JP2019074630A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To appropriately calculate the remaining amount of toner even when a plurality of replenishment operation patterns exist in toner replenishment. An image forming apparatus 1 is composed of a developing device that stores toner and supplies the toner to an image carrier, a toner container 4 that stores the toner supplied to the developing device, and a toner container 4. The control device 15 that controls the toner replenishment operation to the developing device according to any one of the plurality of replenishment operation patterns, the toner replenishment amount corresponding to each of the plurality of replenishment operation patterns, and the maximum capacity of the toner container 4 are shown. A storage device 16 that stores the total amount of toner and the cumulative number of times of replenishment operation for each replenishment operation pattern is provided. The control device 15 calculates the subtotal toner replenishment amount based on the cumulative number of executions of the replenishment operation and the toner replenishment amount for each of the plurality of replenishment operation patterns, and totals the plurality of subtotal toner replenishment amounts to total the toner replenishment amount. Is calculated, and the remaining amount of toner is calculated based on the comparison between the total amount of toner and the total amount of toner replenished. [Selection diagram] Fig. 3

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus provided with a developing device and a toner container.

  Conventionally, an electrophotographic image forming apparatus includes a developing device for storing toner and supplying the toner to an image carrier such as a photosensitive drum, and a toner container for storing toner to be supplied to the developing device. Prepare. The toner container is exchangeably attached to the image forming apparatus. The new toner container contains the maximum capacity of toner. The toner container is provided with an IC chip, and the IC chip stores in advance information specific to the toner container (for example, the total amount of toner indicating the maximum storage amount of toner, etc.).

  For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an image forming apparatus that stores toner in a replaceable toner storage unit (toner container) and supplies toner to a developing device (developing device) by the operation of a toner replenishing operation unit. There is. The above-described image forming apparatus replenishes toner by a substantially predetermined amount in accordance with the operation of the toner replenishing operation unit.

  The image forming apparatus of Patent Document 1 calculates the calculated value by comparing the operation amount of the toner replenishing operation unit and the image signal amount, and compares the calculated calculated value with a predetermined value to calculate the calculated value. And a remaining amount determination unit that determines the amount of toner remaining in the unit. The above computing means integrates the number of rotations of the transport screw as the operation amount of the toner supply operation unit and integrates the image signal. In the technology disclosed in Patent Document 1, the toner remaining amount determination is performed based on the toner consumption amount being proportional to the integrated value of the image signal and the operation amount of the toner supply operation unit being proportional to the toner consumption amount. Be done.

JP 2000-181214 A

  The toner remaining amount determination in the image forming apparatus of Patent Document 1 described above is premised on that the toner replenishment amount per toner replenishment operation is constant. However, in general, the toner replenishment amount by the toner replenishment operation is constant only at the time of operation according to the same replenishment operation pattern. In an image forming apparatus that executes a toner replenishment operation according to a plurality of replenishment operation patterns, if the replenishment operation pattern is different, the toner replenishment amount by the toner replenishment operation is different.

  Therefore, in an image forming apparatus having a plurality of replenishment operation patterns, it is difficult to accurately determine the toner remaining amount based on the product of the cumulative execution number of toner replenishment operations and a predetermined unit replenishment amount.

  In consideration of the above circumstances, the present invention has an object to appropriately calculate the remaining amount of toner even when there are a plurality of replenishment operation patterns in toner replenishment.

  An image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes a developing device for storing toner and supplying the toner to an image carrier, a toner container for storing the toner to be supplied to the developing device, and the toner container Control device for controlling the toner replenishment operation from the developer to the developing device according to any of a plurality of replenishment operation patterns, a toner replenishment amount corresponding to each of the plurality of replenishment operation patterns, and maximum accommodation of the toner container A storage device is provided which stores a total amount of toner indicating an amount and the cumulative number of executions of the replenishment operation for each replenishment operation pattern. The control device calculates a subtotal toner replenishment amount based on the accumulated number of executions of the replenishment operation and the toner replenishment amount for each of the plurality of replenishment operation patterns, and sums the plurality of subtotal toner replenishment amounts. The total toner replenishment amount is calculated, and the toner remaining amount is calculated based on the comparison between the total toner amount and the total toner replenishment amount.

