Claims
- 1. A cleaner assembly for an image processing apparatus, said cleaner assembly comprising:a drive motor; a plurality of rotatable cleaning components, including a detone brush, a detone roller, and a waste auger, wherein said rotatable cleaning components form a serial connection to distribute a rotational force produced by said drive motor; a current sensor for sensing a current being drawn by said drive motor; and a central processing unit, associated with said current sensor, adapted to shut down said image processing apparatus if a current change within said drive motor due to a malfunction within at least one of said rotatable cleaning components, sensed by said current sensor, exceeds a predetermined amount.
- 2. The cleaner assembly in claim 1, wherein said rotatable cleaning components include a plurality of axles, and said serial connection includes a plurality of serially connected gears positioned on said plurality of axles respectively.
- 3. The cleaner assembly of claim 1, further comprising a rotation sensor adapted to sense a rotation of a last rotating cleaning component in said serial connection of rotatable cleaning components.
- 4. The cleaner assembly in claim 3, further comprising an indicator attached to said last cleaning component of said plurality of rotatable cleaning components to rotate therewith, wherein said rotation sensor detects movement of said indicator.
- 5. A detone cleaner assembly for an image processing apparatus, said cleaner assembly comprising:a drive motor; a plurality of rotating cleaning components, including a cleaning brush, a detone roller, and a waste auger, wherein said rotating cleaning components form a serial connection to distribute a rotational force produced by said drive motor; and a sensor adapted to sense a rotation of a last rotating cleaning component in said serial connection.
- 6. The cleaner assembly in claim 5, wherein said rotating cleaning components include a plurality of axles, and said serial connection includes a plurality of serially connected gears positioned on said plurality of axles respectively.
- 7. The cleaner assembly in claim 5, further comprising a current sensor for sensing a current being drawn by said drive motor, and wherein a central processing unit in response to said current sensor sensing a current, shuts down said image processing apparatus to prevent contamination of said image processing apparatus.
- 8. A method of monitoring a cleaner assembly for an image processing apparatus, said method comprising:rotating a serial configuration of cleaning elements within said cleaner assembly via a drive motor; monitoring a current being drawn by said drive motor; sensing the current of said drive motor, and determining when such current has exceeded a predetermined limit; and shutting down said image processing apparatus if a current change within said drive motor exceeds such predetermined limit.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
Reference is made to and priority claimed from U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/317,398 filed Sep. 5, 2001, entitled SERIAL DRIVE SENSING FAULT CLEANING DEVICE DETECTOR
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Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60/317398 |
Sep 2001 |
US |