped with the toner replenishing device.

In this type of image forming apparatus, an image is formed using toner, and when color printing is possible, the toner of the corresponding color is supplied from the developing device to, for example, four photosensitive drums to form a toner image. Are formed, and the toner images of the corresponding colors are transferred and fixed on the paper.
Here, the consumed toner needs to be replenished separately, and a technique using a cartridge-type toner container has been proposed for replenishing the toner (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Each used toner container is taken out from the apparatus main body of the image forming apparatus by a user or the like, and a new toner container is attached to the apparatus main body.

  Further, this document also discloses a technique for acquiring information on a toner container of a corresponding color by wireless communication. Specifically, each toner container has a tag attachment portion for attaching a wireless IC tag. Each wireless IC tag of the tag attachment portion and each wireless antenna provided on the antenna substrate face each other, and each toner The container information can be acquired in a non-contact state.

JP 2009-211038 A

  By the way, there are different patterns for the pitches between the toner containers depending on the models to be mounted, and two methods are mainly conceivable in order to cope with this. Specifically, a method for changing the position of the tag mounting portion of the toner container for each corresponding color and adjusting the pitch of the wireless IC tag to the interval of the existing wireless antenna, or a new antenna substrate for each model This is a technique in which the grounding is started and the interval between the wireless antennas is adjusted to the pitch of the wireless IC tag.

However, any change in the shape of the corresponding color of the toner container or the creation of a new antenna substrate must be performed for each mold or model for each mold, and the management of this mold and the like is also required. Since this is complicated, there is a problem that the manufacturing cost of the toner replenishing device cannot be reduced.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a toner replenishing device that can use the existing antenna substrate as it is without changing the shape of the toner container for each corresponding color, and an image forming apparatus equipped with the toner replenishing device. That is.

  A first invention for achieving the above object is a toner replenishing device that is mounted in a main body of an image forming apparatus and replenishes a corresponding color toner to a developing device, and is configured to replenish a corresponding color toner. A plurality of toner containers to which wireless IC tags having information on the corresponding colors are respectively attached, and a plurality of wireless antennas that emit radio waves for communication with the wireless IC tags and are arranged at predetermined intervals. In order to make the antenna substrate common, the toner container has an allowance for commonization of the substrate that can be mounted by shifting the wireless IC tag corresponding to the pitch of the toner container for different models. The tag attachment portion is formed.

  According to the first invention, the toner container includes the tag attachment portion, and the wireless IC tag is attached to the tag attachment portion. On the other hand, the antenna substrate includes a wireless antenna, and non-contact wireless communication is possible between the wireless IC tag and the wireless antenna. The wireless antenna is arranged on the antenna substrate at a predetermined interval when a plurality of toner containers are mounted in the apparatus main body.

Here, the tag mounting portion of the present invention has a board sharing margin larger than the area of the wireless IC tag to be mounted. Although this board commonal allowance is a meaningless space for each color, a wireless IC tag corresponding to the pitch of the toner container of another pattern can be attached.
In other words, if a blank part for mounting that functions in combination with another model is provided in advance in the tag mounting part, the pitch of the wireless IC tag existing for each model can be adjusted to the interval of the existing wireless antenna, and the antenna substrate Can be shared.

In addition, since the tag mounting portion that can change the mounting position of the wireless IC tag can be formed in the same shape for each corresponding color, it is not necessary to change the shape of the tag mounting portion of the toner container for each corresponding color.
As a result, the manufacturing cost of the toner replenishing device can be greatly reduced.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the configuration of the first aspect, the wireless IC tag is attached to the tag attachment portion at the time of determining the corresponding color for manufacturing the toner container and supplying the developing device.

  According to the second invention, in addition to the operation of the first invention, if the wireless IC tag is attached to the tag mounting portion at the time of manufacturing the toner container, the toner container and the wireless IC tag are managed after the manufacturing process. Since the wireless IC tag is attached when the corresponding color to be filled in the toner container is determined, erroneous attachment of the wireless IC tag can be prevented.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the configuration of the second aspect of the invention, the tag mounting portion is engraved with a mounting position of the corresponding color wireless IC tag by a mark provided on a mold for molding the toner container. Features.
According to the third invention, in addition to the operation of the second invention, if the marking for displaying the mounting position of the wireless IC tag of the corresponding color is applied to the tag mounting portion using the molding die, the wireless The IC tag can be securely attached to the corresponding color tag attaching portion.

