JP2584533B2 - Waste toner bottle detector - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that records an image using toner, such as a laser printer, and more particularly to a waste toner bottle detecting apparatus used in an image forming apparatus.

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in an image forming apparatus such as a laser printer that records an image using toner, static electricity is removed through a main body of the image forming apparatus, and the static electricity is also detected when a waste toner bottle is replaced and detected. Is configured to be removed.

The detection of the waste toner bottle is performed by providing a fuse in the waste toner bottle and blowing the fuse when a new waste toner bottle is attached.

Conventionally, in this type of waste toner bottle detecting device, a ground terminal for removing static electricity is formed of a sheet metal of a main body frame, and a fuse terminal for blowing a fuse provided in the waste toner bottle is a plate spring. It is composed of

One end of the leaf spring is insulated by a resin holder from the sheet metal of the main body frame and is soldered to a harness connected to the CPU.

The other end of the leaf spring is configured to be pressed against the sheet metal of the main body frame by the elastic force of the spring itself.

In the above configuration, when a new waste toner bottle is attached, the fuse terminal of the waste toner bottle
The other end of the leaf spring is pushed against the urging force and separates from the sheet metal of the main body frame.

Next, when a voltage is applied to the leaf spring, the fuse of the waste toner bottle is blown, and the blowout of the fuse is detected by the CPU to detect that the waste toner bottle has been initialized, and the waste toner bottle is removed. In this state, the plate spring is configured to be pressed against the sheet metal of the main body frame to remove static electricity through the plate spring and the sheet metal of the main body frame.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the above-mentioned conventional waste toner bottle detection device, the fuse of the waste toner bottle is brought into contact with the fuse using a leaf spring, and the fuse is blown or pressed against the sheet metal of the main body frame to generate static electricity. In order to eliminate the problem, a leaf spring having a complicated shape must be used, and there is a problem that the number of steps is large.

In addition, since the leaf spring is deformed every time the waste toner bottle is replaced, there is a problem that the leaf spring does not come into pressure contact with the sheet metal of the main body frame when the waste toner bottle is removed due to fatigue.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems in the conventional waste toner bottle detection device, and can prevent deformation of a terminal portion.
Provided is a waste toner bottle detection device capable of performing initialization detection of a waste toner bottle in a small number of steps.

Means for Solving the Problems According to the present invention, when a waste toner bottle is arranged at a predetermined position, a specific voltage is supplied to a fuse provided in the waste toner bottle, and the waste toner bottle is moved to a predetermined position. Switching means configured to be grounded when not disposed, and detecting means for detecting that the fuse has been blown by a specific voltage, the switching means includes:
A terminal pin having a conductive plate arranged in a flange shape and capable of moving in the axial direction so that the tip contacts the end of the fuse;
A waste toner bottle detection device including a grounded metal plate that can contact a conductive plate and has terminal pins penetrating therethrough in a non-contact manner, and a coil spring capable of biasing the terminal pins toward the fuse and the metal plate. Achieved by

[Operation] When the waste toner bottle is placed at a predetermined position, the terminal pin having the conductive plate moves in the axial direction to contact the end of the fuse provided in the waste toner bottle, and the waste toner bottle is disposed. When the terminal is not located at a predetermined position, the terminal pin is urged by the coil spring, and the conductive plate comes into contact with the grounded metal plate penetrating without contacting the terminal pin and is grounded. Detects that the fuse has been blown by a specific voltage.

[Embodiment] Hereinafter, an embodiment of a waste toner bottle detection device of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a waste toner bottle detecting device according to the present embodiment and an image forming apparatus provided with the waste toner bottle detecting device.

FIG. 2 is a top cross-sectional view of the waste toner bottle detecting device taken along line AA in FIG.

First, the configuration of the waste toner bottle detecting device will be described with reference to FIGS.

The waste toner bottle detection device is installed below a waste toner case 11 that houses a waste toner bottle 10.

The end of the waste toner bottle detection device has a fuse terminal 12
a, 12b, respectively, terminal pins 13a that can move axially through the lower side wall 11a of the waste toner case 11,
13b.

