JPH01209466A - Developer replenishing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To replenish toner efficiently and to prevent copying operation from being interrupted for emergency toner replenishment by providing a rest gauge which enables the rest of the toner in a housing to be viewed. CONSTITUTION:This device is equipped with the housing 14a which stores a developer and has a transparent part 16 made partially of a transparent member and rest gauges 17 and 21 having variation parts which are displaced according to the amount of the developer in the housing 14a and can be viewed through the transparent part 16. The rest of the developer in the housing 14a is therefore confirmed visually at all times. Consequently, a developer is replenished efficiently in advance when copying operation is not performed according to how mush the developer is consumed; and the developer is not forced to be replenished immediately in response to an empty display, urgent copying operation is not delayed, and the developer is not replenished by interrupting the copying operation, thereby improving the operability.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to an improvement of a developer replenishing device for supplying developer to a developing device in an image forming apparatus.

(Prior Art) In the developing section of an electrophotographic apparatus such as a copying machine, toner, which is a developer, is generally supplied to the developing device from a developer replenishing device using, for example, an auger for conveying toner. ing.

In the conventional developer replenishing device, when the toner in the housing runs out, the toner detection device detects this and displays a message to that effect on the controller panel. Then, the operator replenishes toner to the developer replenishing device according to instruction 5 on the controller panel.

However, with this device, although the operator can recognize when the toner in the casing is almost empty, it is not possible to check the remaining amount of toner in the casing if necessary. Therefore, if a message indicating that there is no toner is displayed on the controller panel, the operator must immediately replenish the toner in the case, or if the copy is in progress, the operator must interrupt the copy operation. However, there is a problem in that the operability is deteriorated, and furthermore, it cannot be done in time for urgent situations.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) Conventionally, when an operator recognizes that the toner in the EJ or developer replenishing device is running out, he or she must immediately replenish the toner, making replenishment operations time-consuming and requiring urgent efforts. In the case of copying, it may not be possible to make the copy in time, or even the copying operation may be interrupted if the copying is in progress, resulting in a significant deterioration in operability.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks, and to provide a developer replenishing device that can prevent interruptions in toner replenishment operations immediately before or during copying, and can also prevent deterioration in operability. do.

[Structure of the invention]

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a remaining amount meter that allows the remaining amount of toner inside the housing to be visually checked.

(Function) With the above-mentioned means, the present invention enables the operator to replenish toner in advance and efficiently by recognizing the amount of toner remaining in the housing at any time as needed, and to perform emergency toner replenishment. This is intended to prevent interruptions in copying.

(Embodiment) An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. An opening (
A developer replenishing device W (14) is attached which supplies toner (13), which is a developer, to the developing device via a toner conveying auger (12a) via a toner conveying auger (12).

A see-through section (16) made of a transparent acrylic plate on which a scale is displayed is provided on the front side wall of the housing (14a) of the developer replenishing device (14). Also, the housing (1
Inside 4a), a transparent tube (17) with a diameter of about 10 (mm), which together with a ball (21) to be described later constitutes a fuel gauge, is provided at a position that can be seen from the see-through part (16). Toner (13) flows in from the opening (17a).

An outflow takes place. Further, (18a) and (18b) are detection terminals of an empty device (20) that detects that the toner (13) in the casing (14a) is completely consumed, and the toner (13) in the tube (17) Electricity is established by contact with a hollow iron ball (21), which is a spherical body placed on top and moved up and down according to the height of the ball, and a power supply (22) is used to connect a control panel (not shown) to the control panel (not shown). The provided lamp (23) is lit to display an empty display. On the other hand, the front cover (2) of the main body (10)
4) has a window (2) fitted with a transparent acrylic plate so that the ball (21) inside the tube (17) can be viewed from the outside.
4a) is formed. Furthermore, (26) is a document feeder.

(27a) and (27b) are paper feed cassettes, and (28) is a paper discharge tray.

When starting copying, the operator confirms that copying is possible using the display on the control panel (not shown), and also confirms that the window on the front cover (24)
24a), the position of the ball (21) is visually observed, and the remaining amount of toner (13) in the developer replenishing device (14) is confirmed.

When the toner (13) is running low, even if the empty indicator on the control panel (not shown) is not lit, the front cover (2)
4), pull out the developing unit (11) from the main body (10), replenish toner (13) from the replenishment port (not shown), then set the developing unit (11) back into the main body (10) and start copying. do. In addition, at this time, the developer supply device W
(14), the toner (13) is contained in the housing (14a).
), and the ball (21) in the tube (17) is pushed to the top by the toner (13). When the toner (13) is consumed while copying is repeated in this manner and the drop of the ball (21) is confirmed from the window (24a), the operator replenishes the toner in the same manner as described above. Become. Also, when starting copying, visually check the toner (13
), and forgot to check the remaining amount of toner (14a) in the housing (14a).
3) is almost consumed, the ball (21) will pass through the tube (17)
reaches the lower end of and contacts the detection terminals (18a) and (18b). When the empty device (20) is thereby turned on and the lamp (23) is lit, the operator interrupts copying and replenishes toner (13).

With this configuration, the remaining amount of toner (13) can be visually checked at any time, not only when it is empty, so if the toner is low, it is possible to replenish the amount of toner (13) in advance while the toner is being stored or before copying starts. Due to the empty display, there is no need to slow down copying or interrupt the copying operation to replenish toner (13) as in the past, and the operability is not impaired. Furthermore, even if the operator is not immediately before copying, the operator can check the remaining amount of toner (13) during his free time and replenish it in advance if it is low, so that the next time he copies, he can start copying immediately. Easy to start and improved operability.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments and can be modified in various ways. For example, the remaining amount of toner is visually checked.

Therefore, the position of the transparent part provided in the casing is arbitrary, and furthermore, the entire front side wall of the casing may be formed of a transparent member. Further, the material of the spherical body may be copper or the like as long as it has good conductivity, and the structure does not need to be hollow as long as the specific gravity is light. Furthermore, there is no single developing unit, but multiple developing units containing toner of different colors can be installed in the same main body, or multi-color printing can be achieved by replacing the developing units according to the required color. In this type of device, by replacing the developing unit, check the remaining amount of toner when removing the developing unit from the main body, and replenish toner as necessary. By doing so, the toner will always be sufficiently replenished the next time it is used, and there will be no need to replenish the toner when starting copying, improving operability.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, since the amount of developer remaining in the housing can be visually confirmed at all times, it is possible to efficiently replenish the developer in advance during non-copying, depending on the degree of decrease in the developer. Unlike in the past, an empty display does not force you to replenish developer immediately, and there is no need to delay urgent copying or interrupt the copying operation to replenish developer. performance is significantly improved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figures 1 to 4 show one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 1 is a side view of the front side of the main body, Figure 2 is a partially cutaway side view of Figure 1, and Figure 3 is a side view of the main body. The side view and FIG. 4 are sectional views thereof. 10... Main body, 11... Development unit,
13... Toner, 14... Developer supply device, 14a... Housing, 16... Transparent section, 1
7...Pipe, 21...Ball, 24...
・Front cover, 24a...window part. Agent Patent Attorney Inoue - Male Figure 4

Claims (1)

[Claims] In those that supply developer to the developing device inside the main body,
a housing having a see-through part that houses the developer and at least a part of which is made of a transparent member; and a remaining amount having a variable part that is displaced according to the amount of the developer in the housing and is visible from the see-through part. A developer replenishing device equipped with a meter.