JPH04208954A - Electrophotographic device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily mount a developing device and to facilitate the maintenance inspection thereof by forming a specified toner image on an image carrier every developing device after the optional developing device is attached to an optional mount part and identifying the image by a color identifier, thereby discriminating the color of the developing device. CONSTITUTION:In an initial state where a machine body is set, driving is started after the developing devices of four colors are attached to the optional housing parts of the machine main body, then the color toner images 59M, 59B, 59Y and 59C which are not fixed are successively formed from a lowermost part to an uppermost part on the image carrier 1. When the toner images 59C, 59Y, 59B and 59M come to the color identifier 56 part as the image carrier 1 rotates, what color inputted light is identified and stored in a storage means. Positional information is obtained by the identifying action of the developing device attaching position which is performed at the beginning and the positions of the developing devices of the respective colors are automatically recognized based on the positional information, then the developing devices of the respective colors act in specified order to develop the toner images of the respective colors.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [00011] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an electrophotographic apparatus that forms a color image on a copy by superimposing and transferring a plurality of monochrome toner images.
[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, electrophotographic devices that use dry toner have become mainstream and have been put into practical use as many copiers, laser printers, and the like, and have made remarkable progress. Recently, there has been an increasing demand for color copiers in the market in addition to monochrome copiers, and color copiers are now on the market. Charger 4 in order of carrier rotation direction. Exposure optical system5. Black (B), Cyan (C), Magenta (M), Yellow (
Developing units for each color of Y) 6B, 6C, 6M, 6Y,
Intermediate transfer member unit 7, image carrier cleaning device 8
．． A static eliminator 9 is provided. The charger 4 includes a charging wire 10 made of tungsten wire or the like, a shield plate 11 made of a metal plate, and a grid plate 12. By applying a high voltage to the charged wire 10, the charged wire 10
generates a corona discharge and uniformly charges the image carrier 1 via the grid plate 12. Reference numeral 13 denotes an exposure light beam for image data emitted from the exposure optical system 5. In the case of a laser printer, this exposure light beam 13 is controlled by a signal from a host computer (not shown) and is applied to a plurality of light beams on the image carrier 1, each corresponding to a specific one of a plurality of predetermined color components. forms an electrostatic latent image. The developer is 6B,
There are four types: 6C, 6M, and 6Y, and there are also four types of toner corresponding to each type, but since they have a similar structure, only the representative developer 6B will be explained below, and the explanation of the other developers will be omitted. . [0005] As shown in FIG. 5, the developing device 6B includes a toner hopper 15 that stores the corresponding toner 14,
It consists of a developing vat 18 that stores a developer 17, which is a mixture of a carrier 16 made of magnetic particles such as iron powder, and a carrier 16 made of magnetic particles such as iron powder. It is arranged along the vertical plane of the body 1. In reality, images are formed by selectively irradiating light beams corresponding to each color onto a color image by applying electrophotographic process technology to black (B) and cyan [0003N], starting from the bottom. By developing a plurality of electrostatic latent images, each corresponding to a specific component in the liquid, with respective predetermined toners, and superimposing these monochromatic toner images, one
A method is adopted in which a color image is formed on a single copy. For example, in U.S. Pat. A method has been proposed in which individually formed toner images of different colors are superimposed and transferred onto an intermediate transfer member at any time to obtain a composite image, and the composite image is transferred all at once onto a single copy. [00041] Hereinafter, a conventional electrophotographic apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 9. In FIG. 4, 1 is a resin belt made of polyethylene terephthalate or the like as a base material, and selenium (Se) or organic photoconductor (OPC) is coated on the outer peripheral surface of the belt.
) is coated with a sensitive receptor layer in the form of a thin film. The image carrier 1 is supported by two image carrier transport rollers 2 and 3 such that a vertical plane is formed between the image carrier transport rollers 2 and 3, and the image carrier is transported by a drive motor (not shown). It rotates in the direction of arrow A along rollers 2 and 3. On the circumferential surface of the belt-shaped image carrier 1, there is an image (
C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y). Figure 3
At θ 5, reference numeral 19 denotes a toner discharge roller made of a highly elastic synthetic resin foam that supplies the toner 14 in the toner hopper 15 into the developing bat 18. It is pivotally supported and blocks the toner discharge port 20. 21 is a toner discharge roller 19
The first toner conveying member is disposed adjacent to the toner hopper 1, and both ends are rotatably supported at the center of the first toner conveying member.