  In the above-described image forming apparatus, the toner replenishment amount indicates the amount of toner to be replenished when the toner motor makes one rotation in the replenishment operation according to the replenishment operation pattern corresponding to the toner replenishment amount, and the cumulative execution is performed. The number of times preferably indicates the cumulative number of revolutions of the toner motor.

  It is preferable that the above-described image forming apparatus further includes a display unit that displays the remaining amount of toner.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to appropriately calculate the remaining amount of toner even when there are a plurality of replenishment operation patterns in toner replenishment.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a toner container, a photosensitive drum, and a developing device of the image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, it is a graph showing the relationship between the cumulative rotation number of the toner motor and the cumulative toner replenishment amount. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation of toner related amount calculation in the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a view showing an example of the display of the toner remaining amount in the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

1. Overall Configuration of Image Forming Apparatus First, the overall configuration of an image forming apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The image forming apparatus 1 is, for example, a multifunction peripheral having a print function, a copy function, a fax function, and the like in combination.

  Hereinafter, for convenience of description, the front side of the sheet of FIG. 1 is referred to as the front side of the image forming apparatus 1. Arrows L, R, U, and Lo appropriately attached to the respective drawings indicate the left side, the right side, the upper side, and the lower side of the image forming apparatus 1, respectively.

  The image forming apparatus 1 includes an apparatus main body 2 having a substantially box shape. A sheet feeding cassette for storing sheets is provided at the lower part of the apparatus main body 2, and a sheet discharge tray is provided at the upper part of the apparatus main body 2.

  An upper cover 3 is attached to an upper surface of the apparatus main body 2 so as to be openable and closable on the side of the sheet discharge tray. Below the upper cover 3, the toner container 4 is accommodated. By opening the upper cover 3, the storage space of the toner container 4 in the apparatus main body 2 is exposed, and the toner container 4 can be detachably attached to the apparatus main body 2. The apparatus body 2 includes a container detector 41 and a reader / writer unit 42 in the vicinity of the storage space of the toner container 4 (see FIG. 3). The container detector 41 detects attachment / detachment (ie, replacement) of the toner container 4. The reader / writer unit 42 communicates with the IC chip 23 (see FIG. 3) of the attached toner container 4 to read and write data.

  At the upper part of the apparatus body 2, an exposure unit 5 constituted by a laser scanning unit (LSU) is disposed below the sheet discharge tray. An image forming unit 6 is provided below the exposure unit 5. The image forming unit 6 has a rotatable photosensitive drum 7 (image carrier). Around the photosensitive drum 7, a charging unit 8, a developing device 9 connected to the toner container 4, a transfer roller, and a cleaning unit are disposed along the rotational direction of the photosensitive drum 7.

  A sheet conveyance path 10 is provided inside the apparatus main body 2. At the upstream end of the conveyance path 10, a sheet feeding unit is provided in the vicinity of the sheet feeding cassette. A transfer unit having a photosensitive drum 7 and a transfer roller is provided at a midstream portion of the transport path 10. A fixing device is provided downstream of the conveyance path 10. At the downstream end of the conveyance path 10, a paper discharge unit is provided in the vicinity of the paper discharge tray.

  The apparatus main body 2 further includes a control device 15 that controls each part of the image forming apparatus 1 inside. Further, the apparatus main body 2 is provided with a display unit 17 for displaying the state of the image forming apparatus 1 on the top or side (see FIG. 3). The display unit 17 is configured of a touch panel, a display, or the like, and displays, for example, the toner remaining amount (toner gauge) of the toner container 4. The display unit 17 may include operation keys for operating the image forming apparatus 1 such as a start key, a stop / clear key, and a ten key. The display unit 17 may be separately provided outside the image forming apparatus 1. For example, the display unit 17 may be configured as a display device such as an external display connected to the image forming apparatus 1.