A fourth invention is characterized in that, in the configurations of the first to third inventions, the substrate sharing allowance is determined by a length obtained by multiplying a difference in pitch of toner containers different for each model by the number of colors. To do.
According to the fourth invention, in addition to the effects of the first to third inventions, the board commonal allowance is not formed in a large area but in a calculated necessary region. The material required for the molding is not wasted. This also contributes to a reduction in manufacturing cost of the toner replenishing device.

A fifth invention is an image forming apparatus including the first to fourth toner replenishing devices, and includes a plurality of image forming units that respectively form monochrome and a plurality of color toner images, and each toner container includes: The toner of the corresponding color is supplied to each developing device of the image forming unit for color printing.
According to the fifth aspect of the invention, in addition to the effects of the first to fourth aspects of the invention, generally, the toner container for monochrome printing and the toner container for color printing often have different capacities. By providing a tag mounting portion having a margin for common substrate use, color printing toner containers of the same model can be manufactured with a common mold, and the effect is most remarkable.

  According to the present invention, the tag mounting portion has a blank portion larger than the area of the wireless IC tag to be mounted, and the existing antenna substrate is used as it is without changing the shape of the toner container for each corresponding color. In addition, it is possible to provide a toner replenishing device capable of achieving a reduction in manufacturing cost and an image forming apparatus equipped with the toner replenishing device.

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment. FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view around the image forming unit in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a main part of the toner container in FIG. 2. FIG. 3 is a front view of the RFID substrate of FIG. 2. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating positions of the toner container and the RFID substrate in FIG. 2. It is a perspective view of the image forming apparatus which concerns on another Example. FIG. 7 is an enlarged cross-sectional view illustrating the arrangement of toner containers of the image forming apparatus in FIG. 6. FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a main part of the toner container in FIG. 7. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating positions of the toner container and the RFID substrate in FIG. 7.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment. The image forming apparatus is a tandem color printer 1. The printer 1 includes a square box-shaped device main body 2 that forms (prints) a color image on paper inside, and a discharge for discharging the paper on which the color image is printed on the upper surface of the device main body 2. A tray 3 is provided.

  In the lower part of the apparatus main body 2, a paper feed cassette 5 for storing paper is disposed. In addition, a stack tray 6 is provided in the central portion of the apparatus main body 2 for supplying paper of a type not stored in the paper feed cassette 5 to the apparatus main body 2. An image forming unit 7 is provided on the upper part of the apparatus main body 2. The image forming unit 7 is based on image data such as characters and patterns transmitted from a host device such as a PC connected to the printer 1. To form an image on the paper.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a first transport path 9 for transporting paper fed from the paper feed cassette 5 to a later-described secondary transfer unit 23 is disposed on the left side of the apparatus main body 2. When viewed from the right part to the left part of the apparatus main body 2, a second transport path 10 for transporting paper fed from the stack tray 6 to the secondary transfer unit 23 is provided. In the upper left part of the apparatus main body 2, a fixing unit 14 that performs a fixing process on a sheet on which an image is transferred by the secondary transfer unit 23, and a sheet that has been subjected to the fixing process are conveyed to the discharge tray 3. A third transport path 11 is disposed.

  The paper feed cassette 5 can be replenished by pulling it out to the front of the apparatus main body 2 (back side in FIG. 1). The paper feed cassette 5 includes a storage unit 16 in which at least two types of paper having different sizes in the paper feed direction can be selectively stored. Note that the paper stored in the storage unit 16 is fed out to the first conveyance path 9 side by sheet by the paper feed roller 17 and the separating roller pair 18.

