JPH11272059A - Residual toner detecting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a residual toner detecting device capable of reducing the fluctuation of detecting performance at the time of mass-producing. SOLUTION: In this residual toner detecting device provided with a piezoelectric sensor 8 attached to a hopper for storing the toner so that a detecting plane 8a is located inside the hopper, a rotary body 9 revolving in the state being away at a specific interval from the detecting plane 8a, and a flexible cleaning member 14 fitted to the rotary body 9 and removing the toner on the detecting plane 8a while periodically coming into slidable contact with the detecting plane 8a, the cleaning member 14 is formed in a flat plate state and a cleaning member fitting part capable of fitting the cleaning member 14 is provided in the rotary body 9 so that one side of the plane of the cleaning member 14 is allowed to face the detecting plane 8a while to tilt in the direction parting from the detecting plane 8a toward the rotary direction, the end part 14a on the rear side in the rotary direction on the cleaning member 14 is bent to the rotary body 9 side and bought into slidable contact with the detecting plane 8a.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an electrophotographic copying machine,
The present invention relates to a toner remaining amount detecting device used for a toner replenishing device of an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic process such as a laser printer and a facsimile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 9 is a side view showing an example of a conventional toner remaining amount detecting device, and FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken along line DD of FIG.
This toner remaining amount detecting device includes a hopper 1 for storing toner.
A piezoelectric sensor 102 attached to the hopper 101 so that the detection surface 102a is positioned inside the hopper 101 and detects toner.
A rotating body 103 disposed inside the hopper 101 so as to face the detection surface 102a and rotating at a predetermined interval from the detection surface 102a; and a rotation of the rotating body 103 attached to the rotating body 103. Periodically with the detection surface 10
A flexible cleaning member 104 for slidingly contacting the surface 2a and removing the toner adhered to the detection surface 102a.

The cleaning member 104 has an L-shaped cross section formed by bending a rectangular sheet material made of a synthetic resin such as PET at a right angle, and has one side surface of a rib 103 a formed on the surface of the rotating body 103. Of the rotating body 103
Affixed to the surface. When the rotating body 103 rotates in the direction of arrow E in FIG. 10, the tip of the cleaning member 104 comes into contact with the tip of the piezoelectric sensor 102 and bends backward in the rotational direction, and the tip of the cleaning member 104 slides on the detection surface 102a. Thus, the toner attached to the detection surface 102a is removed.

When the amount of toner remaining in the hopper 101 is large, its upper surface is located higher than the detection surface 102a, so that even if the cleaning member 104 removes the toner on the detection surface 102a, the toner is immediately removed. Is in contact with the detection surface 102a, and the output of the piezoelectric sensor 102 is maintained in a high state. On the other hand, when the remaining amount of the toner inside the hopper 101 decreases and the upper surface thereof is positioned below the detection surface 102a, the toner does not contact the detection surface 102a, and the output of the piezoelectric sensor 102 becomes Low. Therefore, by checking the output of the piezoelectric sensor 102, it is possible to know that the remaining amount of toner has decreased.

[0005]

In the conventional toner remaining amount detecting device described above, it is difficult to accurately determine the squareness of the cleaning member 104, and the angle varies within a range of about ± 20 ° to 30 °. During mass production, the contact pressure of the cleaning member 104 with respect to the detection surface 102a fluctuates, which causes a problem that the detection performance fluctuates.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a toner remaining amount detecting device capable of reducing variation in detection performance during mass production. is there.

[0007]

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a piezoelectric sensor which is attached to a hopper for storing toner so that a detection surface is located inside the hopper and detects toner. A rotating body that is disposed inside the hopper so as to face the detection surface and rotates with a predetermined interval between the detection surface and the rotating body, and attached to the rotating body to rotate the rotating body. A flexible cleaning member for periodically slidingly contacting the detection surface and removing toner attached to the detection surface, wherein the cleaning member is formed in a flat plate shape; On the rotating body, one surface of the cleaning member faces the detection surface and is inclined in a direction away from the detection surface toward the rotation direction, and an end of the cleaning member on the rotation direction rear side is the rotation body side. Deflected by and is characterized in that the said is one surface cleaning member mounting portion that is attachable to the cleaning member so as to be able to sliding contact with the sensing surface is provided.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the toner remaining amount detecting device of the first aspect, the cleaning member mounting portion is formed integrally with the rotating body.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view of a toner replenishing device 1 having a toner remaining amount detecting device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a left side view of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a plan view of FIG. 5, FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 4, FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 5, FIG. 7 is a plan view of FIG. FIG.

A toner replenishing device 1 shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 is for replenishing toner to a developing device of an electrophotographic copying machine, and includes a substantially box-shaped hopper 2 having an open upper surface, and an upper surface of the hopper 2. A lid 3 is attached to the opening, and the front end side is bent downward at a right angle, and a pair of left and right side walls 4 and 5 attached to the lid 3. As shown in FIG. 3, the lid 3 has an opening 3a, and a toner cartridge (not shown) is detachably attached to the opening 3a.

The hopper 2 is for storing toner, and as shown in FIG.
And a side wall 2b extending upward from a peripheral portion of the bottom wall 2a.
And The rear end of the hopper 2 is provided with a slit-shaped opening 2c extending in the lateral direction, and the opening 2c is opened and closed by a shielding member (not shown).

