Image forming apparatus

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus.

The consumables of the image forming apparatus often have a memory that stores information unique to the consumables. In the image forming apparatus, when the consumables are replaced, it is necessary to initialize and stabilize the conditions of the image forming operation in order to absorb the variation of the consumables.

As described in Patent Document 1, some conventional image forming devices determine whether or not they are new based on the value (new and old information) of a predetermined area of the memory provided in the consumable, and the consumable. When it is determined that the product is new, the operating conditions are changed based on the consumable-specific information stored in the consumable memory, or image stabilization control such as ATDC (Auto Toner Density Control) is performed to form an image. There is something that initializes and stabilizes when new. Such an image forming apparatus is initialized and stabilized when it is new, and by rewriting the old and new information in the memory area indicating that it is new, it is clarified that it is no longer new, and the consumable is consumed separately. Until it is replaced with a new product, it is not duplicated to perform initialization and stabilization when it is new. New information on conventional consumables is often written in an area (one-time area) that can be rewritten only once in the memory.<patcit num="1"><text>Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 9-185236</text></patcit>

In recent years, there has been an increasing need to recycle (recycle) consumables due to consideration for the environment. For example, if the toner cartridge that has consumed all the toner is filled with toner, it can be used again. However, since the mechanical part such as the drive mechanism of the toner supply screw is worn, the quality of the image formed gradually deteriorates with each recycling. Due to the life of the mechanical part, it is desirable to dispose of the toner cut ridge that has been recycled a certain number of times without recycling. In this way, it is desirable to control the number of times consumables are recycled.

<p> Therefore, the present invention<u style="single">, Erase</u>An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of appropriately managing the reproduction of consumables.</p>

<p><u style="single">To solve the above problem</u>According to the present invention, the image forming apparatus in which consumables can be attached to and detached from the main body is stored in a repeatedly rewritable area of a memory provided in the consumable, and the consumable is unused after manufacturing or reproduction. The first old and new information indicating whether or not the consumables are used and the second old and new information which is stored in the rewritable area of the memory only once and indicates the number of times the consumable is regenerated are read out to read the first old and new information. It has a control means for controlling the operation of the image forming apparatus based on the information and the second old and new information.<u style="single">Then, when the first old and new information indicates unused, the control means rewrites the first old and new information to a value indicating unused, and the second old and new information is a value indicating the number of times of reproduction that is one more time. Rewrite to</u>Shall be.</p><p> According to this configuration, the control unit can initialize the image forming apparatus by detecting that the consumables have been replaced by the first old and new information, and the second old and new information exceeds the mechanical life. It can be properly determined whether or not it is being played. Since the first old and new information is stored in the rewritable area of the memory, consumables can be regenerated without replacing the memory, and the second old and new information can be rewritten only once in the memory. Since it is stored in, there is no risk of accidentally reducing the second old and new information, and it is possible to appropriately determine whether or not the consumable has been regenerated beyond its mechanical life.</p><p> Further, in the image forming apparatus of the present invention, when the first old and new information indicates unused, the control means rewrites the first old and new information to a value indicating unused, and rewrites the second old and new information to a value indicating unused. Rewrite to a value that indicates the number of playbacks that is one more<u style="single">So</u>Since the image forming apparatus updates the second old and new information of the consumable, it is not necessary to manually update the second old and new information when reproducing the consumable. Therefore, it is possible to reliably count the number of times the consumables have been regenerated without forgetting to update the second old and new information.</p><p> Further, in the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the control means detects that the consumables have been replaced by performing predetermined initialization when the first old and new information indicates unused. Therefore, it is possible to absorb the variation of each of the consumables and form an appropriate image.</p><p> Further, in the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the control means determines that the toner empty release failure cannot be released due to a mechanical failure (for example, until it is determined that the toner empty cannot be released due to a mechanical failure) according to the contents of the first old and new information. The number of trials) may be changed. At the time of toner emptying, if the user does not replace the toner cartridge or installs an unused toner cartridge, the toner emptying may not be released even if there is no abnormality in the image forming apparatus. Therefore, if the consumables are not unused, the criteria for determining toner empty release failure is relaxed, and for example, by setting a large number of trials until determination of toner empty, it is possible to misidentify toner empty release failure. Can be prevented.</p><p> Further, the image forming apparatus of the present invention has a new replacement counter and a recycled product replacement counter which are counting means, and the control means receives the second old and new information when the first old and new information indicates unused. If 0 times of reproduction is indicated, 1 is added to the new replacement counter, and if the first old and new information indicates unused and the second old and new information indicates 1 or more reproductions, the above 1 may be added to the remanufactured product exchange counter. As a result, the user or the serviceman can know the history of how much the image forming apparatus has used the new product and the remanufactured product, and can refer to the cause identification at the time of failure and the parameter setting. ..</p><p> Further, in the image forming apparatus of the present invention, when the first old and new information indicates unused and the second old and new information indicates the number of reproductions of 1 or more, the consumable is not new. By displaying this, the user can confirm whether the installed (replaced) consumable is a new product or a remanufactured product.</p><p> Further, in the image forming apparatus of the present invention, if the control means changes the image forming speed according to the contents of the second old and new information, the image is adjusted to the wear of the durable parts that are not replaced when the consumables are reproduced. The speed of formation can be slowed down and the quality of the formed image can be maintained.</p><p> Further, in the image forming apparatus of the present invention, if the content of the image stabilization control is changed according to the content of the second old and new information, the control means can be adjusted to the wear of durable parts that are not replaced during reproduction of consumables. The image stabilization control can be optimized.</p>

