JPS63247783A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To execute an advance notice of an appropriate replacement time by predicting a varied discharge developing material quantity, by calculating and storing successively the consumed quantity of a developing material, based on the light emission time of light radiated by a latent image forming means, and calculating the developing material quantity collected by a collecting means, based on the consumed quantity. CONSTITUTION:When a laser beam LB has been radiated to a photosensitive drum 24 from a semiconductor laser 20 of an optical scanning system being a latent image forming means, the consumed quantity is calculated by a light emission time relative developing material consumed quantity calculating means 1, added successively and stored in a consumed quantity storage means 2. On the other hand, when a toner detecting signal 31 has been outputted to a developing material consumed quantity calculating means 3 from a toner sensor 26c, the consumed quantity is stored in a memory in the means 3, and by using the storage quantity of the means 2 and 3, the quantity of the developing material to be collected in a discharge developing material collecting part 29c is determined. In this regard, when it has been detected that there is not toner, in accordance with the detecting signal 31 from the sensor 26c, by the means 3, its fact is displayed on a display means 32, and the image forming operation is ended.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that forms a latent image by irradiating a photoreceptor with light based on an image signal input from an external device.

(Prior Art) In an image forming operation using a known electrophotographic process,
The toner image visualized on the surface of the photoreceptor drum is transferred to recording paper, but a phenomenon occurs in which some toner remains on the surface of the photoreceptor drum after transfer without being transferred (untransferred toner). This untransferred toner is collected from the surface of the photoreceptor drum by a cleaner, which is a discharged developer collection means composed of a cleaning roller, a cleaning blade, etc., to a discharged developer collection section provided within the cleaner.

In particular, in an image forming apparatus that has an image forming process kit that includes a photoreceptor drum, developing device, cleaner, charger, etc. as a unit, each time the image forming operation (printing operation) is repeated, the discharged developer material The amount of collected discharged developer material (the amount of discharged toner) is accumulated sequentially. Therefore, it is necessary to detect the amount of waste toner collected and notify the user when to replace the process kit.

Therefore, the amount of developer in the developing device is measured by the developer detection means, and the developer consumption amount calculation means determines whether the amount of developer measured by the developer detection means is less than a predetermined amount. When the amount falls below the predetermined amount, a no-toner signal is output, and the no-toner display means indicates that no toner is present, thereby notifying the end of the life of the image forming process kit. On the other hand, when the no-toner signal is output, the no-toner display means displays no toner, and the arithmetic means for control ends the image forming operation (printing operation) in progress and stops the functions of the image forming apparatus. let Next, after replacing the image forming process kit, the no-toner indicator is turned off to restore the print operation function of the image forming apparatus.

In this way, the timing for replacing conventional image forming process kits is based on the assumption that it will be difficult to maintain image quality due to consumption of the amount of developer in the developing device and uneven sensitivity due to changes in the photoreceptor over time. The decision was made and the decision was announced. However, in recent years, the lifespan of photoconductors has been extended due to improvements in the quality of photoconductors, and users are demanding lower running costs. There is a strong demand from users to extend the replacement period for image forming process kits until the quality of the above image deteriorates significantly. Here, in order to be able to replenish the developer material at any time as described above, post-processing of waste toner generated by the image forming operation becomes a problem. Possible post-processing methods for waste toner include discharging the waste toner outside the process kit and collecting it inside the process kit. Since the developer material cannot be reused, users must dispose of it themselves and are forced to do dirty work.This product was originally developed for cartridge-type process kits with the idea of minimizing maintenance on the user's side. It's difficult to do.

In addition, since the amount of waste toner collected varies depending on the usage mode of the user, unless the waste toner collection capacity of the cleaner section is sufficient for any usage mode, the amount of waste toner is detected by the cleaner section. Some means are needed to do so.