The stack tray 6 can be opened and closed on the outer surface of the apparatus main body 2, and sheets are placed one by one on the manual feed portion 19 or a plurality of sheets are stacked. Note that the sheets placed on the manual feed unit 19 are fed out one by one to the second conveyance path 10 side by the pick-up roller 20 and the separating roller pair 21.
The first conveyance path 9 and the second conveyance path 10 are joined before the registration roller pair 22, and the paper that has reached the registration roller pair 22 waits here for skew adjustment and timing adjustment. Thereafter, the image is sent to the secondary transfer unit 23. The full color toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 40 is secondarily transferred to the sheet by the secondary transfer unit 23 on the sent sheet. Thereafter, the sheet on which the toner image is fixed by the fixing unit 14 is reversed in the fourth conveyance path 12 as necessary, and a full-color toner image is also formed on the surface opposite to the first by the secondary transfer unit 23. Secondary transferred. Then, after the toner image on the opposite surface is fixed by the fixing unit 14, it passes through the third conveyance path 11 and is discharged to the discharge tray 3 by the discharge roller pair 24.

The image forming unit 7 includes four image forming units 26 to 29 that form black (B), yellow (Y), cyan (C), and magenta (M) toner images. An intermediate transfer unit 30 is provided which holds the toner images of the respective colors formed in 29 in a superimposed manner.
Each of the image forming units 26 to 29 is on the downstream side in the rotation direction of the photosensitive drum 32, the charging unit 33 disposed to face the circumferential surface of the photosensitive drum 32, and the photosensitive drum 32 of the charging unit 33. A laser scanning unit 34 for irradiating a laser beam to a specific position on the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 32, and a downstream side in the rotational direction of the photosensitive drum 32 at the laser beam irradiation position from the laser scanning unit 34. A developing unit 35 disposed opposite to the circumferential surface of the photosensitive drum 32; and a cleaning unit disposed downstream of the developing unit 35 in the rotation direction of the photosensitive drum 32 and opposed to the circumferential surface of the photosensitive drum 32. 36.

  The photosensitive drums 32 of the image forming units 26 to 29 are rotated counterclockwise in the drawing by a drive motor (not shown). Further, in the developing sections 35 of the image forming units 26 to 29, two-component developers each containing black toner, yellow toner, cyan toner, and magenta toner are stored in each developing device 51, respectively.

For this reason, as shown in FIG. 2 in which the periphery of the image forming unit 7 in FIG. 1 is enlarged, there are four toner containers (toner containers) 76, 77, 78, between the discharge tray 3 and the intermediate transfer belt 40. 79 is arranged.
That is, FIGS. 1 and 2 are viewed from the back side of the apparatus body 2 and are partially hidden by an RFID substrate (antenna substrate) 60 described later, but in FIG. Shown are toner containers 76, 77, 78, and 79 for supplying toner for yellow, cyan, and magenta to the developing devices 51, respectively.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the intermediate transfer unit 30 includes a rear roller 38 disposed near the image forming unit 26, a front roller 39 disposed near the image forming unit 29, and the image forming unit 28. The tension roller 42 disposed above, the rear roller 38, the front roller 39, the intermediate transfer belt 40 disposed across the tension roller 42, and the developing unit 35 in the photosensitive drum 32 of each of the image forming units 26 to 29. And four primary transfer rollers 41 disposed so as to be in pressure contact with each other via an intermediate transfer belt 40 at a position downstream of the photosensitive drum 32 in the rotation direction.

In the intermediate transfer unit 30, the toner images of the respective colors are superimposed and transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 40 at the positions of the primary transfer rollers 41 of the image forming units 26 to 29, and finally a full-color toner image. It becomes.
The first transport path 9 and the second transport path 10 are for transporting the paper fed from the paper feed cassette 5 and the stack tray 6 to the secondary transfer unit 23 side, and in the apparatus main body 2, a predetermined transport path is formed. A plurality of conveying roller pairs 43 disposed at the position and a registration roller pair 22 disposed in front of the secondary transfer unit 23 for timing the image forming operation and the sheet conveying operation in the image forming unit 7. And.

  The fixing unit 14 performs processing for fixing the unfixed toner image on the paper by heating and pressurizing the paper on which the toner image has been transferred by the image forming unit 7. The fixing unit 14 includes, for example, a pressure roller 44 and a sliding belt 45. Of these, the pressure roller 44 has, for example, a metal core, a surface layer of an elastic body, and a release layer. 45 has a metal base, an elastic surface layer and a release layer.

  When viewed in the sheet conveyance direction, conveyance paths 47 are provided on the upstream side and the downstream side of the fixing unit 14, and the sheet conveyed through the secondary transfer unit 23 passes through the upstream conveyance path 47. It is introduced into the nip between the pressure roller 44 and the sliding belt 45. The paper that has passed between the pressure roller 44 and the sliding belt 45 is guided to the third transport path 11 through the downstream transport path 47.