The terminal pins 13a and 13b are provided in the middle with a disc 14 as a conductive plate.
a, 14b, and coil springs 15a, 15b so that the tips of the terminal pins 13a, 13b are pressed against the fuse terminals 12a, 12b.
Powered by

Around the opening 11b of the lower side wall 11a of the waste toner case 11 through which the terminal pins 13a and 13b penetrate, annular earth plates 16a and 16b as metal plates are attached.

The annular ground plates 16a and 16b are formed so that the terminal pins 13a and 13b do not come into contact with each other, and the disks 14a and 14b are formed when the terminal pins 13a and 13b are urged by the coil springs 15a and 15b. It is formed so as to be in contact with the annular ground plates 16a and 16b.

The discs 14a and 14b, the coil springs 15a and 15b, and the annular ground plates 16a and 16b cooperate with the terminal pins 13a and 13b to constitute the switching means SW of the present embodiment.

Terminal pins 13a and 13b on the waste toner case 11 side and coil springs
15a and 15b are fixed to a main body 18 of the image forming apparatus via a holder 17.

The other ends of the terminal pins 13a and 13b are connected to the harnesses 19a and 19a, respectively.
It is connected to one end of 9b.

The other ends of the harnesses 19a and 19b are connected to a PCU (processing control device) 20 as detecting means shown in FIG.

The PCU 20 includes a CPU (central processing unit) 21, a toner empty detection unit 22, an operation detection unit 23 of the image forming apparatus, a power supply unit 24 for supplying a DC voltage of 24 V as a specific voltage, and a transistor 25.

Next, the operation of the waste toner bottle detecting device of FIG. 1 will be described in detail focusing on the operation of the PCU 20, with reference to the foot chart of FIG. 6 and FIG.

First, it is confirmed by the toner empty detector 22 whether or not the developing tank (not shown) is sufficiently replenished with toner (step S1).

The toner empty detector 22 outputs the above detection result to the CPU 21 as a toner empty signal.

If the developing tank is sufficiently replenished with toner, it is checked whether the fuse 26 connected to the waste toner bottle 10 is a new fuse (step S2). However, fuse 26
If is not new, no further checks are performed.

If the fuse 26 is new in step S2, the process proceeds to step 8 described later.

If the developing tank is empty (empty) in step S1, the operation detecting unit 23 detects the open / closed state of the cover of the main body 18 and the power supply state of the main body 18, and detects the cover (not shown) of the main body 18. ) Is opened (step S3), and after the toner is replenished in the developing tank (step S4), the cover of the main body 18 is closed (step S5).

When the above operation is completed, the operation end signal is
Output to 1 (step S6).

The CPU 21 outputs a replacement check signal for checking replacement of the waste toner bottle 10 to the terminal 21b (step S7), and turns on the transistor 25 (step S7).
8).

Subsequently, it is determined whether the fuse 26 connected to the waste toner bottle 10 is a new fuse (step S9).

If the fuse 26 is not new in step S9, that is, if the waste toner bottle 10 has not been replaced, a DC voltage of 24 V is applied from the power supply unit 24 to the terminal 21a of the CPU 21, and the waste toner bottle 10 is replaced. Message is displayed on the display unit (not shown) of the main body 18 (step S10).

On the other hand, if the fuse 26 is determined to be new, that is, if the waste toner bottle 10 has been replaced,
A current flows through the fuse 26 via the transistor 25, and the fuse 26 is cut (blown) (step S11).

As shown in FIGS. 4 (A) and 4 (B), whether the waste toner bottle 10 has been replaced is determined by the operation detecting unit 23.
Is turned on, that is, by detecting whether the terminal 21a of the CPU 21 is 24V or 0V at the time t _s .

It is checked whether the fuse 26 has been cut in step S11 (step S12).
The operation ends when 6 is cut. However, if the fuse 26 is not cut in step S11, a message is displayed on the display unit (not shown) of the main body 18 to replace the waste toner bottle 10 (step S13).

