IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS AND CONTROL PARAMETER CORRECTING METHOD

• US 20100254720A1
• Filed: 04/01/2010
• Published: 10/07/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/06/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation), Toshiba Tec Corporation (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation), Toshiba Tec Corporation (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: AJIMA, Hisanobu
• Granted Patent: US 8,364,046 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 399/12
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 15/0266 Arrangements for controlling the amount of charge
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 15/043 with means for controlling illumination or exposure G03G15/041 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 15/065 Arrangements for controlling the potential of the developing electrode
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 15/0855 the concentration being measured by optical means
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 15/0863 provided with identifying means or means for storing process- or use parameters, e.g. an electronic memory
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 15/0865 Arrangements for supplying new developer
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 15/55 Self-diagnostics; Malfunction or lifetime display
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 2215/0697 being an electronically readable memory

Abstract

There is provided an image forming apparatus in which a correction value is acquired from a storage device provided in a coloring agent cartridge mounted in the image forming apparatus, it is determined whether the acquired correction value is within a specified numerical range, and when it is determined that the acquired correction value is not within the specified numerical range, a control parameter of a specified process relevant to an image forming operation is corrected based on a specified correction value previously set to correct the control parameter of the specified process performed by the image forming apparatus.

Claims

1. An image forming apparatus in which a coloring agent cartridge including a storage device to store a correction value for correcting a control parameter of a specified process relevant to an image forming operation is mounted, comprising:

a correction information acquisition section to acquire the correction value from the storage device provided in the coloring agent cartridge mounted in the image forming apparatus;

a determination section to determine whether the correction value acquired by the correction information acquisition section is within a specified numerical range;

a storage section to store a specified correction value previously set to correct the control parameter of the specified process performed by the image forming apparatus; and

a correction processing section to correct the control parameter of the specified process relevant to the image forming operation based on the specified correction value stored in the storage section when the determination section determines that the correction value acquired by the correction information acquisition section is not within the specified numerical range.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein

the coloring agent cartridge is a toner cartridge, and

the control parameter of the specified process is one of a voltage value of a charging bias voltage when a photoconductive drum is charged, a voltage value of a developing bias voltage when a toner image is transferred to a recording medium, and an intensity of laser light when a photosensitive surface of the photoconductive drum is exposed.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a history storage section to store information relating to a determination result of the determination section into the storage device provided in the coloring agent cartridge as a determination object of a determination process in which the determination result is obtained.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein

the storage section previously stores specified identification information for identifying the coloring agent cartridge to be mounted in the image forming apparatus,

an identification information determination section determines whether, when identification information for identifying the coloring agent cartridge is stored in the storage device provided in the coloring agent cartridge, the identification information is coincident with the specified identification information stored in the storage section, and

when the identification information determination section determines that the identification information stored in the storage device is not coincident with the specified identification information, the correction processing section corrects the control parameter of the specified process relevant to the image forming operation based on the specified correction value stored in the storage section.

5. A control parameter correcting method of an image forming apparatus in which a coloring agent cartridge including a storage device to store a correction value for correcting a control parameter of a specified process relevant to an image forming operation is mounted, comprising:

acquiring the correction value from the storage device provided in the coloring agent cartridge mounted in the image forming apparatus;

determining whether the acquired correction value is within a specified numerical range; and

correcting the control parameter of the specified process relevant to the image forming operation based on a specified correction value previously set to correct the control parameter of the specified process performed by the image forming apparatus when it is determined that the acquired correction value is not within the specified numerical range.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein

the coloring agent cartridge is a toner cartridge, and

the control parameter of the specified process is one of a voltage value of a charging bias voltage when a photoconductive drum is charged, a voltage value of a developing bias voltage when a toner image is transferred to a recording medium, and an intensity of laser light when a photosensitive surface of the photoconductive drum is exposed.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein information relating to a determination result as to whether the acquired correction value is within the specified numerical range is stored in the storage device provided in the coloring agent cartridge as a determination object of a determination process in which the determination result is obtained.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein

when identification information for identifying the coloring agent cartridge is stored in the storage device provided in the coloring agent cartridge, it is determined whether the identification information is coincident with specified identification information for identifying the coloring agent cartridge to be mounted in the image forming apparatus, and

when it is determined the identification information stored in the storage device is not coincident with the specified identification information, the control parameter of the specified process relevant to the image forming operation is corrected based on the specified correction value.