Image forming apparatus

Abstract

To provide an image forming apparatus that can increase the accuracy of reading information from storage units provided in two developer housing units arranged side by side.SOLUTION: An image forming apparatus (10) comprises two mounting parts (5) and radio reading units (6). The two mounting parts (5) allow developer housing units (7) housing developer used for image formation to be mounted thereon, and are provided side by side in a first direction (D1). The radio reading units (6) are provided correspondingly for each mounting part (5), and read information through radio communication from storage units (71) provided in the developer housing units (7) mounted on the mounting parts (5). The two radio reading units (6) corresponding to the two mounting parts (5) are provided at different positions in a second direction (D2) orthogonal to the first direction (D1) and a longitudinal direction (D3) of the mounting parts (5).SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus. [Background technology]

[0002] In image forming devices such as printers and copiers, a developer container containing a developer such as toner is detachably attached to the image forming device. The image forming device may also be provided with a wireless reader that wirelessly reads information from a memory unit provided in the developer container attached to the image forming device (see, for example, Patent Document 1). It is also conceivable that the image forming device may have two attachment units, each capable of attaching two developer containers corresponding to one color of developer, arranged vertically in the image forming device. In such a configuration, it is conceivable that each attachment unit may be provided with a wireless reader that wirelessly reads information from a memory unit provided in the developer container attached to the attachment unit. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2016-167058 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, when two mounting sections are arranged side by side in the vertical direction, there is a risk that the wireless reading section corresponding to one mounting section may mistakenly read information from the memory section of the developer storage section mounted in the other mounting section, rather than from the developer storage section mounted in the mounting section in question.

[0005] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of improving the accuracy of reading information from storage units provided in two developer storage units arranged side by side. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] According to one aspect of the present invention, an image forming apparatus includes two mounting units and a wireless reading unit. The two mounting units are each capable of receiving a developer container that contains a developer used for image formation, and are arranged side by side in a first direction. The wireless reading unit is provided corresponding to each mounting unit and reads information via wireless communication from a memory unit provided in the developer container that is mounted in that mounting unit. The two wireless reading units corresponding to the two mounting units are provided at different positions in a second direction that is perpendicular to the first direction and the longitudinal direction of the mounting units. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus capable of improving the accuracy of reading information from storage units provided in two developer storage units arranged side by side. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a control device in the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a toner supply unit in the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the following embodiment is an example of the present invention, and does not limit the technical scope of the present invention.

[0010] [Configuration of image forming apparatus 10] The image forming apparatus 10 according to this embodiment is capable of executing a print process for forming an image on a sheet 9. The image forming apparatus 10 is a printer. Note that the image forming apparatus 10 may also be a copying machine, a facsimile machine, a multifunction machine, or the like.

[0011] For ease of explanation, the vertical direction in the installation state where image forming apparatus 10 is usable (the state shown in FIG. 1) is defined as the up-down direction D1. Also, the front-to-back direction D2 is defined with the left side of image forming apparatus 10 on the paper surface shown in FIG. 1 as the front (front face). Also, the left-to-right direction D3 is defined with the front face of image forming apparatus 10 in the installation state as the reference point.

[0012] As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 10 includes a main housing 1, a sheet storage unit 2, a conveying device 3, a printing device 4, a toner supply unit 50, a control device 8, an operation device 801, and a display device 802.

[0013] The operation device 801 is a device that accepts human operations. For example, the operation device 801 includes one or both of a touch panel and operation buttons. The display device 802 is a liquid crystal display or the like that can display various types of information.

[0014] The conveying device 3 includes a conveying path 300, a sheet feeding mechanism 30, and multiple pairs of conveying rollers 31. The sheet feeding mechanism 30 sends out the sheets 9 stored in the sheet storage unit 2 one by one to the conveying path 300. The multiple pairs of conveying rollers 31 convey the sheets 9 along the conveying path 300.

