JPS63212956A - Electrophotographic recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To exactly know the service life of a cartridge by calculating the service life of the cartridge, based on the read-out contents from a memory provided on the cartridge, and an electrophotographic recording operation, by a read-out and write means. CONSTITUTION:The contents of a memory 29 provided on a cartridge 11 in a machine body 10 are read out by a read-out and write means 30. Subsequently, based on the contents of a memory 29 and an electrophotographic recording operation, a bit of information related to the service life of the cartridge 11 is calculated in a processing circuit 31. As for the calculation related to the service life, either the remaining quantity of a toner or the service life of a photosensitive body 17 may be enough, and the result of this calculation is written in the memory 29 by the means 30. Accordingly, the latest information related to the service life of the cartridge 11 is stored in the memory 29, therefore, in the case of replacing and using plural cartridges, an exact service life can be known from the memory of each cartridge.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Technical Field The present invention relates to electrophotographic recording devices α such as printers and facsimiles.゛Background Art In a typical conventional electrophotographic recording device, (a) t'
! P? ! ! A photoreceptor on which a latent image is formed, a developing means for developing the electrostatic latent image on the photoreceptor with toner, and a cleaning means for removing toner remaining on the surface of the photoreceptor after transfer. The process cartridge consists of
(b) a configuration in which a photoreceptor cartridge consisting of a photoreceptor and a cleaning means is removable from the aircraft; and (e) a developing cartridge including a means for developing with toner is removable from the aircraft. There are various types of configurations. For each of the above-mentioned formats (a) and (c), the lifespan of each cartridge itself is preset depending on the amount of toner, and for the formats (,) and (b), the lifespan of the photoreceptor, etc. It is necessary to replace these cartridges periodically or after performing a predetermined electrophotographic recording operation.

In each of the above-mentioned formats (a) and (c), cartridges are prepared for each so-called color toner such as red, black, brown, and blue, and the cartridge is replaced in order to use the desired color toner. There is.

In this case, if the cartridges are replaced, the remaining amount of toner in each cartridge or the lifespan of the photoreceptor will become unknown unless it is recorded separately. If this occurs, no further recording operation will be performed, which is particularly problematic when the operator is not near such an electrophotographic recording apparatus, for example at night.

A prior art technology is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 185762/1983. In this prior art, when a process cartridge is convertably installed in the machine body and a photoreceptor is exposed to light using a laser beam or a light emitting diode, the exposure time is The process cartridge is provided with means for adding and storing information corresponding to the remaining amount of toner, and comparing the added time with a preset time, and when the added time becomes a larger value than the set time, the process cartridge to operate a buzzer or lamp etc., or alternatively to provide an electrical signal to the host computer (this process) to replace the cartridge. All such configurations are provided in the adult. The addition storage means is cleared each time the cartridge is replaced, and when a new cartridge is installed, calculation is started assuming, for example, that the remaining amount of toner is 100%, that is, in an unused state.

In such prior art, when an operator replaces and uses process cartridges containing toner of various colors depending on the application, the remaining amount of toner is checked each time the process cartridge is replaced. 10
The calculation will start from 0%. This results in an error in calculating the lifespan of a process cartridge that is already partially filled with toner.

Another prior art is a photoreceptor 1 as shown in FIG.
A process cartridge consisting of a magnetic brush developing means 3 for developing using the toner 2, and a cleaning means 4 is removably attached to the machine body, and this process cartridge includes a magnetic brush developing means 3 for developing using the toner 2. The 0 display ring 5 is provided with a display ring 5. The 0 display ring 5 is decelerated and rotated in the direction of the arrow 8 through a gear train 7 meshing with a gear 6 provided at the end of the photoreceptor 1. A display area 9 whose width [1] increases along the rotation direction 8 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the ring 5. This width! 1 corresponds to the remaining amount of toner in the process cartridge, therefore the process cartridge) +7 points. *As the light body 1 rotates and recording is performed, the display ring 5 gradually rotates in the rotation direction 8, and the width of the display area 9 as seen from the outside! becomes narrower. Is this width J? When 1 becomes zero or a very small value, the operator can know that the process cartridge has reached the end of its service life and should be replaced.

In such prior art, the damping ratio of the gear train 7 that transmits power from the photoreceptor 1 to the display ring 5 is set to 10-4, for example.
Therefore, a large number of gears for deceleration are required, and there is a problem that the gear train 7 becomes large in size.

Problem 7-! .