A first conveyance shaft 21a having a flat plate between the side surfaces of 5;
The toner hopper 15 includes a bottom surface 15a of the toner hopper 15 and a first conveyance member 21c made of an elastic body in the form of a flexible sheet 4θ fixed to the flat plate portion 21b of the first conveyance shaft 21a with a small distance therebetween. Reference numeral 22 denotes a second toner conveying member disposed adjacent to the toner discharge roller 19. Both ends of the second toner conveying member 22 are rotatably supported in the center thereof, and a flat plate is formed between the sides of the toner hopper 15. It is composed of a shaft 22a and a second conveyance member 22c made of a flexible sheet-like elastic body fixed to the flat plate portion 22b of the second conveyance shaft 22a with a small distance from the bottom surface 15a of the toner hopper 15. has been done. Reference numeral 23 denotes a third toner conveying member disposed adjacent to the toner discharge roller 19. Both ends of the third toner conveying member 23 are rotatably supported on a 5θ axis in the center thereof, and a flat plate is formed between the sides of the toner hopper 15. Consisting of a conveyance shaft 23a and a third conveyance member 23c made of a flexible sheet-like elastic body fixed to a flat plate portion 23b of the third conveyance shaft 23a with a small distance from the bottom surface 15a of the toner hopper 15. has been done. Further, the flat plate portion 21b of the first conveyance shaft 21a, the flat plate portion 22b of the second conveyance shaft 22a, and the third conveyance shaft 23a
The rotational trajectories of the flat plate portions 23b are arranged so that they do not overlap each other (hereinafter referred to as "overlapping"). [0006] This is because if the overlapping parts are encountered at the same time, since the rotation directions at the overlapping parts are opposite to each other, they will come into contact with each other and stop rotating, and the drive gear etc. that drives the toner conveying member will be damaged. This is to prevent this from happening. However, the first conveying member 21c, the second conveying member 22c and the third conveying member
The rotation trajectories of the conveying members 23c overlap with each other. This is because the toner 14 in the space 15a formed by the rotation trajectory between each toner conveying member 21 and the bottom surface of the toner hopper 15 is substantially fixed, remains stationary, and is not discharged from the toner hopper 15 to the outside. This is because the space 15a is made as narrow as possible, and furthermore, the bottom surface of the toner hopper 15 is inserted into the toner hopper 15 along the locus of the toner conveying member 21 with a minute gap from the toner conveying member 21. It stands out. This allows the toner 14 to be used effectively. Moreover, since the first conveying member 21c, the second conveying member 22c, and the third conveying member 23c are made of flexible sheet-like elastic bodies, the developing device of a predetermined color is installed at a predetermined position on the overbody. It is controlled so that an error message is displayed externally if it is not installed. [00091] Next, in FIGS. 8(a) and 8(b) and FIG. 9, 31 is a main drive gear for transmitting power from a drive source (not shown) to the developing units 6B, 6C, 6M, and 6Y; When disposed on the outer surface of each of the developing devices 6B, 6C, 6M, and 6Y and contributing to development, a developing roller gear 32 is attached to one end of the shaft of the developing roller 25.
Drive the rotation 1θ. 33 while the aircraft is operating,
A developing device, for example 6, that comes into contact with the image carrier 1 and contributes to the development
This is an agitation drive gear that transmits power from a drive source (not shown) to rotate the agitation rollers 24 of the developing devices 6C96M and 6Y, which are spaced apart from B and the image carrier 1 and do not contribute to development, and are an agitation driven gear. 34, and an idler gear 35 disposed in the developing device 6. The signal is transmitted to the stirring roller gear 36. The developing roller gear 32 and the stirring roller gear 36 are not connected. 37 is a support member that supports the stirring driven gear 34, and the stirring driven gear 3 is rotated around the shaft of the stirring driving gear 33.
4 is configured to swing. Further, the support member 37 is given a moment in the direction of arrow C by a tension spring 38 on the opposite side to the side on which the stirring driven gear 34 is supported. The toner 14 is selected by a separation cam 34B, which corresponds to each color and whose both ends are rotatably supported on the body of the machine.
34C, 34M. Even if 34Y encounters that each developer 6 is installed in a preset position according to the identification signal from the color identification means 28 at the lap portion, it will not lock.
