JPS62173482A - Toner replenishing device for electrostatic recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To exactly prevent a wrong toner from being mixed into a developer in a developing device, by providing a marker on the outside surface of a toner cartridge, and providing a means for reading the marker, and a means for inhibiting its use in case a kind of the toner is not matched with the device, on the device body. CONSTITUTION:A bar-code 3 for showing a kind of a toner which has been contained in a cartridge is printed at a prescribed position on the outside surface of a toner cartridge 4. A reader which can read the bar-code 3 is provided on a device body such as a copying machine, etc. The reader consists of a light source 1 such as an LED, etc., and a sensor 2 such as a phototransistor, etc., for detecting a reflected light of a bar-code 1 which has been irradiated by said light source. A kind of the toner, which has been read is compared with information for showing a kind of the toner which is used for its machine stored in a CPU, and when they are different from each other, it is warned by an alarm means.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Technical Field The present invention relates to a toner replenishing device for an electrostatic recording device that replenishes toner to a developing device by attaching a toner cartridge containing toner to the developing device.

2. Description of the Related Art To replenish toner to a developing device of an electrostatic recording device such as an electrophotographic copying machine, an electrostatic printer, or a plotter, a method is widely used in which a toner cartridge is attached to the developing device.

Now, when improvements are made in the process of electrostatic recording devices such as copying machines, the components of the toner used often change accordingly. Therefore, in order to avoid accidentally replenishing toner that does not match the process of the machine, we intentionally changed the shape of the connecting part of the toner cartridge with the developing device, and the shape of the toner replenishment part of the machine body also conformed to the same shape. It was changed to be consistent. Although this can prevent accidentally replenishing toner that does not match the machine, it also requires changing the mold for each model of the machine body and cartridge, and it is also necessary to change the packaging of the cartridge, resulting in a lot of waste. .

In addition, recently, copying machines that can change the developing color to other than black, such as blue, red, or sepia, have become popular, but care must be taken not to replenish red toner with blue toner. you need to pay. Changing the shape of these toner cartridges for replenishing toner for each color requires production of a wide variety of products in small quantities, resulting in extremely high costs. Therefore, toner cartridges of the same shape are used, and the applicable model model and toner color are clearly indicated on the outside to alert the user. It cannot be said that there will be times when you install toner and replenish toner that does not match.

Purpose The present invention improves the above-mentioned drawbacks of conventional toner replenishing devices, enables cost reduction through mass production, and prevents users from accidentally replenishing toner of a different type due to carelessness. An object of the present invention is to provide a toner replenishing device for an electrostatic recording device.

Structure In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a mark on a part of the outer surface of the toner cartridge to identify the type of toner contained therein, and also provides a mark on a part of the outer surface of the toner cartridge to identify the type of toner contained therein. The present invention is characterized in that it includes means for reading the mark, and means for prohibiting use of the toner cartridge if the type of toner read by the means does not match the device.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 1, 2, and 3 show examples in which the present invention is applied to drum-type, trapezoidal-type, and bottle-type toner cartridges, respectively, which have been widely used in the past. In each figure, a bar code 3 indicating the type of toner contained in the cartridge is printed at a predetermined position on the outer surface of the toner cartridge 4, or a sheet of paper on which it is printed is pasted. A reading device capable of reading the above-mentioned barcode 3 is provided in the main body of an apparatus such as a copying machine, facing the path through which the toner cartridge passes when it is installed in a predetermined position. In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the reading device includes a light source 1 such as an LED and a sensor 2 such as a phototransistor that detects the reflected light of the bar code 1 illuminated by the light source 1. FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram showing its configuration. The barcode is read by moving the toner cartridge to the mounting position.

The type of toner read by the reading device is compared with the information stored in the CPU indicating the type of toner used in the machine, and if it differs, a notification device (not shown) will issue a warning sound or flash a lamp. A warning is given by a known warning means.

Alternatively, if the type of toner read is different from the type of toner used in the machine, a member that prevents insertion is protruded from the path when the toner cartridge is installed, so that the toner cartridge cannot be inserted beyond a certain level. In this way, it is possible to prevent incorrect mounting of the toner cartridge and to allow the operator to easily notice the mistake.

As a result of the above, it is possible to reliably prevent the wrong toner from getting mixed into the developer in the developing device, and the shape of the toner cartridge can be changed for each model, or for each developing device in the case of a copying machine that can change colors. There is no need to change the toner cartridge, and the production cost of the toner cartridge and its mounting portion can be reduced due to the mass production effect.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 to 5 are perspective views showing embodiments of a toner cartridge according to the present invention and means for reading a mark indicating the type of toner provided on the outer surface thereof, and FIG. 4 is a circuit showing the configuration of the reading means. It is a diagram. 1... LED 2... Phototransistor (reading means) 6... Barcode (sign) 4... Toner cartridge

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) In a toner replenishment device for an electrostatic recording device in which a toner cartridge containing toner is attached to a developing device and toner is replenished to the developing device, a portion of the outer surface of the toner cartridge contains the type of toner contained therein. In addition, the apparatus main body is provided with a means for reading the above-mentioned mark on the toner cartridge to be installed, and a means for prohibiting the use of the toner cartridge if the type of toner read by the means does not match with the apparatus. A toner replenishing device characterized by being provided. (2) The toner replenishing device according to claim 1, wherein the means for prohibiting use of the toner cartridge is an alarm means. (3) Toner replenishment according to claim 1, wherein the means for prohibiting the use of the toner cartridge is a member that protrudes into the toner cartridge device path so that the toner cartridge cannot be inserted beyond a certain level. Device.