JPH0466982A - Toner replenishing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent a trouble such as the overflow of toner from occurring by providing an attachment inhibition means for disturbing the attachment of a toner cartridge to a specified position when a sensor detects that a toner quantity in a developing device is equal to or more than a specified value. CONSTITUTION:At the time of judging that the toner in a hopper 10 is equal to or more than the specified quantity, a solenoid 20 is located at a pulling-out position and an outside cover 105 is locked at a closing position. Thus, the operator of a copying machine can not attach a toner cartridge to a replenishing port 101, so that the toner is prevented from being unnecessarily replenished. Meanwhile, when the sensor 2 detects that the toner is equal to or less than the specified quantity, the locking of the outside cover 105 is released, so that the cover can be opened and closed. At such a time, since a message, 'Please, replenish toner,' is outputted on a control panel at the same time, the operator opens the cover and replenishes the toner from the toner cartridge 11 to the hopper 10 by the above operation. In the case, the toner in the cartridge 11 does not overflow from the hopper 10 because the toner quantity in the hopper 10 is equal to or less than the specified value.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a toner replenishing device for a developing device used in an electrostatic copying machine, a printer, etc., and particularly to a type in which a toner cartridge is attached to a toner replenishing port of the developing device to replenish toner. The present invention relates to a toner replenishing device.

When a sensor installed in the toner hopper of a developing device such as an electrostatic copying machine detects that the amount of toner remaining is low, a message appears on the operation panel of the copying machine saying "Replenish toner". A message such as "Please replenish toner" appears, prompting the operator to replenish toner. In response to this, the operator opens the lid of the toner supply section of the copying machine, attaches the toner cartridge to the proper position of the toner supply port, and supplies toner. When all the toner in the cartridge has entered the hopper, the cartridge is removed and the lid of the toner supply section is closed.

In the conventional replenishing device that is used, toner can be replenished at any time, regardless of whether there is a message prompting to replenish toner. Therefore, even though there is sufficient toner in the toner hopper of the developing device, the operator may replenish toner on his/her own because the copied image has become a little lighter. In such a case, a problem arises in that the toner in the toner cartridge does not fit into the hopper and overflows from the supply port.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a toner replenishing device that can solve these problems and prevent erroneous and unnecessary toner replenishing operations.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a device that replenishes toner to the developing device by attaching a toner cartridge to a predetermined position of the toner receiving opening of the developing device. a sensor for detecting whether the amount of toner in the developing device is greater than or equal to a predetermined value; and an attachment prohibiting means for preventing the toner cartridge from being attached to the predetermined position when the sensor detects that the amount of toner in the developing device is greater than or equal to the predetermined value. It is characterized by having the following.

In addition, when the developing device is provided with a lid that closes the opening, it is preferable that the attachment prohibiting means locks the lid in the closed position.

When the amount of toner in the developing device exceeds a predetermined value, the attachment prohibiting means operates to prevent the toner cartridge from being attached to the predetermined replenishment position. Therefore, it becomes impossible to replenish toner from the toner cartridge to the developing device, and unnecessary toner replenishment is prevented. In addition to locking the lid of the opening, this installation prohibition means includes protrusions on the opening to prevent the cartridge from being completely installed, and means that places obstacles in the position of the cartridge body in the normal cartridge installation position. , various formats are possible.

Example 1 - Before explaining the parts related to the present invention, the general structure and operation of the toner replenishing device according to the embodiment will be briefly explained with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4.

FIG. 2 schematically shows a cross section of the toner hopper 10. A toner replenishment roller 4 is provided at the bottom of the hopper 10 to gradually replenish toner to the developing section of the copying machine, and a toner replenishment roller 4 is provided at a lower position of the hopper 10 to detect when the amount of toner has fallen below a predetermined amount. Naturally, a sensor 2 (which can also detect when the amount exceeds a predetermined amount) is provided. A replenishment port 101 for replenishing toner is provided at the top of the hopper 10, and there is a slide lid 103 and an outer lid 10, which will be described later.
5 is provided.