Next, the operation of the above-described waste toner bottle detecting device will be described with reference to FIG.

When the waste toner bottle 10 is set in the waste toner case 11, the waste toner 10 is transferred from the cleaning unit (not shown) provided in the photoconductor unit (not shown) into the waste toner bottle 10 by the screw 27. Conveyed.

The waste toner bottle 10 in which the waste toner is accumulated moves from the waste toner case 11 together with the door 29 when the door 29 configured to open and close by rotating around the shaft 28 is opened.

When the waste toner bottle 10 moves from the waste toner case 11 and is removed from the door 29 as shown in FIG. 7, the terminal pins 13a, 13b are urged by the coil springs 15a, 15b, respectively, and the discs 14a, 14b Is pressed against the ground plates 16a and 16b to be in a ground state, so that static electricity is removed from the main body 18 of the image forming apparatus.

FIG. 8 shows a state in which a new waste toner bottle 10 is attached.

FIG. 9 is a front view of the image forming apparatus 30 including the waste toner bottle detecting device of the present embodiment, showing the state of FIG.

FIG. 10 is a side sectional view showing the arrangement of the waste toner case 11 in the image forming apparatus 30 shown in FIG. 9, and shows the main components of the image forming apparatus 30, such as the waste toner case 11, the PCU 20, the photosensitive unit 31, The paper transport path 32, the optical unit 33, the upper case 34, the intermediate case 35, the lower case 36 and the like are shown.

FIG. 11 is a right side view of the image forming apparatus 30 shown in FIG. 9, showing the PCU 20, the high voltage device 37, and the AC / DC converter 38.

FIG. 12 shows a schematic configuration of the waste toner bottle 11 of the present embodiment.

[Effect of the Invention] A specific voltage is supplied to a fuse provided in the waste toner bottle when the waste toner bottle is arranged at a predetermined position, and grounded when the waste toner bottle is not arranged at the predetermined position. Switching means configured as described above, and detection means for detecting that the fuse is blown by a specific voltage, the switching means has a conductive plate arranged in a flange shape, and the tip is a fuse. A terminal pin that can move in the axial direction so as to contact the end of the terminal, a grounded metal plate that can be in contact with the conductive plate and the terminal pin penetrates in a non-contact manner, and a direction in which the terminal pin is connected to the fuse and the metal plate. A coil spring that can be urged to reduce the detection process.Also, since the coil spring is used, no metal fatigue occurs and the tip of the terminal pin can be prevented from being deformed. As a result, the reliability of the device is improved and long-term use is possible.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view showing the configuration of an embodiment of the waste toner bottle detecting device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 1, and FIG. A diagram showing an open state,
FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the PCU, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the configuration of the PCU, FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the PCU, FIG. 7 and FIG. FIG. 9 is a front view of an image forming apparatus provided with the waste toner bottle detecting device of FIG. 1, FIG. 10 is a right side view showing the configuration of the image forming apparatus of FIG. 4, and FIG. 4 is a side sectional view showing the internal configuration of the image forming apparatus of FIG. 4, and FIG. 12 is a view showing the structure of the waste toner bottle of the present embodiment. 10 waste toner bottle, 11 waste toner bottle case unit, 12a, 12b fuse terminal, 13a, 13b terminal pin, 14a, 14b ground plate, 15a, 15b coil spring,
20 PCU, 21 CPU, 22 toner empty detector, 23 operation detector, 24 power supply unit, 25 transistor, 26 fuse

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] When a waste toner bottle is not placed at a predetermined position, a specific voltage is supplied to a fuse provided at the waste toner bottle when the waste toner bottle is placed at a predetermined position. Switching means configured to be grounded, and detection means for detecting that the fuse has been blown by the specific voltage, the switching means having a conductive plate disposed in a flange shape. A terminal pin movable in the axial direction so that the tip contacts the end of the fuse; a grounded metal plate that can contact the conductive plate and the terminal pin passes through in a non-contact manner; A device for detecting a waste toner bottle, comprising: a coil spring capable of urging the terminal pin in the direction of the fuse and the metal plate.