Toner supply device, image forming apparatus and toner supplying method

Abstract

A toner supply device which includes: a multiple number of toner bottles; and a toner supply assembly mounting mechanism having the toner bottles mounted thereon and feeding toner discharged from the toner bottles to a developing unit and is controlled so as to supply toner to the developing unit in accordance with the amount of toner consumed in the process of printing of the developing unit, further includes: micro switches which each detect the amount of toner left in the toner storing portion with toner filled therein; and a controller for controlling the operation of the toner supply device, which selects one of the toner bottles to be used for supply of toner to a toner feed device, based on the amounts of toner in the multiple toner bottles, which are detected by the micro switches.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an illustrative view showing an overall configuration of an image forming apparatus using a toner container according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic side sectional view showing a configuration of a developing unit and a toner supply device that constitute the image forming apparatus;

FIG. 3 is an overall front view showing the developing unit and toner supply device;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the developing unit;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a mounting example when toner supply assemblies are set in toner supply assembly mounting mechanisms that constitute the toner supply devices;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the toner supply assembly mounting mechanisms;

FIG. 7A is a side view showing a configuration of a toner supply assembly as a part of the toner supply device and FIG. 7B is its front view, viewed from the end face side of the toner supply assembly from which toner is supplied;

FIG. 8 is a side view of the front end part of a toner bottle as a part of the toner supply assembly;

FIG. 9 is a side view showing a configuration when scrapers for toner conveyance are fitted to the front end part of the toner bottle;

FIG. 10 is an illustrative view showing one example of the scrapers;

FIG. 11 is an illustrative view schematically showing a case where the scrapers are attached to the toner bottle;

FIG. 12 is a front view showing a configuration of the toner bottle;

FIG. 13A is a front view showing a configuration of a bottle holder that constitutes the toner supply device; FIG. 13B is a perspective view showing the bottle holder, when it is viewed from the rear side;

FIG. 14A is a perspective view showing a first casing that constitutes the bottle holder, FIG. 14B is a perspective view showing a second casing that constitutes the bottle holder;

FIG. 15 is an illustrative view showing a positional relationship between a toner discharge chamber of the bottle holder and toner bottle's scrapers;

FIG. 16 is a schematic sectional view showing a configuration of the front end part of the toner bottle;

FIG. 17 is a plan view showing a configuration of a slip ring of the toner bottle;

FIG. 18 is a schematic sectional view showing the bottle holder attached to the front end part of the toner bottle;

FIG. 19A is an illustrative view showing the bottle holder with its toner discharge port open, FIG. 19B is an illustrative view showing the bottle holder with the toner discharge port closed by a shutter mechanism;

FIG. 20 is an illustrative view showing the schematic structure of the rear side of the bottle holder;

FIG. 21A is a perspective view showing the configuration of a shutter mechanism for a toner supply device in accordance with the present embodiment, when viewed from the front side, and FIG. 21B is a perspective view showing the shutter mechanism when viewed from the rear side;

FIG. 22A is an illustrative view showing the relationship between the shutter mechanism and a first guide member of the bottle holder, FIG. 22B is an illustrative view showing the relationship between the shutter mechanism and the rotation of the toner bottle;

FIG. 23 is an illustrative view showing the structure of the toner supply assembly mounting mechanism;

FIG. 24 is an illustrative view showing the structure of a supply passage part for coupling the toner supply assembly mounting mechanism with a developing unit;

FIG. 25A is an illustrative view showing the positional relationship between a regulating member and a projection piece before the toner supply device is mounted to a mount base; FIG. 25B is an illustrative view showing the positional relationship between the regulating member and the projection piece when the toner supply device has been mounted to the mount base; and FIG. 25C is an illustrative view showing the positional relationship between the regulating member and the projection piece when the toner supply device is dismounted from the mount base;

FIG. 26 is a schematic illustrative view showing the internal structure of the toner bottle;

