JPH0895363A - Electrophotographic printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide an electrophotographic printer capable of effectively detecting the presence of a cartridge and toner and reducing the size and cost of the whole of a device. CONSTITUTION: The toner cartridge 1 is provided with both of a light emitting diode 11A including a part of the operating region of the mixer 2 of the cartridge 1 as an optical path and a photosensor 11 consisting of a phototransistor 11B. The cartridge case 1A of the cartridge 1 is composed of a light transmission member. Then, a discriminating circuit for discriminating whether the toner T in the cartridge 1 and the cartridge 1 itself are present or not based on a signal from the phototransistor 11B is arranged.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electrophotographic printer device, and more particularly to an electrophotographic printer device in which toner is replenished by replacing a cartridge.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a general electrophotographic printer,
In order to exchange toner efficiently and without getting your hands dirty,
A cartridge system in which a cartridge filled with toner is replaced is widely known.

This type of electrophotographic printer is provided with means for detecting the presence / absence of a cartridge and the presence / absence of toner in the cartridge.

[0004]

However, in the electrophotographic printer having the above-mentioned structure, since the means for detecting the presence / absence of the cartridge and the means for detecting the presence / absence of the toner in the cartridge are separately provided, The number of points increases and the equipment space for that increases, so that
In this respect, there is an inconvenience that the entire device becomes large and the cost increases.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an electrophotographic printer device which improves the disadvantages of the conventional example, particularly effectively detects the presence or absence of a cartridge and toner, and downsizes the entire device and reduces the cost. The purpose is to do.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided a photosensitive drum, a cartridge type developing means for developing an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum, and an apparatus main body for accommodating and holding these parts. ing. The cartridge is equipped with a mixer for stirring toner.

An optical path of an optical sensor composed of a light emitting diode and a phototransistor is set in a part of the mixer operation area of the toner cartridge.

Then, the cartridge case of the toner cartridge is formed of a light transmitting member, and a discriminating circuit for discriminating the presence / absence of toner in the cartridge and the presence / absence of the toner cartridge based on a signal from the phototransistor is provided. I am collecting. This aims to achieve the above-mentioned object.

[0009]

When the entire apparatus is set to the operating state, the light emitted from the light emitting diode 11A reaches the phototransistor 11B when the toner cartridge 1 is not attached to the printer body 10. In this case, the discrimination circuit unit 13
Determines that "the toner cartridge 1 is not attached to the printer body 10", and outputs a predetermined signal to the outside.

When the toner cartridge 1 is mounted in the printer body 10 and the toner T is also sufficiently contained in the cartridge case 1A, the light emitted from the light emitting diode 11A is blocked by the toner T and the phototransistor 1 is provided.
It does not reach 1B. In such a case, the determination circuit unit 13
It is determined that "the toner cartridge 1 is mounted in the printer body 10 and the toner T is also sufficiently in the cartridge case body 1A", and a predetermined signal is output to the outside.

Further, when the toner T in the cartridge case body 1A is consumed and the remaining amount becomes small, the light emitted from the light emitting diode 11A is shielded by the mixer 2 in the rotation cycle of the mixer 2. Therefore, the light emitted from the light emitting diode 11A reaches the phototransistor 11B at the rotation cycle of the mixer 2. As a result, the determination circuit unit 13 determines that “the toner cartridge 1 is attached to the printer body 10 and the remaining amount of the toner T is small”, and outputs a predetermined signal to the outside.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

Here, FIG. 1 shows the positional relationship between the toner cartridge and the optical sensor in the present embodiment, FIG. 2 shows a circuit diagram for explaining the operation including the optical sensor and the discrimination circuit portion, and FIG. Shows the operation explanatory view of FIG.

First, in FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 indicates a toner cartridge as a developing means for feeding a predetermined toner to a photosensitive drum (not shown). The toner cartridge 1 is for developing an electrostatic latent image on a photosensitive drum, and includes a cartridge case 1A, a toner stirring mixer 2 provided in the cartridge case 1A, and a toner on the photosensitive drum. And a developing roller (not shown) for directly feeding the toner. In this embodiment, the cartridge case 1A is made of a light-transmissive plastic, and the mixer 2 is made of a light-shielding member. Here, reference numeral 10 indicates a printer main body that houses and holds the photosensitive drum, the toner cartridge 1, and the like.

The toner cartridge 1 has an optical sensor 1 in which an optical path is set in the cartridge case 1A and a part of a mixer operation area in the cartridge case 1A.
1 is installed side by side. The optical sensor 11 is composed of a light emitting diode 11A and a phototransistor 11B. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the light emitting diode 11A is provided on the upper side and the phototransistor 11B is provided on the lower side with the cartridge case 1A interposed therebetween. In FIG. 1, the symbol T indicates toner.