[0007] An agitating unit 24 is rotatably supported at both ends by the developing vat 18, and mixes and agitates the toner 14 supplied from the toner hopper 15 through the toner discharge port 20 with the carrier 16, charges the toner 14, and transports it to the developing roller 25. It's Laura. The toner 14 and carrier 16 conveyed in the direction of the developing roller 25 are attracted onto the outer periphery of the developing roller 25 by the magnetic force of a magnet roller 26 fixed within the developing roller 25, forming a magnetic brush and a doctor blade 27.
This limits the height of the panicle. Developing roller 25
As the developer 17 rotates, the magnetic brush of the developer 17 comes into contact with the image carrier 1, and the toner 14 corresponding to each color component is deposited on the portion of the image carrier 1 where the electrostatic latent image is formed, forming a toner image. Form. [00081 In FIG. 6, 28 is a color-specific connector for identifying the developing units 6B, 6C, 6M, and 6Y corresponding to each color. The determination is made based on the fit between the second connector 30 and the second connector 30. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 7, the second connector 3 placed on the side of the developing device
The position of the 0 bin is changed for each color developer, and the color is discriminated based on this. The presence or absence of each developing device is also determined at the same time. When the machine is determined to be true for each color, it starts rotating in response to a color selection signal from a host computer (not shown), and brings the selected developer, for example 6B, into contact with the image carrier 1. Complete. 3θ And the remaining unselected developing devices 6C, 6
M and 6Y are separated from the image carrier 1 by the tensile force of a separation spring (not shown). As shown in FIG.
and adjust the toner density. [00101 Intermediate transfer unit 7 includes a belt-shaped intermediate transfer member 41 made of conductive resin or the like;
Two intermediate transfer member transport rollers 42 and 43 supporting the image carrier 1 and the image carrier 1 with the intermediate transfer member 41 in between are used to transfer the toner image on the image carrier 1 to the intermediate transfer member 41. The intermediate transfer roller 44 is arranged opposite to the intermediate transfer roller 44 . Here, the surface circumference of the intermediate transfer member 41 is nominally equal to the surface circumference of the image carrier 1. 45 is an intermediate transfer member cleaning device for scraping off residual toner on the intermediate transfer member 41; it is separated from the intermediate transfer member 41 while a composite image is being formed on the intermediate transfer member 41; Contact only when serving. 46 is a copy cassette that stores a copy 47. Copy 4
7 is a half-moon-shaped paper feed roller 4 from a copy cassette 46;
8 and 5θ, the copies are sent one by one to the copy transport path 49. 50(4) 5 is a registration roller for temporarily stopping and waiting the copying body 47 in order to align the positions of the composite image formed on the copying body 47 and the intermediate transfer member 41, and is in pressure contact with the driven roller 51. ing. Reference numeral 52 denotes a copy transfer roller for transferring the composite image formed on the intermediate transfer member 41 to the copy body 47, and rotates in contact with the intermediate transfer member 41 only when transferring the composite image to the copy body 47. 53 is a fixing device consisting of a heat roller 54 having a heat source inside and a pressure roller 55, and the composite image transferred to the copying material 47 is transferred to the heat roller 54
As the pressure roller 55 pinches and rotates, the image is fixed on the copying body 47 by pressure and heat to form a color image. [00111 The operation of the electrophotographic apparatus configured as described above will be described below. [0012] First, a high voltage is applied to the charging wire 10 in the charger 4 connected to a high voltage power source to cause corona discharge, and the surface of the image carrier 1 is uniformly charged to about -700V to -800V. Next, the image carrier 1 is rotated in the direction of arrow A, and a predetermined exposure light such as a laser beam corresponding to black (B) among a plurality of color components is applied onto the uniformly charged surface of the image carrier 1. 13, the irradiated portion of the image carrier 1 loses its charge and an electrostatic latent image is formed. On the other hand, the developing device 6B containing the black toner 14 that contributes to development is moved to the direction indicated by the arrow mark by the rotation of the separation cam 39B in response to a color selection signal from a host computer (not shown).
It is pushed in the direction and comes into contact with the image carrier 1. As the developing device 6B moves, the developing roller gear 32 connects with the main driving gear 31 and is scraped off from the developing image. Therefore, the toner 14 in the toner hopper 15 is transferred to the developing vat 1 through the toner discharge port 20.
