Patent Application
20200409288
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus.
As an image forming apparatus of an electrophotographic system, the image forming apparatus in which a toner is filled in a developer accommodating container (hereinafter referred to as a toner container) which is disposed in an attachable and detachable manner to and from an apparatus body is widely used in the market. In general, in a case where a residual quantity of the tonner in the toner container is lessened and it becomes unable to supply a desired quantity of the toner to a developing unit, a control unit provides a message on a display to urge a user to replace the toner container and notifies the user that the time has come to replace the toner container.
Further, as the image forming apparatus, different from a front cover (a second cover) disposed at a front face of the apparatus body, a configuration to dispose a small door (a first cover), by which each of insertion slots of toner containers is made openable and closable, inside the front cover is suggested (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2011-59296). In this suggested image forming apparatus, when the user opens the front cover in accordance with a displayed replacement message after the toner in the toner container has been lessened, only the small door corresponding to the toner container whose toner has been lessened is automatically opened. When the user has replaced the toner container, and has closed the small door and then the front cover, the toner is supplied to the apparatus body from a replaced toner container. To be noted, in a case where the toner container has been unattached, the message is displayed, and an image formation is not performed until the toner container is attached.
However, in the image forming apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2011-59296 described above, in a case where the toner container is unattached, the display of the message about an unattachment of the toner container is provided after the small door and the front cover have been closed. Thus, the user then finds out the unattachment of the toner container, and thereafter needs to carry out complicated works, i.e. opening the front cover by hands, waiting the small cover to open automatically, and attaching a new toner container to the apparatus body.
The present invention provides the image forming apparatus which improves an operability in a case where the toner container is unattached at the replacement of the toner container.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, an image forming apparatus includes an attachment portion which is provided in the image forming apparatus and to which a developer accommodating container configured to accommodate a developer is detachably attached, an attachment detection unit configured to detect whether the developer accommodating container is attached to the attachment portion, an output portion configured to output information of replacing the developer accommodating container, a first cover disposed at the attachment portion and configured to be opened to an open state where the developer accommodating container is attachable to and detachable from the attachment portion and closed to a closed state where the developer accommodating container is not attachable to nor detachable from the attachment portion, a first detection portion configured to detect the open state and the closed state of the first cover, a second cover configured to be opened to an open state where the first cover is exposed in an openable and closable manner and closed to a closed state where the first cover is covered, and a control unit configured to control opening movement of the first cover to open the first cover linked with movement that the second cover is opened when the output portion outputs the information of replacing the developer accommodating container. After the first detection portion detects that the first cover is in the closed state after the first cover has been opened based on the information output by the output portion, the first detection portion detects whether the developer accommodating container is attached to the attachment portion or not, and if the first detection portion detects that the developer accommodating container is not attached to the attachment portion, the control unit controls the first cover to open.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, an image forming apparatus includes a developer accommodating container configured to be detachably attached to an apparatus body and accommodate a developer inside, an attachment portion which is provided in the apparatus body and to which the developer accommodating container is attached, a first cover configured to be opened to an open state where an opening portion of the attachment portion is opened and closed to a closed state where the opening portion is closed, a first detection portion configured to detect an open state and a closed state of the first cover, a driving unit configured to bring the first cover from the closed state to the open state, an attachment detection unit configured to detect whether or not the developer accommodating container is attached to the attachment portion, and a control unit configured to control the driving unit to bring the first cover from the closed state to the open state in a case where the attachment detection unit detects an unattachment of the developer accommodating container to the attachment portion and the first detection portion detects that the first cover is in the closed state.
Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to
As shown in
As shown in
The image forming unit 40 includes image forming units 80y, 80m, 80c, and 80k, a laser scanner 43, an intermediate transfer unit 44, a secondary transfer unit 45, and a fixing unit 46. The image forming unit 40 is capable of forming an image on the sheet S based on an image information. The image forming apparatus 1 of the first embodiment corresponds to a full color printing. In this regard, the image forming units 80y, 80m, 80c, and 80k respectively correspond to 4 colors of yellow (y), magenta (m), cyan (c), and black (k), and are disposed independently each other with a similar configuration. To be noted, the image forming units 80y, 80m, 80c, and 80k included in the image forming apparatus 1 are similar in a structure except for a difference in a color of a developer. Therefore, the image forming unit 80y will be described below as a representative, and descriptions of other image forming units are omitted herein.