[0015] The printing device 4 performs the printing process on the sheet 9 using toner as a developer. Specifically, the printing device 4 performs the printing process by an electrophotographic method. Note that, as another embodiment, the image forming device 10 is not limited to an electrophotographic method, and may be an inkjet image forming device that forms an image on the sheet 9 using ink as a developer.

[0016] The printing apparatus 4 includes an exposure device 40, one or more image forming units 4x, a transfer device 44, and a fixing device 46. The printing apparatus 4 shown in FIG. 1 is a tandem color printing apparatus. In this case, the printing apparatus 4 includes multiple image forming units 4x corresponding to multiple developing colors. Note that, in another embodiment, the image forming apparatus 10 is not limited to a color printer, and may be a monochrome printer having only an image forming unit 4x corresponding to one color.

[0017] In the example shown in FIG. 1, the printing device 4 includes four image forming units 4x corresponding to the developing colors of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C) and black (Bk).

[0018] Each image forming unit 4x includes a photoconductor 41, a charging device 42, a developing device 43, and a first cleaning device 45. The photoconductor 41 rotates, and the charging device 42 charges the surface of the photoconductor 41.

[0019] The exposure device 40 writes an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the charged photoreceptor 41 by scanning the surface of the charged photoreceptor 41 with laser light based on image data. The development device 43 develops the electrostatic latent image into a toner image by supplying toner to the surface of the photoreceptor 41.

[0020] The transfer device 44 transfers the toner image on the surface of the photoreceptor 41 onto the sheet 9 transported along the transport path 300. In the tandem printing device 4, the transfer device 44 includes an intermediate transfer belt 441, a plurality of primary transfer devices 442, a secondary transfer device 443, and a second cleaning device 444. The plurality of primary transfer devices 442 are provided corresponding to the plurality of image forming units 4x.

[0021] The intermediate transfer belt 441 rotates with a portion thereof aligned with the plurality of image forming units 4x. The plurality of primary transfer devices 442 transfer the toner images on the surfaces of the photoconductors 41 of the plurality of image forming units 4x onto the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 441. As a result, a color toner image, which is a composite of the toner images of the plurality of colors, is formed on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 441.

[0022] A secondary transfer device 443 transfers the color toner image on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 441 to a sheet 9. A fixing device 46 applies heat and pressure to the color toner image on the sheet 9, thereby fixing the color toner image to the sheet 9. The sheet 9 is a sheet-like image forming medium such as paper.

[0023] The toner supply unit 50 supplies toner to the developing devices 43 of the multiple image forming units 4x in the printing device 4. The toner supply unit 50 includes multiple mounting units 5. Each mounting unit 5 is a portion to which a developer storage unit 7, which stores toner used as a developer, is removably mounted.

[0024] The toner supply unit 50 supplies toner for each development color in the multiple developer containers 7 mounted in the multiple mounting units 5 to the developing devices 43 of the multiple image forming units 4x. The toner is an example of a developer used to form an image on a sheet 9 in the image forming apparatus 10.

[0025] The control device 8 controls various electrical devices included in the image forming apparatus 10. As shown in Fig. 2, the control device 8 is a computer including a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 80, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 81, a secondary storage device 82, a signal interface 83, a communication device 84, and the like.

[0026] The CPU 80 is a processor that executes computer programs to perform various control and data processing operations. The RAM 81 temporarily stores the computer programs executed by the CPU 80 and various data.

[0027] The secondary storage device 82 is a computer-readable non-volatile storage device. The secondary storage device 82 stores the computer programs executed by the CPU 80 and various data. For example, one or both of a flash memory and a hard disk drive may be used as the secondary storage device 82.

[0028] The signal interface 83 converts the detection signals of the various sensors into digital detection data. The detection data is transmitted to the CPU 80. The communication device 84 communicates with a plurality of external devices, including one or more host devices, via a network. The CPU 80 communicates with each of the external devices through the communication device 84. The host device is an information processing device such as a personal computer that requests the image forming apparatus 10 to perform the print processing.