2. Operation Outline of Image Forming Apparatus Next, an image forming operation by the image forming apparatus 1 having the above-described configuration will be schematically described. The image forming apparatus 1 starts an image forming operation when image data is input from an external computer or the like and an instruction to start printing is issued. In the image forming operation, first, the charging unit 8 of the image forming unit 6 charges the surface of the photosensitive drum 7, and then the exposing unit 5 emits a laser beam so that the exposure corresponding to the image data is the photosensitive drum 7. The electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 7. Then, the developing device 9 of the image forming unit 6 uses the toner to develop the electrostatic latent image into a toner image.

  On the other hand, the sheet stored in the sheet feeding cassette is taken out by the sheet feeding unit and conveyed on the conveyance path 10. The sheet on the conveyance path 10 is conveyed to the transfer unit at a predetermined timing, and the toner image on the photosensitive drum 7 is transferred to the sheet by the transfer unit. The sheet on which the toner image has been transferred is conveyed to a fixing device, and the toner image is fixed to the sheet by the fixing device. The sheet on which the toner image is fixed is discharged from the sheet discharge unit to the sheet discharge tray.

3. Detailed Configuration of Each Part of Image Forming Apparatus 3-1. Detailed Configuration of Toner Container Next, the toner container 4 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the toner container 4 includes a container main body 20 that accommodates the toner therein. In the container main body 20, a transport member 21 for supplying the toner to the developing device 9 and a stirring member 22 for stirring the toner are provided. The side surface of the container body 20 is provided with an IC chip 23 for storing container information on the toner container 4.

  The container body 20 is formed in a substantially box-like shape elongated in the front-rear direction, and has a supply port 20a opened on the lower surface. The supply port 20 a communicates with the developing device 9 through the supply path 12.

  The transport member 21 is rotatably attached to a lower portion of the container body 20 at a position corresponding to the supply port 20 a. The conveying member 21 is configured as, for example, a conveying screw having a rotary shaft long in the front-rear direction and a spiral conveying blade formed on the outer peripheral surface of the rotary shaft. One end (for example, the rear end) of the rotation shaft of the conveyance member 21 is connected to a container drive source 43 (see FIG. 3) such as a toner motor. The conveying member 21 is rotated by the rotational driving force transmitted from the container driving source 43. The toner in the container main body 20 is replenished to the developing device 9 through the replenishment port 20 a and the replenishment path 12 by the rotation of the conveyance member 21.

  The stirring member 22 is rotatably mounted substantially at the center in the vertical direction in the container body 20. The stirring member 22 has, for example, a rotating shaft long in the front-rear direction and a stirring blade formed on the outer peripheral surface of the rotating shaft. As the stirring member 22 rotates, the toner in the container main body 20 is stirred.

  The IC chip 23 becomes communicable with the reader / writer unit 42 connected to the control device 15 in a state where the toner container 4 is mounted to the apparatus main body 2, and may communicate even through an antenna (not shown). Good. The IC chip 23 includes a storage medium (not shown) such as a non-volatile memory, and stores container information of the toner container 4. The IC chip 23 stores, for example, as the container information of the toner container 4, the total toner amount indicating the maximum storage amount of toner stored in the container body 20 of the new toner container 4 and the toner replenishment amount described later.

3-2. Detailed Configuration of Developing Device Next, the developing device 9 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the developing device 9 includes a housing 30 for containing toner. In the housing 30, a developing roller 31 for supplying toner to the photosensitive drum 7, a stirring member 32 for stirring the toner, and a conveying member 33 for conveying the toner are provided.

  The housing 30 is formed in a substantially box shape long in the front-rear direction, and has an opening portion opened on the left surface so as to face the photosensitive drum 7 and a replenishment port 30 a opened on the upper surface. The supply port 30 a communicates with the toner container 4 via the supply path 12.

  The developing roller 31 is disposed to face and be in contact with the photosensitive drum 7 through the opening. The developing roller 31 has a long rotation axis in the front-rear direction, and is rotatably attached to the housing 30. The developing roller 31 carries a predetermined amount of toner in the housing 30 and supplies the carried toner to the photosensitive drum 7 by rotating.

  The stirring member 32 and the conveying member 33 are arranged side by side in the lower part of the housing 30. Further, the transport member 33 is disposed below the supply port 30a. The stirring member 32 and the conveying member 33 have a long rotational axis in the front-rear direction, and are rotatably attached to the housing 30. The toner in the housing 30 is agitated by the rotation of the agitating member 32 and the conveying member 33 and conveyed to the developing roller 31.