In a case of the first embodiment, a toner container, i.e., developer accommodating container, 42 is attached to the apparatus body 10 to store the developer which is supplied to a developing unit 83, described later, of the image forming unit 80y. The toner container 42 is, similar to the image forming units 80y, 80m, 80c, and 80k, provided for each of 4 colors of yellow (y), magenta (m), cyan (c), and black (k) with a same configuration, and disposed independently each other. The toner container 42 is capable of storing the developer, and disposed above the image forming unit 80y. The toner container 42 is attached to an attachment portion 12y of a hole shape (refer to
The toner container 42 is, for example, a cylindrical bottle with a toner discharge port at a first end, and having a spiral projection portion on an inner circumferential surface. By rotating the projection portion, the toner container 42 conveys the toner to the toner discharge port on the backward B. A supply mechanism, not shown, is disposed on the backward direction B of the attachment portion 12y, and an end of the toner container 42 on the backward B attached to the attachment portion 12y is coupled to the supply mechanism. A toner container drive motor 47 (refer to
As shown in
In the forepart of the apparatus body 10, a front cover, i.e., second cover, 14 which is capable of opening by pivoting to the forward F is disposed. The front cover 14 is openable and closable so that the front cover 14 exposes the small door 13y in the open state and covers the small door 13y in the closed state. That is, the front cover 14 in the open state exposes the small doors 13y, 13m, 13c, and 13k in the openable and closable manner, and in the closed state covers the small doors 13y, 13m, 13c, and 13k. Although, in the first embodiment, all the small doors 13y, 13m, 13c, and 13k are covered with one piece of the front cover 14, it is acceptable to include a plurality of the front covers (for example 2) and configure to cover one or plurality of the small door(s) with the respective plurality of the front covers. As shown in
As shown in
The photosensitive drum 81 is rotated with a drum motor, not shown, and a surface of the photosensitive drum 81 is charged with the charge roller 82 at a time of the image formation. A laser beam is irradiated on a charged surface of the photosensitive drum 81 with the laser scanner 43 based on the image information, and an electrostatic latent image is born on the surface of the photosensitive drum 81. The developing unit 83 includes a developing sleeve 87 rotatably disposed in a developing container, and develops to visualize the electrostatic latent image born on the photosensitive drum 81 with the toner. In the developing unit 83, a two-component developer which is a mixture of a nonmagnetic toner and a magnetic carrier is stored, and the toner is supplied from the toner container 42 filled with the toner.
A toner concentration sensor, i.e., residual quantity detection unit, 85 (refer to
The intermediate transfer unit 44 is disposed above the image forming units 80y, 80m, 80c, and 80k. The intermediate transfer unit 44 includes a plurality of rollers, such as a drive roller 44a, a driven roller, not shown, and a primary transfer roller 48, and the intermediate transfer belt 44b which is wound around these rollers. The primary transfer roller 48 is disposed to face the photosensitive drum 81 and abuts on the intermediate transfer belt 44b.
The intermediate transfer belt 44b is provided with larger than a certain degree of a tensile force also at an idle time, and disposed in a contactable and separable manner with respect to the photosensitive drum 81. By applying a positive polarity transfer bias to the intermediate transfer belt 44b, respective negative polarity toner images on the photosensitive drums 81 are successively superimposed on the intermediate transfer belt 44b each other. Thus, the intermediate transfer belt 44b is transferred and moved with the toner image of the full color which has been formed by developing the electrostatic latent image born on the surface of the photosensitive drum 81.
The secondary transfer unit 45 includes a secondary transfer internal roller 45a and a secondary transfer external roller 45b. By applying a secondary transfer bias of a positive polarity to the secondary transfer external roller 45b, a full color image formed on the intermediate transfer belt 44b is transferred to the sheet S. To be noted, the secondary transfer internal roller 45a stretches the intermediate transfer belt 44b from an inside thereof, and the secondary transfer external roller 45b is disposed to face the secondary transfer internal roller 45a across the intermediate transfer belt 44b.
The fixing unit 46 includes a fixing roller 46a and a press roller 46b. By conveying the sheet S between the fixing roller 46a and the press roller 46b in a sandwiched manner, the toner image transferred to the sheet S is heated and pressed, and fixed to the sheet S. The sheet S fed from the sheet feeding unit 30 is passed through the secondary transfer unit 45 and the fixing unit 46, and conveyed to a sheet discharge tray 50. The sheet discharge tray 50 is a facedown tray, and stacks the sheet S discharged in an arrow X1 direction from a sheet discharge port 10a.