As such means, there is an attempt to calculate the amount of discharged toner from the number of printed sheets or the amount of consumed toner consumed within the developing device, which has a relative relationship with the discharged toner.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, the amount of discharged toner calculated by these methods has low accuracy and is not suitable for practical use. That is, in the former case, depending on how the device is used, 1
The amount of residual toner that is not transferred to a sheet of transfer paper and is used for development varies and is not constant, so even if the cleaner capacity has sufficient margin for the amount of discharged toner, when a certain number of sheets have passed. to notify the printer that the discharged toner is full and stop the printer's image forming operation, or conversely, if the toner collection capacity has already been exceeded but the specified number of sheets have not been printed, the printer will continue printing. When image formation is performed, unrecoverable residual toner overflows, contaminating equipment installed around the photoreceptor, and in models that use cleaning rollers, the additional driving force increases and damages the drive gear. There is a risk that this could lead to serious problems such as

Furthermore, it is technically possible to accurately calculate the amount of toner by installing a toner sensor, such as a voltage element, inside the cleaner, but this requires a new processing circuit that includes the sensor, which increases costs. There is a problem in that the process kit becomes expensive and the running cost increases significantly.

This invention was made to solve the above problems, and calculates the amount of waste toner that can be recovered from the relative toner consumption amount determined by the emission time of the laser beam and the toner consumption amount consumed by the developing device. By doing so, the objective is to obtain an image forming apparatus that can accurately calculate the amount of waste toner that can be collected by the collection means and notify the optimum time to dispose of waste toner without making any major changes to the conventional configuration. do.

[Means for solving problems]

The image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes: a light emission time relative developer consumption amount calculation means for sequentially integrating the light emission time relative developer consumption amount based on the light emission time of the light irradiated by the latent image forming means; A light emission time relative developer consumption amount storage means for storing the light emission time relative developer consumption amount calculated by the relative developer consumption amount calculation means; and a developer detection means for detecting the amount of developer consumption replenishably filled in the developing means. A developer consumption amount calculating means that can be integrated based on the output, and a developer consumption amount outputted from the developer consumption amount calculating means and a light emission time relative development stored in a light emission time relative developer consumption amount storage means. A discharged developing material amount calculating means is provided for calculating the discharged developing material amount to be collected by the collecting means based on the material consumption amount.

[Effect]

In this invention, the light emission time relative developer consumption amount calculation means sequentially integrates the light emission time relative developer consumption amount based on the light emission time of the light irradiated by the latent image forming means, and calculates the light emission time relative developer consumption amount. The storage means stores the light emission time relative developer consumption amount calculated by the light emission time relative developer consumption amount calculation means, and the developer consumption amount calculation means calculates the amount of developer consumption replenishably filled into the developing means. Based on the output of the detection means, the discharged developer amount calculation means calculates the amount of developer consumption outputted from the developer consumption amount calculation means and the light emission time relative to the light emission time stored in the developer consumption amount storage means. The amount of discharged developer material collected by the collection means is calculated based on the amount of developer material consumed.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention, in which 1 is a light emission time relative developer consumption amount calculation means of the present invention, and a semiconductor laser of an optical scanning system 19 serving as a latent image forming means. Based on the light emission time of the laser beam LB irradiated by the laser beam LB 20, the light emission time relative developer consumption amount is sequentially integrated. Reference numeral 2 denotes a light emission time relative developer consumption amount storage means of the present invention, which stores the light emission time relative developer consumption amount calculated by the light emission time relative developer consumption amount calculation means 1. 3 is a developing material consumption calculation means of the present invention, and a developing device 2 serving as a developing means.
The consumption amount of the developer replenishably filled in the toner sensor 26c is calculated in a cumulative manner based on the output of the toner sensor 26c. Reference numeral 4 denotes a discharged developer amount calculation means of the present invention, which calculates the developer consumption amount outputted from the developer consumption amount calculation means 3 and the light emission time relative developer consumption amount stored in the light emission time relative developer consumption amount storage means 2. The amount of discharged developer collected by the cleaner 29 serving as a collection means is calculated based on the discharged toner full signal 35, and the discharged toner full signal 35 is sent to the discharged toner full display means 331 and the light emitting time relative developer consumption amount storage means 2. It is output to the developer consumption amount calculation means 3.

