Image forming apparatus

Abstract

To seamlessly supply ink from another ink container even when ink stored in an ink container is expired in an image forming apparatus in which a plurality of ink containers storing ink agents are loaded.SOLUTION: A control part 39 in an image forming apparatus 10 supplies ink from any one of ink containers 21, acquires an expiration date SK of ink stored in the one ink container 21, compares the expiration date SK of ink with a date and time T when the expiration date SK is acquired, determines whether or not the expiration date SK of ink is expired, stops the supply of ink from the one ink container 21 when it is determined that the expiration date SK of ink is expired, selects another ink container different from the one ink container among the respective ink containers 21, and supplies ink from the other ink container.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that consumes consumables such as toner and ink, and more particularly to a technology for supplying consumables from another consumable part when the consumables contained in the consumable part have expired. [Background technology]

[0002] Image forming devices include inkjet devices that eject ink onto recording paper to form an image on the recording paper, and electrophotographic devices that deposit toner onto the recording paper to form an image on the recording paper. Inkjet devices have an ink container that stores ink, and the ink container is replaced when the ink in the ink container runs out. Electrophotographic devices have a toner container that stores toner, and the toner container is replaced when the toner in the toner container runs out.

[0003] In addition, in the printing device and consumables described in Patent Document 1, a determination means determines whether an ink cartridge has passed its recommended expiration date based on a recommended expiration date calculated based on the manufacturing date, recommended stop period, etc., and the date and time elapsed since the ink cartridge's manufacturing date. When the determination means determines that the recommended expiration date has passed, the notification means determines that a warning cycle has elapsed since the previous warning was issued based on the warning information and warning cycle stored in the ink cartridge's memory, and when the inkjet printing device is turned on, displays a message on the operation panel indicating that the ink cartridge's expiration date is approaching. This notifies the user that the ink cartridge's expiration date is approaching without causing any inconvenience to the user. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2016-005902 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] The printing device described in Patent Document 1 displays a message on the operation panel indicating that the ink cartridge is nearing its expiration date, so the user can simply look at the message and replace the ink cartridge with a new one. However, if the user does not notice the message, the ink cartridge continues to be used without being replaced, forcing the user to replace the ink cartridge.

[0006] Therefore, the present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and aims to seamlessly supply consumables from other consumables in an image forming device that is loaded with multiple consumables containing consumables, even if the consumables contained in one consumable have expired. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] An image forming apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention comprises a supply mechanism loaded with a plurality of consumable parts containing consumables and supplying the consumables from each of the loaded consumable parts; an image forming unit that forms an image on a recording medium using the consumables supplied from the consumable parts by the supply mechanism; a control unit that causes the supply mechanism to supply the consumables from any one of the consumable parts to the image forming unit; and a data acquisition unit that acquires the expiration date of the consumable part from which the consumables are being supplied.The control unit compares the expiration date of the consumable part acquired by the data acquisition unit with the date and time the expiration date was acquired to determine whether the expiration date of the consumable part has passed, and if it determines that the expiration date of the consumable part has passed, stops the supply of the consumables from the consumable part from which the consumables are being supplied, selects another consumable part different from the consumable part whose supply has been stopped, and causes the consumables to be supplied from the other consumable part. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to the present invention, in an image forming device in which multiple consumable parts containing consumable agents are loaded, even if the consumable agent contained in a consumable agent has expired, the consumable agent can be seamlessly supplied from another consumable agent. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] 1 is a block diagram showing a main internal configuration of an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment. [Figure 3] 10 is a flowchart showing a control procedure for stopping ink supply from one of two ink containers that supply ink of the same color, and starting ink supply from the other. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing an image forming apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the main internal configuration of an image forming apparatus according to a second embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. First Embodiment

[0011] Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Fig. 1, the image forming apparatus 10 is an MFP (multi-function peripheral) that combines multiple functions such as a copy function and a scanner function. The image forming apparatus 10 includes an image reading unit 11 and an image forming unit 12.