As shown in
When the image forming job is submitted, the CPU 71 drives the developing screw drive motor 86 of each color. Based on information such as the detection result of the toner concentration sensor 85 of each color, the CPU 71 drives the toner container drive motor 47 and supplies the toner to the developing unit 83. For example, in a case where a threshold value for a number of times of toner absence is an X time, the control unit 70 judges that the toner in the toner container 42 is absent when the detection result of the toner concentration sensor 85 is smaller than a lower concentration limit y after drivingly rotated the toner container drive motor 47 the X times. Thus, in a case where, based on the detection result of the toner concentration sensor 85 and the number of times which the toner container drive motor 47 has driven, the control unit 70 judges that the toner is absent in the toner container 42, the control unit 70, for example, displays a message urging to replace the toner container 42 on the operation panel 11a. Alternatively, the control unit 70 outputs information to an external computer coupled to the image forming apparatus 1, and displays the message urging to replace the toner container 42 on a monitor of the computer. That is, based on the detection result of the toner concentration sensor 85, the control unit 70 urges a user to replace the toner container 42. In this case, in a case where the control unit 70 detects the opening of the front cover 14 with the cover opening/closing sensor 15, the control unit 70 opens the small door 13y with an opening mechanism 27 (refer to
Further, in a case where the attachment detection sensor 25 is an OFF state, the control unit 70 judges that the toner container 42 is not attached. That is, the attachment detection sensor 25 is capable of detecting an attachment and unattachment of the toner container 42 to and from the attachment portion 12y (refer to
Next, a configuration of the small door 13y and the front cover 14 will be described in detail using
The small door 13y regulates the attachment and detachment of the toner container 42 to and from the attachment portion 12y by displacing to the closed state. Inside the small door 13y, a claw portion 13a, which protrudes upward, and a shield portion 13b are disposed. In the closed state of the small door 13y, the claw portion 13a is formed such that a surface on the forward F is upright and a surface on the backward B is inclined. The small door 13y is pivotable around a shaft member 13d disposed at a lower position as a center, and always urged in an R1 rotation direction, that is, an opening direction with an urging spring, i.e., urging portion, 19 consisting of a torsion coil spring.
As shown in
Inside the apparatus body 10, a latch, i.e., locking unit, 16 is disposed in adjacencies of the claw portion 13a of the small door 13y in the closed state shown in
In the case of the first embodiment, when the small door 13y is in the closed state, the solenoid 21 is in the OFF state (a non-energized state), and the link 22 is positioned on a front side by pressed to the forward F with the return spring 23. At this time, the latch 16 is urged with the urging spring 18 in the R2 rotation direction, and the lock portion 16a engages with the claw portion 13a so that the small door 13y does not rotate to open in the R1 rotation direction by urged with an urging spring 19 and is locked in the closed state. To be noted, by engaging the upright surface in the front side of the claw portion 13a with the lock portion 16a, an unexpected opening of the small door 13y with an urging force of the urging spring 19 is prevented.
As shown in
In the first embodiment, the solenoid 21, the urging spring 19, and the latch 16 form the opening mechanism, i.e., opening unit, 27. That is, the opening mechanism 27 is capable of automatically opening the small door 13y from the closed state to the open state, and, to open the small door 13y, the control unit 70 disengage the lock of the small door 13y in the closed state with the latch 16.
To be noted, in the first embodiment, a rod coupled to the link 22 is moved to the backward B by energizing the solenoid 21, and, by non-energizing the solenoid 21, is moved in an opposite direction to return to an original position by the urging force of the return spring 23. However, depending on a form of an engagement of the link 22 and the lock portion 16a, it is acceptable to configure the movement such that the rod is moved to the forward F by energizing the solenoid 21 and returned with the return spring when the solenoid 21 is non-energized. Further, in the first embodiment, the urging spring is used to obtain the urging force to open the small door 13y, it is not limited to this. For example, it is acceptable to use a motor or a solenoid, or, by positioning a gravity center of the small door 13y at an opposite side of the attachment portion 12y with respect to a swing center line of the small door 13y, acceptable to configure to open the small door 13y under an own weight thereof.
As described above, after the small door 13y has been brought to the open state by turning the solenoid 21 to the OFF state, in a case where the user moves the small door 13y in the open state in an opposite direction of the R1 rotation direction, the small door 13y is closed. At this time, along with a pivot of the small door 13y, the claw portion 13a of the small door 13y pushes up the lock portion 16a of the latch 16 so that the lock portion 16a pivots against the urging force of the urging spring 18. At this point, by engaging an inclined rear surface of the claw portion 13a with the lock portion 16a, it is possible to easily push up the lock portion 16a against the urging force of the urging spring 18, and engage the claw portion 13a with the lock portion 16a. When the claw portion 13a is pushed into a position where the claw portion 13a is engaged with the lock portion 16a, the lock portion 16a is engaged with the claw portion 13a with the urging spring 18 at a position shown in
As shown in
Next, in the image forming apparatus 1 described above, a processing sequence which is performed when the front cover 14 is opened will be described along a flowchart shown in
In a case where the toner container 42 of any color is judged to be absent of the toner (YES at step S1), the CPU 71 starts the processing to replace the toner container 42 of the color. The CPU 71 judges with the cover opening/closing sensor 15 whether or not the front cover 14 is in the open state (step S2). In a case where the front cover 14 is judged to be not in the open state (NO at step S2), the CPU 71 ends the processing. In a case where the front cover 14 is judged to be in the open state (YES at step S2), the CPU 71 turns on the solenoid 21 of the toner container 42 of a target for replacement corresponding to the color and disengages the lock in the closed state of the small door 13y corresponding to the color (step S3). Thus, by disengaging the lock in the closed state of the small door 13y with the latch 16, the small door 13y is opened with the urging spring 19 (step S4). That is, based on the detection result of the toner concentration sensor 85, the CPU 71 opens the small door 13y to replace the toner container 42 attached to the attachment portion 12y when the front cover 14 is in the open state. In the first embodiment, only the small door 13y of the attachment portion 12y to which the toner container 42 of the target for the replacement is attached is opened.