3-3. Detailed Configuration of Control Device Next, the electrical configuration of the control device 15 will be described with reference to FIG. The control device 15 is configured by a CPU or the like, and is connected to a storage device 16 such as a ROM or a RAM. Further, the control device 15 is connected to each unit of the image forming apparatus 1 such as the container detector 41, the reader / writer unit 42, the container drive source 43, the display unit 17 and the like.

  The control device 15 controls each unit connected to the control device 15 based on a control program and control data stored in the storage device 16. The control device 15 controls, for example, the toner replenishment operation from the toner container 4 to the developing device 9 in accordance with any of a plurality of replenishment operation patterns.

  The replenishment operation pattern is, for example, a drive pattern for operating a toner motor (container drive source 43) that performs replenishment of toner by rotating the transport member 21. The control device 15 controls the toner motor so as to operate in different replenishment operation patterns according to the state of the image forming apparatus 1. For example, since the toner needs to be promptly replenished to the case 30 of the developing device 9 in which the toner is exhausted at the beginning of the power-on of the image forming apparatus 1, the control device 15 Control is performed using a replenishment operation pattern that continuously rotates. On the other hand, when the image forming apparatus 1 is printing, if the toner is continuously supplied to the developing device 9, the amount of toner becomes excessive and a problem such as fog (phenomenon in which a small amount of toner adheres to non-image portion) occurs. Since there is a possibility, the control device 15 performs control using a replenishment operation pattern in which the toner motor is intermittently rotated.

  FIG. 4 shows experimental results on the relationship between the cumulative number of revolutions of the toner motor and the cumulative toner replenishment amount in the three replenishment operation patterns used in the image forming apparatus 1 during printing to realize the intermittent rotation of the toner motor. It is a graph to represent. The replenishment operation pattern 1 is a drive pattern in which the toner motor alternately repeats rotation for 0.1 seconds and stop for 1.0 seconds. The replenishment operation pattern 2 is a drive pattern in which the toner motor alternately repeats rotation for 0.2 seconds and stop for 1.0 seconds. The supply operation pattern 3 is a drive pattern in which the toner motor alternately repeats rotation for 0.75 seconds and stop for 1.0 seconds. The above-described replenishment operation pattern is an example, and other replenishment operation patterns may be adopted as appropriate.

  As shown in FIG. 4, according to an experiment by the inventor of the present application, the replenishment operation pattern in which the rotation time (on time) of the toner motor is shorter (in other words, the replenishment operation pattern in which the toner motor rotates in smaller increments), The toner replenishment amount per rotation of the toner motor was larger. From the above experimental results, the amount (toner replenishment amount) of toner replenished from the toner container 4 to the developing device 9 when the toner motor rotates once is not constant, and it corresponds to the driving pattern (replenishment operation pattern) of the toner motor It was concluded that they were different.

  Therefore, when the toner replenishment amount is calculated based on the cumulative number of revolutions of the toner motor (the cumulative number of executions of the replenishment operation), the plurality of toner replenishment amounts obtained for each of the plurality of replenishment operation patterns are subtotally calculated. The total toner replenishment amount can be calculated more accurately by summing the subtotals.

  Based on the findings described above, the control device 15 calculates the subtotal toner replenishment amount based on the cumulative number of times of execution of the replenishment operation (accumulated number of revolutions of the toner motor) and the toner replenishment amount for each of the replenishment operation patterns described above, A plurality of subtotal toner replenishment amounts are summed to calculate a total toner replenishment amount, and a toner remaining amount is calculated based on the comparison between the total toner amount and the total toner replenishment amount. In the following description, the subtotal toner replenishment amount, the total toner replenishment amount, and the toner remaining amount calculated by the control device 15 may be collectively referred to as “toner related amount”.

  The storage device 16 stores, for example, a control program for executing the above-described replenishment operation control and toner related amount calculation. In addition, the storage device 16 stores the toner replenishment amount corresponding to each of the plurality of replenishment operation patterns and the total amount of toner used to calculate the toner remaining amount.