The mixture is replenished onto the stirring roller 24 in the 8, and the mixture is restored to a predetermined mixture ratio to maintain a constant mixture ratio. As shown in FIG. 5, the first toner conveying member 21, the second toner conveying member 22, and the third toner conveying member 23 disposed in the toner hopper 15 move as the toner discharging roller 19 rotates. While stirring the toner 14 by drawing a circular locus shown by a dashed line, the toner 14 is stirred.
is conveyed onto the toner discharge roller 19. Here, for example, the first toner conveying member 21 and the second toner conveying member 2
2 meet at the overlap portion as shown in FIG. 5, since the first conveying member 21C and the second conveying member 22c are made of elastic material, they pass each other while being bent and maintain smooth rotation. Further, the same applies to the second toner conveying member 22c and the third toner conveying member 23c. [0014] After the development is completed, the developing device 6B moves to the separation cam 39
Due to the 180 degree rotation of B and the tensile force of a separation spring (not shown), the developing roller gear 3 moves from the contact position with the image carrier 1 to the separation position, eliminating contact between the image carrier 1 and the magnetic brush.
2 and the main driving gear 31 are released, and the rotation of the developing roller 25 is stopped. However, since the agitation roller 24 is configured so that the connection between the idler gear 35 of the developing device 6B and the agitation driven gear 34 is not released in order to constantly apply frictional charge to the toner 14 and immediately respond to printing, the agitation drive gear 33
The power is transmitted to it and it continues to rotate. Also, at this time, the rotation of the toner roller 25 is started. The toner concentration detection means consisting of the stirring roller 24 and the toner concentration detector 40 is constantly driven. The other developing devices 6C, 6M, and 6Y are spaced apart from the image carrier 1 and do not contribute to development.Developing device 6C96M
, 6Y is stopped, and each stirring roller 24 receives drive from the drive transmission path of the stirring drive gear 33 and stirring driven gear 34 through the idler gear 35, and rotates. The means are also driven. Toner 14 and carrier 1 in developing vat 18
6 is mixed and frictionally charged by the stirring roller 24, attracted by the magnetic force of the magnet roller 26 to form a magnetic brush, and rotated in the direction of the arrow by the developing roller 25 to contact the N pole portion of the magnet roller 26 facing the image carrier 1. transported to. When a potential difference is applied between the developing roller 25 and the image carrier 1 while bringing the magnetic brush of the developer 17 into contact with the image carrier 1 at this contact position, an electrostatic latent image portion formed on the image carrier 1 is generated. The toner 14 adheres to the surface to form a toner image, and development is completed. When the toner 14 adheres to the image bearing member 1 and is consumed, and the toner concentration detector 40 detects that the mixing ratio of the toner 14 and carrier 16 in the developing vat 18 is lower than a preset value, the detection signal is sent to the host computer (Fig. (not shown) to drive and rotate the toner discharge roller 19. Due to this rotation, the toner 14 adhering to the surface of the toner discharge roller 19 is also driven to the edge portion of the toner discharge port 20 by the density detection 40, thereby adjusting the toner concentration. The toner image formed on the image carrier 1 by the developing device 6B is transferred to the intermediate transfer member 41 for each color in contact with the image carrier 1 30.
The image is transferred by applying high pressure to the intermediate transfer roller 44, which is a tactile device. [0015] Next, when the color cyan (C), for example, is selected, the separating cam 39C rotates, and this time, the developing device 6C is moved against the tensile force of the separating spring (not shown) to the image carrier 1. The image bearing member 1 is brought into contact with the image carrier 1 and cyan development is started. 4
In the case of a copying machine or printer that uses color, the above-mentioned developing operation is repeated four times in sequence, and toner images of four colors B, C, M, and Y are superimposed on the intermediate transfer member 41 to form a composite image. The composite image formed in this way is transferred at once to the copy material 42 that is sent along the copy material conveyance path 49 from the copy material cassette 46 by applying high pressure to the copy material transfer roller 52. Next, it is sent to a fixing device 53, where it is heated, heated by a heat roller 54, and a pressure roller 55.