When the CPU 71 detects with the small door opening/closing sensor 24 that the small door 13y is in the open state, the CPU 71 turns off the solenoid 21 of the toner container 42 corresponding to the color. Thus, it is possible to reduce unnecessary electricity. Since, at this time, both of the front cover 14 and the small door 13y which corresponds to the toner container 42 requiring the replacement are in the open state, the user is able to detach the toner container 42 and attach the new toner container.
The CPU 71 judges with the small door opening/closing sensor 24 whether or not the small door 13y is brought from the open state to the closed state (step S5). In a case where the small door 13y is judged to be not in the closed state (NO at step S6), the CPU 71 performs a judgement again (step S5). In a case where the small door 13y is judged to be in the closed state (YES at step S5), the CPU 71 judges with the attachment detection sensor 25 whether or not the toner container 42 of the color is unattached (step S6). In a case where the toner container 42 of the color is judged to be not unattached, that is, attached (NO at step S6), the CPU 71 ends the processing.
On the other hand, in a case where the toner container 42 is judged to be unattached (YES at step S6), the CPU 71 turns on the solenoid 21 and disengages the lock in the closed state of the small door 13y corresponding to the color (step S7). That is, in a case where the toner container 42 is detected to be unattached to the attachment portion 12y with the attachment detection sensor 25, the CPU 71 opens the small door 13y with the opening mechanism 27 when the closed state of the small door 13y is detected with the small door opening/closing sensor 24 after the small door 13y has been opened. As described above, when the solenoid 21 of the opening mechanism 27 is turned on to disengage the lock in the closed state of the small door 13y with the latch 16, the small door 13y is brought to the open state with the urging spring 19 (step S8). Further, in a case where the small door 13y is detected to be in the open state with the small door opening/closing sensor 24, the CPU 71 turns the solenoid 21 into the OFF state. Herewith, it is possible to reduce the unnecessary electricity. Thus, in a case where the toner container is unattached, by automatically reopening the small door 13y when the small door 13y is closed, it is possible for the user to recognize that the toner container 42 is unattached.
Further, in a case where the small door 13y is closed with the toner container 42 unattached to the attachment portion 12y, it is acceptable to configure the CPU 71 such that the operation panel 11a as the display unit displays the message informing an unattachment of the toner container 42 to the attachment portion 12y. Alternatively, it is acceptable to emit a warning sound from a built-in speaker of the image forming apparatus.
As described above, in the image forming apparatus 1 of the first embodiment, in a case where the toner container 42 is detected to be unattached to the attachment portion 12y with the attachment detection sensor 25, the control unit 70 performs the processing as described below. That is, in a case where the small door opening/closing sensor 24 detects the closed state of the small door 13y with the toner container 42 unattached, the control unit 70 brings the small door 13y to the open state with the opening mechanism 27. Herewith, in a case where, at the replacement of the toner container 42, the user has closed the small door 13y without noticing the unattachment of the toner container 42, the small door 13y is automatically opened, and the user is able to recognize the unattachment of the toner container 42 before closing the front cover 14. In other words, in a case where the user has closed the small door 13y of the attachment portion 12y without attaching the toner container 42, it is possible to prevent a troublesome work, such as, to open the front cover 14 again. That is, when the toner container 42 is unattached, it is possible to improve an operability.
Further, in the image forming apparatus 1 of the first embodiment, in a case where the replacement of the toner container 42 has become necessary, such as a case where a residual quantity of the developer in the toner container 42 attached to the attachment portion 12y has been lessened to less than a predetermined quantity, the control unit 70 is capable of automatically opening the small door 13y with the opening mechanism 27. Thus, it is possible to facilitate a replacement work of the toner container 42 to be carried out by the user. To be noted, in the first embodiment, the small door 13y of the target is opened in a case where the front cover 14 is detected to be in the open state. However, for example, it is acceptable to configure the processing such that, by disengaging the lock of the small door 13y of the target in advance even if the front cover 14 has been closed, the small door 13y with the lock already disengaged is opened when the front cover 14 is opened.