An object of the present invention is to provide an electrophotographic recording device that can accurately determine the life of a car ridge that can be replaced with the aircraft body, and that has a compact configuration.

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention replaceably provides a cartridge operating for an electrophotographic recording operation, and the cartridge includes:
A memory is provided, and the device includes means for reading and writing to the memory, and information related to the life of the cartridge based on the contents read from the memory by the reading and writing means and the electrophotographic recording operation. The electrophotographic apparatus 1i is characterized in that it comprises a control means for controlling the liquid flow and writing the information into the memory by the reading and writing means.

According to the present invention, the cartridge to be replaced is provided with a memory, and the machine performs a process based on the contents of the memory read by the reading and writing means and the electrophotographic recording operation. The horn calculates information related to life, and the information related to life is
It may be the remaining amount of toner in a developing means that uses toner,
It may also be the lifespan of the photoreceptor. This calculation result is written into the memory by the reading and V writing means. Therefore, the latest information related to the life of the cartridge is stored in the memory.

Therefore, even when a plurality of cartridges are used interchangeably, each memory stores information related to the exact life span of the cartridge in which the memory is provided. However, such a configuration can be made relatively compact.

Example FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the present invention.

Electronic photo diary! The body 10 of the apparatus includes a main body 12 to which a process cartridge 11 can be attached and detached, and a cover 13 that allows a part of the main body 12 to be opened and closed. A guide member 4 provided on the cover 13 allows the process cartridge 11 to be attached/detached and replaced with the cover 13 in the dark. The aircraft body 10 has recording paper 1
A cassette 16 containing paper 5 is installed, and the recording paper 15 after recording is discharged to a tray on the cover 13.

Figure @2 is a sectional view of the process cartridge 11.

The process cartridge 11 includes a photoreceptor 17 on which an electrostatic latent image is formed on the outer peripheral surface of a right cylinder, a frame-shaped casing 18 that rotatably supports the photoreceptor 17, and a photoreceptor 17.
The photoreceptor 17 includes a developing means 19 for developing the electrostatic latent image No. 7 using toner with a magnetic brush, and a cleaning means 20 for removing toner remaining on the outer peripheral surface of the photoreceptor 17 after the transfer. The magnetic plan developing means 19 includes a toner 21, a storage box 22 for storing the toner 21, and a developing roller 23 forming a magnetic brush. A guide member 14 provided on the cover 13 supports the side wall of the casing 18.

With the process cartridge 11 VC-attached to the cover 13, the cover 13 is closed, and in this state an electrophotographic recording operation is possible.

A main corona discharger 24 provided on the cover 13 charges the surface of the photoreceptor 17 . The photoreceptor 17 is angularly displaced in the direction of an arrow 25, and an electrostatic latent image is formed by a scanner 26 provided in the body 10 and using a laser beam. In the scanner 26 using this laser light, modulated laser light is reflected by a rotating polygonal reflecting mirror, and the laser light scans the photoreceptor 17 in the axial direction, thereby creating an electrostatic latent image. It has an MII hole formed on the photoreceptor 17.

This electrostatic latent image is visualized into a toner image by a magnetic brush developing device ti19. This visualized toner image is
Corona radiation for transcription? It is transferred onto record #15 by W unit 27. The recording paper 15 after the transfer is guided to the fixing means 28 and fixed thereon, and is then discharged to the tray on the cover 13 as described above.

According to the present invention, the memory 29 is fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the casing 18 of the process cartridge 11. This memory 29 can be connected/disconnected by (a) a connector, and can write electrical signals via the connector. E is a type of random access memory that can be
P ROM (ErasavleE Ieetri
cal Programal+le Read
0nly Memory), or (b
) It may be an optical memory that performs reading and writing by irradiating laser light (and (e) it may also be a magnetic recording medium such as a magnetic tape or a magnetic sheet.

With the process cartridge 11 mounted on the cover 13 of the machine body 10, a write/read hand 30 is attached to the cover 13 in order to write and read data in the memory 29. This writing and reading means 3
0 is a connector for transmitting and receiving electrical signals when the memory 29 is the above-mentioned EEPROM;
When the memory 29 is an optical memory, it is an element that irradiates laser light and receives the reflected light, and when the memory 29 is a magnetic recording medium, it can be realized by a magnetic head. The above-mentioned memory 29 is a so-called non-volatile memory that stores stored contents even without power supply, but as another embodiment, it may be a memory that is constantly backed up by a battery.