Reference numeral 11 denotes an external device that converts image information 12 into image signal processing means 1.
Send to 3.

The image signal processing means 13 interfaces with the external device 11, and generates a video signal 14 which is an image information signal and a laser control signal 15 which is a control information signal from the image information 12 input from the external device 11. video signal 14
is ON10 F F for laser emission during electrostatic latent image formation.
The laser control signal 15 is a signal to be modulated, and the laser control signal 15 is a signal that defines the image writing timing by laser scanning.

A laser driver 16 outputs a laser drive signal 17 to the semiconductor laser 20 to drive the semiconductor laser 20 at an image writing timing defined by the laser control signal 15. Reference numeral 18 indicates the main body of the image forming apparatus, 19 indicates an optical scanning system serving as a latent image forming means, and 19a indicates an image forming process kit.

A semiconductor laser 20 emits a laser beam LB in response to a laser drive signal 17. A polygon mirror 21 irradiates the laser beam LB emitted from the semiconductor laser 20 onto a photoreceptor drum 24, which will be described later, via an f/θ lens 22 and a scanning mirror 23. Photosensitive drum 2
4 is an image carrier that rotates in the direction of the arrow A at a constant speed. A primary charger 25 charges the photosensitive drum 24 uniformly. 26 is a developing device serving as a developing means, which includes a developing sleeve 26a, a developer stirring rod 26b, and a toner sensor 26c.
A developing material (toner) corresponding to the potential of the electrostatic latent image formed on the photoreceptor drum 24 is attached to make the latent image visible. A registration roller 27 feeds the recording paper in the direction of arrow B after aligning the leading edge of the recording paper (not shown). A transfer/separation charger 28 transfers the toner image on the photoreceptor drum 24 onto recording paper, and separates the recording paper after the transfer from the photoreceptor drum 24. Reference numeral 29 denotes a cleaner serving as a collecting means, which is composed of a cleaning roller 29a, a cleaning blade 29b, a discharged developer collecting section 29c, etc.
The residual developer material on the surface of the photoreceptor tram 24 is collected. 30
is a light emitting diode, which erases the electrostatic latent image on the photoreceptor drum 24 with light emitted from the light emitting diode 30.

Reference numeral 31 denotes a toner detection signal, which is output from the toner sensor (developer detection means) 26C in the developing device 26.

Reference numeral 32 denotes a toner absence display means, which indicates the absence of toner based on the toner absence signal 34 outputted from the developer consumption amount calculation means 3. Reference numeral 33 denotes a discharged toner full display means which displays discharged toner full based on a discharged toner full signal 35 outputted from the discharged developer amount calculation means 4.

Note that the image forming operation is based on a known electrophotographic process, so a description thereof will be omitted.

Next, the calculation processing operation for calculating the amount of discharged developer material according to the present invention will be explained with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4.

FIG. 2 is a laser emission characteristic diagram, where the vertical axis represents laser emission intensity and the horizontal axis represents time. Note that t is the laser beam LB
indicates the time required for one scan, time tll to time t, 2
This figure shows a state in which the laser beam LB is emitted from time t21 to time t22. Furthermore, the reason why the laser emission intensity at time tll and time t21 is stronger than that at time t12 and time t2□ is because the temperature of the semiconductor chip increases due to continuous oscillation of the semiconductor laser 2o, and the emission efficiency decreases. This is due to reasons such as having characteristics that decrease.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the relationship between the amount of developer consumption and the laser emission time in bit format, where the vertical axis represents the amount of developer consumption per unit time, and the horizontal axis represents the laser emission time t. Components that are the same as those in FIG. 2 are given the same reference numerals.

In this figure, al"'al each represents the amount of developer consumed per unit time, and t1-1. represents the time at which the amount of developer consumed per unit time al-al changes stepwise.

In this example, the image forming apparatus has a rate of 12 pel/mm.
The developing bias applied to the metallic developing sleeve has a frequency of 1500 Hz, and the peak-to-peak voltage is 1500 V.
It is assumed that known jumping development is performed using a dry component magnetic developer at a process speed of 80 mm/sec with a direct current bias of .