FIG. 27 is a schematic illustrative view showing the configuration of a toner supply assembly mounting mechanism corresponding to the toner bottle;

FIG. 28 is a schematic illustrative view showing a state where the toner bottle has been set on the toner supply assembly mounting mechanism;

FIG. 29 is an illustrative view showing the arrangement of the toner bottles;

FIGS. 30A to 30D are flowcharts showing the toner supply operation and function of the image forming apparatus; and

FIG. 31 is an illustrative view showing an overall configuration of a copier according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Claims

1. A toner supply device comprising: a plurality of toner containers filled with toner;a toner feed device having the toner containers mounted therein and feeding toner discharged from the toner containers to a developing unit, wherein the toner supply device is controlled so as to supply toner to the developing unit in accordance with the amount of toner consumed in the developing unit for the process of printing;a remaining toner quantity detector for detecting the amount of toner left in a toner storing portion filled with toner in the toner container; anda controller for controlling the operation of the toner supply device,characterized in that the controller has the function of selecting and determining one of the toner containers so as to be used for supply of toner to the developing unit, in accordance with the amounts of toner left in the multiple toner containers, detected by the remaining toner quantity detector.

2. The toner supply device according to claim 1, wherein the toner container to be determined is the one that has the least amount of toner remaining therein among the multiple toner containers.

3. The toner supply device according to claim 1, wherein the toner container comprises: a partitioning member which separates the container interior into the toner storing portion and an empty space without toner therein; anda partitioning member moving device which moves the partitioning member in accordance with the amount of toner left in the toner storing portion so that the toner storing portion will have a suitable volume, andthe remaining toner quantity detector detects the position of the partitioning member when the volume of the toner storing portion has been reduced to a predetermined volume or lower.

4. The toner supply device according to claim 3, wherein the remaining toner quantity detector estimates the amount of remaining toner by moving the partitioning member in the empty space.

5. The toner supply device according to claim 3, wherein the remaining toner quantity detector stops detection of the amount of remaining toner in response to increase in the driving load of the partitioning member moving device when the partitioning member has reached a predetermined position in the empty space.

6. The toner supply device according to claim 4, wherein the remaining toner quantity detector estimates the amount of remaining toner, based on the time taken for the partitioning member to move in the empty space.

7. The toner supply device according to claim 5, wherein the remaining toner quantity detector estimates the amount of remaining toner, based on the time taken for the partitioning member to move in the empty space.

8. The toner supply device according to claim 1, wherein the toner container includes a toner information manager with toner information recorded therein, the toner information manager is able to perform bi-directional communications with the controller, and the amounts of toner remaining in the multiple toner containers, detected by the remaining toner quantity detector are stored in both the toner information manager and the controller.

9. The toner supply device according to claim 1, wherein detection of the amount of remaining toner by the remaining toner quantity detector is performed when the toner supply device is switched from the deactivated state to the activated state.

10. The toner supply device according to claim 1, wherein detection of the amount of remaining toner by the remaining toner quantity detector is performed before a printing operation by the developing unit is started.

11. An image forming apparatus which includes a toner supply device comprising: a plurality of toner containers filled with toner; and a toner feed device having the toner containers mounted therein and feeding toner discharged from the toner containers to a developing unit, wherein the toner supply device is controlled so as to supply toner to the developing unit in accordance with the amount of toner consumed in the developing unit for the process of printing, characterized in that the toner supply device further includes: a remaining toner quantity detector for detecting the amount of toner left in a toner storing portion filled with toner in the toner container; and a controller for controlling the operation of the toner supply device, and the controller has the function of selecting and determining one of the toner containers so as to be used for supply of toner to the developing unit, in accordance with the amounts of toner left in the multiple toner containers, detected by the remaining toner quantity detector.

12. The image forming apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the toner container to be determined is the one that has the least amount of toner remaining therein among the multiple toner containers.

