JPS6163878A - Detector of recovery quantity of cleaning device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To detect the powder filling state of a recovering vessel easily and precisely before and after setting the vessel with a simple constitution by detecting the position of a receiving tray on which the recovering vessel is set up. CONSTITUTION:When the recovering vessel 11 is set up on the receiving tray 12 to be elastically excited upwards by a compressing spring 15 and vertically moved, a part of light between the light emitting and receiving elements of a photocoupler 16 is partially shielded by a shielding plate 17 unitedly molded by the tray 12. When recovery toner 14 is recovered to the vessel 11 and the vessel 11 is filled with the toner, light between the light emitting and receiving elements of the coupler 16 is completely shielded by the plate 17 and the arrival of the tray 12 at the most-descended position is detected. When the vessel 11 is not set up on the tray 12, light is not shielded at all by the shielding plate 17 and the most-ascended position of the tray 12 is detected on the basis of a detecting signal through the photocoupler 16. Consequently, the powder filling state in the recovery vessel before or after setting the recovering vessel can be easily and precisely detected with a simple constitution.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] Technical Field> This invention relates to a cleaning device that removes and collects developing powder remaining on a photoreceptor of a copying machine. The present invention relates to a collection amount detection device that detects a state.

<Prior art and its drawbacks> Conventional cleaning devices use a container such as a filter bag to collect developing powder, but it is difficult for the operator to detect when the collected powder is full. It is necessary to determine when to discard the powder accumulated in the container by checking the number of copies. For this reason, there is a drawback that, due to a mistake in checking the number of sheets, the user forgets to discard the powder that is full, resulting in defective copies.

Furthermore, since it is not possible to determine from outside the machine whether or not the container has been installed in the copying machine, there has been a problem in which copying is performed without the container being installed and the inside of the copying machine is smeared with toner.

゛〈Object of the Invention〉 In view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, this invention places a collection container on a movable tray and detects the position of the tray.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a collection amount detection device for a cleaning device that can detect whether a container is not installed or when the container is full of powder after installation.

<Structure of the Invention> The present invention includes a tray that is supported in a state where it is elastically biased upward, and detects that the tray on which the collection container of the cleaning device is placed has descended to a predetermined position, or the collection container is placed on the tray. The copying machine is characterized by having means for generating an operation stop signal to the copying machine main body when a state in which the copying machine is not placed is detected.

<Example> Fig. 1 is a partially cutaway external view of the powder collecting section of a cleaning device to which the collected amount detection device according to the present invention is applied, and Fig.
The figure is a diagram showing the main parts of a copying machine equipped with the same cleaning device.

1 is a photosensitive drum which rotates in the direction of the arrow.

A charging section 7 consisting of a corona discharger, a developing section 8, a transfer section 2, a static elimination charger 3, a static elimination lamp 4, and a cleaner part 6 are arranged around the photosensitive drum l. C between the charging section 7 and the developing section 8 indicates an exposure position.

The cleaning device includes the cleaner part 6, an intake/exhaust duct 12, a cyclone 10, a collection container 11, and a suction pro-fan 9. A fur brush 5 is provided in the cleaner part 6, and the fur brush 5 scrapes off and removes the toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 1 after transfer. The scraped off residual toner is sucked and collected by the cyclone IO through the duct 12 in the flow path indicated by arrow A. The air separated from the toner in the cyclone IO by the suction pro-afan 9 is exhausted into the duct 12 and discharged outside the machine through the flow path indicated by arrow B. The toner separated by the cyclone 10 falls into a collection container 11 and is collected. The recovery container 11 is a telescopic connecting tube to the lower discharge port of the cyclone 10.
Connected by 3.

The recovery amount detection device includes a tray 12 that is elastically biased upward by a compression spring 15 and supported so as to be movable up and down, and a tray 1.
It consists of a shielding plate 17 attached to 2 and a saucer position detection section consisting of a photocoupler 16. The collection container 11 is placed and set on the tray 12. The compression spring 15 is attached between the tray 12 and the support member 19. Photocoupler 16 is fixed to support member 18 . Shielding plate 17
As the tray 12 moves, the light passes between the receiving and emitting portions of the photocoupler 16.

In the above configuration, when the empty collection container 11 is placed on the tray 12, its own weight causes the compression spring 15 to
is contracted and the shielding plate 17 is lowered, and as shown in FIG. 3(B), it is in a state of blocking the light between the reception and emission of the photocoupler 16. The output of the photocoupler 16 during this installation is sent to the main body of the copying machine as an operable signal. After that, the collected toner 14
As the amount of debris accumulates in the collection container 11, the compression spring 15 contracts in accordance with the amount of accumulation, and the shielding plate 17 gradually lowers. The shielding plate 17 blocks light between the receiving and emitting light of the photocoupler 16 until just before the collecting container 11 is full of collected toner, so that the copying machine remains in an operable state as long as the collecting container 11 is not full.

When it is full, the shielding plate 1 is closed as shown in FIG. 3(C).
7 is pulled out downward between the light receiving and emitting parts of the photocoupler 16, so that the light is not blocked. The output of the photocoupler 16 when the copying machine is full is sent to the main body of the copying machine as an operation stop signal. Therefore, when the collected toner is full, copying cannot be performed unless the collected toner is discarded. Next, when the collection container 11 is removed from the receiving tray 12 in the case of discarding the collected toner, the compression spring 15 is in an extended state, and the shielding plate 17 is moved to receive the photocoupler 16, as shown in FIG. 3(A). The space between the lights is drawn upwards, and the light is not blocked. As a result, it is possible to detect by the output of the photocoupler 16 whether the collection container 11 is not placed on the tray 12, and the output is sent to the main body of the copying machine as an operation stop signal in the same way as when the container is full. Therefore, it is possible to prevent copying from being performed while the recovery container 11 is not installed.

In the above embodiment, the fur brush 5 is used in the cleaner part 6, but a cleaning member such as a blade may be used.Also, it is possible to detect whether the collection container is not installed or is full of collected toner. When the operation is stopped, a message indicating that the container is not installed or that the collection container has been rejected may be displayed on the operation panel. <Effects of the Invention> As described above, according to the present invention, with a simple configuration such as detecting the position of the container tray, it is possible to reliably detect whether the collection container is not installed or whether the collection container is full of powder after installation. This eliminates the need to make a mistake in deciding when to dispose of powder, and also prevents troubles caused by forgetting to install a container.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a partially cutaway external view of the powder collecting section of a cleaning device to which the collected amount detection device according to the present invention is applied;
The figure is a diagram showing the main parts of a copying machine equipped with the same cleaning device.
FIGS. 3(A) to 3(C) are diagrams showing the positional relationship between the light receiving and emitting sections of the photocoupler 16 and the shielding plate 17 of the recovery amount detecting device. 11-collection container, 12-receptacle, 1υ: 1 14-recovery toner, 15-compression spring, 16-photocoupler, 17-shielding plate.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A cleaning device that removes developing powder remaining on a photoreceptor of a copying machine with a cleaning member and collects it in a collection container, which includes a tray supported in an upwardly elastically biased state and the tray on which the collection container is placed. and means for generating an operation stop signal to the copying machine main body when detecting that the collecting container has been lowered to a predetermined position or detecting that the collection container is not placed on the receiving tray. Recovered amount detection device.