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the relationship between the emission time and the developer consumption amount calculated based on the laser emission time t and the developer consumption amount per unit time. Components that are the same as those in FIG. is attached.

First, when the photoreceptor drum 24 is irradiated with a laser beam LB from the semiconductor laser 20 of the optical scanning system 19 serving as a latent image forming means, the light emission time relative developer consumption amount calculating means 1 calculates the light emission time relative development based on the light emission time. Calculate material consumption. Next, the light emission time relative developer consumption amount calculation means 1,
For example, as shown in FIG.
And, as shown in FIG. 3, the emission time relative developer consumption amount consumed by laser beam LB emission from time t21 to time t22 is the characteristic data of developer consumption amount per unit time and laser emission time (t+2-tll). Using the fact that it is expressed as an area surrounded by the laser emission time (t22 t2t), the emission time relative developer consumption amount is calculated according to the flowchart shown in FIG. That is, the laser emission time (t12-t++) is t
Since it is expressed as 2<++2 t++<t3, the emission time relative developer consumption is VL% Laser emission time (t 12
t ++) is t, the luminescence time relative developer consumption I
t V 1. is VL =al ” tl +a2
' (t2 t,)+a3 ・ (t-t2)
(1) Calculated using the above equation (1). Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, the emission time relative developer consumption amount V1. is vL=ΣaJ・(f−+t,+−+)l+a plate・(11+−+)...
... (2) (However, tl-1<t≦t,
t,=O) Calculated based on the above equation (2). The light emission time relative developer consumption amount ■ calculated by the light emission time relative developer consumption amount calculating means 1 in this manner is sequentially added,
The added luminescence time relative developer consumption amount vL is stored in the luminescence time relative developer consumption amount storage means 2.

On the other hand, when the toner detection signal 31 is output from the toner sensor 26c to the developer consumption amount calculation means 3, the developer consumption amount calculation means 3 calculates the developer consumption amount (vo) based on the toner detection signal 31, The developer consumption amount V is stored in the memory in the developer consumption amount calculating means 3.

Remember.

Next, the discharged developer amount calculating means 4 calculates the amount of developer consumed by the discharged developer collecting section 2 based on the amount of developer consumed Vo and the amount of developer consumed relative to the light emission time vL stored in the storage means 2 of the relative amount of developer consumption consumed by the light emission time.
In step 9c, the amount of discharged developer material that can be recovered is calculated. For example, if the amount of discharged developer material is Vc, a standard original (A4, printing rate 6%)
The amount of discharged developing material V generated for the amount of developing material consumed in
If the ratio of c (discharged developer generation rate) is α, the discharged developer amount Vc is v(=VD −VL +a ・VL ・・・−(3)
It is calculated from the above equation (3).

Note that when the developer consumption amount calculation means 3 detects the absence of toner according to the toner detection signal 31 from the toner sensor 26c,
A toner non-lighting command is output to the toner non-displaying means 32, and the image forming operation in progress is ended. Therefore, image formation is stopped in parallel with the lighting of the toner no display means 32. When the no-toner signal is output, the developer consumption amount calculation means 3 calculates the discharged developer amount V calculated by the discharged developer amount calculation means 4. If it is determined that the amount of developer is small compared to the collection capacity of the discharged developer collecting section 29c, the amount of developer consumed has already been detected after the developer consumption calculation means 3 detects the toner detection signal 31 indicating the amount of developer after replenishing the developer. Data corresponding to the replenishment amount is sequentially added to the developer consumption amount v,) calculated and stored by the developer consumption amount calculating means 3.

Further, when the no-toner signal is output, the discharged developer amount calculation means 4 calculates the discharged developer amount vc as described above, and if the discharged developer amount exceeds the collection capacity of the discharged developer collecting section 29c, the discharged developer When the amount calculation means 4 makes a judgment, the discharged developer amount calculation means 4 outputs a discharged toner full signal 35 to turn on the discharged toner full display means 33, and also uses the discharged toner full signal 35 to display the light emission time relative developer consumption amount storage means 2. After erasing the light emission time relative developer consumption VL stored in the memory and the developer consumption VD stored in the memory of the developer consumption calculation means 3, and replacing the image forming process kit 19a with a new image forming process kit 19a. Repeat the above calculation control.