3(b) shows the structure around the toner replenishment port 101, FIG. 3(a) shows the slide lid 103 provided on the replenishment port 101, and FIG. 4 shows the toner cartridge 1.
1 is shown. In FIG. 3(b), there are two guide rails 102°10 with an angular cross section on the left and right sides of the supply port 101.
2 is provided, and the slide lid 103 is movable in the front and rear (arrow S) direction along the guide rails 102 and 102. The slide lid 103 is connected to each guide rail 102. Claw 107.1 provided on the front inner side of 102
07 (however, this is different from the lock of the second embodiment described later). Supply port 10
An initial mounting location 104 is provided in front of the toner cartridge 1 (lower left in the figure) for initially installing the toner cartridge 11. In addition, FIGS. 2 and 3 show the first and second
The locking device of the embodiment is not depicted.

A toner replenishing procedure using this toner replenishing device will be briefly explained. First, the adapter 12 is attached to the toner cartridge 11. Next, the outer cover 105 covering the toner supply section of the copying machine is opened and the unit of [cartridge 11 + adapter 12] is placed in the initial placement location 104. Now insert the cartridge 11 (and adapter 12) into the supply port 1.
Lock 10 of the slide lid 103 by pushing it to the 01 side.
7. 107 is automatically removed, and the slide lid 103 is pushed backward (to the upper right in the figure) by the adapter 12. At a position where the opening 15 of the cartridge 11 and the supply port 101 match, the slide lid 103 abuts against the rear wall 108, fixing the cartridge 11 at that position. In this state, by pulling out the seal plate 13 provided on the adapter 12 (the other seal plate 14 is automatically pulled out from the adapter 12 when pushing the adapter 12 backward), the toner in the cartridge 11 is removed. The toner falls from the supply port 101 into the toner hopper 10 .

After toner supply is completed, the seal plate 13 is pushed in to close the opening 15 of the cartridge 11, and the adapter 12 is slid forward. The slide lid 103 is the adapter 12
is pulled toward the supply port 101, and the slide lid 10
3 is the position where the supply port 101 is completely closed, and the lock claw 10 is
7. 107 locks the slide lid 103. In this state, the toner cartridge 11 (and adapter 12) is removed from the initial placement position 104, and the outer lid 105 is closed to complete the replenishment operation.

Next, a first embodiment in which the present invention is applied to such a toner replenishing device will be described in detail with reference to FIG. In this embodiment, the outer lid 105 can be locked in the closed position.

FIG. 5(a) shows a state in which the outer cover 105 can be opened and closed, and FIG. 5(b) shows a state in which the outer cover 105 is closed and locked. At this time, the claw 26 provided at the front (left side in the figure) end of the hopper upper initial placement position 104 is engaged with the lock hole 28 at the moving end of the outer cover 105, fixing the outer cover 105 in the closed position. There is. The pawl 26 is provided at the tip of the angle 24, and when the solenoid 20 is placed in the pulled out position, the relay rod 22 pushes the other end of the angle 24 to the right, placing the pawl 26 in the locking position (FIG. 2(b)). ). Conversely, by setting the solenoid 20 to the retracted position, the claw 2
6 is disengaged from the hole 28 of the outer cover 105, and the outer cover 105
can be opened and closed ((a) in the same figure). This solenoid 20
is controlled by the copying machine's microcomputer.

In this embodiment, the microcomputer of the copying machine performs the processing shown in the flowchart of FIG. First step #1
0, a signal is input from the remaining toner amount detection sensor 2, and it is determined whether or not there is a predetermined amount or more of toner. When it is determined that there is more than a predetermined amount of toner in the hopper 10, the solenoid 20 is moved to the pulled out position (FIG. 5(b)) in step #12, thereby locking the outer M105 at the closed position. This prevents the operator of the copying machine from attaching the toner cartridge to the replenishment port, thereby preventing unnecessary toner replenishment. On the other hand, if the sensor 2 detects that the amount of toner is less than the predetermined amount, the outer lid 10
5 is unlocked and can be opened and closed. At this time, the message "Please replenish toner" is output on the operation panel at the same time, so the operator opens the outer cover 105 and uses the above operation to transfer the toner from the toner cartridge 11 to the hopper 1.
0 (step #16). In this case, since the toner reception in the hopper 10 is below the predetermined value,
The toner in the cartridge 11 will not overflow from the hopper 10.