[0029] The CPU 80 includes a plurality of processing modules that are realized by executing an image forming method including various steps in accordance with the computer program, including a main control unit 8a, a status determination unit 8b, a print control unit 8c, a supply control unit 8d, and a communication processing unit 8e (see FIG. 2).

[0030] The main control unit 8a receives various requests and controls other modules to execute processes according to the requests. For example, the main control unit 8a receives a print request through the operation device 801 or the communication device 84. The main control unit 8a then causes the print control unit 8c to execute print processing according to the print request.

[0031] The state determination unit 8b determines various states of the image forming apparatus 10 according to the detection states of various sensors in the image forming apparatus 10 and the operating states of various devices.

[0032] The print control unit 8c controls the conveying device 3 and the printing device 4. The print control unit 8c causes the conveying device 3 to convey the sheet 9, while causing the printing device 4 to execute the printing process.

[0033] The supply control unit 8d controls the toner supply unit 50, thereby controlling the supply of toner from the toner supply unit 50 to the printing device 4.

[0034] The communication processing unit 8e uses a wireless reading unit 6 (described later) provided in the toner supply unit 50 to read various pieces of information from a memory unit 71 (described later) provided in the developer container 7. The information read by the communication processing unit 8e is used in various processes in the main control unit 8a, print control unit 8c, supply control unit 8d, etc.

[0035] [Toner supply unit 50] The toner supply unit 50 will be described in detail below with reference to Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the main parts of the toner supply unit 50 in the image forming apparatus 10.

[0036] As shown in FIG. 3, the toner supply unit 50 includes four mounting portion sets 51 to 54, a supply mechanism 55, and two wireless reading boards 60a and 60b.

[0037] The mounting portion sets 51 to 54 are arranged side by side in the front-rear direction D2 in the toner supply unit 50. The mounting portion sets 51, 52, 53, and 54 correspond to the four colors of toner, yellow, magenta, cyan, and black, respectively. Each mounting portion set 51 to 54 has two mounting portions 5 for each color corresponding to the mounting portion set 51 to 54. A developer container 7 containing toner of the color corresponding to the mounting portion 5 is attached to each mounting portion 5.

[0038] Specifically, the mounting portion set 51 corresponding to yellow includes mounting portions 51a and 51b to which developer accommodating portions 7 corresponding to yellow toner of the same color can be attached. The mounting portions 51a and 51b are arranged side by side in the up-down direction D1 of the image forming apparatus 10. However, as will be described later, the mounting portions 51a and 51b are located at different positions in the front-rear direction D2.

[0039] Similarly, the mounting portion set 52 corresponding to magenta includes mounting portions 52a and 52b arranged side by side in the vertical direction D1. The mounting portion set 53 corresponding to cyan includes mounting portions 53a and 53b arranged side by side in the vertical direction D1. The mounting portion set 54 corresponding to black includes mounting portions 54a and 54b arranged side by side in the vertical direction D1.

[0040] That is, in the toner supply unit 50, four sets of mounting portions 51a to 54a corresponding to the four colors arranged in the upper row are arranged side by side in the front-to-rear direction D1, and four sets of mounting portions 51b to 54b corresponding to the four colors arranged in the lower row are also arranged side by side in the front-to-rear direction D1. Note that, in this embodiment, mounting portions 5 corresponding to the same color are arranged side by side in the vertical direction D1, but mounting portions 5 corresponding to different colors may also be arranged side by side in the vertical direction D1.

[0041] In the image forming apparatus 10, one of the two mounting units 5 is selected as a target mounting unit for each of the four mounting unit sets 51 to 54 corresponding to the four colors. The supply mechanism 55 supplies toner from the developer container 7 attached to the target mounting unit for each of the four mounting unit sets 51 to 54 to the developing device 43 corresponding to that mounting unit set 51 to 54. For example, the toner supply paths from the two mounting units 5 corresponding to the same color to the developing device 43 may be provided separately, or may be structured so that they meet midway.

