JP2019101369A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

To solve the problem in which: when a different type of toner is supplied to a developing unit, the toner cannot be accurately supplied to the developing unit.SOLUTION: An image forming apparatus comprises: developing units 100 that each accumulate toner; attachment parts 310 to each of which a toner bottle T storing a toner to be supplied to the developing unit 100 is attached; a supply motor 70 that supplies a toner from the toner bottles T to the developing units 100; and a controller 1100 that determines the amount of toner consumed from the developing units 100 on the basis of a consumption table 606, and controls the supply motor 70 on the basis of the toner consumption. The controller 1100 controls whether or not to change the consumption table on the basis of information on the toner bottles T attached to the attachment parts 310.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 9

Description

  The present invention relates to replenishment control for replenishing toner to a developing device from a storage container.

  The electrophotographic image forming apparatus forms an image based on the image data input to the image forming apparatus by consuming the toner contained in the developing device. Since the image forming apparatus consumes the toner contained in the developing device by forming an image, a configuration is known in which the developing device is appropriately replenished with toner from a storage container that is attachable to and detachable from the image forming apparatus. There is.

  Further, in the image forming apparatus, it is known that the density of the image developed by the developing device changes in accordance with the amount of toner accumulated in the developing device. Therefore, the image forming apparatus needs to replenish the toner from the storage container to the developing device so that the amount of toner accumulated in the developing device becomes the target amount.

  A conventional image forming apparatus is known which determines the toner replenishment amount based on the amount (consumed amount) of toner consumed from a developing device by forming an image (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-112118).

JP, 2013-160969, A

  However, for example, in a state where toner of a predetermined type is accumulated in the developing device, another type of toner different from the predetermined type may be replenished from the storage container mounted in the mounting portion. For example, there is a possibility that the user purchases a container containing special toner for achieving high image quality, and mounts the container on the mounting portion of the image forming apparatus. Also, for example, the user may purchase a storage container containing low-cost toner and mount the storage container in the mounting portion of the image forming apparatus.

  The physical properties of these special toners (special purpose toner and low cost toner) are different from the physical properties of the toner already accumulated in the developing device. Therefore, when an image of a predetermined density is formed on a sheet by using a special toner, the amount of toner consumed from the developing device is determined when an image of a predetermined density is formed on a sheet by using a predetermined type of toner. The amount of toner consumed from the developer is likely to be different.

  Therefore, in the conventional image forming apparatus, when special toner is supplied to the developing device, an error occurs in the amount (consumed amount) of toner consumed from the developing device by forming an image. In such an image forming apparatus, since the consumption amount has an error, the toner can not be supplied from the storage container to the developing device with high accuracy, and a high quality image can not be formed.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to supply toner to the developing device with high accuracy even when different types of toner are supplied to the developing device.

  In order to solve the above problems, an image forming apparatus of the present invention has a developing unit for storing toner, and an image forming unit for forming an image using toner of the developing unit based on image data, and the developing unit A mounting unit to which a storage container for storing toner to be supplied is mounted, a supplying unit for supplying toner from the storage container mounted to the mounting unit to the developing device, and the image forming unit forms the image Control means for determining the amount of toner consumed from the developing device from the image data based on determination conditions and controlling the replenishment means based on the amount of toner consumed; The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls whether to change the determination condition based on information on a storage container mounted on the mounting unit.

  According to the present invention, even when different types of toner are supplied to the developing device, the toner can be supplied to the developing device with high accuracy.

Schematic cross-sectional view of the image forming apparatus Main part schematic view of the image forming apparatus Control block diagram of image forming apparatus Flow chart showing toner replenishment control A schematic diagram showing an example of the consumption table Table comparing Toner A and Toner B Characteristic chart showing toner average particle size and toner distribution Diagram showing the correspondence between the amount of attached toner and the concentration Diagram showing the correspondence between the replenishment amount, the average particle size of toner in the developer, and the consumption amount table Diagram of multiple consumption tables Schematic cross section of the mounting part A schematic diagram of the screen for entering toner bottle information

First Embodiment
FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an image forming apparatus 200. In the image forming apparatus 200, four image forming portions Pa, Pb, Pc, and Pd for forming toner images of respective color components are arranged side by side in the conveyance direction of the intermediate transfer belt 7. The image forming portion Pa forms a yellow toner image, the image forming portion Pb forms a magenta toner image, the image forming portion Pc forms a cyan toner image, and the image forming portion Pd forms a black toner image Do.