Next, an image forming apparatus (A) that calculates the amount of discharged developer material v(,) based on the amount of developer material consumed by the developing device 26 (v+), and an image forming apparatus (A) that calculates the amount of discharged developer material v() based on the amount of developer material consumed by the developing device 26 (v+); Compare while referring to the calculation result of the discharged developing material amount v (in the apparatus (B) and its actual measurement value.The image forming apparatus (A) and the image forming apparatus (B) are in a standard environment N/N.
(Temperature 20℃/Humidity 60%) When the printing rate is 6% per sheet of A4 plain paper, the developer consumption is 0.070
g, developer material utilization rate is 93% (discharged developer generation rate 7%)
We are using products with the same performance. The image forming apparatus (A) and image forming apparatus (B) are under environmental conditions L/L (temperature 15°C/humidity 10%), N/N, H/H.
(Temperature: 32.5°C/Humidity: 85%) The actual measured value of the amount of discharged developing material after printing 7,500 sheets is 71°6 (g) under environmental conditions L/L, and 37.2 (g) under environmental conditions N/N.
g) and 20.2 (g) under environmental conditions H/H. The developer consumption amount VD in the image forming apparatus (A) is
The environmental condition L/L is 560 (g), and the environmental condition N/L is 560 (g).
530 (g) in N, and sl in H/H environmental conditions.
o(g). Therefore, the amount of discharged developer Vc calculated by the image forming apparatus (A) whose discharged developer generation rate is set to 7% is 39 (g) under the environmental condition L/L. 37 (g) under condition N/N, 36 (g) under environmental condition H/H
It is calculated as follows.

On the other hand, the discharged developing material amount VC calculated by the image forming apparatus (B) according to the present invention is 69, a (g
), 39.8 (g) under environmental condition N/N, environmental condition H/
H is calculated as 19.8 (g), which is very close to the above-mentioned actual measurement value.

Next, the discharged toner processing operation according to the present invention will be explained with reference to FIG.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the procedure of the discharged toner calculation process according to the present invention. In addition, (1) to (17
) represents each step.

First, the laser beam L irradiated from the semiconductor laser 2o
The light emission time relative developer consumption amount calculation means 1 determines whether or not B is emitted (1), and if YES, the light emission time relative developer consumption amount calculation means 1 performs light emission time relative development according to the above equation (2). Calculate the developer consumption amount vL (2), and sequentially add the luminescence time relative developer consumption amount VL in the luminescence time relative developer consumption amount storage means 2, and store the added luminescence time relative developer material consumption amount vL (3) . Next, after the developer consumption amount calculating means 3 calculates and stores the developer consumption amount VD based on the toner detection signal 31 (4), it is determined whether the discharged developer material collecting section 29c detects the absence of toner ( 5)
, if YES, the no-toner display means 32 displays no toner (6), and according to the no-toner signal, the discharged developer amount calculation means 4, which controls the control, terminates the image forming operation in progress and stops the functions of the image forming apparatus. Pause (7). Then,
The discharged developing material amount calculating means 4 calculates the light emission time relative developing material consumption amount v.
The amount of discharged developer material VC is calculated based on the above equation (3) based on L and the amount of developer consumption v□. Determine whether there is enough room (9); if YES, determine whether developer material has been replenished (10); if YES, stop toner no display (11), and release the image forming device from stopping. (12), Step (1),
Step (
Return to 1).

On the other hand, if the determination in step (9) is No, the discharge toner full display means 33 displays "Discharge toner full" (
13) Storage values of the light emission time relative developer consumption amount VL stored in the light emission time relative developer consumption amount storage means 2 according to the discharge toner full signal 35 and the developer consumption amount Vo held in the developer consumption amount calculation means 3 (14), and determine whether the image processing kit 19a has been replaced (15).
), if YES, stops the no toner display and discharged toner full display (16), and cancels the image forming device's function stop (
17), end the control.