  The toner replenishment amount is a value indicating the amount (by weight or volume) of toner replenished from the toner container 4 to the developing device 9 each time the replenishment operation is performed, and corresponds to the replenishment operation. Different values are taken according to the replenishment operation pattern. The “one-time replenishment operation” corresponds to one unit operation of a member related to toner replenishment (for example, one rotation of a toner motor (container drive source 43) or one rotation of a conveying screw (conveying member 21)). Do. For example, the toner replenishment amount in replenishment operation pattern 1 (0.1 second rotation-1.0 second stop) is 0.025 g, and the toner replenishment amount in replenishment operation pattern 2 (0.2 second rotation-1.0 second stop) is The toner replenishment amount in 0.018 g and replenishment operation pattern 3 (0.75 seconds rotation-1.0 seconds stop) is 0.0175 g. Further, the total toner amount is a value indicating the maximum storage amount of toner stored in the toner container 4.

  The storage device 16 may store a plurality of toner replenishment amounts and a total toner amount included in container information read from the IC chip 23 when the toner container 4 is attached to the image forming apparatus 1, or at the time of factory shipment. A plurality of toner replenishment amounts and total toner amounts may be stored as default values of.

4. Details of Operation of Image Forming Apparatus The operation of the toner related amount calculation described above will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. As a premise of the operation of toner related amount calculation, the control device 15 of the image forming apparatus 1 of this embodiment stores the cumulative execution number of the replenishment operation (accumulated number of revolutions of the toner motor) in the storage device 16 for each replenishment operation pattern. ing.

  The control device 15 determines whether an execution trigger of the toner remaining amount calculation process has been detected (step S1). When the execution trigger is not detected (step S1: NO), the control device 15 repeats this detection loop. When the execution trigger is detected (step S1: YES), the control device 15 advances the process to step S2. The execution trigger of the toner remaining amount calculation process in step S1 is, for example, the end of a series of toner supply operations (more specifically, the end of rotation of the toner motor or the end of rotation of the transport member 21). The control device 15 may detect another event (for example, a user instruction) as an execution trigger of the toner remaining amount calculation process.

The control device 15 calculates the subtotal toner replenishment amount according to the following equation for each of the N replenishment operation patterns (step S2). As a result, N subtotal toner replenishment amounts are obtained.
Subtotal toner replenishment amount of replenishment operation pattern n (n is an integer satisfying 1 ≦ n ≦ N) = accumulated execution number of replenishment operations according to replenishment operation pattern n × toner replenishment amount of replenishment operation pattern n

  The control device 15 adds up the N subtotal toner replenishment amounts obtained in step S2 to calculate the total toner replenishment amount (step S3).

  The control device 15 calculates the toner remaining amount based on the comparison between the total amount of toner read out from the storage device 16 and the total toner replenishment amount obtained in step S3 (step S4). Here, the toner remaining amount may be represented by weight or may be represented by a ratio.

When the toner remaining amount is expressed by weight, the toner remaining amount is calculated according to the following equation.
Toner remaining amount = Toner total amount-Total toner replenishment amount

Further, when the toner remaining amount is expressed as a percentage (%), the toner remaining amount is calculated according to the following equation.
Toner remaining amount = ((total amount of toner−total amount of toner replenishment) / total amount of toner) × 100

  Control device 15 controls display unit 17 to display the calculated remaining amount of toner (step S5). The toner remaining amount displayed on the display unit 17 may be displayed, for example, only by numerical values, or as shown in FIG. 6, the percentage of the toner remaining amount may be displayed as a bar graph.

5. Technical Effects of the Present Embodiment According to the present embodiment, as described above, the image forming apparatus 1 stores the toner and supplies the toner to the photosensitive drum 7 (image carrier), and A toner container 4 containing toner supplied to the developing device 9, and a control device 15 controlling the toner supplying operation from the toner container 4 to the developing device 9 in accordance with any of a plurality of supply operation patterns; A storage device 16 is provided which stores a toner replenishment amount corresponding to each of a plurality of replenishment operation patterns, a total toner amount indicating the maximum storage amount of the toner container 4, and an accumulated execution count of the replenishment operation for each replenishment operation pattern. Then, for each of the replenishment operation patterns, the control device 15 calculates the subtotal toner replenishment amount based on the cumulative execution number of replenishment operations and the toner replenishment amount, and sums a plurality of subtotal toner replenishment amounts to obtain the total toner replenishment amount. And calculate the remaining amount of toner based on the comparison between the total toner amount and the total toner replenishment amount.