[0012] The image reading unit 11 has, for example, a contact image sensor (CIS) as an imaging element that optically reads the image of the original M, and image data representing the image of the original M is output from this CIS.

[0013] The image forming unit 12 receives image data representing an image of an original M and forms the image of the original M represented by the image data on recording paper P by an inkjet method. The image forming unit 12 has ink containers 21 containing ink of four colors (black, cyan, magenta, and yellow), and line heads 15 that receive the ink of each color from the ink containers 21 and eject ink droplets of the corresponding color. Each line head 15 ejects ink droplets of the corresponding color onto recording paper P that has been transported from the paper feed unit 14 to the transport unit 4 through the transport path 3, thereby forming a color image on the recording paper P.

[0014] The ink containers 21 containing ink of each color are loaded into a supply mechanism 40. The supply mechanism 40 supplies ink from each of the multiple ink containers 21. The supply mechanism 40 includes a supply path that guides the ink supplied from the ink containers 21 to the image forming unit 12, and a discharge unit that discharges ink remaining in the supply path.

[0015] The supply mechanism 40 is loaded with two ink containers 21 containing ink of the same color for each line head 15 that ejects ink droplets of each color. The supply mechanism 40 supplies ink to one line head 15 from either of the two ink containers 21.

[0016] The supply mechanism 40 is provided with an ink pump 41 (FIG. 2) for each of the two supply paths that transport and supply ink for each color from two ink containers 21 containing ink of the same color to one line head 15. By operating one of the two ink pumps 41, the supply mechanism 40 supplies ink from one of the two ink containers 21 containing ink of the same color to the line head 15 through the supply path.

[0017] The supply mechanism 40 also includes a waste liquid container 22 for storing waste ink and a waste liquid pump 42 as an ink discharge unit. Ink remaining in each of the supply paths is transported to and stored in the waste liquid container 22. For example, each of the supply paths is connected to a respective waste liquid pump 42 (shown in FIG. 2). The supply mechanism 40 operates the waste liquid pump 42 connected to any of the supply paths, causing the waste liquid pump 42 to suck ink remaining in the supply path, and directs the remaining ink to the waste liquid container 22 for storage. The operation of each part of the supply mechanism 40 is controlled by a control unit 39 (FIG. 2).

[0018] Furthermore, the supply mechanism 40 includes two cleaning liquid containers 23 containing cleaning liquid used for cleaning each line head 15, and one maintenance liquid container 24 containing maintenance liquid used for maintaining each line head 15.

[0019] The transport unit 4 includes a drive roller 8, a driven roller 9, a tension roller 5, and a transport belt 6. The transport belt 6 is an endless belt that is stretched over the drive roller 8, the driven roller 9, and the tension roller 5. The drive roller 8 is a roller that is driven to rotate counterclockwise by a motor (not shown), and as the drive roller 8 is driven to rotate, the transport belt 6 moves in a counterclockwise direction, and the driven roller 9 and the tension roller 5 are also driven to rotate counterclockwise.

[0020] The tension roller 5 is a roller for maintaining an appropriate tension on the conveyor belt 6. The attraction roller 7 is in contact with the conveyor belt 6 and charges the conveyor belt 6, thereby electrostatically attracting the recording paper P fed from the paper feed unit 14 to the conveyor belt 6.

[0021] After the image of the document is formed on the recording paper P by the image forming unit 12, the recording paper P passes through a conveying path 18 and is discharged onto a discharge tray 17 via a conveying roller 19.

[0022] Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the image forming apparatus 10. As shown in Fig. 2, the image forming apparatus 10 includes an image reading unit 11, an image forming unit 12, a paper feed unit 14, an operation unit 31, a display unit 32, a touch panel 34, a storage unit 36, and a control unit 38. These components are capable of transmitting and receiving data or signals to and from each other via a bus.