<p> According to the present invention<u style="single">The image forming apparatus is stored in a repeatedly rewritable area of a memory provided in the consumable item, and is described as described above.</u>1st old and new information indicating whether consumables are unused after manufacturing or recycling<u style="single">、</u>The second old and new information, which is stored in the rewritable area of the memory only once and indicates the number of times the consumable is regenerated, is read out.<u style="single">When the first old and new information indicates unused, a control means for rewriting the first old and new information to a value indicating unused and rewriting the second old and new information to a value indicating the number of times of reproduction that is one more time.</u>Therefore, the image forming apparatus can detect and initialize the replacement of consumables, or detect the number of times of reproduction to appropriately determine the limit of recycling.</p>

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The image forming apparatus includes four development units (consumables) 2Y, 2M, 2C, 2K that form yellow, magenta, cyan, and black toner images inside the main body 1, a transfer belt 3, and each development unit 2Y. Record the primary transfer unit (consumables) 4Y, 4M, 4C, 4K that transfers the toner image formed by 2M, 2C, 2K to the transfer belt 3 by electrostatic force, and the toner image transferred to the transfer belt 3. A secondary transfer unit (consumable) 5 that transfers to paper S by electrostatic force, a fixing unit (consumable) 6 that fixes a toner image on recording paper S by heating, and each development unit 2Y, 2M, 2C, It has toner cartridges (consumables) 7Y, 7M, 7C, and 7K that supply yellow, magenta, cyan, and black toner to 2K, respectively.

The developing units 2Y, 2M, 2C, and 2K each expose a rotating drum-shaped photoconductor 8, a charger 9 for charging the photoconductor 8, and a charged photoconductor 8 to form an electrostatic latent image. Includes the exposure device 10, the developer 11 that attaches toner to the electrostatic latent image, the cleaner 12 that scrapes off the toner on the surface of the photoconductor 8, and old and new information on their characteristics, operating conditions, and whether or not they are unused. It has a developing unit memory 13 that stores information such as usage history.

The transfer belt 3 is hung on the driven drive roller 14, the free roller 15, and the tension roller 16 that applies tension, and is rotated by the drive roller 14 in the direction of the arrow. Further, the image forming apparatus is provided with a cleaner unit 17 for removing toner remaining on the surface of the transfer belt 3.

Each of the primary transfer units 4Y, 4M, 4C, and 4K has a primary transfer unit memory 18 that stores information such as usage history including adjustment values and old and new information, and the secondary transfer unit 5 is a secondary transfer unit. The fixing unit 6 has a fixing unit memory 20, and the toner cartridges 7Y, 7M, 7C, and 7K each have a toner cartridge memory 21 that stores adjustment values and usage history including old and new information. doing.