  In the image forming apparatus 200, toner bottles Ta, Tb, Tc, and Td that can be attached to and detached from the image forming apparatus 200 are attached. The toner bottle Ta contains yellow toner, the toner bottle Tb contains magenta toner, the toner bottle Tc contains cyan toner, and the toner bottle Td contains black toner. There is. The toner bottles Ta, Tb, Tc, and Td correspond to storage containers for storing the replenishment toner.

  Since the image forming portions Pa, Pb, Pc, and Pd have the same configuration, the image forming portions Pa, Pb, Pc, and Pd will be referred to as an image forming portion P in the following description. Furthermore, since the toner bottles Ta, Tb, Tc, and Td have the same configuration, the toner bottles Ta, Tb, Tc, and Td will be referred to as toner bottle T in the following description.

  The image forming unit P includes a photosensitive drum 1 having a photosensitive layer functioning as a photosensitive member on the surface of a cylindrical metal roller, a charger 2 for charging the photosensitive drum 1, and a developing unit 100 containing toner. . Here, the developing device 100 is an accumulation unit in which a developer having toner is accumulated.

  When the image forming operation is started, the photosensitive drum 1 is rotationally driven in the arrow A direction. After the charging device 2 uniformly charges the photosensitive drum 1, the laser exposure device 3 exposes the photosensitive drum 1 based on the image data. Thereby, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive drum 1. Then, the developing device 100 develops the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 1 using toner, and forms a toner image on the photosensitive drum 1.

  Here, the two-component developer is accumulated in the developing device 100 of the present embodiment. The toner bottle T of the present embodiment contains a replenishment toner. Then, the image forming apparatus 200 supplies replenishment toner from the toner bottle T to the developing device 100 so that the amount of toner in the developing device 100 becomes a target amount. The two-component developer is a developer having a magnetic carrier and a toner.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the developing device 100 is provided with an inductance sensor 20 for detecting the amount of toner accumulated in the developing device 100. The inductance sensor 20 outputs a signal indicating the magnetic permeability of the developer contained in the developing device 100 to a controller 1100 (FIG. 3) described later. The output signal of the inductance sensor 20 is a signal that fluctuates according to the amount of toner stored in the developing device 100.

  Here, the output signal of the inductance sensor 20 will be described. When the ratio of toner in the developer (hereinafter referred to as developer toner concentration) increases, the ratio of carriers in the developer decreases, so the output value of the inductance sensor 20 decreases. On the other hand, when the toner concentration in the developer decreases, the percentage of carriers in the developer increases, so the output value of the inductance sensor 20 increases. Then, the controller 1100 (FIG. 3) detects the amount of toner contained in the developing device 100 based on the output signal of the inductance sensor 20. That is, the output signal of the inductance sensor 20 is a signal indicating the amount of toner contained in the developing device 100.

  A schematic view of a main part of the image forming apparatus 200 is shown in FIG. The image forming apparatus 200 includes a mounting portion 310 to which the toner bottle T is mounted, and a replenishment motor 70 (FIG. 3) that engages with the toner bottle T mounted to the mounting portion 310 to rotationally drive the toner bottle T. ing. The toner bottle T has a spiral guide groove formed on its inner circumferential surface for conveying the toner. When the replenishment motor 70 rotates the toner bottle T, the toner in the toner bottle T is replenished from the toner bottle T to the developing device 100. The toner discharged from the discharge port of the toner bottle T is supplied to the developing device 100 through the conveyance path 21.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the description of the image forming apparatus 200 will be continued. The intermediate transfer belt 7 is wound around a secondary transfer opposite roller 8, a driven roller 17, and tension rollers 18 and 19. The intermediate transfer belt 7 is rotated in the direction of arrow B by rotational driving of the secondary transfer opposite roller 8.

