JPH05289584A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain an image forming device which can accurately estimate a period in which a residual toner container becomes full and does not have inconvenience that a copying machine falls into a stopped state so as to disable a copy. CONSTITUTION:The casing 7 of a cleaning device 2 is communicated with a coil case 10, and a carrying coil 11 driven to rotate forward/backward is provided in the coil case 10. The top end part of the coil case 10 on the side of an opening part 15 is inserted into the carrying-in port 22 of the forward rotation side of a first residual toner recovering container 21, and a first full detector 26 is provided on a first residual toner recovering case 21. The opening part 14 of the coil case 10 is communicated with the carrying-in port 24 of the backward rotation side of a second residual toner container 23, and a second full detector 27 is provided on a second residual toner recovering case 23. A reversible motor 18 is controlled by a control means connected to a first full detecting means 26 and a second full detecting means 27 and not shown by the figure.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a copying machine, a facsimile,
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a laser printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an electrophotographic copying machine, an electrostatic latent image formed on a photoconductor is developed with toner in a one-component developer or a two-component developer to form a toner image on the photoconductor. ,
This toner image is transferred to transfer paper or the like. After the toner image is transferred, the residual toner adhering to the photoconductor is removed by a brush, blade, etc. provided in the cleaning device.
The residual toner is conveyed by a rotationally driven spiral body and is collected in a residual toner collecting container. When the residual toner collecting container is full, the copying machine is automatically brought into a stopped state in which copying cannot be performed.

When the residual toner container becomes full in this way, it becomes impossible to make further copies. Therefore, the number of copies is counted and the time when the residual toner container becomes full is predicted, and the copying machine makes a copy. A service person or the like tries to replace the residual toner container before the situation becomes impossible.

[0004]

However, even if the number of copies is counted, the residual toner container becomes full because the area ratio of the image part and the blank part of the copy original and the copy mode that is frequently used are different for each user. I can't predict the exact time. For this reason, there has been an inconvenience that the copying machine is in a stopped state in which copying cannot be performed. The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and it is possible to accurately predict when the residual toner container will be full, and the copying machine may be in a stopped state where copying cannot be performed. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus that does not have an image forming apparatus.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a toner image carrier, a cleaning device for removing and recovering residual toner on the toner image carrier, and a residual toner recovered by the cleaning device. An image forming apparatus having a residual toner collecting container for accommodating the toner, and a spiral body rotationally driven to convey the residual toner collected by the cleaning device to the residual toner collecting container. The first residual toner collecting means is provided with a spiral body driving switching means for switching to reverse driving, and the residual toner collecting container is provided with a forward rotation side carry-in port for the residual toner conveyed by the normal driving of the spiral body. And a second residual toner collecting container provided with a reverse-side inlet for the residual toner that is conveyed by the reverse rotation of the spiral body. An image forming apparatus.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the first residual toner collecting container is provided with a full detecting means for detecting that the first residual toner collecting container is full, and the spiral body drive switching means is provided. The image forming apparatus is characterized in that the spiral body is switched from normal rotation driving to reverse rotation driving when it is detected by the full detection means that the first residual toner collecting container is full.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the first residual toner recovery container and the second residual toner recovery container are integrally formed, and the first residual toner recovery container is more than the second residual toner recovery container. An image forming apparatus having a large volume.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect, the full detection means detects that the first residual toner container is full, and the spiral body is switched to the reverse drive, and then a predetermined number of copies are made. The image forming apparatus is provided with a control unit that sets a state in which copying cannot be performed when the above procedure is performed.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the second full toner detecting means for detecting that the second residual toner collecting container is full is provided, and after the spiral body is switched to the reverse drive, An image forming apparatus comprising: a control unit that sets a state in which copying cannot be performed when the second full toner detection unit detects that the second residual toner recovery container is full.

[0010]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the residual toner on the toner image carrier is removed and collected by the cleaning device, and the collected residual toner is normally driven by the spiral body drive switching means. When the spiral body is switched to the normal rotation drive, the spiral body is driven to rotate in the normal direction and is stored in the first residual toner collecting container from the normal rotation side carry-in port. It is driven and is stored in the second residual toner collecting container from the reverse side carry-in port.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the full detection means detects that the first residual toner recovery container is full, the spiral body drive switching means changes the spiral body from the normal rotation drive to the reverse rotation drive. Can be switched.

According to the third aspect of the invention, since the first residual toner collecting container and the second residual toner collecting container are integrally formed, the cost can be reduced. Further, since the first residual toner collecting container has a larger volume than the second residual toner collecting container, it is possible to increase the collected amount of the residual toner conveyed by the forward rotation drive of the spiral body.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, when the full detection means detects that the first residual toner container is full and the spiral body is switched to the reverse drive, a predetermined number of copies are made. The control means makes the copy impossible.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, when the second full-color detecting means detects that the second residual toner collecting container is full after the spiral body is switched to the reverse drive, the control means copies the copy. It is said that it is not possible to.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. A first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a photoconductor drum as a toner image carrier provided in a copying machine as an image forming apparatus, and the photoconductor drum 1 rotates clockwise. Around the photosensitive drum 1, a charging charger, an exposure device,
A device such as a developing device necessary for forming a toner image on the photosensitive drum 1 is arranged, and a toner image is formed on the photosensitive drum 1 by these devices. It is transferred to the transfer paper by the transfer charger.

Reference numeral 2 denotes a cleaning device, which is composed of a casing 7, a cleaning blade 4 housed in the casing 7, a cleaning brush 5, a carrying coil 6 and a casing 7. The edge portion of the cleaning blade 4 is in contact with the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 1, and the cleaning brush 5 is also in contact with the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 1.

Reference numeral 10 indicates a coil case, and the coil case 10 accommodates a carrier coil 11 as a spiral body. A transfer port 13 is formed in the coil case 10, and the transfer port 13 communicates with the casing 7.
Further, the coil case 10 has an opening 14 and an opening 15. A gear 17 is attached to the carrier coil 11, and the gear 17 meshes with a drive gear 19 fixed to the rotating shaft of a reversible motor 18.

Reference numeral 21 indicates a first residual toner recovery container, and a forward rotation side carry-in port 22 is formed in the first residual toner recovery container 21. Opening 15 of coil case 10
The leading end of the side enters the forward rotation side carry-in port 22. First
The residual toner collecting case 21 is provided with a first full detector 26 as a first full detector. Reference numeral 23 indicates a second residual toner container 23.
A reverse rotation side carry-in port 24 is formed in the. The opening 14 of the coil case 10 communicates with the reverse-side carry-in port 24. The second residual toner collecting case 23 is provided with a second full detector 27 as a first full detector. The reversible motor 18 is controlled by control means (not shown) connected to the first fullness detection means 26 and the second fullness detection means 27. The control means and the reversible motor 18 constitute a spiral body drive switching means.

Next, the operation of this copying machine will be described.
A cleaning brush in which the photosensitive drum 1 rotates clockwise, a toner image is formed on the photosensitive drum 1, this toner image is transferred to a transfer paper, and then the residual toner on the photosensitive drum 1 rotates clockwise. The residual toner removed by the cleaning blade 5 and the cleaning blade 4 is contained in the casing 7. The residual toner in the casing 7 is conveyed by the conveyance coil 6, and moves from the casing 7 into the coil case 10 through the conveyance port 13 of the coil case 10.

The reversible motor 18 for normal rotation drives the carrier coil 11 for normal rotation, and the coil case 10 is rotated.
The residual toner inside is conveyed toward the opening 15. Then, the residual toner is carried into the first residual toner collecting container 21 through the opening 15. When the first residual toner collecting container 21 is full of residual toner, the first full detector 26 detects that the residual toner is full, and a signal is transmitted from the first full detector 26 to the control means. At this time, by displaying on the copying machine main body that the first residual toner container 21 is full, the user can be alerted.

Then, the reversible motor 18 is switched to the reverse rotation drive by the control means, and the conveyance coil 11 is reversely driven. When the conveyance coil 11 is driven in the reverse direction, the residual toner in the coil case 10 is conveyed toward the opening 14, and is carried into the second residual toner collecting container 23 through the opening 14 and the reverse rotation side carry-in port 24. When the second residual toner container 23 is full, it is detected that the residual toner is full, and a signal is transmitted from the second full detector 27 to the control means. Then, the copying machine is brought into a stopped state in which copying cannot be performed.

One job (up to 999 sheets in a normal copying machine) is completed after the first full detector 26 detects that the first residual toner container 21 is full without providing the second full detector 27. After that, control means may be provided for controlling the copying machine into a stopped state in which copying cannot be performed.

Since the copying machine according to the embodiment described below has the same members as those of the first embodiment, the same members are designated by the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 1 and the description thereof is omitted. A second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 31 indicates a first residual toner collecting container. The first residual toner collecting container 31 is integrally formed with the second residual toner collecting container 32, and a partition plate 33 is provided inside the first residual toner collecting container 31 and the second residual toner collecting container 32. Are divided.

In this copying machine, since the first residual toner collecting container 31 and the second residual toner collecting container 32 are integrally formed, the manufacturing cost can be kept low.
In addition, since the volume of the first residual toner collecting container 31 can be increased, a large amount of residual toner can be accommodated, and the interval for replacement of the residual toner container can be lengthened.

A third embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 40 indicates a residual toner collecting container, and the residual toner collecting container 40 also serves as a first residual toner container and a second residual toner collecting container. In this copying machine, when the space 40a of the residual toner collecting container 40 on the side where the first full detector 26 is arranged (on the right side of the paper) is filled with the residual toner, the first full detector 26 detects it. The carrier coil 11 is driven in reverse. Then, the residual toner is carried from the opening 14 and the second carry-in port 24 into the space 40b of the residual toner collecting container 40 on the side where the second full detector 27 is arranged (the left side of the drawing).

In the above embodiment, the carrier coil 11 is shown as a spiral body, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a so-called screw may be used as a spiral body. Although a copying machine is shown as the image forming apparatus, the present invention is not limited to this and can be applied to a facsimile, a laser printer, and the like.

[0027]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to accurately predict when the residual toner container will be full.
It is possible to prevent the inconvenience that the copying machine is in a stopped state in which copying cannot be performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a main configuration of a copying machine according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a main configuration of a copying machine according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a main configuration of a copying machine according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Photoconductor drum 2 Cleaning device 11 Conveying coil 18 Reversible motor 21 First residual toner recovery container 22 First carry-in port 23 Second residual toner recovery container 24 Second carry-in port 26 First full detector 27 Second full detector 31 First residual toner collection container 32 Second residual toner collection container 40 Residual toner collection container

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A toner image carrier, and a cleaning device for removing and collecting residual toner on the toner image carrier.
In an image forming apparatus having a residual toner collecting container for containing the residual toner collected in the cleaning device, and a spiral member that is rotationally driven to convey the residual toner collected in the cleaning device to the residual toner collecting container, A spiral member drive switching means for switching the spiral member between normal rotation driving and reverse rotation driving is provided, and the residual toner recovery container has a normal rotation side carry-in port for the residual toner conveyed by the normal rotation driving of the spiral member. And a second residual toner recovery container provided with a reverse-rotation-side carry-in port for the residual toner that is driven by the spiral member to be driven to rotate in the reverse direction. Image forming apparatus. 2. The first residual toner recovery container according to claim 1, further comprising a full detection means for detecting that the first residual toner recovery container is full, and the spiral drive switching means is configured to operate by the full detection means. An image forming apparatus, wherein the spiral body is switched from normal rotation driving to reverse rotation driving when it is detected that the first residual toner collecting container is full. 3. The first residual toner recovery container and the second residual toner recovery container are integrally formed, and the first residual toner recovery container is larger in volume than the second residual toner recovery container. An image forming apparatus characterized in that. 4. The copy according to claim 2, wherein when the first residual toner container is detected to be full by the full detection means and the spiral body is switched to the reverse drive, a predetermined number of copies are made. An image forming apparatus comprising a control unit for setting a state in which the image forming cannot be performed. 5. The device according to claim 1, further comprising a second full detection means for detecting that the second residual toner collecting container is full, and the second full detection means after the spiral body is switched to reverse driving. An image forming apparatus, comprising: a control unit that sets a state in which copying cannot be performed when it is detected that the second residual toner collecting container is full.