FIG. 3 shows the TL of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.
A processing circuit 31 provided in the body 10 is connected to an external host computer 33 via a connector 30, and data from the host computer 33 is transferred to the computer by the electrophotographic recording device. It can be recorded on the recording paper 15. The processing circuit 31 supplies the signal to be recorded from the host computer 33 to the image signal generation circuit 34 via the data bus to generate the m signal, and both signals are supplied to the scanner 26 using laser light to perform the above-mentioned processing. An electrostatic latent image is formed on the photoreceptor 17 as shown in FIG. The operation of the processing circuit 31 is based on the read-only memory 35.
controlled by a program stored in The contents of the calculation are stored in the random access memory 36. The signals from both signal generating circuits 34 are also sent to the dot counter 3.
7 is given. The dot counter 37 counts the number of dots, that is, the number of pixels, on which the toner 21 adheres to the recording paper 15 according to the image signal to be recorded. The output of the dot counter 37 is input to the processing circuit 31.

The contents of memory 29 are read by read and write means 30 and provided to processing circuit 31 via read/write control circuit 38 . When the process cartridge 11 is in an unused state, information indicating that the remaining amount of toner 21 in the magnetic brush developing means 19 is 100% is stored in the memory 29 in advance. This state in which the remaining amount of toner is 100% means that the number of recordable pixels is the maximum value. As the process cartridge 11 is used, the amount of toner 21 decreases, and the number of recordable pixels decreases accordingly. The two memories contain toner 2 that can be recorded by the process cartridge 11.
A picture '; If and a number N1 corresponding to the remaining amount of 1 are stored. This stored pixel number N1 is read out by the reading and writing means 30, given to the processing circuit 31, and once stored in the random access memory 36. The processing circuit 31 allows the process cartridge 11 stored in the random access memory 36 to record the illumination failure N2 derived from the dot counter 37 and recorded after the process cartridge 11 is installed. By subtracting from the a prime number N1, the iii prime number N3 that can be recorded by the subsequent process cartridge 11 is determined.

N5=N2-Nl (1) This pixel WLN3 is stored in the random access memory 36. At the same time, the data is stored in the memory 29 by the read/write means 30. In this way, the random access screen 136 and the memory 29 contain the number of pixels N3 that can be recorded by the process cartridge 11.
is constantly updated and stored. Even if the process cartridge 11 is removed from the machine 10, its memory 29
The store contents of are retained. Further, even when the power to the electrophotographic recording apparatus is turned off or a power outage occurs, the contents stored in the memory 29 are maintained as they are. In this way, the memory 29 always contains a material that can be recorded by the process cartridge 11.
This means that lLN3 is stored. Therefore, if the process cartridge 11 is prepared for each different color of toner 21 of the process cartridge 11, even if the process cartridge 11 is freely replaced, the recordable pixels of each process cartridge 11 are The number N3 is stored in a memory 29 provided for each process cartridge 11.

The processing circuit 31 is also supplied with signals from various sensors 41 and switches 42 via the input ink 7/8 40, and arithmetic processing is performed based on these signals to control the electrophotographic recording operation. Further, through the output ink 7/8 43, members 44 for electrophotographic recording, such as an electromagnetic clutch, an electromagnetic blanking motor, etc., are controlled, and a lamp 45, a buzzer 46, and a display 47 for display are also controlled. Ru. The lamp operates when the number of pixels N3 mentioned above reaches zero or a predetermined value close to zero, and thereby the operator can know the lifespan of the process cartridge 11 currently in use. Toner 2 of the process cartridge 11 corresponding to the number of pixels N3
The remaining amount of 1 is displayed on the display 47.

Referring to FIG. 4, the process moves from step 11 to step n2, and the power is turned on. In step 113, the contents of the two memories installed in the process cartridge 11 are transferred to N1.
is read out by the reading and writing means 30. In step n4, the number of recordable pixels N1, which is the content stored in the memory 29 as described above, is stored in the random access memory 36. At step 5,
From the dot counter 37, the process cartridge 1
1 is attached, the recorded pixel fiN2 is read out and calculation is performed.

In step 11G, the numbers of pixels N 1 and N 2 are compared, and when the number of pixels N1 exceeds the number of pixels N2, that is, when the number of pixels N3 is not zero, step n
7, it is determined that the toner 21 in the magnetic brush developing means 19 provided in the process cartridge 11 is still stored, and the electrophotographic recording operation is continued, and the pixels shown in the above-mentioned formula 1 are The number N3 is 7 mori 2
Write to 9 to update.

