KR0154700B1 - Toner retaining display method of image development device - Google Patents

Abstract

1. TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

An image forming apparatus.

2. The technical problem to be solved by the invention

The amount of toner retained in the image forming apparatus is displayed accurately.

3. Summary of the Invention The amount of toner remaining is converted by using the remaining amount of toner signal detected by the toner sensor in the developer or the number of printed sheets, and then the specific characters on the LCD are changed according to the amount of toner. Or change the light brightness of the LCD and LED, or change the flashing cycle of the LED to indicate the amount of toner retention.

4. Important uses of the invention

The amount of toner remaining can be checked accurately.

Description

How to Display Toner Retention in Image Forming Device

1 is a block diagram of a conventional electrophotographic printer.

2 is a block diagram of an electrophotographic developing system printer according to a first embodiment and a second embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a conceptual diagram of a toner holding amount display method according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a flowchart of a toner holding amount display method according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a block diagram of an electrophotographic developing method printer according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a detailed connection diagram of the display unit 240 of the configuration of FIG.

7 is a block diagram of an electrophotographic printer according to another embodiment of the present invention.

8 is a flowchart of a toner holding amount display method according to another embodiment of the present invention.

* Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings

100: personal computer 200: video control unit

210: PC interface unit 220: video CPU

230: engine interface unit 240: display unit

250: operation panel (OPE) 260: memory

300: engine control unit 310: video interface unit

320: memory 330: engine CPU

340: mechanical drive control unit 350: development control unit

360: sensor input unit 370: image data generation control unit

380: Analog-to-digital converter (ADC) 390: Counter

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to a method for displaying a retention amount of toner in an electrophotographic printer.

An electrophotographic printer, which is a representative image forming apparatus, converts video data for printing input from a personal computer into image data and transmits the converted image data to an engine unit for printing.

1 is a block diagram of a conventional electrophotographic printer, and includes a video control unit 200, an engine control unit 300, and an engine unit (not shown).

The video control unit 200 converts the video data from the PC interface unit 210 for interfacing the signal input from the personal computer 100 and the signal output to the personal computer 100 into bitmap data suitable for printing. Under the control of the CPU 220 and the video CPU 220, the engine interface unit 230 for interfacing the signals input from the coral and the engine control unit 300 output to the engine control unit 300 and a plurality of key data can be generated It is equipped with the key, and outputs the key data generated when the user presses a predetermined key to the video CPU 220 (Operating Panel Equipment: OPE) and the liquid crystal display (Liquid Crystal DisPlay: LCD) Display) and a light emitting diode (hereinafter referred to as LED), which displays display data generated during the control operation of the video CPU 220. The memory unit 260 temporarily stores video data input through the unit 240 and the PC interface unit 210.

The engine controller 300 for controlling the operation of the engine of the electrophotographic development printer includes a video interface unit 310 and an engine controller for interfacing a signal input from the video controller 200 and a signal output to the video controller 200. Control the overall operation of the 300, and stores the engine CPU 330 for converting the bitmap data from the video control unit 200 to the image data for printing and a control program for printing, the image data for printing To control the phenomenon of the electrophotographic under the control of the memory unit 320 that temporarily stores the controller 320 and the mechanism driving control unit 340 and the engine CPU 330 that generate signals for controlling the driving of the motor and various mechanisms in the engine. The engine C receives the signals detected from the developing controller 350 for generating the charging, transferring and developing unit control signals and the sensors installed in the printer. The sensor input unit 360 outputs to the PU 330 and the image data generation control unit 370 for generating an exposure unit control signal for controlling the output of the image data under the control of the engine CPU 330.

Confirmation of the amount of toner consumed in printing in the conventional electrophotographic printer having the above configuration is performed by the following two methods.

The first method is to display on the LCD of the display unit 240 as TONER LOW when the amount of toner is less than the reference value, and to display on the LCD of the display unit 240 as TONER EMPTY when the toner runs out. At this time, if the amount of the toner is greater than or equal to the reference value, no display appears on the LCD of the display unit 240.

The second method is to determine whether the toner for printing is sufficient or insufficient by directly checking the blur of the printed character.

However, the above two methods have a problem that the toner may be insufficient when urgently printing a large amount because the current amount of toner for printing cannot be accurately determined.

In addition, the printed character may be blurred due to insufficient amount of toner, but may be blurred due to a defect in the printer, and thus, the user cannot determine the amount of toner remaining without directly checking the amount of toner.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a toner holding amount display method which can accurately check the holding amount of toner without directly checking the amount of the toner for printing.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a toner holding amount display method for displaying an amount of toner by using a signal indicating the remaining amount of toner detected by a toner sensor in a developing device.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a toner holding amount display method for displaying the amount of toner by calculating the number of printed sheets.