  The image forming unit P includes a primary transfer roller 4 that transfers the toner image on the photosensitive drum 1 to the intermediate transfer belt 7. While the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 1 passes through the primary transfer nip portion T1 where the photosensitive drum 1 and the intermediate transfer belt 7 are pressed by the primary transfer roller 4, the primary transfer roller 4 performs the primary transfer. A transfer voltage is applied. Thus, the toner image on the photosensitive drum 1 is transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 7. The toner images formed on the photosensitive drums 1a, 1b, 1c, and 1d are superposedly transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 7, whereby a full-color toner image is carried on the intermediate transfer belt 7. The drum cleaner 6 removes the toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 1 without being transferred from the photosensitive drum 1 to the intermediate transfer belt 7 at the primary transfer nip T1.

  A secondary transfer roller 9 is disposed on the opposite side of the secondary transfer counter roller 8 to the intermediate transfer belt 7. The secondary transfer roller 9 presses the secondary transfer opposite roller 8 and the intermediate transfer belt 7 to form a secondary transfer nip T2 between the intermediate transfer belt 7 and the secondary transfer roller 9. The intermediate transfer belt 7 is conveyed in the direction of arrow B, whereby the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 7 is conveyed to the secondary transfer nip T2.

  The pair of transport rollers 61 and the pair of registration rollers 62 move to the cassette unit 60 so that the timing at which the toner image reaches the secondary transfer nip T2 matches the timing at which the sheet S reaches the secondary transfer nip T2. The stored sheet S is conveyed. While the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 7 and the sheet S pass through the secondary transfer nip portion T2, a secondary transfer voltage is applied to the secondary transfer opposing roller 8, whereby the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 7 is transferred. The toner image is transferred to the sheet S. The belt cleaner 11 removes toner remaining on the intermediate transfer belt 7 without being transferred to the sheet S at the secondary transfer nip T2.

  After the toner image is transferred onto the sheet S by the secondary transfer roller 9, the sheet S is conveyed to the fixing device 13. The fixing device 13 includes a fixing roller having a heater and a pressure roller, and fixes the toner image on the sheet S to the sheet S by the heat of the heater and the pressure of the fixing roller and the pressure roller. The sheet S on which the toner image is fixed by the fixing unit 13 is discharged from the image forming apparatus 200 by the discharge roller pair 64.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration relating to toner replenishment of the image forming apparatus. The controller 1100 is a control circuit that controls the entire image forming apparatus 200. A control program for controlling various processes executed by the image forming apparatus is stored in the ROM 502. A RAM 503 is a system work memory used by the controller 1100 for processing.

  The controller 1100 executes toner replenishment control for replenishing the toner from the toner bottle T to the developing device 100 based on the image data transferred from the I / F 504 and the toner concentration detected by the inductance sensor 20. The inside of the controller 1100 represents each function executed by the controller 1100 in the toner replenishment control in blocks to make the explanation easy to understand.

  The operation unit 501 includes a ten-key pad for inputting the number of sheets to be printed, a magnification, and the like, a start button for starting image formation, and a setting button for setting the number of sheets to be printed and the type of sheet S (size and basis weight). Furthermore, the operation unit 501 also includes a liquid crystal screen capable of displaying a guidance for assisting various operations of the image forming apparatus 200. Since the inductance sensor 20 is described in FIG. 2, the description here is omitted. The replenishment motor drive circuit 69 controls the replenishment motor 70 that rotationally drives the toner bottle T.

  The counter 66 counts the sum (hereinafter referred to as a video count value) of the density for each pixel included in the image of one page based on the image data input to the controller 1100 by the I / F 504. The video count value counted by the counter 66 corresponds to the consumption amount of toner consumed from the developing device 100 when the image forming apparatus 200 forms a toner image on the sheet S for one page.

  The controller 1100 determines the replenishment amount of toner to be replenished to the developing device 100 based on the output value output by the inductance sensor 20 and the video count value acquired by the counter 66. Further, the controller 1100 replenishes the toner in the toner bottle T to the developing device 100 by the replenishment motor drive circuit 69 based on the determined accumulated value of the replenishment amount.

(About toner replenishment control)
Hereinafter, toner replenishment control will be described based on FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the controller 1100. Note that the processing of this flowchart is executed by the controller 1100 reading a program stored in the ROM 502.