[0042] It is to be noted that in the image forming apparatus 10, the supply control unit 8d may be capable of switching between a first mode in which only one developer storage unit 7 is used for toner of the same color and a second mode in which two developer storage units 7 are used. For example, when the operation mode of the image forming apparatus 10 is the first mode, the supply control unit 8d selects one of the multiple storage units 5 corresponding to toner of the same color, which is designated in advance in response to a user operation, as the target storage unit. Furthermore, when the operation mode of the image forming apparatus 10 is the second mode, the supply control unit 8d selects the other storage unit 5 as the target storage unit when the determination state of the state determination unit 8b for the target container changes from the toner-present state to the toner-empty state.

[0043] The wireless communication boards 60a and 60b are equipped with a plurality of wireless communication units 6 that read information from the memory unit 71 via wireless communication. Specifically, the wireless communication board 60a is provided in correspondence with each of the four upper mounting units 51a to 54a of the mounting unit sets 51 to 54, and is provided over the area above the four mounting units 51a to 54a. The wireless communication board 60a is equipped with four wireless reading units 61a to 64a that are arranged at equal intervals in the front-to-rear direction D2. The four wireless reading units 61a to 64a are mounted on the lower surface of the wireless communication board 60b so as to face the memory unit 71 provided on the upper surface of the developer accommodating unit 7 when the developer accommodating unit 7 is attached to the four mounting units 51a to 54a.

[0044] Similarly, the wireless communication board 60b is provided over the area above the four mounting parts 51b-54b, each corresponding to one of the four mounting parts 51b-54b located at the bottom of the mounting part sets 51-54. The wireless communication board 60b includes four wireless reading units 61b-64b arranged at equal intervals in the front-rear direction D2. The four wireless reading units 61b-64b are mounted on the lower surface of the wireless communication board 60b so as to face the storage unit 71 provided on the upper surface of the developer accommodating unit 7 when the developer accommodating unit 7 is attached to the four mounting parts 51b-54b. That is, the mounting part sets 51-54 corresponding to the four colors are provided with two wireless reading units 6 corresponding to each color.

[0045] In this embodiment, the arrangement intervals of the wireless reading units 6 on the wireless communication boards 60a and 60b are the same. This makes it possible to use the wireless communication boards 60a and 60b as the same component. On the other hand, in other embodiments, the arrangement intervals of the wireless reading units 6 on the wireless communication boards 60a and 60b may be different. It is also possible that the arrangement intervals of the wireless reading units 61a to 64a on the wireless communication board 60a are different, or that the arrangement intervals of the wireless reading units 61b to 64b on the wireless communication board 60b are different.

[0046] In another embodiment, the positions of the components in the toner supply unit 50 may be reversed in the up-down relationship. Specifically, the wireless communication board 60a may be provided between the mounting portions 51a to 54a and the mounting portions 51b to 54b, and the wireless communication board 60b may be provided in an area below the mounting portions 51b to 54b. In this case, the wireless reading units 61a to 64a are mounted on the upper surface of the wireless communication board 60a, and the wireless reading units 61b to 64b are mounted on the upper surface of the wireless communication board 60b. Meanwhile, the storage unit 71 in each of the developer containers 7 is provided on the bottom surface.

[0047] The wireless reading units 61a to 64a may be arranged separately and not mounted on the same wireless communication board 60a. Similarly, in other embodiments, the wireless reading units 61b to 64b may be arranged separately and not mounted on the same wireless communication board 60a.

[0048] In the toner supply unit 50, the positions of the wireless reading units 61a to 64a may be the same or different in the left-right direction D3, which is the longitudinal direction of the developer container 7. Similarly, in the toner supply unit 50, the positions of the wireless reading units 61b to 64b in the left-right direction D3 may be the same or different. Furthermore, the positions of the wireless reading units 61a to 64a and the positions of the wireless reading units 61b to 64b in the left-right direction D3 may be the same or different.

