JPS6051858A - Detector for remaining amount of toner - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To detect a decrease in the remaining amount of toner securely and save the circumferential space of a toner container by detecting a magnet which varies in rotating locus with the amount of toner. CONSTITUTION:A holding member 5 is projected radially from the rotating shaft 4 in the toner container, and an arm 5 which has a wide surface opposite in a rotational direction is supported on the member 5 freely shakably and energized by an energizing means 8 in the rotational direction of the shaft 4. The magnet 7 is fixed to the top part of the arm 6. Then a magnetic sensor 9 is provided near the locus that the magnet 7 draws when the shaft 4 rotates with the arm 6 raised by the means 8. Therefore when the amount of toner is sufficient, the opposite surface 6a receives resistance to fall the arm 6 as shown by an arrow B and the magnet 7 draws a track l2 of rotation, which is detected by the sensor 9, but when the remaining amount of toner becomes less, a track l2 of rotation is drawn and the sensor 8 detects the magnetic force of the magnet 7 securely to display that on a warning lamp, etc.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a device for detecting the amount of toner remaining in a toner container in a copying machine.

PRIOR ART Conventional art - As a general-purpose toner remaining amount detection device, a method of detecting the presence or absence of vibration of a vibrating surface is often used. As shown in FIG. 1, a toner sensing sensor 2 equipped with a diaphragm 3 is attached to five suitable locations on the inner wall of the toner container 1 from outside the container. be. This detection device detects whether the diaphragm 3 can vibrate or not to know the presence or absence of toner T, and is activated when the amount of toner T in the toner container 1 becomes less than the diaphragm 3. Then, the diaphragm 3 vibrates to detect that the toner T is running low. However, in this device, if the toner remains attached to the diaphragm 3, the diaphragm 3 cannot vibrate and it may not be possible to detect that the amount of toner in the toner container has decreased.

Furthermore, since this toner remaining amount detection device is constituted by a diaphragm, a piezoelectric element, etc., it is expensive, and since the device as a whole is relatively large, there are problems in that it can be installed only in a limited number of places.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problems and to provide a toner remaining amount detection device with a simple structure that can reliably detect toner at.

Structure of the Invention The toner remaining amount detection device of the present invention includes: a rotating shaft provided in a toner container; a holding member protruding in the radial direction of the rotating shaft;
an arm that is swingably supported by the holding member, is biased in the rotational direction of the rotating shaft by a biasing means, and has a wide surface facing the rotational direction; and an arm that is attached to the tip of the arm. It is equipped with a magnet and a magnetic detection sensor installed close to a predetermined trajectory drawn by the magnet when the rotating shaft rotates with the arm standing up. This is a device configured to operate.

More specifically, in the toner remaining amount detection device of the present invention, when the remaining amount of toner becomes small, the arm having a magnet at the tip rises in the radial direction of the rotating shaft due to the force of the urging means, and rotates. The distance between the shaft and the magnet increases, and as the rotary shaft rotates in this state, the magnet draws its maximum trajectory - the magnetic force of this magnet is detected by a magnetic detection sensor, and it is possible to know when the amount of toner remaining is low. can. Furthermore, when there is sufficient toner, the wide opposing surface provided on the arm receives resistance from the toner, and this resistance forces the arm to bend at a certain angle, thereby reducing the rotation locus of the magnet.

When the rotation locus of the magnet is small, the magnetic detection sensor does not detect the magnetic force of the magnet.

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

2 and 3 are perspective views showing the main parts of this embodiment.

The rotation @4 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 is horizontally provided at an appropriate position within a toner container (not shown). A holding member 5 having a U-shaped cross section is provided on the rotating shaft 4 so as to protrude in the radial direction of the rotating shaft 4 so as to be close to the inner wall surface of the toner container. A plate-shaped arm 6 is swingably held on the holding member 5 by a support 10 provided parallel to the rotating shaft 4 . A magnet 7 is provided at the tip of the arm 6, and a wide opposing surface 6α facing the direction of rotation of the one-rotation shaft 40 is provided.
is provided. The arm 6 is biased by a spring 8 in the same direction as the rotating direction of the rotating shaft 4 (in the direction of arrow A), and when no external force is applied, it rises in the radial direction of the rotating shaft 40, and its lower end is attached to the holding member 5. It comes into contact with the protrusion 11 of.

The magnetic detection sensor 9, which is activated by detecting the magnetic force of the magnet 7, is installed at an appropriate position on the wall surface of the toner container facing the rotation locus (trajectory of radius/1) drawn by the magnet 7 when the arm 6 is in the upright position. There is.

In the apparatus of the present invention configured as described above, when the toner container contains enough toner, the rotation shaft 4 rotates in a predetermined direction (direction of arrow C).

The opposing surface 6α receives resistance from the toner, and the arm 6 is moved to the support shaft 10.
It falls down in the direction of arrow B (see Figure 3) using K as a fulcrum.

The above-mentioned falling of the arm 6 is caused by the biasing force of the spring 8 (
It can be set appropriately by taking into consideration the moment due to the resistance force received from the toner on the opposing surface 6α.

The magnet 7 has a radius of 11 when the arm 6 falls.
It draws a locus of 120 rotations with a smaller radius, and the distance from the magnetic detection sensor 9 increases. Therefore, the magnetic force of the magnet 7 is not detected by the magnetic detection sensor 9, and the magnetic detection sensor 9 does not operate.

Also, when the remaining amount of toner is low and the opposing surface 6α receives no resistance from the toner, the arm 6 rises in the radial direction of the rotating shaft 40 due to the urging force of the spring 8, and the rotation radius of the magnet 70 becomes 11. do.

As a result, the magnet 7 comes to pass near the location where the magnetic detection sensor 9 is installed, and the magnetic detection sensor 9 detects the magnetic force of the magnet 7 and displays the amount of remaining toner with a warning lamp, for example. can notify you when the amount is low.

Note that a rotating shaft is usually provided inside the toner container to prevent toner from blocking.

This rotating shaft can also be used as the rotating shaft 4 in the present invention.

Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the toner remaining amount detection device of the present invention, even when the remaining amount of toner adheres to the inner wall of the container (state 2) decreases, it is possible to avoid false detection as in the conventional case. Therefore, it is possible to reliably detect a decrease in the amount of remaining toner. In addition, all 9 components of the device are stored in the toner container.
The mounting position can be freely set without being affected by the parts around the toner container, and the space around the toner container can be saved.

Furthermore, the inventive device is less sophisticated than conventional devices using diaphragms, piezoelectric elements, and the like.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 schematically shows a conventional toner remaining amount detection device (11
1], FIG. 2, and FIG. 3 are perspective views showing main parts of an embodiment of the present invention. 4... Rotating shaft, 5... Holding member, 6... Arm, 6α... Opposing surface, 7... Magnet, 8...
...Spring-9...Magnetic detection sensor, IO...
・Spindle. ]1...Protrusion,

Claims (1)

[Claims] The toner container includes a rotating shaft, a holding member protruding in the radial direction of the rotating shaft, the holding member being swingably supported by the holding member and biased in the rotational direction of the rotating shaft by a biasing means; An arm with a wide surface facing the direction of rotation, a magnet fixed to the tip of the arm, and a magnet located close to the trajectory drawn by the rescue magnet when the rotation axis rotates with the arm raised up by the biasing means. What is claimed is: 1. A toner remaining amount detection device comprising: a magnetic detection sensor;