JPH09190077A - Electrophotographic device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electrophotographic device capable of detecting that a waste toner container is full of waste toner even when sufficient space can not be secured in the waste toner container. SOLUTION: This device is provided with a waste toner storing means storing the waste toner obtained by removing residual toner on a photoreceptor drum, and the waste toner fullness detecting means of the waste toner storing means. Then, a sweep roller for carrying toner 6 is arranged at the waste toner receiving port 3 of the waste toner storing means, and a coupling means with a gear 7 transmitting the driving force to the roller 6 from a main body device is transmitted through a pin 9 broken by fixed load or more, and a sensor arm 10 constituting the fullness detecting means is integrated with the shaft 8 of the sweep roller. When the load of the roller 6 carrying the waste toner to the storing means is equal to or above a fixed value, the pin 9 is broken and the fullness detecting means is actuated.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a waste toner full detection for an electrophotographic apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional electrophotographic apparatus, toner used for development remains on the surface of a photosensitive member without being transferred or cleaned, and then scraped by a cleaning means, and the scraped toner is sent to a waste toner bottle. Is thrown away.

FIG. 3 shows a conventional waste toner detection method.

In FIG. 3, the toner is sent from the cleaning device 11 to the waste toner bottle 13 side by the screw 12. An eccentric polygonal plate 14 is attached to the tip of the screw 12, and the screw 1
By rotating together with the rotation of 2, the oscillator 16 in the photo sensor 15 is moved up and down once every time the screw 12 is rotated, and is moved in the left-right direction by the number of polygonal faces of the polygonal plate 14. At this time, the photo sensor 15 operates by interrupting the light emission of the sensor by the vibrator 16 provided in the middle, and always outputs an ON / OFF signal during printer operation. 16 is a photo sensor 1
The transparent window portion surrounds the vibrator 16 in order to make it easy to detect that the vibrator 16 blocks the light reception and emission of light. And
The fullness of the waste toner bottle is detected by looking at the change in the on / off signal.

When the waste toner bottle 13 is filled with the waste toner, the toner in the waste toner bottle always blocks the light emission and reception of the photosensor 15, so that it is determined that the toner in the waste toner bottle is full. To do. The screw 15 is attached above the screw 12 provided in the drum unit of the electrophotographic apparatus main body,
The waste toner conveyed by the screw 12 usually accumulates far below the photo sensor 15, and when the waste toner reaches the photo sensor 15, the waste toner is mechanically full.

[0006]

However, when the shape of the waste toner bottle is not a shape having a margin in the vertical direction, for example, in the case of a flat shape container, a sufficient space cannot be taken in the height direction. If such a detection method is adopted, there is a risk of malfunction.

If the user takes out the drum for some reason and inclines the toner into the transparent window,
The toner may cause a bridge phenomenon and may not fall freely from this narrow area, which is a malfunction.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is possible to detect the fullness of the waste toner even if the waste toner container cannot have a sufficient space. To provide a device.

[0009]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is provided with a waste toner storage means for storing waste toner from which residual toner on the photosensitive drum has been removed, and the waste toner storage means. In the electrophotographic apparatus provided with the waste toner full detection means, a sweep roller for conveying toner is provided at the waste toner receiving port of the waste toner storage means,
The connecting means with the gear for transmitting the driving force to the sweep roller from the main body device is transmitted by a pin which is damaged by a load of a certain level or more, and a sensor arm constituting a full detection means is integrated with the sweep roller shaft to form a housing means. When the load of the sweep roller that conveys the waste toner to the roller is above a certain level, the pin is damaged and the full-state detecting means operates.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view for explaining a waste toner full detection device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged explanatory view for a main part thereof.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a waste toner bottle, and the waste toner bottle 1 has a wide installation area and a low height, and as described above, it has a shape in which normal waste toner is difficult to detect. On the contrary, such a shape is effective in that the storage space for the bottle can be narrowed, the main body of the electrophotographic apparatus can be downsized, and the degree of freedom in layout can be increased.

The waste toner bottle 1 is provided with a mixer 2 for conveying inside, and the mixer is driven by the main body of the apparatus to convey the waste toner in the bottle 1 to the inner side so that the toner is sufficiently stored in the bottle 1. It is a conveying means for accommodating. 3 is
It is a waste toner receiving port provided on the upper surface. The waste toner receiving port 3 receives a cleaning device (not shown) through a pipe 4 with a screw. A shutter 5 is provided on the pipe 4.

The waste toner receiving port 3 has a sweep roller 6 below the waste toner receiving port 3, and the sweep roller 6 forcibly sends the toner into the bottle 1.

The sweep roller 6 is driven by a transmission force from the gear body 7 from the main body of the apparatus, and the connection between the gear 7 and the sweep roller 6 is set on the shaft 8 of the sweep roller 6 as shown in FIG. Are connected by a pin 9. The pin 9 is a bent pin that is broken when the torque of the sweep roller 6 exceeds a certain level and the pin 9 cannot transmit the driving force from the gear 7.

A sensor arm 10 is integrated with the shaft 8 and rotates together with the sweep roller 6 to which the driving force is transmitted through the pin 9 by the rotation of the gear 7 to detect the light emission / reception of the photo sensor 15. When the arm 10 is blocked, the sensor 15 outputs an on / off signal.

The present invention constitutes the waste toner full detection device as described above.

Since the folding pin 9 is used to connect the sweep roller 6 and the gear 7, when the waste toner is stored in the bottle 1 at a certain amount or more, the torque for rotating the sweep roller 6 becomes large. , When the load pin becomes unbearable, the bending pin 9 breaks and the gear 7 rotates,
The sensor arm 10, which is a member integrated with the rotation of the sweep roller 6, does not pass in front of the photo sensor 15, cannot give an on / off signal to the sensor 15, and can detect fullness.

[0019]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to effectively detect the fullness of the waste toner even when the waste toner bottle has a large installation area and a low height, or when the normal photosensor method cannot be used. You can Further, the toner full detection means can be installed at a position lower than the full height of the waste toner.

Since the waste toner bottle is thin and can be stored in the dead space even in the design of a normal printer, the printer becomes compact.

The present technique is effective even when the storage capacity of one toner cartridge is large. Further, even if the storage capacity of the toner cartridge is small, the number of times the hand is soiled with the waste toner can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a waste toner full detection device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged explanatory view of a main part of FIG.

FIG. 3 shows a conventional waste toner detection method.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Waste Toner Bottle 2 Mixer 3 Waste Toner Inlet 4 Pipe 5 Shutter 6 Sweep Roller 7 Gear 8 Axis 9 Pin 10 Sensor Arm 11 Cleaning Device 12 Screw 13 Waste Toner Bottle 14 Polygonal Plate 15 Photo Sensor 16 Transducer

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An electrophotographic apparatus comprising: waste toner storage means for storing waste toner from which residual toner on a photosensitive drum has been removed, and waste toner full detection means for the waste toner storage means. A sweep roller for conveying toner is provided at the waste toner receiving port of the accommodating means, and a means for transmitting the driving force to the sweep roller from the main body device is transmitted by a pin that is damaged by a load of a certain amount or more, and a sweep A sensor arm constituting a full detection means is integrated with the roller shaft so that the pin is damaged and the full detection means operates when the load of the sweep roller that conveys the waste toner to the storage means exceeds a certain level. An electrophotographic apparatus having the above-mentioned configuration.