The third transport path 11 transports the paper on which the fixing process has been performed by the fixing unit 14 to the discharge tray 3. For this reason, the transport roller pair 49 is disposed at an appropriate position in the third transport path 11, and the discharge roller pair 24 is disposed at the outlet thereof.
Here, the toner replenishing device of this embodiment includes toner containers 76 to 79 and an RFID substrate 60.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3 as viewed from the back side of the apparatus main body 2, that is, the RFID substrate 60 side in FIG. 2, the toner containers 77, 78, and 79 for storing the toner for color printing are the same model. In FIG. 3, the toner container 76 is molded in the same shape and has the same capacity, while the capacity of the toner container 76 for storing toner for monochrome printing is the largest.

  More specifically, the black toner container 76 located on the leftmost side as viewed in FIG. 3 includes a vertically long container body 81 having an opening upward and a lid 85 covering the opening. A drive coupling 83 is provided at a substantially central portion of the back end face (end face shown in FIG. 3) of the container main body 81, and this drive coupling 83 is used when the toner container 76 is attached to the apparatus main body 2. It connects with the drive coupling (not shown) of the main body 2 side.

  A yellow toner container 77 is arranged on the right side of the toner container 76 with a predetermined pitch. The toner container 77 is narrower than the black toner container 76, and includes a vertically long container body 82 having an opening on the upper side and a lid 86 that covers the opening. A drive coupling 84 is provided at a substantially lower left portion of the rear end surface of the container main body 82. The drive coupling 84 also has a drive coupling (not shown) on the apparatus main body 2 side when the toner container 77 is mounted. Connect to

  Next, a cyan toner container 78 is disposed on the right side of the toner container 77 with a predetermined pitch, and a magenta toner container 79 is disposed on the right side of the toner container 78 with a predetermined pitch. . The pitch between the yellow toner container 77 and the cyan toner container 78 and the pitch between the cyan toner container 78 and the magenta toner container 79 are the same.

  Further, since these toner containers 77, 78, 79 are molded into the same shape using the same mold, the toner containers 78, 79 are provided with a vertically long container body 82 and a lid 86, similar to the toner container 77. A drive coupling 84 is provided at a substantially lower left portion of the rear end surface of the container main body 82, and is connected to a drive coupling (not shown) on the apparatus main body 2 side when the toner containers 78 and 79 are mounted.

  Although not shown, each container body 81, 82 is provided with a toner replenishing port that is opened and closed by a shutter. When each of the toner containers 76 to 79 is installed, each toner replenishing port is opened. , 82 communicate with the developing device 51. Further, screw members connected to the drive couplings 83 and 84 are provided inside the container main bodies 81 and 82, and if the controller detects a decrease in the toner amount in each developing device 51, the drive is performed. The screw members are rotated by the power from the couplings 83 and 84, respectively, and the surrounding toner is collected toward the toner supply port and supplied to the corresponding developing device from the supply port.

Here, the controller can acquire information on the toner containers 76 to 79 in addition to the toner amount in the developing device 51 described above.
Specifically, wireless IC tags 96, 97, 98, and 99 are attached to the toner containers 76 to 79, respectively, and the wireless IC tags 96, 97, 98, and 99 are connected to the RFID substrate 60 connected to the controller side. Non-contact wireless communication is performed between them.

  The RFID substrate 60 of this embodiment is disposed on the back side of the apparatus main body 2 with respect to the toner containers 76 to 79 and faces the back side of the toner containers 76 to 79. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4 as viewed from the front side of the apparatus main body 2, that is, from the toner container 76 to 79 side in FIG. The RFID substrate 60 is provided with the same number of wireless antennas 66 to 69 as the toner containers 76 to 79.

Specifically, each of the radio antennas 66 to 69 is formed, for example, by screen-printing a conductive paste on the antenna installation surface 62 of the RFID substrate 60, and all of them are wound in a spiral shape. First, the wireless antenna 66 is located on the rightmost side in FIG. 4 and faces the back side of the black toner container 76.
A wireless antenna 67 is disposed on the left side of the wireless antenna 66 at a predetermined interval. The wireless antenna 67 faces the back side of the yellow toner container 77.