[0023] The image forming unit 12 is provided with the line heads 15 and RFID (radio frequency identification) readers 35, and the supply mechanism 40 is provided with the ink pumps 41, the waste liquid pump 42, and the like.

[0024] Each RFID reader 35 (an example of a data acquisition unit) is provided at the mounting location of each ink container 21, and reads the information TD of the ink container 21 from the RFID tag (not shown) of each ink container 21. Each ink container 21 is provided with an RFID tag, and the information TD of the ink container 21 is stored in this RFID tag. The information TD of the ink container 21 includes (1) the expiration date SK of the ink, or (2) the manufacturing date SZ and warranty period HK of the consumables, etc.

[0025] As described above, each ink pump 41 is provided in two supply paths for transporting and supplying ink for each color from two ink containers 21 containing ink of the same color to one line head 15. When one of the two ink pumps 41 provided in the two supply paths is activated, ink is supplied to the line head 15 from one of the two ink containers 21 containing ink of the same color.

[0026] Each waste liquid pump 42 guides the ink remaining in each supply path to the waste liquid container 22 and stores it there.

[0027] The operation unit 31 includes physical keys such as a numeric keypad, a decision key, a start key, etc. The display unit 32 is configured with a liquid crystal display (LCD) or an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display.

[0028] A touch panel 34 is disposed on the screen of the display unit 32. The touch panel 34 is a so-called resistive or capacitive touch panel, which detects contact (touch) of a user's finger or the like with the touch panel 34 together with the contact position, and outputs a detection signal indicating the coordinates of the contact position to a control unit 39 of a control unit 38.

[0029] The storage unit 36 ​​is a large-capacity storage device such as an SSD (Solid State Drive) or an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), and stores various application programs and various data.

[0030] The control unit 38 is composed of a processor, a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), etc. The processor is, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), an ASIC, or an MPU (Micro Processing Unit), etc. The control unit 38 functions as a control unit 39 when a control program stored in the ROM or the storage unit 36 ​​is executed by the processor.

[0031] The control unit 39 comprehensively controls the image forming apparatus 10. The control unit 39 is connected to the image reading unit 11, the image forming unit 12, the paper feeding unit 14, the operation unit 31, the display unit 32, the touch panel 34, and the storage unit 36, and controls the operation of these components and transmits and receives signals or data to and from each of the components.

[0032] The control unit 39 serves as a processing unit that executes various processes required for image formation by the image forming apparatus 10. The control unit 39 also accepts operation instructions input by the user based on detection signals output from the touch panel 34 or operation of the physical keys on the operation unit 31. For example, the control unit 39 accepts touch operations on a GUI (Graphical User Interface) displayed on the screen of the display unit 32 through the touch panel 34. The control unit 39 also has a function of controlling the display operation of the display unit 32.

[0033] The control unit 39 also controls each line head 15 of the image forming unit 12 to operate or stop each line head 15. The control unit 39 also operates one of two ink pumps 41 provided in two supply paths that transport and supply ink from two ink containers 21 containing ink of the same color to one line head 15, for each color of ink, to supply the ink from one of the two ink containers 21 containing ink of the same color to the line head 15. The control unit 39 also operates a waste liquid pump 42 connected to one of the supply paths, causing the waste liquid pump 42 to suck ink remaining in the supply path and guide the remaining ink to the waste liquid container 22 for storage.

[0034] Here, the ink container 21 corresponds to the consumable part in the claims, and the ink in the ink container 21 corresponds to the consumable agent in the claims.

[0035] In the image forming device 10 configured as described above, (1) the ink expiration date SK or (2) the manufacturing date SZ and warranty period HK of the consumables is preset for each ink container 21. If the use of ink is not stopped in accordance with this expiration date SK or the manufacturing date SZ and warranty period HK of the consumables, it will result in a deterioration in the quality of images formed with the ink.

[0036] However, in the past, only a warning was displayed based on the expiration date SK of the ink in the ink container 21, or the manufacturing date SZ and warranty period HK of the consumables, which could lead to delays in replacing the ink container 21 and result in a deterioration in image quality.