[0049] The developer accommodating unit 7 attached to the attachment unit 5 includes a memory unit 71. In the developer accommodating unit 7, the memory unit 71 is provided at a position facing the wireless reading unit 6 of the attachment unit 5 when the developer accommodating unit 7 is attached to the attachment unit 5.

[0050] 3 , the storage unit 71 of the developer accommodating unit 7 is disposed at the center in the front-to-rear direction D2 of the developer accommodating unit 7. On the other hand, in other embodiments, the storage unit 71 of the developer accommodating unit 7 may be disposed at a position other than the center in the front-to-rear direction D2 of the developer accommodating unit 7. In this case, the wireless reading units 6 of the wireless communication boards 60a and 60b are provided at a position opposite the position of the storage unit 71 when the developer accommodating unit 7 is attached to the attachment portion 5.

[0051] The storage unit 71 is a wireless tag equipped with a memory that stores specific information related to the developer accommodating unit 7. The storage unit 71 is a so-called passive storage unit that operates using power supplied from the wireless reading unit 6. In general, the storage unit 71 is sometimes referred to as an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag. The specific information includes information such as individual identification information of the developer accommodating unit 7, manufacturer information, and manufacturing date. The specific information also includes information such as the initial amount of toner contained in the developer accommodating unit 7, the type of toner, and the color of toner.

[0052] In the toner supply unit 50 configured in this manner, when the developer accommodating unit 7 is attached to the attachment unit 5, the memory unit 71 of the developer accommodating unit 7 and the wireless reading unit 6 of the attachment unit 5 are arranged opposite each other. This allows the wireless reading unit 6 to read information via wireless communication from the memory unit 71 provided in the developer accommodating unit 7 attached to the attachment unit 5. The wireless reading unit 6 may also be able to write information to the memory unit 71.

[0053] However, when two mounting sections 5 are arranged side by side in the vertical direction, there is a risk that the wireless reading unit 6 corresponding to one mounting section 5 may mistakenly read information from the memory unit 71 of the developer accommodating section 7 attached to the other mounting section 5, rather than from the developer accommodating section 7 attached to the mounting section 5. In contrast, the image forming device 10 can improve the accuracy of reading information from the memory units 71 provided in two developer accommodating sections 7 arranged side by side.

[0054] 3, in each of the mounting portion sets 51 to 54, the two mounting portions 5 corresponding to the same color are provided at different positions in the front-rear direction D2, which is perpendicular to both the up-down direction D1 and the left-right direction D3, which is the longitudinal direction of the mounting portions 5. The two wireless reading units 6 corresponding to toner of the same color are also provided at different positions in the front-rear direction D2, which is perpendicular to both the up-down direction D1 and the left-right direction D3, which is the longitudinal direction of the mounting portions 5. In this embodiment, the up-down direction D1 is an example of a first direction in the present invention, and the front-rear direction D2 is an example of a second direction in the present invention.

[0055] Alternatively, for example, as another configuration, the wireless reading units 6 corresponding to the two mounting units 5, each having a developer accommodating unit 7 corresponding to toner of the same color, may be provided at the same position in the front-to-rear direction D2. In this case, however, the distance from the wireless reading unit 6 of the mounting unit 5 arranged at the top to the storage unit 71 of the developer accommodating unit 7 attached to the mounting unit 5 arranged at the bottom will be the shortest.

[0056] On the other hand, in this embodiment, the wireless reading units 6 corresponding to the two mounting units 5, each having a developer accommodating unit 7 corresponding to toner of the same color, are provided at different positions in the front-rear direction D2. Therefore, compared to the other configurations described above, the distance from the wireless reading unit 6 of the mounting unit 5 arranged at the top to the storage unit 71 of the developer accommodating unit 7 attached to the mounting unit 5 arranged at the bottom is longer. This reduces the possibility that the wireless reading unit 6 will erroneously read information from a storage unit 71 of a color different from the color corresponding to the wireless reading unit 6.