  Next, a radio antenna 68 is arranged on the left side of the radio antenna 67 with a predetermined interval, and a radio antenna 69 is arranged on the left side of the radio antenna 68 with a predetermined interval. It faces the back side and the back side of the magenta toner container 79. The distance between the yellow radio antenna 67 and the cyan radio antenna 68 and the distance between the cyan radio antenna 68 and the magenta radio antenna 69 are the same.

In addition, electronic components (not shown) such as chip components and oscillators are mounted at appropriate positions on the RFID substrate 60, and these electronic components are also connected to the respective radio antennas 66 to 69.
On the other hand, the above-mentioned wireless IC tags 96 to 99 are respectively attached to the lids 85 and 86 in this embodiment.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the lid 85 of the black toner container 76 has a tag attachment base (tag attachment portion) 87 on the back end surface thereof. The tag attaching base 87 of the present embodiment has a right end portion of the back end face bulged toward the RFID substrate 60, and has a tag attaching area 90 near the upper left corner of the bulged flat face (FIG. 5). ), The wireless IC tag 96 is attached to the tag attaching region 90, and the center position of the wireless IC tag 96 coincides with the center position of the wireless antenna 66 (indicated by a one-dot chain line in FIG. 5).

The lid 86 of the yellow toner container 77 has a tag sticking base (tag mounting portion) 88 on the back end surface thereof.
In the tag attaching table 88 of the present embodiment, a portion slightly to the right from the center of the back end surface bulges toward the RFID substrate 60. And it has the tag sticking area | region 90 near the upper right corner of this bulging flat surface (FIG. 5), the radio | wireless IC tag 97 is affixed on the said tag sticking area 90, and the center position of the wireless antenna 67 is It coincides with the center position (indicated by a dashed line in FIG. 5).

  As described above, since the toner containers 77, 78, and 79 use the same mold, the yellow toner container is also used for each of the lids 86 of the cyan toner container 78 and the magenta toner container 79. Similarly to the lid 86 of 77, the tag affixing stand 88 has a portion slightly swelled from the center of the rear end face of each lid 86 toward the RFID substrate 60.

The tag attaching table 88 of the cyan toner container 78 has a tag attaching area 90 on the upper center side of the bulged flat surface (FIG. 5), and the wireless IC tag 98 is attached to the tag attaching area 90. The center position thereof coincides with the center position of the wireless antenna 68 (indicated by a one-dot chain line in FIG. 5).
Further, the tag attaching base 88 of the magenta toner container 79 has a tag attaching area 90 near the upper left corner of the bulged flat surface (FIG. 5), and the wireless IC tag 99 is attached to the tag attaching area 90. The center position of the radio antenna 69 coincides with the center position (indicated by a one-dot chain line in FIG. 5).

Each of these wireless IC tags 96 to 99 is a passive type having no power source, for example, and an IC chip is embedded therein. The IC chip has a function of rewriting / adding data to the memory, and further has a function of communicating with each of the radio antennas 66-69.
Each of the wireless antennas 66 to 69 transmits radio waves, and when each of the wireless IC tags 96 to 99 receives the radio waves, the wireless antennas 66 to 69 generate necessary power therein, and request signals from the respective radio antennas 66 to 69 are transmitted to the respective radio antennas 66 to 69. The signals are supplied to the IC chips of the wireless IC tags 96 to 99, and execute signal modulation, demodulation, logical operation, memory access, and the like.

  On the other hand, the answer signals of the wireless IC tags 96 to 99 are received by the wireless antennas 66 to 69 and supplied to a reader / writer (not shown). As a result, non-contact wireless communication is possible between the wireless IC tags 96 to 99 and the reader / writer via the wireless antennas 66 to 69, and the reader / writer transmits information on the corresponding colors (filling color, filling color, The toner capacity, the serial number of the toner containers 76 to 79, the number of reuses, etc.) can be read. The reader / writer is connected to the controller, and information of each wireless IC tag 96 to 99 is output to the controller.