The image is fixed by the clamping pressure and output as a color image. [0016] Due to long-term use, yellow toner 14
When the toner concentration detector of the developing device 6Y detects that Y is running out, the developing device 6Y is pulled out toward the front in FIG. 4 and replaced with a new developing device. [0017] 50 [Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In such a conventional electrophotographic apparatus, since the mounting position of the developing device mounted on the main body of the machine is determined in advance in correspondence with a plurality of colors, it is particularly difficult to When attaching developing devices of the same shape to the main body of the machine, one must be very careful to confirm that they are installed in the correct position, which is actually very troublesome and reduces work efficiency. In addition, since color identification is done by the position of the connector bottle, for example, when using four types of developer, it is necessary to arrange four types of connectors, which takes time to assemble and increases manufacturing costs. It was expensive. Furthermore, since the connector for color identification must also slide when each developing device is brought into contact with and separated from the developing device, the structure for this purpose has become complicated. [00181] The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an electrophotographic apparatus in which the work of installing a developing device is easy and the work of maintenance and inspection is easy. [0019] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes at least one light-emitting element and a light-receiving element in the main body of an overlapping transfer type electrophotographic apparatus having a plurality of developing units. After any developing device is installed in any mounting section, a predetermined toner image is formed for each developing device on the image carrier, and these toner images are transferred to a color identification device. The color of the installed developing device can be identified by identifying the color of the installed developing device. [00201] [00201] [00201] The present invention, with the above-described configuration, serves as a water tank for the body of the developing device. [0023] The operation of the electrophotographic apparatus of the present invention configured as described above will be described below. [0024] First, in the initial state where the aircraft is installed,
After unpacking the machine from the packing materials, the four color developers 6B, 6C, 6
Attach M and 6Y to any storage section on the main body of the aircraft. When all four color developing devices 6B, 6C, 6M, and 6Y are installed, the main body of the machine starts driving as shown in Fig. 1, and unfixed colors having an arbitrary area are sequentially removed from the bottom to the top. Toner 1θ-images 59M, 59B, 59Y, and 59C are formed on the image carrier 1. Next, as the image carrier 1 rotates, these unfixed color toner images 59C, 59Y, 59B, and 59M come to the color identification device 56 as shown in FIG. is incident on the unfixed color toner images 59C, 59Y, 59B, and 59M, and reflected light from the toner image 59 enters the light receiving element 58. The wavelength distribution of the reflected light differs depending on the toner of each color, and the photoelectricity received by the light receiving element 58 also differs. Since the output level value of the light receiving element 58 is set in advance, the output y level value obtained by the incident light is compared with the four preset level values to identify what color the input light is. do. In this way, as shown in FIG. 1, the color identification device detects at any time, and in the case of the present invention, from the lowest developing device 6C to C-+Y-+B→
The M order is stored in a storage means (not shown), and the color of each developing device is identified. After long-term use, when the developing device reaches the end of its lifespan and a new developing device is installed, there is no need to be careful about the mounting position on the body, which simplifies the color identification means on the mounting part and improves device assembly. Get better. [0021130 Embodiment] An electrophotographic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below without reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. Here, the same constituent members as those of the conventional electrophotographic apparatus described above will be given the same numbers and detailed explanations will be omitted with reference to FIGS. 4 to 9, which illustrate the conventional electrophotographic apparatus. [00221 In FIGS. 1 and 2, 56 is a color identification device according to the present invention, which is composed of a light emitting element 57 and a light receiving element 58. The light-emitting element 57 and the light-receiving element 58 irradiate light onto the surface of the image carrier 1 near the point where the image carrier 1 and the intermediate transfer member 41 contact each other, as shown in FIG. It is arranged at a position on the main body of the machine where it can receive light, and is configured to perform color identification by sensing the wavelength of reflected light of an unfixed toner image 59 formed on the image carrier 1 and having a predetermined area. controlled. Furthermore, even if the developing device 6 for any color toner is inserted in any position in the storage section of the machine body, the order of color selection during printing operation, for example, B-40-+M.
→The configuration is such that the order of Y is not changed. This is because there is an optimal order in which color toner images are superimposed, and stable image quality is always provided. If color toner materials with different color characteristics are developed, the optimal stacking order will be different.