[0037] Therefore, in the image forming apparatus 10 of this embodiment, two ink containers 21 are provided for each color of ink as described above, and the control unit 39 controls the supply mechanism 40 to stop the supply of ink from one of the two ink containers 21 that supply ink of the same color when the ink in that ink container 21 has expired while the ink is being supplied to the line head 15 from that ink container 21. Then, the control unit 39 starts the supply of ink from the other of the two ink containers 21 whose ink has not expired.

[0038] Next, the control procedure for stopping the supply of ink from one of the two ink containers 21 that supply ink of the same color as described above and starting the supply of ink from the other will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

[0039] As described above, black ink is contained in two ink containers 21, cyan ink is contained in two ink containers 21, magenta ink is contained in two ink containers 21, and yellow ink is contained in two ink containers 21. The control unit 39 operates the ink pump 41 that transports and supplies ink from one of the two ink containers 21 that supply ink of the same color to the line head 15, controls each line head 15, and ejects black ink droplets, cyan ink droplets, magenta ink droplets, and yellow ink droplets from each line head 15, thereby starting the formation of a color image on recording paper (S101).

[0040] As described above, each ink container 21 is provided with its own RFID tag, and information TD for that ink container 21 is stored in each RFID tag. The information TD for the ink container 21 indicates (1) the expiry date SK of the consumable, or (2) the manufacturing date SZ and warranty period HK of the consumable. The control unit 39 causes the RFID reader 35 to read the information TD for each ink container 21 from the RFID tag of the ink container 21, and acquires the ink expiry date SK or the ink manufacturing date SZ and warranty period HK indicated by the information TD for the ink container 21. When the control unit 39 acquires the ink manufacturing date SZ and warranty period HK, it calculates the ink expiry date SK by adding the warranty period HK to the ink manufacturing date SZ. Therefore, the control unit 39 acquires the ink expiry date SK indicated by the information TD for the ink container 21, or calculates and acquires the ink expiry date SK based on the ink manufacturing date SZ and warranty period HK indicated by the information TD for the ink container 21 (S102).

[0041] The control unit 39 acquires, for each color of ink, the ink expiration date SK of one of the two ink containers 21 that is supplying the ink, and also acquires the date and time T at the time of acquiring this ink expiration date SK (S103).The control unit 39 then compares the ink expiration date SK acquired in S102 with the date and time T acquired in S103, and determines whether the ink expiration date SK of the one ink container 21 that is supplying the ink has expired, i.e., whether the ink expiration date SK has passed the date and time T (S104).

[0042] If the control unit 39 determines that the expiration date SK of the ink in one of the ink containers 21 has not passed (S104 "No"), the process returns to S101.

[0043] Furthermore, if the control unit 39 determines that the expiration date SK has passed (S104 "Yes"), it stops the ink pump 41 of the supply path that transports and supplies ink from the ink container 21 that is currently supplying ink to the line head 15, thereby stopping the supply of ink (S105). Then, the control unit 39 operates the waste liquid pump 42 connected to that supply path (S106). As a result, the waste liquid pump 42 sucks and removes ink remaining in the supply path, and this remaining ink is guided to and accumulated in the waste liquid container 22 (S106). Therefore, ink whose expiration date SK has passed will not remain in the supply path and will not be used thereafter.

[0044] Furthermore, the control unit 39 selects the other ink container 21 that supplies ink of the same color as the one ink container 21 that is supplying ink, and acquires the expiration date SK of the ink of the other ink container 21, as well as the date and time T at the time of acquiring this ink expiration date SK (S107). The control unit 39 compares this ink expiration date SK with the date and time T, and determines whether the ink expiration date SK of the other ink container 21 has expired, i.e., whether the ink expiration date SK has passed the date and time T (S108).