To be noted, although, in the image forming apparatus 1 of the first embodiment, the solenoid 21 is configured to return with the return spring when the electricity is turned off, a configuration of the solenoid is not limited to this. For example, it is acceptable to use a self-holding type solenoid, which does not return to an original position when the electricity is turned off and maintains a position displaced when the electricity was turned on, for the solenoid 21. Herewith, for example, in a case where the electricity is turned off while the lock of the small door 13y is being disengaged, disengagement of the lock is maintained. In this case, when the small door 13y is closed by the user with the lock of the small door 13y disengaged, and the closed state of the small door 13y is detected with the small door opening/closing sensor 24, the control unit 70 refers to the attachment detection sensor 25. In a case where the attachment detection sensor 25 detects the unattachment of the toner container 42, the control unit 70 does not turn on the electricity to the solenoid 21, and holds the lock of the small door 13y in a disengaging state. Further, in a case where the attachment detection sensor 25 detects an attachment of the toner container 42, the control unit 70 turns on the electricity to the solenoid 21, and lock the small door 13y in the closed state.
Further, although, in the image forming apparatus 1 of the first embodiment, the residual quantity of the toner in the toner container 42 is detected based on the detection result of the toner concentration sensor 85, it is not limited to this. For example, it is acceptable to provide a storage container at a toner hopper to store the toner discharged from the toner container 42, and dispose a residual quantity detection sensor, i.e., the residual quantity detection unit, on a wall of the storage container. This residual quantity detection sensor is, for example, a piezo type sensor, capable of detecting information regarding the residual quantity of the developer in the toner container 42 by detecting a height of a toner powder using a change in an output voltage due to presence and absence of the toner in adjacencies of a sensor surface.
Next, a second embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to
A sheet S is stored in a sheet storage portion 162 in a stacked form, and fed with a sheet feeding unit 163 in a timing synchronizing with an image formation. The sheet S sent out with the sheet feeding unit 163 passes through a sheet conveyance path 164, and is conveyed to a registration roller 165. At the registration roller 165, having corrected a sheet skew of the sheet S conveyed from the sheet storage portion 162, the sheet S is conveyed to a secondary transfer portion in a predetermined timing synchronizing with a toner image formed on an intermediate transfer belt 161. The secondary transfer portion is a toner image transfer nip portion to transfer a toner image onto the sheet S, and formed with a secondary transfer internal roller 166 and a secondary transfer external roller 167 facing each other. The secondary transfer portion transfers the toner image formed on the intermediate transfer belt 161 onto the sheet S by providing a predetermined pressure and an electrostatic load bias. The image forming process to form the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 161 will be described next.
An image forming unit 600 is principally configured with such as a photosensitive member 601, a charge roller 602 as a charge member, a developing unit 603, a primary transfer roller 604 as a primary transfer member, and a photosensitive member cleaner 605. Further, a similar configuration is applied to the 4 colors of yellow (Y), cyan (C), magenta (M), and black (B), and the image forming unit 600 of each color is arranged in parallel with each other. To be noted, the image forming units 600 are similar in a structure except for a difference in the color of a developer. Therefore, the image forming unit 600 for black will be described below as a representative, and descriptions of other image forming units are omitted herein. A toner supply apparatus 606 is disposed above the image forming unit 600, and a toner container 110 is provided as a developer accommodating container corresponding to each color of the image forming units. The toner supply apparatus 606 will be described later in detail.
Regarding the image forming process, first, an electrostatic latent image is born on a surface of the photosensitive member 601 based on a signal of image information sent from an exposing unit 609. To be noted, the surface of the photosensitive member 601 has been uniformly charged with the charge roller 602 in advance. Then, the electrostatic latent image born on the photosensitive member 601 is developed with the toner in the developing unit 603, and visualized as the toner image on the photosensitive member 601. Thereafter, by providing a predetermined pressure and an electrostatic load bias with the primary transfer roller 604, the toner image is transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 161. A transfer residual toner barely remained on the photosensitive member 601 is recovered with the photosensitive member cleaner 605. Further, the toner consumed with the developing unit 603 is supplied from a toner container 110, and the image forming apparatus 200 is prepared for a next image formation again. The intermediate transfer belt 161 is stretched with rollers, such as driven rollers 168, 169, a tension roller 170, and the secondary transfer internal roller 166, drivingly conveyed in an arrow X2 direction in
Along the process described above, the full color toner image is secondarily transferred to the sheet S at the secondary transfer portion. Thereafter, the sheet S is conveyed to a fixing unit 171. The fixing unit 171 fixes the toner image on the sheet S with a predetermined pressure force with such as rollers or belts facing each other and adding a heat with a heat source such as, generally, a heater and fusion bonding the toner image. The sheet S given a fixing process in the fixing unit 171 is discharged to a sheet discharge tray 211, and an image forming operation is completed.
