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Image forming apparatus and replacement part used therefor

a technology of image forming and replacement parts, which is applied in the direction of electrographic process equipment, instruments, printing, etc., can solve the problems of inability to connect the drawer connector, restricted connection direction of the replacement part, and the conventional technique described above, so as to reduce the size and cost of the apparatus, improve operability, and reduce the size of the storage medium

Inactive Publication Date: 2008-08-05
FUJIFILM BUSINESS INNOVATION CORP
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  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention provides an image forming apparatus with a detachable replacement part that can be controlled based on information stored in the replacement part. The replacement part can be mounted in different directions without being restricted, and the operability of the replacement part is not lowered. The size and cost of the apparatus or replacement part are not increased. The information stored in the replacement part can be input to the apparatus main body through a communication portion communicating through a radio wave. The replacement part can be a toner cartridge, but the invention is also applicable to other replacement parts such as a photoreceptor drum, fuser, transfer roll, intermediate transfer body, and waste toner box. The information stored in the storage medium of the replacement part can include the used amount of toner, number of prints, manufacture information, user information, monitored information on the use environment, and the number of reuse. The image forming apparatus having multiple replacement parts can use a single communication portion for the storage media of the multiple replacement parts, reducing the size and cost of the apparatus.

Problems solved by technology

The conventional technique described above, however, suffers from the following disadvantages.1) The drawer connector is connected in one direction and therefore the direction of connecting the replacement part is restricted.
However, it would not be possible to connect the drawer connector by such operation in view of the structure because the drawer connector is basically connected in one direction.2) The drawer connector requires certain force for connection, which could impair the operability of the replacement part.
The drawer connector should be operated with different kinds of force for different parts, and the user might prematurely judge that the mounting is complete when the replacement part is not completely mounted, in other words, a mounting fault could result.3) If toner or the like sticks to the connecting portion of the drawer connector, a connection fault could be caused.4) When there are multiple replacement parts in an image forming apparatus, a drawer connector for each part is necessary, which increases the size and cost of the device.5) The recording medium provided at a replacement part to be connected using a drawer connector cannot be reduced in size as the result of using the drawer connector.
The drawer connector used should have about six to ten pins, in other words the drawer connector is large in size, which increases the size and cost of replacement parts.6) If a replacement part such as a toner cartridge is attached to a rotating body in a rotary developing device, the rotating part and the stationary part must be electrically connected, and therefore the reliability at the contact of the rotary part and the stationary part is low.

Method used

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  • Image forming apparatus and replacement part used therefor
  • Image forming apparatus and replacement part used therefor
  • Image forming apparatus and replacement part used therefor

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first embodiment

[0041

[0042]FIG. 2 is a view of a full-color printer as an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

[0043]In FIG. 2, reference numeral 1 represents the main body of the full-color printer, and a photoreceptor drum 2 as an image holding part is provided in the apparatus main body 1. The photoreceptor drum 2 is driven to rotate at a prescribed speed in the direction denoted by the arrow by a driving portion which is not shown. When the surface of the photoreceptor drum 2 is uniformly charged to a prescribed potential by a charging roll 3, and then a full-color image is formed using an exposure device 4 formed of, for example, an ROS (Raster Output Scanner), images in four colors, i.e., yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C) and black (K) are sequentially subjected to exposure, and electrostatic latent images corresponding to these colors are formed. An electrostatic latent image in a prescribed color formed on the surface of the photoreceptor drum 2 i...

second embodiment

[0096

[0097]According to a second embodiment of the invention, as shown in FIG. 14, the memory region in the storage element 94 in the developer cartridge 50 is formed such that data can be only written to and read from there. In this structure, each time the developer in the developer cartridge 50 is consumed, the information is written to the memory region 100 in the storage element 94 in the developer cartridge 50, and it can be determined that the cartridge 50 has been used up if the memory region 100 is fully written. Therefore, the main body of the image forming apparatus can be controlled in an optimum manner based on the characteristic of the replacement part, and the stored information on the characteristic of the replacement part can be prevented from being inadvertently erased or altered. As a result, inconvenience can be avoided in the apparatus main body.

[0098]Also according to the second embodiment, the image forming apparatus has multiple replacement parts, and a movin...

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Abstract

In an image forming apparatus including a periodic replacement part detachably mounted to the apparatus main body, the periodic replacement part is provided with a storage medium storing information on the replacement part. The information stored in the storage medium can at least be read on the main body side of the image forming apparatus using a communication portion communicating through a radio wave.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]1. Field of the Invention[0002]The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a printer and a copying machine including a periodic replacement part detachably mounted at the main body thereof and a replacement part used therefor in which a storage medium holding information on a replacement part is stored in the main body of the replacement part, and the information on the replacement part is used for controlling the main body of the apparatus.[0003]2. Description of the Related Art[0004]In recent years, in the image forming apparatus such as a printer and a copying machine as described above, there has been a general tendency to input information on a replacement part such as a toner cartridge to the main body of the apparatus and control the apparatus based on the input information in order to better the commercial value of the apparatus to improve the operability. For example, according to a practiced technique, in a network p...

Claims

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Application Information

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Patent Type & Authority Patents(United States)
IPC IPC(8): G03G15/00B41J29/00G03G15/08G03G21/00G03G21/16G03G21/18
CPCG03G15/0855G03G15/5079G03G15/0863G03G15/0865G03G15/55G03G15/553G03G2215/0177G03G2221/1663G03G2221/1823G03G21/16
Inventor HARUMOTO, KATSUMI
Owner FUJIFILM BUSINESS INNOVATION CORP