By the way, the flat surfaces of the tag sticking bases 87 and 88 of this embodiment are formed to be much larger than the sticking ranges of the wireless IC tags 96 to 99 (FIGS. 3 and 5).
Specifically, a common blank portion (substrate common margin) 92 is provided around each tag pasting area 90 to which the wireless IC tags 96 to 99 are pasted. It functions as an area corresponding to the pitch of the toner containers 76 to 79 for different models, in other words, the pitch of the wireless IC tags 96 to 99 attached to the toner containers 76 to 79 of other models.

More specifically, FIG. 6 shows a tandem type color printer 1 different from the model shown in FIG. 1 from the upper left front. In FIG. 6, the front of the printer 1 facing the user and the left side of the printer 1 can be seen.
If the same reference numerals are given to components having the same functions as the structure of FIG. 1 and the description thereof is omitted, the printer 1 shown in FIG. A document presser 4 and an operation panel 8 are provided above the discharge tray 3. Further, four toner containers 76 to 79 are disposed below the discharge tray 3 (FIG. 7).

7 is viewed from the left side of the apparatus main body 2 and is partially hidden by the RFID substrate 60. In FIG. 7, from the left side, black, yellow, cyan, and magenta are sequentially displayed. The toner containers 76, 77, 78, and 79 storing the respective toners are shown.
Further, as shown in FIG. 8 as viewed from the RFID substrate 60 side of FIG. 7, the toner containers 77, 78, and 79 for storing color printing toner are molded into the same shape in the same model, and the toner for monochrome printing. The capacity of the toner container 76 for storing the toner is the largest.

Further, the pitch between the yellow toner container 77 and the cyan toner container 78 and the pitch between the cyan toner container 78 and the magenta toner container 79 are all the same length.
However, comparing FIG. 8 with FIG. 3 described above, it can be seen that the pitches of the toner containers 77, 78, 79 of FIG. 8 are narrower than the pitches of the toner containers 77, 78, 79 of FIG. .

  On the other hand, the RFID substrate 60 has the same structure in any printer 1 on which the toner containers 76 to 79 of FIGS. 3 and 8 are mounted. As shown in FIG. The RFID substrate 60 is provided with the same number of wireless antennas 66 to 69 as the toner containers 76 to 79.

That is, the distance between the black radio antenna 66 and the yellow radio antenna 67, the distance between the yellow radio antenna 67 and the cyan radio antenna 68, and the cyan radio antenna 68 and the magenta radio antenna. The distance from 69 is the same length in any printer 1 in FIGS.
In addition, the wireless IC tags 96 to 99 are respectively attached to the lids 85 and 86 in this embodiment.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 8, the lid 85 of the black toner container 76 has a tag attaching base 87 on its end surface, and a portion near the right end of the end surface bulges toward the RFID substrate 60. A tag pasting area 90 is provided near the center of the bulged flat surface (FIG. 9). The wireless IC tag 96 is pasted on the tag pasting area 90, and the center position of the wireless IC tag 96 is the wireless antenna. 66 coincides with the center position (indicated by a one-dot chain line in FIG. 9).

  The lid 86 of the yellow toner container 77 also has a tag attaching table 88 on its end surface, and has the same shape as the tag attaching table 88 in FIG. However, the toner containers 77 to 79 in FIG. 8 are narrower and slightly larger than the toner containers 77 to 79 in FIG. 3, and the formation positions of the tag attaching bases 88 are different. That is, the right end portion of the end face of the lid 86 bulges toward the RFID substrate 60. A tag pasting area 90 is provided near the lower left corner of the bulged flat surface (FIG. 9). A wireless IC tag 97 is pasted on the tag pasting area 90 and the center position of the wireless antenna 67 is It coincides with the center position (indicated by a dashed line in FIG. 9).

  The toner containers 77, 78, and 79 are molded using the same mold, and the lid 86 of the yellow toner container 77 is used for each of the lids 86 of the cyan toner container 78 and the magenta toner container 79. As in the case of the tag attaching table 88, the right end portion of the end face of each lid 86 bulges toward the RFID substrate 60.

The tag attaching base 88 of the cyan toner container 78 has a tag attaching area 90 near the center of the bulged flat surface (FIG. 9), and the wireless IC tag 98 is attached to the tag attaching area 90. The center position of the radio antenna 68 coincides with the center position of the wireless antenna 68 (indicated by a one-dot chain line in FIG. 9).
Further, the tag attaching base 88 of the magenta toner container 79 has a tag attaching area 90 near the lower right corner of the bulged flat surface (FIG. 9), and the wireless IC tag 99 is attached to the tag attaching area 90. The center position of the radio antenna 69 coincides with the center position (indicated by a one-dot chain line in FIG. 9).