The recording paper S is supplied to the paper feed unit 22, is sent out one by one by the supply roller 23, is conveyed to the secondary transfer unit 5 by the transfer roller 24, passes through the fixing unit 6, and is the paper discharge unit 25 on the upper part of the main body 1. Is discharged to.

FIG. 2 shows the components related to the control of the image forming apparatus of the present embodiment. The image forming apparatus has a control unit (control means) 26 including a CPU, and is stored in the development unit memory 13, the primary transfer unit memory 18, the secondary transfer unit memory 19, the fixing unit memory 20, and the toner cartridge memory 21. It is possible to read the information in the memory and rewrite the information if each memory 13,18,19,20,21 allows. The control unit 26 includes a door open / close sensor 27 that monitors the open / closed state of the door of the image forming apparatus, an ATDC (Auto Toner Density Control) sensor 28 for automatically adjusting the toner concentration, and consumables 2Y, 2M, 2C. , 2K, 4Y, 4M, 4C, 4K, 5,6,7Y, 7M, 7C, 7K count the number of times they have been replaced with new ones. It is electrically connected to the remanufactured product replacement counter 30 and other operating parts. The control unit 26 of the present embodiment is controlled by software, but may be configured by a hardware circuit.

FIG. 3 shows the address mapping of the toner cartridge memory 21 of the toner cartridges 7Y, 7M, 7C, and 7K. The toner cartridge memory 21 has addresses from 00h to 3Fh, and each address can store 8-bit information. The information (data) stored in each address is predetermined as shown in the figure.

The toner cartridge memory 21 is composed of three types of storage elements having different attributes. Addresses 00h to 1Fh are composed of read-only memory that is written at the time of manufacture and can only be read without being written by the control unit 26 (ROM area). From the address 20h to 2Fh, the control unit 26 is composed of freely rewritable memory such as RAM (R / W area). From addresses 30h to 3Fh, the control unit 26 is composed of a one-time programmable memory that can be written only once (OTP area).

In addition, from the address 00h to 1Fh, the model identification code indicating the model of the toner cartridge 7Y, 7M, 7C, 7K, the color identification code indicating the color of the filled toner, and the amount of the filled toner are shown. The filling amount identification code and the like are stored. From the addresses 20h to 2Fh, temporary information during printing (image formation) such as the number of rotations of the toner supply screw is mainly written by the control unit 26. At one of the addresses, the first old and new information indicating whether the toner cartridge 7K is unused (new) after manufacturing or unused after recycling is written, and the first old and new information is "FFh". Indicates that it is unused (new or unused after regeneration) at a certain time. Usage history data is written from addresses 30h to 3Fh, and one of the addresses is the second that indicates the number of times the toner cartridges 7Y, 7M, 7C, 7K have been recycled (recycled to refill the toner). Old and new information is stored. The second old and new information has all bits set to "1" when new, but is rewritten to "0" by the control unit 26 in order from the lower bit each time a new or recycled product is used for the first time.

The control unit 26 detects the opening / closing of the door of the main body 1 by the door opening / closing sensor 27, and the toner cartridge 7Y, 7M, 7C, 7K (and other consumables 2Y, 2M, 2C, 2K, 4Y, 4M, 4C) , 4K, 5,6) Check the status. Whether the user replaced any consumables (2Y, 2M, 2C, 2K, 4Y, 4M, 4C, 4K, 5,6,7Y, 7M, 7C, 7K) when the door was opened or closed. This is because when the consumables are replaced after confirmation, it is necessary to change the operation of the image forming apparatus or perform a predetermined initialization in order to absorb the variation of the consumables.

FIG. 4 shows what kind of processing is performed by the control unit 26 of the present embodiment according to the values of the first new and old information and the second old and new information of the toner cartridge memory 21 confirmed when the door of the main body 1 is closed. Is shown.