Next, as a second embodiment of the present invention, a method of locking the slide lid 103 shown in FIG. 3(b) will be described below. In the case of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, in addition to the aforementioned locking mechanism using the pawls 107 and 107, a locking mechanism using the hole 38 provided in the slide lid 103 and the pawl 36 is provided. The pawl 36 is driven by the angle 34, the relay rod 32, and the solenoid 30, as in the first embodiment, and locks the slide lid 103 when the solenoid 30 is pulled out (FIG. 6(b)). When pulled in, the adapter 12 is allowed to open and close the slide lid 103 (a).

The operation of the microcomputer of the copying machine in this embodiment will be explained with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, in step #20, it is detected based on the output of the remaining toner amount detection sensor 2 whether the amount of toner in the hopper 10 is greater than or equal to a predetermined value. Step #2 when toner exists in excess of a predetermined amount
2, the solenoid 30 is driven to the pulled-out position and the slide lid 103 is locked (FIG. 6(a)). This is meaningful in the following situations: on the copier's operation panel.
When the operator opens the outer cover 105 and replenishes toner in response to the message "Please replenish toner," in the apparatus of the first embodiment, the operator immediately moves the next toner cartridge to the initial placement position 104. Place it on the supply port 1
It was possible to replenish toner one after another by sliding it toward 01. Therefore, the toner still remains in the supply port 101.
There was a possibility that it would overflow.

However, as in the second embodiment, by locking the slide lid 103 when the amount of toner in the hopper 10 reaches a predetermined value or more, the toner cartridge 1 is transferred to the supply port 1.
01 (pushing the adapter 12 backward) becomes impossible, and further unnecessary toner replenishment is prevented.

If it is determined in step #20 that the amount of toner is less than the predetermined amount, the solenoid 30 is driven to the retracted position in step #24, and the claw 36 is removed from the hole 38, causing the slide lid 1
03 can be opened and closed (FIG. 6(b)). Therefore, the operator can replenish toner in response to the message "Please replenish toner" on the operation panel (step #26).

In the above two embodiments, an example of control using a microcomputer was shown, but of course it is also possible to use a simple relay.

In both embodiments, the lid of the supply port 101 (outer lid 10
5. It was intended to lock the slide lid 103), but
Rather than locking these lids, e.g.
A protrusion may be made to protrude at the initial placement position 104 in front of the device. This makes it impossible to attach the unit [cartridge 11 + adapter 12] to the initial mounting position 104, and toner replenishment is prevented. In addition, there are various means for preventing the attachment of the cartridge, and means for preventing the toner from falling into the hopper even if the attachment is allowed. The composition and effect are satisfied.

As explained above, according to the present invention, when a sufficient amount of toner exists in the developing device, toner is removed from the toner replenishing port in order to prevent unnecessary toner replenishment. Accidents such as overflow can be prevented.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing the operation of the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a sectional view schematically showing the toner replenishing device and toner hopper of the first and second embodiments. Figure 3 (
FIG. 1A is a perspective view of the slide lid of the toner replenishing device, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the toner cartridge with the adapter attached. FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing in detail the structure of the first embodiment of the present invention, of which (a) shows a state in which the outer cover can be opened and closed, and (b) shows a state in which the outer cover is locked in the closed position. . FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing in detail the structure of the second embodiment of the present invention, of which (a) shows a state in which the sliding lid can be opened and closed, and (b) shows a state in which the sliding lid is locked in the closed position. . FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the second embodiment. Figure 1

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) In a device that replenishes toner to the developing device by installing a toner cartridge at a predetermined position in the toner receiving opening of the developing device, a sensor that detects whether the amount of toner in the developing device is greater than or equal to a predetermined value. A toner replenishing device comprising: and an attachment prohibiting means that prevents the toner cartridge from being attached to the predetermined position when the sensor detects that the amount of toner in the developing device is equal to or greater than a predetermined value. (2) The toner replenishing device according to claim 1, wherein the developing device is provided with a lid that closes the opening, and the attachment prohibiting means locks the lid in a closed position.