JPH05333620A - Cartridge fitting method for image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To surely correct the engagement of a gear at the time of inserting a cartridge, without using a complex mechanism, in an image forming device such as a laser beam printer. CONSTITUTION:In the image forming device provided with the cartridge holding a photosensitive drum, a cartridge presence detecting sensor 1 detecting the presence of the fitting of the cartridge, and a driving motor 3 driving the cartridge, for instance, when operations such power is turned on, and a front cover is closed, are executed, in a state where the cartridge may have been inserted into a device, the driving motor 3 is driven for a specified time, and then, the presence of the fitting of the cartridge can be detected by the cartridge presence detecting sensor 1.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a laser beam printer, and more particularly to a cartridge mounting method in which gear engagement between a cartridge holding a photosensitive drum (hereinafter referred to as a cartridge) and a drive motor is corrected.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an image forming apparatus such as a laser beam printer, when a cartridge is mounted in a main body of the apparatus, a drive gear of the cartridge and a drive gear of a drive motor in the main body of the apparatus are in mesh with each other. However,
If both gears do not mesh properly when the cartridge is inserted into the main body of the apparatus, the sensor that detects the presence or absence of the cartridge will determine that there is no cartridge, even if the cartridge is mounted. Therefore, the user has to repeatedly mount the cartridge until both gears are properly meshed.

Therefore, a technique devised mechanically so that the cartridge is properly inserted is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 58-2.
It is proposed in Japanese Patent No. 5646, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-4646, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-244058, and the like.

[0004]

However, all of the above-mentioned three prior arts have a complicated mechanism for preventing the tooth tips of the gears from coming into contact with each other when the cartridge is inserted. There are problems that the device becomes large and the cost becomes high.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a cartridge mounting method for an image forming apparatus which can surely correct gear meshing when a cartridge is inserted without using a complicated mechanism.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in a method of mounting a cartridge of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention, a cartridge for holding a photosensitive drum,
In an image forming apparatus including a sensor for detecting the presence / absence of mounting of the cartridge and a drive motor for driving the cartridge, for example, when the cartridge is mounted in the apparatus, the power is turned on or the front cover is turned on. When an operation such as closing is performed, the drive motor is driven for, for example, about 1 second, and then the presence or absence of the mounting of the cartridge is detected by the sensor.

[0007]

According to the mounting method described above, when a predetermined operation such as power-on is executed in a state where the cartridge may be mounted in the apparatus, the drive gear of the cartridge and the drive motor of the apparatus main body are driven. The drive motor is driven for a predetermined time regardless of whether the gear meshing is normal. When the gears are driven for a predetermined time in this manner, the gears are properly meshed with each other even when the gears are not meshed normally, and the cartridge can be driven.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which a cartridge mounting method for an image forming apparatus according to the present invention is applied to a cartridge detection system for a laser beam printer will be described below.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the basic construction of a cartridge detection system in the laser beam printer of this embodiment. This system includes a cartridge presence / absence detection sensor 1 for detecting the presence / absence of mounting of a cartridge in an apparatus main body, an interlock opening / closing sensor 2 for detecting an open / closed state of a front cover, a drive motor 3 for driving a cartridge, It is composed of a processor unit 4 which controls the operation of this system.

The processor section 4 drives the drive motor 3 for a predetermined time when the front cover is closed during power-on or operation while the cartridge may be mounted in the apparatus. The process of detecting the presence or absence of the mounting of the rear cartridge by the cartridge presence / absence detection sensor 1 is performed. Here, ON / OFF of the power supply is notified from a power supply unit (not shown), and opening / closing of the front cover is notified from the interlock opening / closing sensor 2. This processor unit 4
Is composed of a CPU (central processing unit), a main memory, etc., and executes gear drive and cartridge detection processing according to a program based on a flowchart described later.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a basic processing procedure of gear drive and cartridge detection in the above-mentioned cartridge detection system.

First, when a predetermined operation such as power-on is executed with the cartridge possibly loaded, the processor unit 4 checks whether or not there is a sheet or a sheet cassette. Then, it is determined whether or not there is an error (step 102). If there is no error, the drive motor 3 is turned on (step 10
3), after driving for a predetermined time (step 104),
The drive motor 3 is turned off (step 105). Here, the time for driving the drive motor 3 may be any time required for the gears to mesh properly. Next, the processor unit 4 determines whether or not the cartridge is attached by the cartridge presence / absence detection sensor 1 (step 106), and when the cartridge is present, performs a normal operation (step 107). If there is no cartridge and there is an error in step 102, error processing is performed (step 108).

Next, as a predetermined operation in step 101 of the above-mentioned flowchart, a specific example in which the power is turned on and the front cover is closed during operation will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure when the power is turned on, and FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure when the front cover is closed. Here, a case where the power supply shown in FIG. 3 is turned on will be described as a typical example.

First, when the main power source is turned on with the cartridge possibly installed (step 201),
The processor unit 4 determines whether or not there is an error such as an E code or a U code (step 202). Where E
The code indicates the presence or absence of paper or the presence of jam, and the U code indicates the abnormality of the fuser or the abnormality of the optical system. When there is no error in step 202, the drive motor 3 is turned on (step 203), and after being driven for 1 second (step 204), the drive motor 3 is turned off (step 20).
5). When the cartridge is installed in the apparatus by rotating the drive motor for 1 second in step 204,
The drive gear on the cartridge side and the drive gear of the drive motor are properly meshed.

When the drive motor is turned off, the processor unit 4 determines whether or not the cartridge is mounted by the cartridge presence / absence detection sensor 1 (step 206). When the cartridge is present, the warm-up process for normal operation is performed ( After the warm-up is completed (step 207), normal printing processing is performed (step 208). Also, when there is no cartridge in step 206, and in step 2
If there is an error in 02, all operations are stopped and error processing is performed (step 209).

The error processing in step 209 includes displaying an error message on the control panel,
There is a method of notifying the occurrence of an error by other display means. FIG. 5 shows a display example when an error message is displayed on the control panel.

In the flowchart when the front cover is closed in FIG. 4, only the process of step 301 is different, and the other processes of steps 302 to 309 are the same as steps 201 to 209 of FIG. .

[0018]

As described above, in the cartridge mounting method of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, when the predetermined operation is performed with the cartridge possibly inserted, the cartridge is driven for the predetermined time. Since the presence or absence of the cartridge is detected after the motor is rotated and the gears are correctly meshed, the gear meshing of the cartridge and the drive motor is reliably corrected, and the presence or absence of the cartridge in the device is accurately detected. be able to.
Moreover, since a mechanism for correcting the meshing of gears is unnecessary, the structure can be simplified. Therefore,
It is possible to reduce the size and cost of the device.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of a cartridge detection system in a laser beam printer according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a basic processing procedure of gear drive and cartridge detection in the cartridge detection system of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure when the power is turned on.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure when a front cover is closed.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example when an error message is displayed on the control panel.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Cartridge presence / absence detection sensor, 2 ... Interlock open / close sensor, 3 ... Drive motor, 4 ... Processor section

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An image forming apparatus comprising a cartridge for holding a photosensitive drum and the like, a detecting means for detecting whether or not the cartridge is mounted, and a driving means for driving the cartridge, wherein the cartridge is provided in the apparatus. A cartridge for an image forming apparatus, characterized in that, when a predetermined operation is executed in a mounted state, the driving means is driven for a predetermined time, and thereafter, the presence or absence of the mounting of the cartridge is detected by the detecting means. How to wear.