  According to the above configuration, since the total toner replenishment amount calculated based on the toner replenishment amount corresponding to each of the plurality of replenishment operation patterns is compared with the total toner amount, the toner remaining amount is calculated. It is possible to obtain the remaining amount of toner more accurately than in the configuration in which the remaining amount of toner is calculated based on the toner replenishment amount. That is, according to the configuration of the present embodiment, it is possible to appropriately calculate the remaining amount of toner even when there are a plurality of replenishment operation patterns in toner replenishment. Further, according to the configuration of the present embodiment, since it is not necessary to provide a dedicated part for detecting the toner remaining amount, the manufacturing cost and the arrangement space can be suppressed.

  Furthermore, the toner replenishment amount stored in the storage device 16 of the image forming apparatus 1 indicates the amount of toner to be replenished when the toner motor makes one rotation in the replenishment operation according to the replenishment operation pattern corresponding to the toner replenishment amount. The cumulative number of times of operation execution indicates the cumulative number of revolutions of the toner motor. As described above, the relationship between the number of revolutions of the toner motor and the toner replenishment amount has already been verified by experiments by the inventor. Therefore, according to the above configuration in which the toner remaining amount is calculated based on the number of rotations of the toner motor, it is possible to calculate the toner remaining amount more accurately.

  The image forming apparatus 1 further includes a display unit that displays the remaining amount of toner. According to the above configuration, since the toner remaining amount is displayed on the image forming apparatus 1, it is easy for the user who directly operates the image forming apparatus 1 to check the toner remaining amount, and the convenience is high.

6. Modified Example The supply operation of the present embodiment is not limited to the rotation of the toner motor, but may be the rotation of the conveyance screw. Further, the supply operation pattern of the present embodiment is not limited to the drive pattern of the toner motor. For example, the rotation pattern of the transport screw may be adopted as the replenishment operation pattern. Furthermore, the cumulative number of executions of the replenishment operation of the present embodiment is not limited to the cumulative number of revolutions of the toner motor. For example, the cumulative number of revolutions of the conveying screw may be adopted as the cumulative number of executions of the replenishment operation.

  In the present embodiment, the case where the configuration of the present invention is applied to the monochrome image forming apparatus 1 has been described, but in another different embodiment, the present invention is applied to another image forming apparatus such as a color printer, a copier, a facsimile, and a multifunction machine. It is also possible to apply the configuration of the present invention.

1 Image forming apparatus 4 Toner container 7 Photosensitive drum (image carrier)
9 developing device 15 control device 16 storage device 17 display section 43 container drive source (toner motor)

Claims (3)

A developer containing toner and supplying the toner to the image carrier;
A toner container for containing the toner to be supplied to the developing device;
A control device that controls the toner replenishment operation from the toner container to the developing device according to any of a plurality of replenishment operation patterns;
A storage device storing a toner replenishment amount corresponding to each of the plurality of replenishment operation patterns, a total toner amount indicating the maximum storage amount of the toner container, and an accumulated execution count of the replenishment operation for each of the replenishment operation patterns; Equipped
The control device calculates a subtotal toner replenishment amount based on the cumulative number of executions of the replenishment operation and the toner replenishment amount for each of the plurality of replenishment operation patterns, and sums the plurality of subtotal toner replenishment amounts. And calculating a total toner replenishment amount, and calculating a toner remaining amount based on a comparison between the total toner amount and the total toner replenishment amount.
The toner replenishment amount indicates an amount of the toner to be replenished when the toner motor makes one rotation in the replenishment operation according to the replenishment operation pattern corresponding to the toner replenishment amount, and the cumulative number of executions is the toner motor The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cumulative rotation number is indicated.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a display unit that displays the remaining amount of toner.

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