If the first old and new information is "FFh", the toner cartridge (7Y, 7M, 7C, 7K) is a new product that has not been used after manufacturing or has not been used after recycling (hereinafter, both are simply referred to as unused). Since the toner cartridges 7Y, 7M, 7C, 7K once installed in the image forming apparatus are no longer "unused", the control unit 26 changes the first old and new information to "00h (value indicating unused)". rewrite. In addition, the control unit 26 rewrites the lowest "1" bit of the second old and new information to "0". This is because when the 1st old and new information is rewritten to "FFh (unused)", the toner cartridges 7Y, 7M, 7C, 7K are nothing but regenerated ones, so the number of replays is increased by 1 in advance. This is because it is possible to eliminate the omission of counting the number of times of reproduction.

Therefore, if the first old and new information is "FFh" and the second old and new information is "FFh", the toner cartridges 7Y, 7M, 7C, 7K are new (unused after manufacturing), and the first old and new information is new. If the second old and new information is not "FFh" when the information is "FFh", the toner cartridges 7Y, 7M, 7C, 7K are unused after reproduction. If the installed toner cartridge 7Y, 7M, 7C, 7K is unused after reproduction, the control unit 26 informs the user that the toner cartridge 7Y, 7M, 7C, 7K is a recycled product. Is displayed on the display unit (not shown). This is because the quality of the image formed by the recycled product may deteriorate due to the wear of the mechanical parts that are not replaced, so that the user is reminded that the recycled product is used. The content to be displayed may be a display for notifying the user that it is not new, and in addition to a display indicating that it is a remanufactured product, it may be a display for calling attention to the image quality to the user. You may.

Also, since the second old and new information is rewritten from the lower bit to "0", if the second old and new information is "FEh", the number of playbacks is once, if it is "FCh", it is played twice, and if it is "F8h". The number of playbacks can be determined, such as 3 times for 3 times and 4 times for "F0h". If the second old and new information is "00h" (reproduction count 8 times), the control unit 26 determines that the toner cartridge 7Y, 7M, 7C, 7K has been regenerated beyond its life, and the toner cartridge 7Y , 7M, 7C, 7K are prohibited and an error is displayed on the display. When an unused toner cartridge 7Y, 7M, 7C, 7K is installed, the second old and new information is rewritten first, so that the image forming apparatus substantially allows seven reproductions.

When the control unit 26 detects that the first old and new information is "FFh" and the second old and new information is "FFh", the control unit 26 increments (adds 1) the value of the new replacement counter 29 to obtain the first value. 1 When it is detected that the old and new information is "FFh" and the second old and new information is "01h" or more and "FEh" or less, the value of the recycled product exchange counter 30 is incremented (added by 1). As a result, the user or the serviceman can know the history of how much the image forming apparatus has used the new product and the remanufactured product, and can refer to the cause identification at the time of failure and the parameter setting. ..

When the control unit 26 detects the toner empty and stops the operation of the image forming apparatus, the user needs to open the door of the main body 1 and replace the toner cartridges 7Y, 7M, 7C, 7K. If you replace the toner cartridges 7Y, 7M, 7C, 7K with unused ones, the toner empty should be released immediately. However, if the toner empty is not released even though the unused toner cartridges 7Y, 7M, 7C, 7K are installed twice in a row (toner empty release trouble threshold), some kind of failure is suspected and it is treated as a trouble. (For example, a display requesting contact with the service center). However, the user may try to recover by closing the opened door without replacing the toner cartridge 7Y, 7M, 7C, 7K, or by installing an unused toner cartridge 7Y, 7M, 7C, 7K. is there. In such a case, even if the image forming apparatus is normal, the toner empty may not be released or it may take time to release it. In order to allow such an action, the control unit 26 determines that the toner cartridges 7Y, 7M, 7C, and 7K have not been replaced unless the first old and new information is "FFh", and treats the toner cartridge as a trouble. Set the number of trials (toner empty release trouble threshold) up to, for example, to 5.

Further, the control unit 26 sets the print speed to 1/3 if the second old and new information is "FEh" or less, that is, if the toner cartridges 7Y, 7M, 7C, 7K are recycled products. If the toner cartridges 7Y, 7M, 7C, 7K are recycled products, the toner supply capacity is reduced due to factors such as wear of machine parts, but by slowing down the printing speed, the image quality is similar to that of a new product. Because it can be obtained. In addition to slowing down the printing speed (system speed), the paper feeding interval is increased, and the operation is temporarily paused every time a predetermined number of sheets are printed to avoid continuous printing. The speed of image formation may be slowed down.