[0057] Specifically, the wireless reading units 61a and 61b corresponding to the two mounting units 51a and 51b, in which the developer accommodating units 7 corresponding to yellow toner are mounted, are provided at different positions in the front-to-rear direction D2. Similarly, the wireless reading units 62a and 62b, in which the developer accommodating units 7 corresponding to magenta toner are mounted, are provided at different positions in the front-to-rear direction D2. Furthermore, the wireless reading units 63a and 63b, in which the developer accommodating units 7 corresponding to cyan toner are mounted, are also provided at different positions in the front-to-rear direction D2. Similarly, the wireless reading units 64a and 64b, in which the developer accommodating units 7 corresponding to black toner are mounted, are also provided at different positions in the front-to-rear direction D2.

[0058] The arrangement distance d1 between the two wireless reading units 61a and 61b is the same as half the width of the developer accommodating unit 7 in the front-to-rear direction D2. Similarly, the arrangement distance d1 between the two wireless reading units 62a and 62b is the same as half the width of the developer accommodating unit 7 in the front-to-rear direction D2. Furthermore, the arrangement distance d1 between the two wireless reading units 63a and 63b is the same as half the width of the developer accommodating unit 7 in the front-to-rear direction D2. Furthermore, the arrangement distance d1 between the two wireless reading units 64a and 64b is the same as half the width of the developer accommodating unit 7 in the front-to-rear direction D2.

[0059] As described above, in this embodiment, the spacing between the two wireless reading units 6 corresponding to the two mounting units 5 to which developer accommodating units 7 corresponding to toner of the same color are attached is the same as half the width of the developer accommodating unit 7 in the front-rear direction D2. This makes it possible to achieve a good balance between suppressing expansion of the size required for the toner supply unit 50 and improving the accuracy with which the wireless reading unit 6 reads information from the storage unit 71. Note that in other embodiments, the spacing between the two wireless reading units 6 corresponding to the two mounting units 5 to which developer accommodating units 7 corresponding to toner of the same color are attached may be the same as half the width of the mounting unit 5 in the front-rear direction D2.

[0060] Furthermore, in the toner supply unit 50, the arrangement distance d1 in the front-rear direction D2 between two wireless reading units 6 corresponding to toner of the same color is narrower than the arrangement distance d2 in the front-rear direction D2 between two wireless reading units 6 corresponding to toner of different colors. For example, the arrangement distance d1 between the wireless reading unit 61a corresponding to yellow and the wireless reading unit 61b corresponding to magenta is narrower than the arrangement distance d2 between the adjacent wireless reading unit 61a corresponding to yellow and the wireless reading unit 62a corresponding to magenta. Furthermore, the arrangement distance d1 between the wireless reading unit 61a and the wireless reading unit 61b is narrower than the arrangement distance d3 between the lower wireless reading unit 61b corresponding to yellow and the upper wireless reading unit 62a corresponding to magenta. This reduces the possibility that the wireless reading unit 6 will erroneously read information from a memory unit 71 of a color different from the color corresponding to the wireless reading unit 6.

[0061] As described above, in the image forming apparatus 10, the wireless reading units 61 corresponding to the two mounting units 5 arranged side by side in the vertical direction are provided at different positions in the front-to-rear direction D2. This reduces the possibility that the wireless reading units 6 of the two mounting units 5 arranged side by side in the vertical direction D1 will erroneously read information from a memory unit 71 that is not intended as the reading target in terms of design, of the memory units 71 provided in the two developer accommodating units 7 attached to the mounting units 5, and improves the accuracy of reading information from the memory units 71.

