JPS6339719Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a waste toner box in a copying machine, and particularly to a waste toner box for detecting when the waste toner box is almost full.・
Regarding sensors.

[Prior art]

As shown in Figure 1, an electrophotographic copying machine
The surface of the photoreceptor drum 1 is uniformly charged by discharge from the charging electrode 2, and a document platen 3 is placed on this charged portion by the route of the mirror 6, lens 7, and mirror 8.
The image of the document between the document cover 4 and document cover 4 is illuminated with electricity to form a latent image. At this time, the illumination lamp 5 illuminates the surface of the document.

In this way, the optical system composed of the illumination lamp 5, mirror 6, lens 7, and mirror 8 allows the first
An original is projected onto the photoreceptor drum 1 according to the broken line in the figure, thereby forming a latent image on the photoreceptor drum.

The latent image formed on the surface of the photoreceptor drum 1 in this way is transferred from the toner box 9 to the developing sleeve 1.
The toner supplied via the photoreceptor drum 1 is supplied, the latent image is developed, and a toner image identical to the original is formed on the photoreceptor drum 1.

On the other hand, the transfer paper 11 placed in the cassette and loaded into the copying machine is fed out one by one by the paper feed roller 12 as shown by the broken line and placed on the transfer electrode 13.
It is superimposed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 1 on which the toner image is formed. Then, when the back surface of the transfer paper is charged by the discharge charge of the transfer electrode 13, the electrically charged toner is attracted by the electric force and moves from the drum surface to the surface of the transfer paper. In this way, the toner image is transferred to the surface of the transfer paper.

The transfer paper onto which the toner image has been transferred is placed on the photoreceptor drum 1.
The paper is peeled off, placed on the belt conveyor of the transfer paper transport section 15, and sent to the fixing section 16. At this time, the electric charge on the transfer paper is neutralized by the separation electrode 14.

In the fixing unit 16, the toner image is heated and pressed by a heating roller and firmly fixed on the paper, and then
It is delivered to the discharge section 17.

By the way, some toner adheres to the photosensitive drum 1 after the toner image is transferred to the transfer paper.
In a normal transfer process, it is preferable that all the toner on the photoreceptor drum 1 is transferred, but it is difficult to transfer 100% to the transfer paper, and some percentage of the toner remains on the surface of the photoreceptor drum 1. . Therefore, it is necessary to thoroughly remove the remaining toner before starting the next copying process, and for this purpose, the residual toner is scraped off with a blade or the like in the cleaner section 18, and for example, the waste toner installed under the developing unit is removed. Conveyed to the box via tubes or ducts.

Since this toner contains paper dust and leaked carrier, it is discarded in small machines when the waste toner box is almost full. Note that some high-end machines are equipped with a toner and paper dust separator that separates and recycles only the toner, but small machines do not have such a separator installed due to cost reasons. It will then be disposed of.

[Problem that the invention attempts to solve]

Conventionally, this waste toner was disposed of when a serviceman visited for maintenance, disposing of the entire waste toner box and installing a new waste toner box. However, in order to make small machines maintenance-free, it is necessary to attach a sensor to the waste toner box to report when the waste toner box is full of waste toner.

Therefore, in order to detect when the amount of waste toner in this waste toner box is full, a photoelectric conversion element is used, and when the amount of waste toner becomes full and the incident light input to the photoelectric conversion element is blocked, There is a method to detect this, but when using such a photoelectric conversion element, black toner adheres to the light receiving surface of the photoelectric conversion element after repeated use, blocking the incident light. This will result in malfunction.

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems, and in order to accurately detect that a predetermined amount of waste toner has been deposited in the waste toner box, the sensor surface of the piezoelectric sensor is It is provided with an oblique angle.

As a result, when toner is not pressed against the piezoelectric sensor in the waste toner box, the piezoelectric sensor is in an oscillating state, but when waste toner accumulates, the mountain-like slope of the pile forms on the sensor surface of the piezoelectric sensor. Since the entire surface is hit, the oscillation stops, and as a result, the deposition state can be detected very accurately.

〔Example〕

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 2 to 5 and with reference to FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the waste toner box of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a detailed diagram of the mounting state of the piezoelectric sensor, FIG. 4 is a piezoelectric sensor, and FIG. 5 is a characteristic diagram of the piezoelectric sensor.