Further, FIG. 2 shows an operation circuit diagram in which the photosensor 11 and the discrimination circuit section 13 described above are incorporated. In FIG. 2, the light emitting diode 11A of the optical sensor 11 is shown.
And the phototransistor 11B are operated by the same power source of 5 [V].

The discriminating circuit section 13 has a first discriminating function for discriminating the absence of the cartridge when the phototransistor 11B constantly detects the light from the light emitting diode 11A, and the phototransistor 11B has the light emitting diode 1A.
When the intermittent change of the intensity of the light from 1A is detected, the second determination function of determining that the cartridge is present and the toner is absent, and the phototransistor 11B is the light emitting diode 11.
When the light from A is not always detected, a third discrimination function for discriminating that there is a cartridge and toner is provided.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

First, when the entire apparatus is set to the operating state,
The optical sensor 11 also operates along with the other components, and the output of the phototransistor 11B is input to the determination circuit unit 13. Here, when the toner cartridge 1 is not attached to the printer body 10, the light emitted from the light emitting diode 11A reaches the phototransistor 11B, and the emitter of the phototransistor 11B is always "high level (H)". In this case, the determination circuit unit 13 determines that "the toner cartridge 1 is not attached to the printer body 10" and outputs a predetermined signal to the outside.

When the toner cartridge 1 is mounted in the printer body 10 and the toner T is also sufficiently contained in the cartridge case 1A, the light emitted from the light emitting diode 11A is blocked by the toner T and the phototransistor 1 is provided.
It does not reach 1B. In such a case, the phototransistor 1
The emitter of 1B is always "low level (L)".
Therefore, the determination circuit unit 13 determines that "the toner cartridge 1 is attached to the printer body 10 and the toner T is sufficiently in the cartridge case body 1A", and outputs a predetermined signal to the outside.

Further, when the toner T in the cartridge case body 1A is consumed and the remaining amount becomes small, the light emitted from the light emitting diode 11A is shielded by the mixer 2 in the rotation cycle of the mixer 2. Therefore, the light emitted from the light emitting diode 11A reaches the phototransistor 11B at the rotation cycle of the mixer 2. Therefore, the emitter of the phototransistor 11B repeats "low level" and "high level" in the rotation cycle of the mixer 11A. As a result, the discrimination circuit unit 13
It is determined that "the toner cartridge 1 is attached to the printer body 10 and the remaining amount of the toner T is small", and a predetermined signal is output to the outside.

Here, in the above embodiment, the case where the cartridge case 1A is formed of the transparent member is illustrated, but the cartridge case 1A is formed of the usual plastic member, and the light emitting diode 11A and the phototransistor 11B are formed. A part of the cartridge case 1A located in the optical path between them may be formed of a light transmitting member.

[0023]

Since the present invention is constructed and functions as described above, it is equipped with a pair of optical sensors and a discrimination circuit. Therefore, the presence or absence of a toner cartridge and the presence or absence of toner are detected by a single optical sensor. Therefore, it is possible to detect two sensors in the conventional example with one sensor, and thus the number of parts can be reduced and the sensor storage space can be reduced. In this respect, it is possible to provide an unprecedented excellent electrophotographic printer device that can reduce the size of the entire device and reduce the cost.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially omitted configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram that regulates the operation of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an output state of the sensor in FIG.

[Explanation of Codes] 1 Toner Cartridge 1A Cartridge Case 2 Mixer 11 Optical Sensor 11A Light Emitting Diode 11B Phototransistor 13 Discrimination Circuit T Toner

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A photosensitive drum, a developing means having a cartridge containing a toner for developing an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum, and an apparatus main body for accommodating and holding each of these parts. In an electrophotographic printer device equipped with a mixer for stirring toner, the toner cartridge is provided with an optical sensor including a light-emitting diode and a phototransistor including a part of a mixer operation region of the toner cartridge as an optical path. In addition, the cartridge case of the toner cartridge is formed of a light transmitting member, and a discrimination circuit for discriminating presence / absence of toner in the cartridge and presence / absence of the toner cartridge based on a signal from the phototransistor is provided. Electrophotographic printer device. 2. The electrophotographic printer apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cartridge case is formed of an ordinary plastic member, and the cartridge case is located in an optical path between the light emitting diode and the phototransistor. An electrophotographic printer device, wherein the portion is formed of a light transmitting member. 3. The discriminating circuit has a first discriminating function for discriminating that there is no cartridge when the phototransistor constantly detects the light from the light emitting diode, and the phototransistor outputs the light from the light emitting diode. The second discriminating function for discriminating the presence of the cartridge and the absence of the toner when the intermittent change of the intensity of the light is detected, and the cartridge and the toner when the phototransistor does not constantly detect the light from the light emitting diode. The electrophotographic printer device according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a third determining function for determining whether there is.