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
The small door opening/closing sensor 258 (refer to
A rotary drive of the driving motor 252 is transmitted to the driving gear 257 via the pinion gear 253, the speed reduction gear 254, the transmission gear 255, and the transmission shaft 256. In a case where the toner container 110 is attached to the attachment portion 212A, a cartridge gear 110a and the driving gear 257 included in the toner container 110 are disposed at a position to engage each other, and the toner container 110 is rotated by a rotation of the driving gear 257. To be noted, a rotation direction of the driving gear 257 is such that the driving gear 257 rotates the toner container 110 in an R3 rotation direction, which is a first rotation direction, to supply the toner to the developing unit 603. That is, the driving gear 257 is coupled to the driving motor 252, and, by rotating the toner container 110 fitted in the attachment portion 212 in the R3 rotation direction, is capable of feeding the developer from the toner container 110. An attachment detection sensor 240, which is an example of an attachment detection unit, blocks a light path of the sensor in a case where the toner container 110 is attached to the toner cartridge tray 221. Herewith, it is possible to detect whether or not the toner container 110 is attached to the toner supply apparatus 606.
Next, using
As shown in
Next, with referring to
A longitudinal direction of the latch 260, as a locking unit, is the front-back direction, and the latch 260 is supported approximately at a center in the front-back direction with a swing shaft 267 in a manner of capable of swinging with respect to the base 261. The latch 260 includes a swing hole 260a supported with the swing shaft 267 in a manner of capable of swinging, an engaged portion 260b disposed on the backward B, and a hook 260c disposed on the forward F. A center line of the swing shaft 267 is along a left to right direction of an apparatus body 210, and the swing shaft 267 is fixed to the base 261. That is, the swing shaft 267 is disposed between the locking portion 260d and the engaged portion 260b, and makes the latch 260 capable to swing around a rotational axis direction perpendicularly intersecting with a rotational axis direction of the shaft 262, which is the front-back direction. To be noted, the latch 260 and the swing shaft 267 form a locking portion.
The latch 260 is supported with the base 261 in a manner of capable of swinging, and the hook 260c is stretched with the latch spring 264 which consists of a tension spring and works as a locking urging portion. A lower and an upper edge of the latch spring 264 are respectively fixed to the hook 260c and the base 261, and the latch spring 264 urges the backward B of the latch 260 upward.
The shaft 262 is supported rotatably and movably along a rotational axis direction thereof with the base 261 in adjacencies of an edge on the forward F. In adjacencies of an edge on the backward B of the shaft 262, the one-way gear 266 (refer to
The latch driving unit 263 having a shape of the sleeve is slidably held on the circumference of the shaft 262, and is disposed such that a position thereof is fixed in an axial direction with respect to the base 261. As shown in
As shown in
Further, in a case where the small door 213 is in the closed state, the latch driving unit 263 is at the first position (refer to
Assembly of the lock device 206 to the apparatus body 210 is performed such that the base 261 is fixed to the internal cover 224, and the edge of the shaft 262 on the backward B is held with the base 261 rotatably and movably in the axial direction. As shown in
As shown in
Next, a series of movements of the locking device 206 to open and close the small door 213 will be described with referring to
The shaft 262 is urged to the forward F of the apparatus body 210 with the shaft spring 265, and the position of the shaft 262 in the axial direction is defined by a front edge 262c of the shaft 262 abutting on the small door 213 in the closed state. That is, the shaft spring 265 urges the shaft 262 toward the small door 213 along the rotational axis direction. At this time, the edge of the shaft 262 on the backward B is at a position of blocking the detection area of the small door opening/closing sensor 258, and a control unit 400 judges that the small door 213 is in the closed state. Further, the latch driving unit 263 is at the first position in the axial direction, and the engagement protrusion 262b of the shaft 262 and the engaged protrusion 263a of the latch driving unit 263 are at the engagement position in the rotation direction (refer to
As shown in
Since a thrust position regulation of the front edge 262c by the small door 213 is removed, the shaft 262 moves to the forward F in the rotational axis direction with the shaft spring 265. That is, when the engagement portion 263b switches the latch 260 to the unlocked state, the small door 213 is pressed and brought to the open state with the shaft spring 265. To be noted, a force of the shaft spring 265 to move the shaft 262 along the axial direction provides an auxiliary force to swing the small door 213. That is, although the small door 213 swings under the own weight thereof, for example, there is a possibility that a foreign material is stuck in a moving part of the small door 213 and the small door 213 becomes difficult to swing under the own weight thereof. Even in these cases, since the force of the shaft spring 265 to move the shaft 262 along the axial direction works as a force to press the small door 213 in the opening direction thereof, it is possible to securely open the small door 213. Further, since the edge of the shaft 262 on the backward B is at a position separated from the detection area of the small door opening/closing sensor 258, the control unit judges that the small door 213 is in the open state.
Further, as shown in
At a time of returning the small door 213 in the open state to the closed state again, the user closes the small door 213 in the open state with hands. At this time, the front edge 262c of the shaft 262 is pushed into the backward B with the small door 213, and the claw portion 235 pushes up the locking portion 260d of the latch 260 so that the claw portion 235 is engaged with the locking portion 260d and returns to a state shown in
As described above, it is possible to control the opening movement of the small door 213 using a same driving source as the toner container 110. To be noted, when the toner container 110 is rotated to perform a normal supply movement, the small door 213 is not affected since the driving gear 257 is rotated in the R3 rotation direction shown in
Next, a control configuration of the toner supply apparatus 606 will be described.