  As described above, the attaching positions of the wireless IC tags 96 to 99 in FIGS. 3 and 8 are shifted in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction. In particular, the wireless IC tag 97 for yellow is located on the right side of the tag attaching base 88 in FIG. On the other hand, the tag sticking base 88 in FIG. Further, the magenta wireless IC tag 99 is affixed to the left side of the tag affixing base 88 of FIG. 3, whereas the tag affixing base 88 of FIG. 8 is affixed to the right side of the opposite side.

This is because each tag attaching table 87, 88 is provided with a common blank portion 92 that can be attached by shifting the wireless IC tags 96-99 in correspondence with the pitch of the toner containers 76-79 for different models. Because.
The range of the common blank portion 92, in particular, the common blank portion 92 of the tag printing stand 88 for color printing having a large area, corresponds to the number of colors corresponding to the pitch difference of the toner containers 77 to 79 which differs for each model ( For example, it is determined by a length multiplied by three colors for color printing.

  On the other hand, each tag attaching table 88 to which the wireless IC tags 97 to 99 are attached is considered to have two wireless IC tags 97 to 99 attached as shown in FIGS. Since it also becomes possible, it is difficult to understand at a glance where the corresponding wireless IC tags 97 to 99 can be attached to each tag attaching table 88. In the process after the toner containers 77 to 79 are manufactured, The management becomes troublesome.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, when the color printing toner containers 77 to 79 are manufactured, the wireless IC tags 97 to 99 are attached to the respective tag attaching bases 88. More specifically, the toner containers 77 to 79 of the toner containers 77 to 79 are attached. Affixed when the corresponding color is determined. For this reason, a mold (not shown) for molding the toner containers 77 to 79 for color printing is provided with a mark on the inner surface that forms the flat surface of the tag attaching table 88.

  As a result, for example, the center positions of the wireless IC tags 97 to 99 for yellow, cyan, and magenta are engraved on the flat surface of each tag attaching table 88. The wireless IC tags 97 to 99 are connected to the toner containers 77 to 99, respectively. The workers in the manufacturing process 79 are attached to the tag attaching table 88 with the center position as a mark. Note that the wireless IC tag 96 may be affixed to the tag affixing stand 87 at the time of manufacture of the black toner container 76 as well. This is because it can be managed in the same way as the toner containers 77 to 79 for color printing.

  By the way, the above-described RFID substrate 60 faces the end surfaces of the lids 85 and 86 of the toner containers 76 to 79 (FIGS. 2 and 7), but the tag attaching bases 87 and 88 are disposed on the bottom surfaces of the container bodies 81 and 82, for example. In this case, the RFID substrate 60 is arranged with the wireless antennas 66 to 69 facing upward, and faces the wireless IC tags 96 to 99 attached to the bottom surfaces of the container bodies 81 and 82. .

  As described above, according to this embodiment, the toner containers 76 to 79 include the tag attaching bases 87 and 88, and the wireless IC tags 96 to 99 are attached to the tag attaching bases 87 and 88, respectively. On the other hand, the RFID substrate 60 includes wireless antennas 66 to 69, and non-contact wireless communication is possible between the wireless IC tags 96 to 99 and the wireless antennas 66 to 69. Further, the wireless antennas 66 to 69 are arranged on the RFID substrate 60 at a predetermined interval.

Here, the tag attaching bases 87 and 88 have a common blank portion 92 larger than the area of the wireless IC tags 96 to 99 to be attached. Although the common blank portion 92 is a meaningless space in each color, wireless IC tags 96 to 99 corresponding to the pitch of the toner containers 76 to 79 having different patterns can be attached.
In other words, if a blank portion for pasting that functions in combination with another model is provided in advance in the tag pasting bases 87 and 88, the pitch of the radio IC tags 96 to 99 existing for each model is set to that of the existing radio antennas 66 to 69. The interval can be adjusted, and a new creation of the RFID substrate 60 becomes unnecessary.