As a matter of course, new toner cartridges 7Y, 7M, 7C, 7K are shipped with the first old and new information set to "FFh" and the second old and new information set to "FFh". When a new toner cartridge 7Y, 7M, 7C, 7K is first mounted on the image forming apparatus, the first old and new information is rewritten to "00h" and the second old and new information is rewritten to "FEh". Therefore, even though the first old and new information is not "FFh", it is unlikely that the second old and new information is "FFh". In such a case, the control unit 26 uses the toner cartridges 7Y, 7M, 7C, Judges that there is something wrong with 7K, prohibits its use, and displays a warning.

In FIG. 5, the control unit 26 performs any processing according to the values of the first new and old information and the second old and new information of the developing unit memory 13 confirmed when the door open / close sensor 27 detects the open / close of the door of the main body 1. Indicates whether to do it. Rewriting the first old and new information and the second old and new information, incrementing the new replacement counter and the remanufactured replacement counter, changing the print speed, and the like are the same as the processing for the toner cartridge memory 21 in FIG.

The control unit 26 reproduces the gradation of the image to be formed when the unused development units 2Y, 2M, 2C, 2K are attached, that is, when the first old and new information of the development unit memory 13 is "FFh". In order to ensure the properties, the internal state of the device is self-diagnosed by the sensor, and the initialization and stabilization at the time of new product are performed by switching the voltage of the charger 9 for charging the photoconductor 8 and the laser light amount of the exposure device 10. At this time, the control unit 26 also calibrates the ATDC sensor 28 (initial automatic adjustment). This initialization stabilization when new and the initial automatic control of the ATDC sensor 28 are remanufactured products (2nd old and new information is "FFh") even if the development units 2Y, 2M, 2C, 2K are new (2nd old and new information is "FFh"). It is also performed even if it is "01h" to "FEh").

The control unit 26 does not perform any special processing when the development units 2Y, 2M, 2C, and 2K are not unused, that is, when the first old and new information of the development unit memory 13 is not "FFh". In addition, when the first old and new information is not "FFh" and the second old and new information is "FFh", the control unit 26 prohibits the use of the development unit 2Y, 2M, 2C, 2K and displays a warning. points is the same for the toner cartridge 7Y, 7M, 7C, 7K in Figure 4 is like.

As described above, the processing based on the 1st old and new information and the 2nd old and new information of the toner cartridge 7Y, 7M, 7C, 7K and the processing based on the 1st old and new information and the 2nd old and new information of the developing unit 2Y, 2M, 2C, 2K are performed. As described above, the control unit 26 also stores the first old and new information and the second old and new information in the memories 18, 19, 20 of the other consumables 4Y, 4M, 4C, 4K, 5,6, and the first Processing can be performed based on the old and new information and the second old and new information.

<figref num="1">The schematic which shows the structure of the image forming apparatus of this invention.</figref><figref num="2">The block diagram of the component which concerns control of the image forming apparatus of FIG.</figref><figref num="3">Address map of the toner cartridge memory in Figure 1.</figref><figref num="4">A table showing the processing of image formation storage in Fig. 1 by case according to the information of the toner cartridge memory.</figref><figref num="5">A table showing the processing of image formation storage in Fig. 1 by case according to the information in the development unit memory.</figref>

Code description

1 body 2Y, 2M, 2C, 2K development unit (consumables) 4Y, 4M, 4C, 4K primary transfer unit (consumables) 5 Secondary transfer unit (consumables) 6 Fixing unit (consumables) 7Y, 7M, 7C, 7K Toner Cartridge (Consumables) 13 Development unit memory 18 Primary transfer unit memory 19 Secondary transfer unit memory 20 Fixation unit memory 21 Toner Cartridge Memory 26 Control unit (control means) 29 New replacement counter 30 Remanufactured product replacement counter