Start image formation. First, a high voltage is applied to the charging wire 10 in the charger 4 connected to a high voltage power source to cause corona discharge, and the surface of the image carrier 1 is uniformly heated to a voltage of -700V to -800V.
charge to a certain degree. Next, the image carrier 1 is rotated in the direction of arrow A, and a plurality of color components are first selected on the uniformly charged surface of the image carrier 1 according to a preset color selection order B-+C-+M-+Y. Predetermined black (B) in
When an exposure light beam 13 such as a laser beam corresponding to the image carrier 1 is irradiated, the irradiated portion of the image carrier 1 loses its charge and an electrostatic latent image is formed. On the other hand, the color identification device 56 has already determined which of the four storage areas in the main body of the machine body the developing device 6B containing the black toner 14 that contributes to development is located through the above-mentioned identification operation. Therefore, the image carrier 1 is pushed in the direction of arrow B by the rotation of the separation cam 39B in response to a color selection signal from a host computer (not shown).
comes into contact with. As the developing device 6B moves, the developing roller gear 32 connects with the main drive gear 31, and the developing roller 25 starts rotating. [0026] Thereafter, it operates in the same manner as a conventional electrophotographic apparatus, and a black toner image is developed, then a cyan toner image is developed, and four color toner images of B, C, M, and Y are superimposed and transferred. The fixed color image is output from the electrophotographic device (6) 9 . [00271 As described above, position information is obtained by the initial identification operation of the developing device mounting position, and based on this, the position of each color developing device is automatically recognized, and each color developing device is installed in a predetermined order. The toner image of each color is developed. [0028] In the above embodiment, a developing device using a two-component developer was explained as an example, but the present invention is a non-magnetic one-component developing device. The same method can be applied to magnetic one-component development and the like.
1θ [0029] [Effects of the Invention] As described above, the present invention is capable of developing an image bearing member coated with a photosensitive layer and electrostatic latent images corresponding to a plurality of colors formed on the image bearing member. a plurality of developers each corresponding to a plurality of colors, and a plurality of developing units storing the plurality of developers;
A color comprising a main body having a mounting portion in which a plurality of developing devices are respectively mounted facing an image carrier, and at least one light-emitting element and a light-receiving element disposed in the main body for identifying the color of the developing devices. After any developing device is installed in any mounting section, a toner image of a predetermined area is formed on the image carrier, and the toner image is identified by a color identification device. Since the color of the color image developed by the developer installed in the position can be identified, even if each developer is installed in any of the four positions on the main body of the machine, the developer of which color image will be displayed at any position. 15411 15411 15411 15411 15411 15411 15411 15411 15411 15411 15411 15411 15411 Since there are no connectors or the like, the number of steps required for assembling the developing device can be greatly reduced, and the developing device body can be shared, making it possible to provide an electrophotographic device that is highly economical. [Brief explanation of drawings] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a color identification device for a developing device in an electrophotographic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a schematic layout diagram showing the arrangement of components inside the color identification device; FIG. A spectral transmittance characteristic diagram of color toners used in an electrophotographic device according to an embodiment. [FIG. 4] A schematic diagram showing the internal configuration of a conventional electrophotographic device. [FIG. 5] Same <
[FIG. 6] A perspective view showing the main parts of a color identification connector of a developing device of a conventional electrophotographic apparatus. [FIG. 7] A connection pin arrangement diagram of the color identification connector. FIG. 8: Same <gear arrangement diagram of the driving gear of the developing unit content roller of the conventional electrophotographic apparatus; FIG. 9: Same <gear arrangement diagram of the driving gear for driving each roller of the four developing units of the conventional electrophotographic apparatus. [Explanation of symbols] 1 Image carriers 6B, 6C, 6M, 6Y Developing device 56 Color identification device 57 Since light-emitting printing is performed, it is very easy to attach the developing device to the machine body, and the toner inside the device ran out. In this case, only toner is replenished [Fig. 1] [Fig. 2] 58 Light receiving element [Fig. 3] [Fig. 7] Expression C control 2 [Fig. 4] Japanese Patent Publication No. 4-20
8954 [Figure 5] [Figure 8] (aJ q, [Figure 9] , -, lAf: sword

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An image carrier coated with a photosensitive layer, and a developer corresponding to a plurality of colors for developing electrostatic latent images corresponding to the plurality of colors formed on the image carrier. , a main body having a plurality of developing devices for storing the plurality of developers, a plurality of mounting portions in which the plurality of developing devices are respectively mounted facing the image carrier, and identifying colors of the developing devices; In order to do this, a color identification device including at least one light-emitting element, a light-receiving element, and a light-receiving element is provided in the main body, and after any one of the developing units is installed in any one of the apparatus parts, A toner image of a predetermined area is formed on the image carrier for each of the developing devices, and the toner images of each color are identified by the color identification device, so that the color image developed by the developing device installed at an arbitrary position is determined. An electrophotographic device characterized by identifying the colors of.