  In response to the image data input from the server (not shown) being transferred to the controller 1100 by the I / F 504, the controller 1100 starts toner replenishment control. When the image forming apparatus 200 forms a plurality of images based on the image data transferred from the I / F 504, the controller 1100 executes toner replenishment control processing each time an image is formed on the sheet S of one page.

  The controller 1100 may be configured to carry out the toner replenishment control process in response to receiving image data from a scanner (not shown) or in response to pressing of the copy button of the operation unit 501.

  The controller 1100 calculates the toner consumption based on the image data (S100). In step S100, the counter 66 counts the video count value Vn based on the image data. Then, the second replenishment amount determination unit 1106 refers to the consumption amount table 606 indicating the correspondence between the video count value and the toner consumption amount, and thereby the toner consumption amount Tv corresponding to the video count value Vn counted by the counter 66. Decide.

  Here, the conversion characteristics of the consumption table 606 shown in FIG. 5 will be described. The X axis in FIG. 5 indicates the video count value. In the video count value, a solid toner image formed on a sheet of one page by the developing device 100 is an image Duty 100 [%]. The image Duty 100 [%] in FIG. 5 means a video count value when a solid toner image is formed on an A4 size sheet. That is, the video count value is determined by the size of the sheet and the ratio of the area where the toner image is formed to the area where the image of the sheet can be formed.

  Returning to FIG. 4, the description of the toner replenishment control is continued. In the present embodiment, the second replenishment amount determination unit 1106 determines the consumption amount Tv of toner consumed from the developing device 100 by forming a toner image on a sheet of one page based on the transferred image data. Output.

  The controller 1100 detects the toner concentration of the developer contained in the developing device 100 based on the output signal of the inductance sensor 20 (S101). The difference calculation unit 1101 calculates a difference ΔD between the toner concentration of the developer contained in the developing device 100 and the target concentration output by the toner concentration target value determination unit 1102 (S102). In step S 102, the toner concentration target value determination unit 1102 determines the target concentration of the developer contained in the developing device 100 based on the temperature and the humidity detected by the environment sensor (not shown) provided in the image forming apparatus 200. Determine the target ratio) [wt%].

  Although the controller 1100 is configured to detect the toner concentration of the developer in the developing device 100 based on the output signal of the inductance sensor 20, the controller 1100 is configured to detect the amount of toner accumulated in the developing device 100. It is also good. In this configuration, the difference ΔD calculated in step S102 is calculated by the toner density target value determination unit 1102 as the amount of toner contained in the developing device 100 and the target amount of toner to be contained in the developing device 100. Calculated as the difference between

  After the difference ΔD is calculated by the difference calculation unit 1101, the first replenishment amount determination unit 1104 calculates an accumulated value of the differences (S103). In step S103, the first replenishment amount determination unit 1104 calculates the cumulative value ΔΔD of the difference by adding the difference ΔD calculated by the difference calculation unit 1101 each time the toner replenishment control is executed.

Then, the replenishment amount summation unit 1107 computes the necessary amount X based on the correction amount computed by the first replenishment amount decision unit and the consumption amount Tv computed by the second replenishment amount decision unit 1106 (S110). . In step S110, the replenishment amount summation unit 1107 calculates, for example, the necessary amount X of toner to be replenished from the toner bottle T to the developing device 100 based on the consumption amount Tv, the difference ΔD, and the accumulated value ΔΔD of the difference. Calculate based on (1).
X = Tv + (Kp × ΔD) + (Ki × ΣΔD) (1)

  Here, the constants Kp and Ki are values of gain. Note that Kp and Ki have values of 0 or less.

  After the required amount X is determined in step S110, the replenishment control unit 1108 calculates an accumulated value XX of the required amount X, and determines whether the accumulated value XX is smaller than a predetermined amount (S111). In step S111, if the cumulative value XX is smaller than the predetermined amount, the replenishment control unit 1108 ends the toner replenishment control process without replenishing the developing device 100 with toner.

  On the other hand, if the cumulative value XX is equal to or greater than the predetermined amount in step S111, the replenishment control unit 1108 rotates the toner bottle T once by the replenishment motor drive circuit 69 and replenishes toner from the toner bottle T to the developing device 100 (S112). In step S112, the replenishment motor drive circuit 69 rotationally drives the replenishment motor 70 to rotate the toner bottle T once at a predetermined rotational speed.