In step n6 mentioned above, the number of pixels N1 is changed to the number of pixels N1.
When the number of pixels N3 is 2 or less, that is, when the number of pixels N3 is zero, it is determined that the toner 21 in the process cartridge 11 has been consumed, and the lamp 45 is turned on and the buzzer 46 is sounded to stop the process. It is displayed that the life of the cartridge 11 has expired. This allows the operator to install a new process cartridge 11.
I exchanged it and put it on.

According to the above-described embodiment, it is possible to always know the remaining amount of toner 21 in the process cartridge 11, and hence the lifespan, even if the process cartridge 11 is replaced for each color of toner 21. Therefore, the lifespan of the process cartridge 11 is easy for the author to understand.
Therefore, it is possible to prevent the problem that the toner 21 is completely consumed during the electrophotographic recording operation.

Further, in the embodiment described above, since the contents of the memory 29 can be read and written using an electrical configuration, an alarm is generated by the lamp 45 and the buzzer 46 when the life of the process cartridge 11 is reached. It is extremely easy to do so, and the ease of fabrication is improved. Moreover, when the life of the process cartridge 11 comes to an end,
A signal representing this can be given to the host computer 33, and the transmission of the electrical signal representing the information to be recorded sent from the host computer 33 can be stopped.
Recording can be done reliably.

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the memory 29 only needs to be attached to the process cartridge 11, making it possible to downsize the configuration, reduce the number of parts, and reduce the cost. , reliability can be improved.

This is a significant advantage which cannot be achieved by the prior art with the indicator ring 5 and ascending gear train 7 mentioned in particular in connection with FIGS. 5 and tjSG.

In the above embodiment, the process cartridge 11 has l! I
J! ! Although the description has been given above, the present invention can also be practiced with respect to a so-called developing cartridge, which is provided with a developing means containing toner as another embodiment of the present invention.

Furthermore, the present invention provides a so-called photoconductor system comprising a photoconductor and cleaning means for removing residual toner adhering to the photoconductor after transfer.

An electronic photographic record that can be attached to and detached from the aircraft! The present invention can also be implemented to express the life of a photoreceptor in one rft.

Furthermore, the present invention provides electrophotographic recording 0! I! The present invention can be implemented in conjunction with a configuration in which a cartridge having other configurations that operate for IJ production is replaceably provided in the machine.

The memory 29 may be configured to read out the information related to the life of the cartridge stored in a predetermined store Wi area, and then erase the contents and write new information, or alternatively, The latest information may be written and stored in a store area different from the store area from which the information was read.

In the embodiment described above, the number of pixels N3 corresponding to the remaining amount of toner 21 in the developing means 19 provided in the process cartridge 11 is counted. In the case where the cartridge is equipped with a photoreceptor, the number of rotations of the photoreceptor or the number of recorded sheets of the recording paper 15 may be counted to manage the life span or maintenance. Sometimes, the number of recording sheets on the recording paper 15 is counted and the fixing means 28 is fixed. ? Life or maintenance may also be managed.

Furthermore, as another idea of the present invention, mutually different v
i When cartridges containing toners of several colors are installed in a common machine and configured to record multicolor printing, the memory 29 is installed separately in the cartridge for each toner. It is also possible to store information corresponding to the color of the toner, so that recording can be performed using toner of a desired color by means provided in the printer 10. The memory 29 stores not only the information representing the toner color as described above (but also the manufacturing date of the cartridge and information about its pond), and is used to know the yP life or perform desired control. It can also be used to perform

Effects As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to accurately know the lifespan of each cartridge replaceably provided in the airframe, and it is also possible to downsize the structure.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the process cartridge 11, and FIG.
FIG. 14 is a block diagram illustrating the electrical components and components of the embodiment shown in FIG.
Chart, m512] is a sectional view of a process cartridge of the prior art, and FIG. 6 is a simplified perspective view of the indicator ring 5 and its vicinity in the prior art shown in FIG. 10... Airframe, 11... Process cartridge, 1
7... Photoreceptor, 18... Casing, 19... Magnetic brush developing means, 20... Cleaning means, 21
...Toner, 29...Memory, 30...Reading and writing means Agent Patent attorney Number of strokes Keiichi Figure 2 M4 Figure 5 Figure 6

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A cartridge that operates for electrophotographic recording is replaceably provided in the machine body, the cartridge is provided with a memory, and the machine body includes: means for reading and writing to the memory; Control means for calculating information related to the life of the cartridge based on the content read from the memory by the reading and writing means and the electrophotographic recording operation, and causing the reading and writing means to write the information in the memory. An electrophotographic recording device comprising: