JP4075320B2 - Loading state discrimination device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a loading state determination device that includes a main body and a part that can be attached to and detached from the main body, and that determines whether or not the part is correctly loaded at a proper position with respect to the main body.
[0002]
[Prior art and problems to be solved by the invention]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an image forming apparatus, toner as a consumable is made into a cartridge and is detachable from an image forming unit as a main body.
[0003]
Therefore, toner can be replenished only by exchanging the cartridge, and the toner replenishing operation can be performed without bothering the user.
[0004]
In recent years, there are composite cartridges in which a photosensitive drum as an image carrier is integrated with a toner cartridge, and the photosensitive drum is also replaced when the toner is replaced.
[0005]
Here, in the toner cartridge and the composite cartridge (collectively referred to as a cartridge), it is assumed that the toner cartridge and the composite cartridge are properly loaded in the main body. Positioning accuracy will go wrong.
[0006]
For this reason, conventionally, a guide member is provided to guide mechanically so that it can be reliably loaded, or to electrically determine the loaded state. Here, a contact type limit switch or the like may be used to determine the electrical loading state, or a non-contact type photoelectric sensor or radio may be used (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-39724, (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-305607)
However, in the above-described mechanical guide structure or electrical loading state discrimination, it is difficult to discriminate an incomplete loading state that is almost loaded but not reliably loaded. Even if it can be discriminated, there is unevenness in the OK / NG boundary due to machine differences, and since this boundary changes with time, it cannot be discriminated accurately. On the other hand, in the case of wireless, if transmission / reception is possible without being correctly loaded, it may be erroneously recognized as correctly loaded.
[0007]
In order to solve this problem, it is conceivable to increase the discrimination accuracy by monitoring, for example, a three-dimensional cartridge with a plurality of sensors. However, with such a configuration, the number of parts is increased and the control system is complicated, which is preferable. Absent.
[0008]
In consideration of the above facts, the present invention can check the state of loading of parts into the main body without increasing the number of parts, and distinguishes between incomplete and unloaded states without causing errors over time. It is an object of the present invention to obtain a loaded state discriminating apparatus that can do this.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention comprises a main body and a part that can be attached to and detached from the main body, and is a loading state determination device that determines whether or not the part is correctly loaded in a proper position with respect to the main body. And a pair of facing parts that are parallel to each other and are spaced apart from each other in a state in which the parts are correctly loaded at regular positions, and a transmitting part that is provided on one of the pair of facing parts and transmits a predetermined signal And a wireless communication unit provided on the other of the pair of opposing parts and provided with a receiving unit capable of receiving a signal from the transmitting unit, and an output intensity of a signal transmitted from the transmitting unit of the wireless communication unit , A first level that is received only when the main body and the part are correctly loaded in a proper position, and received when the part is in the vicinity of the loading position of the main body, and is not received when the part is completely separated from the main body. The second level And a, and adjusting means for adjusting to switch to and.
[0010]
According to the present invention, when the main body and the parts are correctly loaded, the pair of opposed portions are arranged in parallel with each other and with a predetermined interval. As a result, it is possible to determine that the signal from the transmission unit has been received by the reception unit and has been correctly loaded. Other than this, it can be unloaded.
[0011]
Here, in the case of non-loading, it is preferable to notify the user separately depending on whether the component is incomplete with respect to the main body but is loaded or not present at all.
[0012]
Therefore, the signal output intensity from the transmission unit is received only when the main body and the component are correctly loaded at the proper positions, and when the component is in the vicinity of the loading position of the main body, and It adjusts so that it may switch to the 2nd level which is not received when it is completely separated from the main body . By changing the output intensity, it is possible to form a state in which the facing state of the pair of facing portions can be received only in a normal position and a state in which reception is possible in a state close to the normal position.
[0014]
In the present invention, the output intensity of the signal is set to the first level under the condition that the component is to be loaded into the main body, and when the signal is not received, the signal is switched to the second level. It is characterized in that when a signal is received at level 2, it is determined that loading is incomplete, and when it is not received, it is not loaded.
[0015]
According to this, incomplete loading and unloaded can be discriminated.
[0016]
In the present invention, the combination of the main body and the component forms a latent image by scanning a light beam modulated on the basis of image data on the image carrier, and supplies the latent image with developing toner. The image forming apparatus that develops the image, transfers the image to a predetermined sheet, and outputs the sheet, and the component is a cartridge in which a tank that contains at least developing toner used for development is formed. It is a feature.
[0017]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 shows an image forming apparatus 10 according to the present exemplary embodiment.
[0018]
The image forming apparatus 10 is a so-called four-cycle color laser printer.
[0019]
The image forming apparatus 10 is provided with an optical scanning unit 14 (hereinafter referred to as ROS 14) in which an optical scanning system for forming an electrostatic latent image by the laser beam 12 is unitized. The ROS 14 includes scanning optical members such as a laser, an optical modulator, a rotary polygon mirror, and an fθ lens.
[0020]
The image forming apparatus 10 is provided with a photosensitive drum 16 on which an electrostatic latent image is formed by exposing the laser beam 12 emitted from the ROS 14.
[0021]
The image forming apparatus 10 includes an intermediate transfer body 18 to which an image in which toner is attached to an electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 16 is transferred.
[0022]
The image forming apparatus 10 is provided with a toner cartridge holder 20, and the toner cartridge holder 20 includes a yellow toner cartridge 22, a magenta toner cartridge 24, a cyan toner cartridge 26, and A black toner cartridge 28 is provided.
Toner is supplied from each toner cartridge to the photosensitive drum 16, and an image based on the electrostatic latent image is formed.
[0023]
When the image formed on the photosensitive drum 16 is transferred to the intermediate transfer member 18, the toner supplied from the toner cartridges 22, 24, 26, and 28 is attached to the intermediate transfer member 18 to form an image. Form.
[0024]
Further, the image forming apparatus 10 is provided with a paper feeding unit 30. The paper feeding unit 30 is provided with an image recording paper 32.
[0025]
The image recording paper 32 is conveyed from the paper feeding unit 30 while being held between the rollers according to a conveyance path (see the broken line in FIG. 1).
[0026]
The conveyed image recording paper 32 is configured such that an image formed on the intermediate transfer member 18 is transferred by the intermediate transfer member 18 in the middle of the conveyance path.
[0027]
The image recording paper 32 onto which the image has been transferred by the intermediate transfer body 18 is discharged to a paper discharge tray 34.
[0028]
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a relative positional relationship between the toner cartridge holder 20 and one toner cartridge (hereinafter, the toner cartridges 22, 24, 26, and 28 are collectively referred to as a toner cartridge 50). .
[0029]
FIG. 2A shows a state in which the cartridge 50 is correctly loaded in the regular position of the toner cartridge holder 20.
[0030]
In this state, a cartridge transmission / reception unit 52 is attached to the right side surface of the cartridge 50. Further, a toner cartridge holder transmission / reception unit 54 is provided on the side surface of the toner cartridge holder 20 facing the right side surface of the cartridge 50 in parallel at a predetermined interval.
[0031]
As shown in FIG. 3B, the cartridge transmitting / receiving unit 52 includes a spiral antenna unit 56 as an appearance, and a circular (30 mm diameter) control board 58 that also serves as the base of the antenna unit 56. Yes. As shown in FIG. 4, the cartridge transmission / reception unit 52 includes a CPU 60, a RAM 62, an EPROM 64, and a transmission / reception circuit 66, and the access command signal received by the antenna unit 56 is demodulated and demodulated based on the demodulated signal. The stored signal is modulated on a carrier wave having a predetermined frequency and transmitted from the antenna unit 56.
[0032]
On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3A, the toner cartridge holder transmission / reception unit 54 includes a spiral antenna unit 68 (diameter 30 mm) as an appearance, and a rectangular control board 70 that also serves as the base of the antenna unit 68. It consists of
[0033]
A connector 72 is provided on the control board 70 and is connected to the main control system of the image forming apparatus 10.
[0034]
From the toner cartridge holder transmission / reception unit 54 via this connector 72, the main control system sends out three types of information of the normal loading state, incomplete loading state, and unloading state of the cartridge 50. As shown in FIG. 5, a message “Process cartridge is not properly loaded” is displayed on the display unit 74A of the display panel 74 of the image forming apparatus 10 when incompletely loaded. The message “Cartridge is not loaded” is displayed.
[0035]
As shown in FIG. 4, the toner cartridge holder transmission / reception unit 54 includes a CPU 76, a RAM 78, a ROM 80 and a transmission / reception circuit 82, and an access command signal stored in the ROM 80 is modulated on a carrier wave having a predetermined frequency. The antenna 68 is configured to transmit.
[0036]
Here, the toner cartridge holder transmission / reception unit 54 is provided with a voltage switching circuit 84. In this embodiment, the output intensity at the time of transmission can be adjusted in two stages. That is, it is controllable when transmitting at 3.3 V and when transmitting at 5.0 V (see FIG. 6).
[0037]
FIG. 7 shows an antenna supply voltage-communication distance characteristic diagram. As shown in this characteristic diagram, it can be seen that the higher the voltage, the longer the communication distance. For this reason, the voltage that can be received below the dimension between the cartridge transmission / reception unit 52 and the toner cartridge holder transmission / reception unit 54 when the cartridge 50 is correctly loaded into the toner cartridge holder 20 at the proper position. 3V is set.
[0038]
Here, as shown in FIG. 2B, when the cartridge 50 is incompletely loaded in the toner cartridge holder 20, the distance between the cartridge transmitting / receiving unit 52 and the toner cartridge holder transmitting / receiving unit 54 in the regular position is set. It is larger than the size, and in such an incompletely loaded state, transmission and reception cannot be performed under a voltage of 3.3V.
[0039]
Further, FIG. 2C shows a state where the cartridge 50 is not loaded in the toner cartridge holder 20 (not loaded). Also in this case, as in FIG. 2B, it can be recognized that the signal cannot be transmitted / received between the toner cartridge holder transmission / reception unit 54 and the cartridge transmission / reception unit 52.
[0040]
Here, in the present embodiment, the voltage is switched to 5.0 V by the voltage switching circuit 84 that should distinguish between the incompletely loaded state of FIG. 2B and the unloaded state of FIG. 2C. Under this voltage of 5.0 V, although it is incomplete as shown in FIG. 2B, signal transmission / reception is possible when the toner cartridge holder transmission / reception unit 54 and the cartridge transmission / reception unit 52 are close to each other. Yes, when the cartridge 50 is not present in the toner cartridge holder 20, a situation where transmission / reception is impossible can be obtained.
[0041]
FIG. 8A shows a state where the toner cartridge holder transmission / reception unit 54 and the cartridge transmission / reception unit 52 are opposed to each other. FIG. In relation to the amount of deviation in the vertical direction, the communicable range under two types of voltages (3.3 V and 5.0 V) is shown.
[0042]
As shown in FIG. 8B, the maximum communicable range is about 12 to 13 mm in both horizontal and vertical directions under 3.3V, and the maximum communicable range is up to about 22 to 23 mm under 5.0V. Can be enlarged. In the present embodiment, the difference in the communicable range due to this voltage change is used.
[0043]
The operation of the present embodiment will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
[0044]
In step 100, it is determined whether or not the cover switch provided in the image forming apparatus 10 or the power source is turned on. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 102 where the output from the toner cartridge holder transmission / reception unit 54 is output. An access command signal is transmitted at a voltage of 3.3V. At this time, the cartridge 50 can take the form of FIGS.
[0045]
At an output voltage of 3.3 V, the command signal can be received only in the state shown in FIG. 2A, that is, in a state where it is correctly loaded at a normal position.
[0046]
In other words, if a positive determination is made in step 104 to determine whether or not there is a response from the cartridge transmission / reception unit 52 to the toner cartridge holder transmission / reception unit 54, it is determined that the cartridge 50 is correctly loaded in the toner cartridge holder 20. Then, the process proceeds to step 106, information for loading confirmation is read, and the process is completed after the communication is completed (step 108).
[0047]
On the other hand, if a negative determination is made in step 104, it is determined that the cartridge 50 is in an incompletely loaded state in FIG. 2B or in an unloaded state in FIG. 2C, and the routine proceeds to step 110. In step 110, the command transmission from the toner cartridge holder transmission / reception unit 54 is temporarily stopped, the process proceeds to step 112, the output voltage is switched to 5.0 V, and then the access command signal is transmitted again in step 114. Under this output voltage of 5.0 V, a command signal can be received in the state of FIG. 2B, that is, in an incompletely loaded state, and a command signal cannot be received in the state of FIG.
[0048]
Therefore, if an affirmative determination is made in step 116 as to whether there is a response from the cartridge transmitting / receiving unit 52 to the toner cartridge holder transmitting / receiving unit 54, it is determined that the cartridge is incompletely loaded, and the process proceeds to step 118. Then, the message “Process cartridge is not correctly loaded” is displayed on the display section 74A of the display panel 74 of the image forming apparatus 10, and the process is terminated. If a negative determination is made in step 116, it is determined that the cartridge is not loaded, and a message “Process cartridge is not loaded” is displayed on the display unit 74 A of the display panel 74 of the image forming apparatus 10. To finish the process.
[0049]
In this embodiment, the output voltage can be switched between 3.3 V and 5.0 V. However, the present invention is not limited to this voltage value, and the cartridge transmission / reception unit 52 and the toner cartridge holder transmission / reception 54 What is necessary is just to set an optimal voltage value according to a function, the shape of the antenna parts 56 and 68, a magnitude | size, etc. FIG. Further, the switching is not limited to two steps, and may be three or more steps or stepless adjustment.
[0050]
As described above, in this embodiment, the cartridge 50 has a function of determining the loading state of the cartridge 50 in the toner cartridge holder 20 wirelessly, and the cartridge 50 is changed to the toner cartridge holder 20 by changing the output voltage at the time of wireless transmission / reception. When the cartridge is correctly loaded in the normal position (loaded state), it is loaded but incomplete (incompletely loaded state), the cartridge 50 does not exist, or is loaded extremely tilted. Classification is made into three types of states (unloaded state) like this. In order to achieve this, the relationship between the opposed state of the spiral antenna portions 56 and 68 and the output voltage is set to an optimum state. As a result, there is no possibility that the incomplete loading state is erroneously determined as the loading state, or the boundary between the loading state and the incomplete loading state does not change with time. Further, a complicated discriminating structure that recognizes the position of the cartridge 50 three-dimensionally becomes unnecessary.
[0051]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to check the loading state of a component in the main body without increasing the number of components, and to distinguish between an incomplete loading state and an unloaded state without causing an error over time. It has an excellent effect of being able to.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment.
FIGS. 2A and 2B are perspective views showing a loaded state of a toner cartridge holder and a cartridge, where FIG. 2A is a normal loaded state, FIG. 2B is an incompletely loaded state, and FIG. 2C is an unloaded state;
3A is a perspective view illustrating an appearance of a transmission / reception unit for a toner cartridge holder, and FIG. 3B is a front view illustrating an appearance of a transmission / reception unit for a cartridge.
FIG. 4 is a control block diagram of a toner cartridge holder transmission / reception unit and a cartridge transmission / reception unit.
FIG. 5 is a front view of a display unit of the image forming apparatus.
FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of a voltage switching circuit.
FIG. 7 is an antenna supply voltage (output voltage) -communication distance characteristic diagram.
8A is a perspective view showing a relative positional relationship between a toner cartridge holder transmission / reception unit and a cartridge transmission / reception unit, and FIG. 8B is a diagram illustrating communication at each output voltage value in a horizontal direction displacement amount and a vertical direction displacement amount. It is a characteristic view which shows a range.
FIG. 9 is a control flowchart illustrating a cartridge loading state determination routine.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Image forming apparatus 12 Laser beam 14 Optical scanning unit 16 Photoconductor drum 20 Toner cartridge holder 22 Toner cartridge 24 Toner cartridge 26 Toner cartridge 28 Toner cartridge 32 Image recording paper 50 Toner cartridge 52 Cartridge transmission / reception part 54 Toner cartridge holder transmission / reception part 56 Antenna part 58 Control board 66 Transmission / reception circuit 68 Antenna part 70 Control board 72 Connector 74 Display panel 74A Display part 82 Transmission / reception circuit 84 Voltage switching circuit

Claims (3)

It is composed of a main body and a part that can be attached to and detached from the main body, and is a loading state determination device that determines whether or not the part is correctly loaded at a normal position with respect to the main body,
A pair of opposed parts facing each other with a predetermined interval in parallel with each other in a state where the main body and the parts are correctly loaded at regular positions;
Wireless communication including a transmission unit provided on one of the pair of opposed units and transmitting a predetermined signal and a reception unit provided on the other of the pair of opposed units and capable of receiving a signal from the transmission unit Unit,
When the output intensity of the signal transmitted from the transmission unit of the wireless communication unit is received at the first level only when the main body and the component are correctly loaded at the proper positions, and the component is in the vicinity of the loading position of the main body And adjusting means for adjusting so as to switch to the second level that is not received when completely separated from the main body ,
A loading state discriminating apparatus. Under the condition that the component is to be loaded into the main body, the output intensity of the signal is set to the first level, and when the signal is not received, the signal is switched to the second level. when the received loading incomplete, when not receiving the mounted state determination device according to claim 1, wherein the determining that unloaded. A combination of the main body and the component forms a latent image by scanning a light beam modulated based on image data on an image carrier, and develops the latent image by supplying a developing toner. 2. An image forming apparatus for transferring to a predetermined sheet and outputting the sheet, wherein the component is a cartridge in which a tank for storing at least developing toner used for development is formed. or claim 2 Symbol placement of the loading state detecting apparatus.

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