The CPU 401 control the whole of the image forming apparatus 200 by executing the control program, which the CPU 401 reads out and sends to the RAM 403, stored in the ROM 402. The CPU 401 is electrically coupled to driving units such as a system controller 410, a front cover control unit 421, a toner supply control unit 422, and a developing unit control unit 423 via a control block or various drivers, not shown. The system controller 410 controls a display panel 273 which is an example of a display unit. The front cover control unit 421 detects and controls an opening and closing of the front cover 270. The toner supply control unit 422 controls a toner supply movement and an opening and closing of the small door 213. The developing unit control unit 423 controls such as a toner concentration in the developing unit 603. In this embodiment, a toner concentration sensor 631 consisting of, for example, an inductance sensor is disposed as an example of a residual quantity detection unit, and the toner concentration sensor 631 is capable of detecting the toner concentration in the developing unit 603, and the detection result thereof is sent to the developing unit control unit 423.
Next, a control flow of a lock disengagement movement of the small door 213 will be described with reference to a flowchart illustrating a movement of the small door shown in
In a case where the toner in the toner container 110 of any color is judged to be absent (YES at step S11), the CPU 401 starts the processing to replace the toner container 110 of the corresponding color. The CPU 401 judges with the cover opening/closing detection sensor 271 whether or not the front cover 270 is in the open state (step S12). In a case where the front cover 270 is judged to be not in the open state (NO at step S12), the CPU 401 ends the processing. In a case where the front cover 270 is judged to be in the open state (YES at step S12), the CPU 401 rotates the driving motor 252 of a station (color) corresponding to the toner container 110 of the target in an opposite direction (step S13). To be noted, a rotation direction in which the toner container 110 rotates in a normal toner supply operation is defined as a positive rotation, and a rotation direction to bring the small door 213 to the open state is defined as an inverse rotation.
The CPU 401 monitors the small door opening/closing sensor 258 of the target station for the replacement, and judges whether or not the small door 213 is brought from the closed state to the open state (step S14). In a case where the CPU 401 judges that the small door 213 is not in the open state (NO at step S14), the CPU 401 performs the judgement again (step S14). In a case where the CPU 401 judges that the small door 213 is in the open state (YES at step S14), the CPU 401 stops the driving motor 252 and ends the processing (step S15). Since, by the processing described above, the small door 213 to which the toner container 110 of the target for the replacement is attached is automatically opened, it is possible for the user to identify the target toner container without a mistake.
Next, a movement flow to identify a state of the attachment of the toner container 110 will be described with reference to a flowchart illustrating a movement for identification of a toner container attachment shown in
In a case where the CPU 401 judges that the toner container 110 is unattached (YES at step S22), the CPU 401 judges with an opening/closing detection sensor 271 whether or not the front cover 270 is in the open state (step S23). In a case where the CPU 401 judges that the front cover 270 is in the open state (YES at step S23), the CPU 401 inversely rotates the driving motor 252 corresponding to the target station (step S24). The CPU 401 monitors the small door opening/closing sensor 258 of the target station for the replacement, and judges whether or not the small door 213 is brought from the closed state to the open state (step S25). In a case where the CPU 401 judges that the small door 213 is not brought to the open state (NO at step S25), the CPU 401 performs the judgement again (step S25). In a case where the CPU 401 judges that the small door 213 is brought to the open state (YES at step S25), the CPU 401 stops the driving motor 252 and ends the processing (step S26).
As described above, in a case where the user closes the small door 213 without attaching the toner container 110 at the replacement of the toner container 110 by a mistake, an unattachment of the toner container 110 is shortly detected, and once detected the small door 213 is immediately opened. Thus, it is possible for the user to return to an attachment work of the toner container 110 again without a waiting time. To be noted, as described above, when the toner container 110 is judged to be unattached, the small door 213 is immediately opened. Therefore, it barely occurs that the small door 213 is in the closed state with the toner container 110 unattached and also with the front cover 270 being in the closed state (NO at step S23). However, in a case where the aforementioned state occurs, for example, by closing the small door 213 and the front cover 270 at the same time, it is not possible to open the small door 213. Supposing that it is possible to open the small door 213 inside the front cover 270, it is not possible for the user to recognize that the small door 213 is in the open state since the front cover 270 is closed. Therefore, in this embodiment, in a case where the toner container 110 is unattached with the small door 213 and the front cover 270 being in the closed state, a message to inform the unattachment of the toner container 110 is displayed (step S27) on the display panel 273 (refer to
As described above, in the image forming apparatus 200 of the second embodiment, in a case where the user closes the small door 213 without noticing the unattachment of the toner container 110 at the replacement of the toner container 110, the small door 213 is automatically opened. Therefore, it is possible for the user to recognize the unattachment of the toner container 110 before closing the front cover 270. Herewith, in a case where the small door 213 is closed without attaching the toner container 110, it is possible to prevent a complicated work such as to open the front cover 270 again after closed the front cover 270 without noticing the unattachment, and an operability is improved at a time when the toner container 110 is unattached.