According to the object as described above, the present invention changes the specific characters on the LCD according to the amount of toner retained after converting the amount of retained toner using the remaining amount of toner signal detected by the toner sensor in the developer or using the number of printed sheets. Toner retention amount display method to change the brightness of the LCD and LED, or to change the flashing cycle of the LED. In the present invention, when the toner remaining signal indicates that the toner holding amount decreases or the toner holding amount decreases as the number of sheets to be printed increases, the number of dots of the specific characters displayed on the LCD is reduced. In addition, when the toner retention amount is low, the brightness of the LCD and the LED is dimmed. In addition, when the toner holding amount decreases, the LED blinks faster.

Accordingly, even if only the state of the LED or LCD is checked from the outside of the user, the amount of toner can be easily determined.

Hereinafter will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings of a detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the present invention. It should be noted that in the drawings, the same reference numerals are denoted by the same reference numerals wherever possible.

2 is a block diagram of the electrophotographic printer according to the first and second embodiments of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, unlike the configuration of FIG. 1, the analog toner remaining signal representing the remaining amount of toner detected by the toner sensor in the developing unit is an analog / digital converter (hereinafter referred to as an ADC) (380). ) Is converted into a digital toner remaining signal and applied to the engine CPU 330.

The engine CPU 330 outputs this digital toner remaining signal to the video CPU 220 through the video interface 310 and the engine interface 230. The video CPU 220 then performs the operation of displaying the toner retention amount as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG.

3 is a screen showing the concept of the toner holding amount display method according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In the toner holding amount display method according to the first embodiment of the present invention, a specific character having a size of 8 x 5 dots is stored in the memory unit 260 of the video controller 200.

When the digital toner remaining signal is received from the engine controller 300, the video CPU 220 of the video controller 200 reads out a specific character having a size of 8 × 5 dots stored in the memory unit 260. This specific character is displayed on the LCD of the display unit 240 in the size of a dot corresponding to the received digital toner remaining signal.

If a specific character having a size of 2 dots is displayed on the LCD of the display unit 240 as shown in FIG. 3A, the user may determine that the amount of toner is very low. If a specific character having a size of 12 dots is displayed as shown in FIG. 3, the user may determine that a current amount of toner is insufficient. If a specific character having a size of 23 dots is displayed as shown in FIG. It may be determined that the current amount of toner is retained, and if a specific character having a size of 40 dots is displayed as shown in FIG. 3 (d), the user may determine that the current amount of toner is sufficient.

4 shows a flow of the toner holding amount display method according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

The video CPU 220 of the video controller 200 receives a digital toner remaining signal X received through the engine CPU 330 of the engine controller 300 in step 410. In operation 420, the video CPU 220 reads the threshold value T stored in the memory unit 260 and compares the threshold value T with the toner remaining signal X. FIG. At this time, if the video CPU 220 determines that the toner remaining signal X is less than or equal to the threshold value T, in step 430, the cycle of t = a * x is determined, and then the LED of the display unit 240 is turned on at the determined cycle. Flashes. Where t represents the blinking period of the LED, a represents the proportionality constant, and x represents the toner remaining signal. The threshold value T and the proportionality constant a are values that can be appropriately set according to the amount of toner to be contained in the developer.

On the other hand, if the video CPU 220 determines that the toner remaining signal X is greater than the threshold value T, the LED of the display unit 240 continues to emit light in step 440.

In the above, the blinking period t of the LED increases as the value of the toner remaining signal X (retaining amount of toner) decreases. That is, the LED flashes faster as the amount of toner retention decreases.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the electrophotographic printer according to the third embodiment of the present invention. Unlike FIG. 2, the toner remaining signal input from the toner sensor in the developer is directly applied to the display unit 240. At this time, the connection of the display unit 240 is configured as shown in FIG.

Referring to FIG. 6, a power supply voltage VCC is applied to the terminal VDD, a power supply voltage VCC through a resistor R1 and a resistor R2 connected in series is applied to the terminal VSS, and a terminal R / S is applied to the terminal V / S. The battery voltage GND is applied, and the toner remaining signal from the toner sensor applied through the connection point of the resistor R1 and the resistor R2 is applied to the terminal V0. At this time, the terminal V0 is a terminal for adjusting the brightness of the display unit 240. When the toner remaining signal applied to the terminal V0 is a signal corresponding to a decrease in the amount of toner, the screen of the LCD becomes dark and the brightness of the LED is dark. Lose.

7 is a block diagram of an electrophotographic printer according to still another embodiment of the present invention. Unlike the first to third embodiments of the present invention, the toner remaining signal from the toner sensor is not shown. Do not use. At this time, the engine control unit 300 includes a counter 390 for counting the number of sheets to be printed therein.

FIG. 8 is an operation haze of a toner holding amount display method according to another embodiment of the present invention carried out under the same configuration as that of FIG.

7 and 8, when printing, the counter 390 of the engine controller 300 continuously counts the number of sheets to be printed. Then, the engine CPU 330 reads the number counted by the counter 390 in step 810, sets it as the number X of the currently printed paper in step 820, and then the video interface unit 310 and the engine interface. The set value X is transmitted to the video CPU 220 through the unit 230.