13. The image forming apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the toner container comprises: a partitioning member which separates the container interior into the toner storing portion and an empty space without toner therein; anda partitioning member moving device which moves the partitioning member in accordance with the amount of toner left in the toner storing portion so that the toner storing portion will have a suitable volume, andthe remaining toner quantity detector detects the position of the partitioning member when the volume of the toner storing portion has been reduced to a predetermined volume or lower.

14. The image forming apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the remaining toner quantity detector estimates the amount of remaining toner by moving the partitioning member in the empty space.

15. The image forming apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the remaining toner quantity detector stops detection of the amount of remaining toner in response to increase in the driving load of the partitioning member moving device when the partitioning member has reached a predetermined position in the empty space.

16. The image forming apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the remaining toner quantity detector estimates the amount of remaining toner, based on the time taken for the partitioning member to move in the empty space.

17. The image forming apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the remaining toner quantity detector estimates the amount of remaining toner, based on the time taken for the partitioning member to move in the empty space.

18. The image forming apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the toner container includes a toner information manager with toner information recorded therein, the toner information manager is able to perform bi-directional communications with the controller, and the amounts of toner remaining in the multiple toner containers, detected by the remaining toner quantity detector are stored in both the toner information manager and the controller.

19. The image forming apparatus according to claim 11, wherein detection of the amount of remaining toner by the remaining toner quantity detector is performed when the toner supply device is switched from the deactivated state to the activated state.

20. The image forming apparatus according to claim 11, wherein detection of the amount of remaining toner by the remaining toner quantity detector is performed before a printing operation by the developing unit is started.

21. A toner supplying method for use in an image forming apparatus which includes a toner supply device comprising: a plurality of toner containers filled with toner; a toner feed device having the toner containers mounted therein and feeding toner discharged from the toner containers to a developing unit, wherein the toner supply device is controlled so as to supply toner to the developing unit in accordance with the amount of toner consumed in the developing unit for the process of printing, the toner supplying method comprising the steps of:detecting the amount of toner left in a toner storing portion filled with toner in the toner container; andselecting and determining one of the toner containers so as to be used for supply of toner to the developing unit, in accordance with the detected amounts of toner left in the multiple toner containers.

22. The toner supplying method according to claim 21, further comprising the step of selecting and determining the one toner container that has the least amount of toner remaining therein among the multiple toner containers.

23. The toner supplying method according to claim 21, wherein the toner container comprises: a partitioning member which separates the container interior into the toner storing portion and an empty space without toner therein; and a partitioning member moving device which moves the partitioning member in accordance with the amount of toner left in the toner storing portion so that the toner storing portion will have a suitable volume, the toner supplying method further comprising the step of detecting the position of the partitioning member when the volume of the toner storing portion has been reduced to a predetermined volume or lower.

24. The toner supplying method according to claim 23, wherein the remaining toner quantity detecting step includes a step of moving the partitioning member in the empty space.

25. The toner supplying method according to claim 23, wherein the remaining toner quantity detecting step includes a step of stopping detection of the amount of remaining toner in response to increase in the driving load of the partitioning member moving device when the partitioning member has reached a predetermined position in the empty space.

26. The toner supplying method according to claim 24, wherein the remaining toner quantity detecting step includes a step of detecting the time taken for the partitioning member to move in the empty space.

27. The toner supplying method according to claim 25, wherein the remaining toner quantity detecting step includes a step of detecting the time taken for the partitioning member to move in the empty space.

28. The toner supplying method according to claim 21, further comprising the step of storing the detected amounts of toner remaining in the multiple toner containers, into a controller for controlling the operation of the toner supply device and a toner information manager with toner information recorded therein, provided for each toner container.

29. The toner supplying method according to claim 21, wherein the remaining toner quantity detecting step is effected when the toner supply device is switched from the deactivated state to the activated state.

30. The toner supplying method according to claim 21, wherein the remaining toner quantity detecting step is effected before a printing operation by the developing unit is started.