Inside the hopper 2, a plurality of rotating shafts 6 extending in the lateral direction are arranged in parallel at an interval in the front-rear direction. Both ends of each rotating shaft 6 are rotatably supported by through holes provided in the side wall 2b, and one end of each rotating shaft 6 is connected to the motor via a transmission mechanism. Each rotary shaft 6 is provided with a U-shaped bar-shaped stirring blade 7 (see FIG. 3). When the rotary shaft 6 rotates, the toner stored in the hopper 2 is stirred by the stirring blade 7. It is to be moved.

A piezoelectric sensor 8 for detecting the remaining amount of toner is provided below the hopper 2. Piezoelectric sensor 8
5, is mounted so as to be embedded in a mounting hole provided in the left side wall 2b of the hopper 2, and a detection surface 8a at the tip thereof is located inside the hopper 2. A rotating body 9 is attached to the left end of one rotating shaft 6 so as to face the detection surface 8a of the piezoelectric sensor 8.

The rotating body 9 is a synthetic resin injection-molded product, and includes a substantially disk-shaped base 10 partially cut away, and a cylindrical bearing 11 provided at the center of one surface of the base 10. And a through hole 1 for inserting the rotating shaft 6 into the center.
2 are provided. In addition, the rotating body 9 does not rotate with respect to the rotating shaft 6, and when the rotating shaft 6 rotates, the rotating body 9 rotates with a predetermined interval between the rotating body 9 and the detection surface 8a. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, an inclined surface 13 is provided on a portion of the other surface of
A cleaning member mounting portion 13 having an a is formed, and a flat and long cleaning member 14 is adhered to the inclined surface 13a with a double-sided tape.

The cleaning member 14 is made of, for example, a PET sheet material. One end of the cleaning member 14 is supported by the inclined surface 13a, and one surface faces the detection surface 8a and moves away from the detection surface 8a in the rotation direction. It is inclined.
As shown in FIG. 7, the distance d between the base 10 of the rotating body 9 and the side wall 2b of the hopper 2 is slightly deflected toward the rotating body 9 when the other end of the cleaning member 14 is pressed against the inner surface of the side wall 2b. Is set to

When the rotating body 9 rotates in the direction of arrow C in FIG. 6, one surface of the cleaning member 14 comes into contact with the edge of the tip of the piezoelectric sensor 8, and as shown in FIG. The rear end 14a bends toward the rotating body 9 and the detection surface 8a
The cleaning member 14 rides on the upper surface, and one surface of the cleaning member 14 slides on the detection surface 8a, and the toner attached to the detection surface 8a is wiped off.
When the end 14a of the cleaning member 14 gets over the front end of the piezoelectric sensor 8, the end 14a returns to the side wall 2b side by elasticity and is again pressed against the inner surface of the side wall 2b. This operation is periodically repeated while the rotating shaft 6 is rotating.

Since the cleaning member 14 has a flat plate shape and the inclination angle of the inclined surface 13a of the cleaning member mounting portion 13 does not vary, the contact pressure of the cleaning member 14 on the detection surface 8a during mass production varies substantially. And variation in detection performance is small.

When a toner cartridge is mounted on the toner replenishing device 1 and a predetermined button on the copying machine body is pressed, toner is supplied from the toner cartridge to the hopper 2. A small amount of toner supplied to the hopper 2 is supplied to the developing device via the opening 2c in accordance with a signal from the developing device.
Further, each rotation shaft 6 rotates, and the stirring blade 7 moves the toner.

As the rotating shaft 6 rotates, the cleaning member 14 attached to the rotating body 9 periodically comes into sliding contact with the detection surface 8a of the piezoelectric sensor 8, and wipes off the toner attached to the detection surface 8a. When the remaining amount of toner inside the hopper 2 is large, even if the detection surface 8a is wiped off by the cleaning member 14, the toner immediately contacts the detection surface 8a, so that the output of the piezoelectric sensor 8 is Hi.
gh, but when the remaining amount of toner inside the hopper 2 becomes small, the toner does not contact the detection surface 8a, so that the output of the piezoelectric sensor 8 becomes low. When the output from the piezoelectric sensor 8 becomes low, the control device of the copying machine main body displays a message informing that the remaining amount of toner is low on the display unit, and urges the user to replace the toner cartridge.

[0020]

As described above, in the toner remaining amount detection device of the present invention, the variation in the contact pressure of the cleaning member with respect to the detection surface of the piezoelectric sensor during mass production is small, so that the variation in detection performance is small.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a toner supply device 1 including a toner remaining amount detection device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a left side view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a left side view of the hopper 2;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view of the operation of the cleaning member 14;

FIG. 9 is a side view of a conventional toner remaining amount detecting device.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken along line DD of FIG. 9;

[Description of Signs] 2 Hopper 8 Piezoelectric sensor 8a Detection surface 9 Rotating body 13 Cleaning member mounting part 14 Cleaning member

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A piezoelectric sensor for detecting a toner, the detection surface being attached to a hopper for storing toner so that the detection surface is located inside the hopper, and the detection surface being disposed inside the hopper so as to face the detection surface. A rotating body that rotates with a predetermined distance between the rotating body and a toner that is attached to the rotating body, periodically slides on the detection surface with the rotation of the rotating body, and removes toner adhered to the detection surface. The cleaning member is formed in a flat plate shape, and one surface of the cleaning member faces the detection surface on the rotating body. Inclined in a direction away from the detection surface toward the rotation direction,
A cleaning member mounting portion capable of mounting the cleaning member is provided such that an end portion of the cleaning member on the rear side in the rotation direction bends toward the rotating body and the one surface can slidably contact the detection surface. A toner remaining amount detecting device characterized by the above-mentioned. 2. The toner remaining amount detecting device according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning member attaching portion is formed integrally with the rotating body.