On the other hand, if the determination in step (10) is No, the process returns to step (lO), and if the determination in step (15) is NO, the process returns to step (15).

Note that even when the laser emission intensity is constant, the amount of developer consumed per unit time a1 is calculated by taking into account the unique edge effect that the amount of developer consumed in a small exposed area is larger than the amount consumed in a large exposed area. Needless to say, it is necessary to specify In addition, the above formula (2) for calculating the light emission time relative developer consumption amount vL based on the laser light emission time t is calculated by correcting the developer consumption amount al per unit time based on the following formula (4). It may be calculated.

VL, = a 1 − t ---...
・・・・・・・・・・・・-(4) (However, 1.-1<1
≦11) Furthermore, in the above embodiment, a laser beam printer has been described as an example, but since an LED printer can calculate the amount of discharged developer material by using an LED drive signal from an LED driver, the present invention The procedure for calculating the amount of discharged developing material can also be easily applied to an image forming apparatus that forms a latent image by irradiating an LED onto a photoreceptor. Further, the present invention can be easily applied to a fixed type image forming apparatus that is not an image forming process kit type image forming apparatus and can be supplied with toner.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, the present invention provides a light emission time relative developer consumption amount calculation means for sequentially integrating the light emission time relative developer consumption amount based on the light emission time of light irradiated by the latent image forming means, and a light emission time relative developer consumption amount calculation means. A light emission time relative developer consumption amount storage means for storing the light emission time relative developer consumption amount calculated by the relative developer consumption amount calculation means; and a developer detection means for detecting the amount of developer consumption replenishably filled in the developing means. A developer consumption amount calculating means that can be integrated based on the output, and a developer consumption amount outputted from the developer consumption amount calculating means and a light emission time relative development stored in a light emission time relative developer consumption amount storage means. Since a discharge developer amount calculation means is provided which calculates the discharge developer material amount to be collected by the collection means based on the material consumption amount, it is possible to predict the discharge developer material amount which varies depending on fog toner, reversal toner, environmental conditions, etc. The amount of discharged developer material can be calculated with high accuracy. Therefore, in an image forming apparatus using an image forming process kit type, an appropriate time to replace the image forming process kit can be displayed in advance, and in a non-process kit type image forming apparatus, an advance notice can be displayed when it is time to dispose of waste toner. It has the following advantages.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a laser emission characteristic diagram, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the relationship between developer consumption amount and laser emission time in bit format. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the relationship between the emission time and the developer consumption amount calculated based on the laser emission time and the developer consumption amount per unit time, and FIG. It is a flowchart explaining. In the figure, 1 is a light emission time relative developer consumption amount calculation means, 2 is a light emission time relative developer consumption amount storage means, 3 is a developer consumption amount calculation means, and 4 is a discharged developer amount calculation means.

Claims (1)

[Claims] a latent image forming means for forming a latent image by irradiating a photoreceptor with light based on an image signal input from an external device; and a predetermined development process for the latent image formed on the photoreceptor by the latent image forming means. An image comprising a developing means for visualizing with a developer, a collecting means for collecting residual developer on a photoreceptor developed by the developing means, and a developing material detecting means for detecting the amount of developing material filled in the developing means. In the forming apparatus, a light emission time relative developer consumption amount calculation means for sequentially integrating a light emission time relative developer consumption amount based on a light emission time of light irradiated by the latent image forming means; a light emission time relative developer consumption amount storage means for storing the light emission time relative developer consumption amount calculated by the amount calculation means; and a light emission time relative developer consumption amount storage means for storing the light emission time relative developer consumption amount calculated by the amount calculation means; a developer consumption amount calculating means that can be integrated based on the developer consumption amount calculation means, and the developer consumption amount outputted from the developer consumption amount calculation means and the light emission time relative development stored in the light emission time relative developer consumption amount storage means. An image forming apparatus comprising: a discharged developing material amount calculation means for calculating a discharged developing material amount to be collected by the collecting means based on a material consumption amount.