TONER CARTRIDGE EXTRUSION DEVICE AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS INCLUDING THE SAME

• US 20200133180A1
• Filed: 10/22/2019
• Published: 04/30/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 10/30/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: MITSUHASHI, KUNIHIRO
• Granted Patent: US 10,859,957 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 15/0865 Arrangements for supplying new developer
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 15/0894 Reconditioning of the developer unit, i.e. reusing or recycling parts of the unit, e.g. resealing of the unit before refilling with toner
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 15/50 Machine control of apparatus for electrographic processes using a charge pattern, e.g. regulating differents parts of the machine, multimode copiers, microprocessor control sequencing control G03G21/14

Abstract

A toner cartridge extrusion device that extrudes a toner cartridge with a driving force of a driver is provided. The toner cartridge extrusion device includes a single detector that performs drive detection to detect drive of the driver and extrusion detection to detect whether or not the toner cartridge has been extruded.

Claims

1. A toner cartridge extrusion device that extrudes a toner cartridge with a driving force of a driver, the toner cartridge extrusion device comprising:

a single detector that performs drive detection to detect drive of the driver and extrusion detection to detect whether or not the toner cartridge has been extruded.

2. The toner cartridge extrusion device according to claim 1, wherein

the driver is a rotary driver which extrudes the toner cartridge with a rotary driving force, and

the drive detection is rotation detection for the rotary driver.

3. The toner cartridge extrusion device according to claim 1, further comprising:

an arm member which extrudes the toner cartridge with the driving force of the driver; and

a movement member which is moved by the driving force of the driver,

wherein the movement member is provided with a detector target which is to be detected by the single detector,

the arm member is provided with the movement member, and

the single detector performs the drive detection based on a movement operation of the movement member while performing the extrusion detection based on an extrusion operation of the arm member.

4. The toner cartridge extrusion device according to claim 3, wherein

the arm member is movable between an extrusion position at which the arm member extrudes the toner cartridge and a retraction position to which the arm member retracts from the extrusion position, and

the movement member is movable such that the detector target is displaced between a first detection position at which the single detector detects the detector target and a first non-detection position at which the single detector does not detect the detector target.

5. The toner cartridge extrusion device according to claim 4, wherein

the retraction position of the arm member is a second non-detection position at which the single detector does not detect the detector target, and the extrusion position of the arm member is a second detection position at which the single detector detects the detector target.

6. The toner cartridge extrusion device according to claim 4, wherein

the driver is a rotary driver which extrudes the toner cartridge with a rotary driving force,

the drive detection is rotation detection for the rotary driver,

the toner cartridge extrusion device further includes

a biasing member which biases the arm member to the retraction position, and

a cam member which extrudes, against a biasing force of the biasing member, the arm member to the extrusion position with a rotary driving force of the rotary driver in a second rotation direction opposite to a first rotation direction, and

the cam member moves the movement member with a rotary driving force of the rotary driver in the first rotation direction such that the detector target is alternately displaced between the first detection position and the first non-detection position.

7. The toner cartridge extrusion device according to claim 1, further comprising:

an arm member which extrudes the toner cartridge with the driving force of the driver; and

a movement member which is moved by the driving force of the driver,

wherein the movement member is provided Tit a detector target which is to be detected by the single detector,

the arm member is provided with the single detector, and

the single detector performs the drive detection based on a movement operation of the movement member while performing the extrusion detection based on an extrusion operation of the arm member.

8. The toner cartridge extrusion device according to claim 7, wherein

the arm member is movable between an extrusion position at which the arm member extrudes the toner cartridge and a retraction position to which the arm member retracts from the extrusion position, and

the movement member is movable such that the detector target is displaced between a first detection position at which the single detector detects the detector target and a first non-detection position at which the single detector does not detect the detector target.

9. The toner cartridge extrusion device according to claim 8, wherein

the retraction position of the arm member is a second detection position at which the single detector detects the detector target, and the extrusion position of the arm member is a second non-detection position at which the single detector does not detect the detector target.

10. The toner cartridge extrusion device according to claim 8, wherein

the driver is a rotary driver which extrudes the toner cartridge with a rotary driving force,

the drive detection is rotation detection for the rotary driver,

the toner cartridge extrusion device further includes

a biasing member which biases the arm member to the retraction position, and

a cam member which extrudes, against a biasing force of the biasing member, the arm member to the extrusion position with a rotary driving force of the rotary driver in a second rotation direction opposite to a first rotation direction, and

the movement member is a rotary member rotated by a rotary driving force of the rotary driver in the first rotation direction such that the detector target is alternately displaced between the first detection position and the first non-detection position.

11. The toner cartridge extrusion device according to claim 2, wherein.

the rotary driver is a toner motor which supplies toner in the toner cartridge to a developing device.

12. The toner cartridge extrusion device according to claim 11, wherein

the rotation detection by the single detector is detection of a number of rotations of the toner motor.

13. An image forming apparatus comprising:

the toner cartridge extrusion device according to claim 1.