  Here, when the replenishment motor 70 rotationally drives the toner bottle T, the toner in the toner bottle T is supplied to the developing device 100 by a substantially constant amount. Therefore, the replenishment control unit 1108 can determine the number of rotations of the toner bottle T based on the accumulated value XX of the amount of toner to be supplied to the developing device 100 from the toner bottle T. That is, if the cumulative value 2X is two or more and less than three times the threshold, the toner bottle T rotates twice, and if the cumulative value XX is three or more and four or less times the threshold, the toner bottle T Rotate 3 times. While the image forming apparatus 200 forms a toner image, the replenishment motor 70 rotates the toner bottle T in accordance with the number of rotations determined by the replenishment control unit 1108.

  The replenishment control unit 1108 does not rotate the toner bottle T unless the accumulated value 値 X of the amount of toner to be replenished from the toner bottle T to the developing device 100 exceeds a predetermined amount. Here, when one replenishment operation is performed, that is, when the toner bottle T makes one rotation, the amount of toner predicted to be replenished from the toner bottle T to the developing device 100 is determined in advance by experiment. ing.

  Next, the replenishment control unit 1108 subtracts a predetermined amount from the accumulated value XX of the necessary amount of toner to be replenished to the developing device 100 from the toner bottle T (S113), and then shifts the process to step S111. In the processing from step S111 to step S113, the replenishment control unit 1108 rotates the toner bottle T by the replenishment motor 70 until the accumulated value XX of the necessary amount of toner to be replenished from the toner bottle T to the developing device 100 becomes less than the predetermined amount. Drive. The above is the toner replenishment control process.

  However, as described in the problem, when the storage container T ′ containing a special toner is mounted on the mounting unit 310, the amount of consumed toner when an image of a predetermined density is formed on the sheet S changes. . For example, when the storage container T ′ containing special toner for realizing high image quality is mounted on the mounting unit 310, the image forming apparatus 200 changes the correspondence between the video count value and the toner consumption amount Tv. Resulting in.

  FIG. 6 is a table showing an example of the toner accumulated in the developing device 100 and the dedicated toner. Toner A having an average particle diameter of 6.5 μm is accumulated in the developing device 100. In the storage container T ′, the toner B having an average particle diameter of 4.8 μm is stored. Here, as shown in FIG. 7, the particle sizes of the toners stored in the storage containers T and T ′ of the present embodiment are Gaussian distributed based on the average particle size. The physical property values of these toners are examples, and the values are not limited to those described in the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 6, the weight of one toner is that the toner B is lighter than the toner A. On the other hand, when the toner adheres uniformly to the same area, the number of toners (the filling number ratio) is smaller than that of the toner A. This is because the particle size of the toner A is larger than the particle size of the toner B. Further, when the toner adheres uniformly to the same area, the weight (weight ratio) of the toner is that the toner A is heavier than the toner B. Therefore, when the toner hiding area is calculated, the toner A is narrower than the toner B. This means that the toner B covers the surface more than the toner A when the toner of the same weight adheres uniformly to the unit area. FIG. 8 is experimental data showing the correspondence between the amount of attached toner per unit area (unit: mg / cm ² ) and the density of the image formed on the sheet S. For example, at a density of 1.7, the adhesion amount of the toner B is smaller than that of the toner A. That is, when an image of a predetermined density is formed on the sheet S, the consumption amount of the toner B is smaller than the consumption amount of the toner A.

  Therefore, the second replenishment amount determination unit 1106 obtains the consumption amount from the image data based on the consumption amount table corresponding to the toner average particle diameter in the developing device 100. The controller 1100 selects a consumption table suitable for determining the consumption from among the plurality of consumption tables 606a, 606b, 606c, and 606d. As a result, the second replenishment amount determination unit 1106 can determine the consumption amount with high accuracy. The plurality of consumption amount tables 606 a, 606 b, 606 c, and 606 d are assumed to be stored in advance in the ROM 502.