Further, in this embodiment, the mechanism to use the driving motor 252 which is a driving source to supply the toner from the toner container 110 is applied to disengage the lock in the closed state of the small door 213. Therefore, it is possible to prevent an increase in high price components of the driving unit, and, with a simple configuration and low cost, it is possible to achieve to perform the disengagement of the lock in a case where the small door 213 is locked in the closed state.
Next, a third embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail with referring to
In a case where the CPU 401 judges that the toner container 110 is unattached (YES at step S33), the CPU 401 judges with the opening/closing detection sensor 271 whether or not the front cover 270 is in the open state (step S34). In a case where the CPU 401 judges with the opening/closing detection sensor 271 that the front cover 270 is not in the open state (NO at step S34), the CPU 401 displays the message informing the unattachment of the toner container 110 on the display panel 273 and ends the processing (step S35). In a case where the CPU 401 judges with the opening/closing detection sensor 271 that the front cover 270 is in the open state (YES at step S34), the CPU 401 judges whether or not the repeat count number is larger than a threshold value which is one (step S36). To be noted, although the threshold value of the repeat count number is set at one in this embodiment, it is not limited to this, and acceptable to set appropriately.
In a case where the CPU 401 judges that the repeat count number N is not greater than 1 (NO at step S36), the CPU 401 monitors the small door opening/closing sensor 258 of the target station, and judges whether or not the small door 213 is brought from the closed state to the open state (step S38). In a case where the CPU 401 judges that the small door 213 is not brought to the open state (NO at step S38), the CPU 401 performs the judgement again (step S38). In a case where the CPU 401 judges that the small door 213 is brought to the open state (YES at step S38), the CPU 401 stops the driving motor 252 (step S37). The CPU 401 count up the repeat count number N by 1 (step S40), and returns to the step S32. Having returned to the step S32, unless proceeding to NO at the step S33 or S34, the CPU 401 repeatedly returns to a branch step of the step S36, where the processing is branched based on the repeat count number N, with counting up the repeat count number N by 1 each time. The flow described above is repeated until the repeat count number N exceeds the threshold value.
In a case where the repeat count number N exceeds the threshold value (YES at step S36), the CPU 401 judges that the toner container 110 is unattached with the small door 213 being in the closed state. That is, although the toner container 110 is unattached and the small door 213 is in the closed state, in this condition the small door 213 is not brought to the open state. Thereafter, the CPU 401 judges with the opening/closing detection sensor 271 whether or not the front cover 270 is in the open state (step S41). In a case where the CPU 401 judges that the front cover 270 is not in the open state (NO at step S41), the CPU 401 performs the judgement again (step S41). In a case where the CPU 401 judges that the front cover 270 is brought to the open state (YES at step S41), the CPU 401 displays the message informing the unattachment of the toner container 110 (step S35) on the display panel 273, and ends the processing.
Accordingly, in this embodiment, the opening and closing of the small door 213 changes in a sequence of the opening, closing, and opening when N is equal to 0, and in a sequence of the opening, closing, and opening when N is equal to 1. When N becomes equal to 2, the opening and closing of the small door 213 starts with the opening and then changes to the closing. At this time, the CPU 401 holds the small door 213 in the closed state. Therefore, in a case where the CPU 401 detects that the small door 213 is in the closed state after twice repeated a switch between the open state and the closed state, the CPU 401 holds the small door 213 in the closed state. That is, in a case where the CPU 401 detects that the small door 213 is in the closed state after repeated the switch between the open state and the closed state, as an example of predetermined times, 4 times, the CPU 401 holds the small door 213 in the closed state.
In the above configuration, in a case where a movement to close the small door 213 is carried out a plurality of times (3 times in a case of this embodiment) with the toner container 110 unattached, the CPU 401 judges that the toner container 110 is intentionally unattached, and holds the small door 213 in the closed state. Herewith, it is possible to perform a recovery work which is required when the user closes the small door 213 with the toner container unattached by a mistake. Further, it is possible to intentionally hold the toner container 110 unattached in cases of such as moving the apparatus body 210 of the image forming apparatus 200 and using the image forming apparatus 200 in a color degeneration mode (such as monochrome only mode).
As described above, the image forming apparatus 200 of the third embodiment is able to address a case where the user wants to intentionally hold the toner container 110 unattached.
The present disclosure improves an operability at a time when the accommodating container of the developer is unattached.
While the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions.
This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2019-120819, filed Jun. 28, 2019 and No. 2020-070947, filed Apr. 10, 2020 which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-120819 | Jun 2019 | JP | national |
| 2020-070947 | Apr 2020 | JP | national |