[0062] In another embodiment, the developer accommodating unit 7 attached to the attachment unit set 54 corresponding to black may have a greater width in the front-rear direction D2 and a greater toner capacity than the developer accommodating units 7 attached to the attachment unit sets 51-53 corresponding to yellow, magenta, and cyan. In this case, the attachment units 54a and 54b of the attachment unit set 54 also have a greater width in the front-rear direction D2 than the attachment units 51a-53a and 51b-54b of the attachment unit sets 51-53. Therefore, in this type of image forming device 10, the arrangement interval between the wireless reading units 64a and 64b corresponding to the attachment units 54a and 54b corresponding to black may be longer than the arrangement interval d1 corresponding to the other colors. Specifically, the arrangement interval between the wireless reading units 64a and 64b may be half the width in the front-rear direction D2 of the developer accommodating units 7 attached to the attachment units 54a and 54b. In this case, the arrangement intervals between the wireless reading units 6 on the wireless communication boards 60a and 60b do not need to be equal. In addition, when the developer storage unit 7 attached to the attachment unit set 54 corresponding to black has a greater width in the front-to-back direction D2 than the developer storage units 7 attached to the attachment unit sets 51 to 53 corresponding to yellow, magenta, and cyan, the wireless reading units 6 on the wireless communication boards 60a and 60b may be arranged at equal intervals.

[0063] [Notes on the Invention] The following is a summary of the invention extracted from the above-described embodiment. Note that the configurations and processing functions described in the following supplementary notes can be selected and combined as desired.

[0064] <Appendix 1> two developer containers each capable of housing a developer used for image formation, the two containers being arranged side by side in a first direction; a wireless reading unit provided in each of the mounting units and configured to wirelessly read information from a memory unit provided in the developer accommodating unit mounted in the corresponding mounting unit; Equipped with The two wireless reading units corresponding to the two mounting units are provided at different positions in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction and the longitudinal direction of the mounting units. Image forming device.

[0065] <Appendix 2> The two mounting portions are each mounted with the developer accommodating portion corresponding to a developer of the same color. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1.

[0066] <Appendix 3> The two attachment parts and the two wireless reader parts correspond to a plurality of colors, respectively. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2.

[0067] <Appendix 4> The attachment portions corresponding to the plurality of colors are arranged side by side in the second direction. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3.

[0068] <Appendix 5> an arrangement interval in the second direction between two wireless reading units corresponding to developers of the same color is narrower than an arrangement interval in the second direction between two wireless reading units corresponding to developers of different colors; 5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4.

[0069] <Appendix 6> an arrangement interval between the two wireless reading units in the second direction is half the length of the width in the second direction of the developer accommodating unit or the mounting unit; 6. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

[0070] <Appendix 7> The two wireless reading units are located at the same position in the longitudinal direction. 7. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6. [Explanation of symbols]

[0071] 60a: Wireless reader board 60b: Wireless reading board 7: Developer storage section 71: Storage section 8a: Main control unit 8b: State determination unit 8c: Print control unit 8d: Supply control section 8e: Communication processing section 10: Image forming device 51a~54a: Mounting part 51b~54b: Mounting part 61a to 64a: Wireless reading unit 61b~64b: Wireless reader

Claims

1. two developer containers each capable of housing a developer used for image formation, the two containers being arranged side by side in a first direction; a wireless reading unit provided in each of the mounting units and configured to wirelessly read information from a memory unit provided in the developer accommodating unit mounted in the corresponding mounting unit; Equipped with the two wireless reading units corresponding to the two mounting units are provided at different positions in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction and the longitudinal direction of the mounting units; Image forming device.

2. The two mounting portions are each mounted with the developer accommodating portion corresponding to a developer of the same color. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 .

3. The two attachment parts and the two wireless reader parts correspond to a plurality of colors, respectively. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2 .

4. The attachment portions corresponding to the plurality of colors are arranged side by side in the second direction. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3 .

5. an arrangement interval in the second direction between two wireless reading units corresponding to developers of the same color is narrower than an arrangement interval in the second direction between two wireless reading units corresponding to developers of different colors; The image forming apparatus according to claim 4 .

6. an arrangement interval between the two wireless reading units in the second direction is half the length of the width in the second direction of the developer accommodating unit or the mounting unit; 6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1.

7. The two wireless reading units are located at the same position in the longitudinal direction.

6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1.

Images