  FIG. 9A shows the correspondence between the replenishment amount of toner B (small particle diameter toner) from the toner bottle T ′ and the average particle diameter of toner in the developing device 100, and the average particle diameter of toner in the developing device 100. The consumption tables 606a, 606b, 606c, and 606d corresponding to FIG. FIG. 9A shows an example in which toner bottle T containing toner A having an average particle diameter of 6.5 μm is replaced with toner bottle T ′ containing toner B having an average particle diameter of 4.8 μm. ing. FIG. 9B shows the result of verification of the average particle diameter of the toner in the developing device 100 and the replacement rate of the toner according to the toner replenishment amount. The correspondence shown in FIG. 9A is determined based on the verification result. FIG. 10 shows a schematic view of the consumption tables 606a, 606b, 606c, and 606d. The X-axis represents the video count value, and the Y-axis represents the toner consumption Tv.

  When the image forming apparatus 200 forms an image in a state where the toner B is not supplied to the developing device 100, the second supply amount determining unit 1106 determines the toner consumption based on the consumption table 606a. When the image forming apparatus 200 forms an image in a state in which the toner B is supplied to the developing device 100 from the toner bottle T ′ mounted in the mounting unit 310, the toner A and the toner B are mixed in the developing device 100. In this case, the second replenishment amount determination unit 1106 changes the consumption amount table 606a to the consumption amount table 606b, 606c, or 606d according to the distribution of toner in the developing device 100.

  For example, when 300 grams or more and less than 600 grams of toner B is replenished from the toner bottle T ′ to the developing device 100, the second replenishment amount determination unit 1106 determines the toner consumption based on the consumption table 606b. When the toner B is replenished from the toner bottle T ′ to the developing device 100 in a range of 600 grams to less than 900 grams, the second replenishment amount determination unit 1106 determines the toner consumption based on the consumption table 606 c. When 900 grams or more of the toner B is replenished from the toner bottle T ′ to the developing device 100, the second replenishment amount determination unit 1106 determines the toner consumption based on the consumption table 606d. When 900 grams or more of toner B is supplied from the toner bottle T ′ to the developing device 100, the toner in the developing device 100 is almost replaced with the toner B.

  Next, a method of detecting that the toner bottle T has been replaced with the toner bottle T ′ will be described. In the mounting unit 310 of the present embodiment, toner bottles T and T 'provided with a memory IC are mounted. FIG. 11 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the mounting portion 310 in which the toner bottle T is mounted. The mounting unit 310 includes a reading unit 224 that reads a memory IC provided in the toner bottle T. Then, the information on the toner bottle T read by the reading unit 224 is input to the controller 1100.

  The controller 1100 obtains the average particle diameter of the toner contained in the toner bottle T based on the information of the toner bottle T. Then, the controller 1100 reads the consumption amount tables 606a, 606b, 606c, and 606d stored in the ROM 502, and selects the consumption amount table based on the replenishment amount. The second replenishment amount determination unit 1106 determines the consumption amount using the consumption amount table selected by the controller 1100.

  Further, in the image forming apparatus 200, the user may input information on the toner bottle T from the operation unit 501. FIG. 12A is a schematic view of a screen of the operation unit 501 for inputting information on the toner bottle T mounted on the mounting unit 310. As shown in FIG. When the user replaces the toner bottle T, the controller 1100 causes the liquid crystal screen of the operation unit 501 to display the screen shown in FIG. The user selects the type of toner stored in the toner bottle T after replacement via the screen shown in FIG. When the toner A is selected, the controller 1100 sets the consumption amount table in the consumption amount table 606a. On the other hand, when the toner B is selected, the controller 1100 monitors the amount of toner supplied from the toner bottle T 'to the developing device 100, and the consumption amount is selected from among the plurality of consumption amount tables 606a, 606b, 606c, and 606d. Select the consumption table to determine In addition, on the toner bottle T ′, for example, a seal on which information of toner stored in the toner bottle T ′ is described is attached.