In operation 830, the video CPU 220 reads the printing number threshold value S set in the memory unit 260 and compares it with the number X of printed sheets. If it is determined in step 830 that the number of sheets of paper X currently printed is equal to or greater than the number of printed sheets, the video CPU 220 determines the period of t = a * x in step 840 and then determines the determined number of times. The LED of the display unit 240 blinks periodically. Here, t represents the blink cycle of the LED, a represents the proportional constant, and x is the number of sheets currently printed. The printing quantity threshold value S and the proportionality constant a are values that can be appropriately set from the number of points that can be printed by the toner contained in the developer.

On the other hand, if the video CPU 220 confirms that the number X of the currently printed paper is smaller than the printing number threshold value S, the LED of the display unit 240 continues to emit light in step 850.

The blinking period t of the LED increases as the number X of currently printed sheets increases (retaining amount of toner). That is, the LED blinks faster as the amount of toner retention decreases.

The method of displaying the retaining amount of the toner in the electrophotographic printer according to the configuration shown in FIG. 7 is described only in the case of performing similarly to the second embodiment. However, it should be noted that, as in the above-described first embodiment, it may be displayed on the LCD of the display unit 240 as a specific character corresponding to the number of printed sheets.

As described above, there is an advantage that the amount of toner retention can be accurately confirmed by counting the toner remaining signal detected by the toner sensor and the number of printed sheets.

Claims (12)

A toner holding amount display method of an image forming apparatus comprising a toner sensor for generating a signal representing a remaining amount of toner for printing, and a liquid crystal display unit for displaying a printing state, wherein the toner holding amount signal is received to calculate the remaining amount of the toner. And a display process of displaying a specific character corresponding to the calculated retention amount of toner on the liquid crystal display unit. The toner holding amount display method according to claim 1, wherein the number of dots of the specific character displayed on the liquid crystal display in the display process decreases as the calculated holding amount of the toner decreases. A toner holding amount display method of an image forming apparatus including a toner sensor for generating a signal indicating a remaining amount of toner for printing, and a light emitting diode indicating a printing state, wherein the toner remaining signal is received to calculate a remaining amount of the toner. And a determining step of determining a blinking period of the light emitting diode corresponding to the calculated toner holding amount, and a blinking step of blinking the light emitting diode according to the determined blinking period. 4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the blinking period of the light emitting diode is determined to be faster as the calculated retained amount of the toner decreases in the determination process. A toner holding amount display method of an image forming apparatus comprising a toner sensor for generating a signal representing a remaining amount of toner for printing, and a display means implemented as a light emitting diode or a liquid crystal display for displaying a printing state, And a reference voltage determining step of receiving and determining a reference voltage of the display means corresponding to the toner remaining signal, and a display step of displaying the printing state on the display means at a brightness corresponding to the determined reference voltage. How to display the remaining amount of toner. An image type apparatus including storage means for storing the number of sheets of paper that can be printed by toner for printing, counting means for counting the number of sheets printed by the toner, and a liquid crystal display for displaying a printing state. A toner holding amount display method according to claim 1, further comprising: a comparison process of comparing the number of sheets currently printed by the counting means with the number of sheets which can be printed by the toner stored in the storage means; And displaying the specific character corresponding to the result compared with the liquid crystal display on the liquid crystal display. The method of claim 6, wherein when the number of the currently printed sheets is compared with the number of sheets that can be printed in the comparison process, the number of dots of the specific characters displayed on the liquid crystal display is reduced in the display process. Toner holding amount display method characterized in that the displayed. A storage means for storing the number of sheets of paper that can be printed by the toner for printing, counting means for counting the number of sheets printed by the toner, and a light emitting diode indicative of a printing state. A toner holding amount display method, comprising: a comparing step of comparing the number of sheets currently printed by the counting means with the number of sheets that can be printed by the toner stored in the storing means; And a flashing process of determining the flashing cycle of the light emitting diode according to the result of the comparison, and a flashing process of flashing the light emitting diode according to the flashing cycle determined in the determining process. The method of claim 8, wherein when the comparison process compares that the number of the currently printed paper is greater than or equal to the number of printable papers, the light-emitting period of the light emitting diode is determined to be faster in the determination process. How to display toner level. The printing method of claim 5, wherein the reference voltage of the display means in the process of determining the reference voltage decreases as the toner remaining signal indicates that the remaining amount of the toner decreases, and thus printing displayed on the display means in the display process. A toner holding amount display method, characterized in that the brightness of the state is blurred. 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the number of dots of the specific character displayed on the liquid crystal display in the display process decreases as the number of the currently printed paper compared with the number of printable papers in the comparison process increases. Toner holding amount display method characterized in that the displayed. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the blinking period of the light emitting diode in the determination process is determined to be faster and faster as the number of the current printing dough paper compared with the number of papers that can be printed in the comparing process increases. A toner holding amount display method characterized by the above-mentioned.