  In addition, as described above, there are many cases where the toner container 76 for monochrome printing and the toner containers 77 to 79 for color printing have different capacities, but a tag that can change the attaching position of the wireless IC tags 97 to 99. If the sticking base 88 is provided, it is not necessary to change the shape of the tag sticking base 88 for each corresponding color, and toner containers 77 to 79 for color printing in the same model can be manufactured with a common mold.

As a result, the manufacturing cost of the toner replenishing device can be greatly reduced.
Furthermore, if the wireless IC tags 96 to 99 are attached to the tag attaching bases 87 and 88 when the toner containers 76 to 79 are manufactured, the management of the toner containers 76 to 79 and the management of the wireless IC tags 96 to 99 after the manufacturing process are performed. In particular, since the wireless IC tags 97 to 99 are affixed when the corresponding colors to be filled in the toner containers 77 to 79 for color printing are determined, the toner containers 77 to 79 having the same shape can be used. Incorrect attachment of the wireless IC tags 97 to 99 is also reduced.

Furthermore, if marking for indicating the attachment positions of the corresponding color wireless IC tags 97 to 99 is applied to the tag attaching base 88 using a molding die, the wireless IC tags 97 to 99 are attached to the corresponding color tag attaching bases. Can be securely attached to 88.
Further, the common blank portion 92 is not simply formed with a large area, but is formed in a necessary region calculated based on the number of models and the number of colors, and the material required for the molding is not wasted. This also contributes to a reduction in manufacturing cost of the toner replenishing device.

  The present invention can be implemented with various modifications without being limited to the above-described embodiments. For example, the markings applied to the tag attaching table 88 when the toner containers 77 to 79 are manufactured include the above-described marks indicating the attaching positions of the corresponding colors on the molds of the toner containers 77 to 79, and the molded toner containers. You may mark the tag sticking stand 88 of 77-79 using a laser etc.

In addition, the wireless IC tag of the present invention may be an active type having a power source instead of the passive type, and may not necessarily be attached as long as it is attached to the tag attaching portion.
Furthermore, the number of toners for color printing is not limited to three colors. In the above embodiment, the toner container 76 and the toner containers 77 to 79 have different shapes. The toner container may also be configured in the same shape as the toner container for color printing.

Finally, although the present embodiment shows an example embodied in a printer, the image forming apparatus of the present invention can naturally be applied to a multifunction machine, a copying machine, a facsimile machine, and the like.
In any of these cases, similarly to the above, there is an effect that the existing antenna substrate can be used without changing the shape of the toner container for each corresponding color.

1 Printer (image forming device)
2 Device body 26, 27, 28, 29 Image forming unit 51 Developing device 60 RFID substrate (antenna substrate)
66, 67, 68, 69 Wireless antenna 76, 77, 78, 79 Toner container (toner container)
87,88 Tag affixing base (tag mounting part)
90 Tag affixing area 92 Common margin (PC board common margin)
96, 97, 98, 99 Wireless IC tag

Claims (5)

A toner replenishing device that is mounted in the main body of the image forming apparatus and replenishes the developing device with the corresponding color toner,
A plurality of toner containers each configured to be replenished with the corresponding color toner and to which a wireless IC tag having information on each corresponding color is attached;
Radiating radio waves for communication with each of the wireless IC tags, and an antenna substrate including a plurality of wireless antennas arranged at predetermined intervals,
In order to make the antenna substrate common to the toner container, a tag attaching portion having a board common margin that can be attached by shifting the wireless IC tag in accordance with the pitch of a toner container for another model. And a toner replenishing device. The toner replenishing device according to claim 1,
The wireless IC tag is attached to the tag attaching portion when determining a corresponding color for manufacturing the toner container and supplying the developing device to the developing device. The toner replenishing device according to claim 2,
The toner replenishing device, wherein a mounting position of the wireless IC tag of the corresponding color is engraved on the tag mounting portion by a mark provided on a mold for molding the toner container. The toner replenishing device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The substrate replenishment margin is determined by a length obtained by multiplying a difference in pitch of toner containers, which is different for each model, by the number of colors. An image forming apparatus equipped with the toner replenishing device according to claim 1,
A plurality of image forming units that respectively form monochrome and a plurality of color toner images; and each toner container supplies the corresponding color toner to each developing device of the image forming unit for color printing. An image forming apparatus.

Images