In the figure, reference numeral 30 denotes a waste toner box, in which waste toner wiped off by the blade 19 of the cleaner section 18 in FIG. 1 is stored. 31
32 is a waste toner inlet, 40 is a piezoelectric sensor, 41 is a first electrode, 42 is a second electrode, 4
3 is a third electrode, 44 is a metal plate, 45 is a printed circuit section in which a circuit for controlling oscillation of the piezoelectric sensor 40, etc. is provided, and 46 is a container, in which the piezoelectric sensor 40 and the printed circuit are provided. Reference numeral 50, which holds the parts 45 and the like, is a toner detection unit, which is composed of a piezoelectric sensor 40, a printed circuit part 45, a container 46, and the like.

The piezoelectric sensor 40 is composed of, for example, an ultrasonic vibrator made of Pb(TiZr)O ₃ ceramics (PZT), and includes a first electrode 41, a second electrode 42, and a third electrode 43. The first electrode 41 is grounded, and an excitation voltage is applied between the second electrode 42 and the third electrode 43. This piezoelectric sensor 40 usually has a fifth
It has an admittance characteristic as shown by the solid line in the figure, but when pressure is applied to the vibrating surface, the admittance characteristic changes rapidly as shown by the dotted line.

The piezoelectric sensor 40 is fixed to a sloped metal plate 44 of a container 46, and its oscillation is controlled by an oscillation circuit formed in a printed circuit 45 disposed inside the container 46.

The residual toner on the photoreceptor drum is now wiped off by the blade 19 of the cleaner section 18 shown in FIG. . Since this waste toner 32 is a powder, it is deposited in a mountain shape as shown in FIG. When the waste toner 32 is not full as shown by the solid line, the piezoelectric sensor 40 is not affected by the waste toner 32 and is therefore in an oscillating state. However, as a large amount of waste toner gradually accumulates, the dotted line 3 in Figure 2
As shown at 2', when waste toner is deposited in the waste toner box 30 until it is nearly full, the vibration surface of the piezoelectric sensor 40 comes into contact with the slope of the waste toner 32', and its vibration is suppressed. In this way, pressure from the waste toner 32' is applied and the oscillation stops.
Therefore, by monitoring the oscillation state of the piezoelectric sensor 40, detecting that the oscillation has stopped, and notifying the oscillation stop by appropriate means such as lighting an indicator lamp or sounding a buzzer,
It is possible to notify that the waste toner box 30 is full of waste toner, and based on this, the user discards the waste toner in the waste toner box. Note that if the toner detection unit 50 is removably installed, the waste toner box can be replaced.

In this case, the piezoelectric sensor 40 is arranged at a certain angle with respect to the top surface, so when powdered waste toner accumulates in a mountain shape, the inclined surface tends to hit the entire sensor surface, reducing the sensitivity. Therefore, it is possible to very accurately detect that the waste toner is full. The angle of this piezoelectric sensor 40 is preferably 2° to 60°, so that the accumulated toner can be tilted toward the piezoelectric sensor 40.
The vibration surface can be pressed over the entire area, making it easier to stop oscillation.

In the above description, an example has been described in which a PZT ceramic type piezoelectric sensor is used, but the present invention is of course not limited to this. Further, the location of the waste toner box is not limited to the above description, and it may of course be installed within the cleaner section.

[Effect of idea]

According to the present invention, it is possible to correctly indicate that waste toner has accumulated to a predetermined amount without malfunctioning due to adhesion of waste toner, such as a photoelectric type, so the user can replace the waste toner box. You can accurately recognize the time.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is an electrophotographic copying machine, Fig. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the waste toner box of the present invention, Fig. 3 is a detailed view of the installation state of the piezoelectric sensor, Fig. 4 is the piezoelectric sensor, and Fig. 5 is FIG. 3 is a characteristic diagram of a piezoelectric sensor. 1... Photosensitive drum, 2... Charging electrode, 3...
...Document stand, 4...Document cover, 5...Illumination lamp, 6...Mirror, 7...Lens, 8...Mirror, 9...Toner box, 10...Developing sleeve, 11...Transfer paper, 12...Paper feed roller, 1
3... Transfer electrode, 14... Separation electrode, 15...
...Transfer paper transport section, 16...Fixing section, 17...Discharge section, 18...Cleaner section, 19...Blade, 3
0...Waste toner box, 31...Waste toner inlet, 32...Waste toner, 40...Piezoelectric sensor,
41...first electrode, 42...second electrode, 43...
Third electrode, 44...metal plate, 45...printed circuit section, 46...container, 50...toner detection unit.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] 1. In a copying machine equipped with a cleaner section that develops a latent image with toner, transfers the developed toner image, and removes the residual toner after the transfer, the waste toner from which the residual toner has been removed is retained. waste toner
A waste toner box with a sensor, characterized in that the waste toner box is provided with a piezoelectric sensor whose sensor surface is oblique to the top surface. 2. The waste toner box with a sensor according to claim 1, wherein the oblique angle is 2° to 60°.