  FIG. 12B is a schematic view of a screen of the operation unit 501 for inputting identification information of the toner bottle T attached to the attachment unit 310. When the user replaces the toner bottle T, the controller 1100 causes the liquid crystal screen of the operation unit 501 to display the screen shown in FIG. The user inputs identification information of the toner bottle T after replacement from the screen shown in FIG. The controller 1100 determines, based on the identification information, that the toner bottle T ′ mounted in the mounting unit 310 is a toner bottle T ′ containing special toner. Then, the controller 1100 monitors the amount of toner supplied from the toner bottle T ′ to the developing device 100, and calculates the consumption amount among the plurality of consumption amount tables 606a, 606b, 606c, and 606d. Choose In addition, on the toner bottle T ′, for example, a seal in which identification information of the toner bottle T ′ is described is attached.

  Further, the image forming apparatus 200 may be configured such that a plurality of consumption amount tables 606a, 606b, 606c, and 606d are stored in advance in a memory IC provided in the toner bottle T. The memory IC is a storage unit in which information of the toner bottle T is stored. The controller 1100 reads the consumption tables 606a, 606b, 606c, and 606d stored in the memory IC by the reading unit 224. Then, the controller 1100 monitors the amount of toner supplied from the toner bottle T ′ to the developing device 100, and calculates the consumption amount among the plurality of consumption amount tables 606a, 606b, 606c, and 606d. Choose

  According to the image forming apparatus 200 of the present embodiment, when the toner bottle T ′ containing special toner is mounted in the mounting unit 310, the consumption amount table 606 used to determine the replenishment amount is the toner bottle T ′. Change based on By this, the image forming apparatus 200 can suppress the error of the replenishment amount, and can replenish the toner to the developing device 100 with high accuracy.

  In addition, although the second replenishment amount determination unit 1106 of the present embodiment determines the consumption amount based on the consumption amount table 606, the second replenishment amount determination unit 1106 uses an arithmetic expression instead of the consumption amount table 606. The consumption may be determined from image data. The arithmetic expression is a representation of the consumption table 606 by a quadratic function. The consumption amount table 606 and the arithmetic expression are determination conditions for determining the consumption amount.

  Further, the controller 1100 of the present embodiment is configured to generate a consumption amount table by multiplying a single consumption amount table 606a serving as a reference with a correction coefficient corresponding to the average particle diameter of toner in the developing device 100. It is also good. In this case, for example, the correction coefficient may be stored in a memory IC provided in the toner bottle T. Furthermore, in the memory IC, for example, the replenishment amount and the correction coefficient may be stored in association with each other.

T Toner bottle 70 Refill motor 100 Developer 310 Mounting part 606 Consumption table 1100 controller

Claims (9)

An image forming unit having a developing unit for accumulating toner, and forming an image using the toner of the developing unit based on image data;
A mounting unit to which a container containing toner for replenishing the developing device is mounted;
Replenishment means for replenishing the developing device with toner from the storage container attached to the attachment portion;
The amount of toner consumed from the developing device by the image forming means forming the image is determined from the image data based on a determination condition, and the replenishment means is controlled based on the amount of toner consumed. Control means, and
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls whether to change the determination condition based on information on a storage container mounted on the mounting unit. The information is information on the average particle diameter of the toner of the storage container mounted on the mounting portion,
The control means may change the determination condition if the average particle size of the toner of the storage container mounted on the mounting unit is another average particle size different from the predetermined average particle size based on the information. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit changes the determination condition based on an amount of toner supplied to the developing device when changing the determination condition.   3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, when changing the determination condition, the control means changes a plurality of determination conditions to a determination condition corresponding to the amount of toner supplied to the developing device. Image forming device. The information is information indicating the correspondence between the amount of toner supplied to the developing device and the correction coefficient,
The control means determines the correction coefficient from the amount of toner supplied to the developing device based on the information, and changes the determination condition based on the determined correction coefficient. The image forming apparatus according to 1.   The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising a reading unit that reads the information stored in a storage unit of the storage container attached to the attachment unit.   The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising input means for inputting the information. It further comprises detection means for detecting the amount of toner accumulated in the developing device,
8. The control method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the control means controls the replenishment means on the basis of the amount of toner consumed and the amount of toner detected by the detection means. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1.   The control means controls the replenishment means based on an amount of the consumed toner, a difference between the amount of the toner detected by the detection means and a target amount, and an accumulated value of the difference. The image forming apparatus according to claim 8.

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