[0045] When the control unit 39 determines that the expiration date SK of the ink in the other ink container 21 has not passed (S108 "No"), it operates the ink pump 41 of the supply path that transports and supplies ink from the other ink container 21 to the line head 15, thereby starting the supply of ink from the other ink container 21 (S109). As a result, ink droplets of the respective colors are ejected from each line head 15, and the formation of a color image on the recording paper is continued, without interrupting the image formation that was being performed using the ink supply from the one ink container 21 that was supplying ink.

[0046] In addition, if there is a time lag between when the supply of ink from one ink container 21 is stopped and when the supply of ink from the other ink container 21 is started, the control unit 39 may perform control to stop each line head 15 only during that time lag.

[0047] Then, the control unit 39 causes the display unit 32 to display a message prompting replacement of the one ink container 21 determined in S104 to have expired its expiration date SK (S111).

[0048] Furthermore, if the control unit 39 determines that the ink expiration date SK of the other ink container 21 has expired (S108 "Yes"), it stops the two ink pumps 41 that transport and supply ink from the two ink containers 21 to the line heads 15, for each color of ink, i.e., it stops all the ink pumps 41, stops all the line heads 15, and stops the formation of color images on recording paper (S112). Then, the control unit 39 displays on the display unit 32 a message urging the user to replace the ink container 21 whose ink expiration date SK has been determined to have expired in S104 and / or S108 (S113). After this, the processing ends.

[0049] As described above, in the first embodiment, two ink containers 21 are provided, one for each color of ink, and when ink is being supplied to the line head 15 from one of the two ink containers 21 that supply ink of the same color, if the ink in one of the ink containers 21 reaches its expiration date, the supply of ink from that ink container 21 is stopped, and if the ink in the other ink container 21 has not expired, the supply of ink from the other ink container 21 is started. This makes it possible to avoid a situation in which image formation continues with expired ink, resulting in a deterioration in image quality, and also to avoid a situation in which image formation is interrupted due to a delay in replacing the ink container 21, etc.

[0050] Thus, according to the first embodiment, in an image forming device 10 in which multiple ink containers 21 containing ink agent are loaded, even if the ink contained in an ink container 21 has expired, ink can be seamlessly supplied from another ink container 21.

[0051] In the first embodiment, two ink containers 21 are provided, one for each color of ink. However, the supply mechanism 40 may be configured to accommodate three or more ink containers 21. In this case, the control unit 39 supplies ink from one of the three or more ink containers 21 of the same color. When the ink in this ink container 21 reaches its expiration date, the control unit 39 stops the ink pump 41 of the supply path that transports and supplies ink from this ink container 21 to the line head 15, thereby stopping the ink supply. The control unit 39 then obtains the expiration dates SK of the ink in two or more other ink containers 21, obtains the date and time T at the time the expiration dates SK were obtained, compares the expiration dates SK of each ink with the date and time T, and selects the expiration date SK that is closest to the date and time T and later than the date and time T. In other words, it selects the expiration date SK that is not expired but is closest to the expiration date. The control unit 39 then operates the ink pump 41 of the supply path that transports and supplies ink from another ink container 21 containing ink with this expiration date SK to the line head 15, thereby starting the ink supply. As a result, ink from the ink container 21 containing ink that is closest to its expiration date is supplied to the line head 15. This allows the ink in each ink container 21 to be consumed efficiently while maintaining the image quality of the formed image.

[0052] In the first embodiment, ink is supplied from one of two ink containers 21 that supply ink of the same color, and when the ink in one ink container 21 expires, the supply of ink from that ink container 21 is immediately stopped. However, when the control unit 39 determines that the expiration date of the ink contained in the ink container 21 that is supplying ink has expired while the line head 15 of the image forming unit 12 is causing ink to be supplied from that ink container 21 based on a print job, the control unit 39 may continue supplying ink from that ink container 21 until image formation based on the print job is completed, and after image formation based on the print job is completed, select another ink container 21 different from the ink container 21 that is supplying ink and supply ink from that other ink container 21. This maintains productivity without interrupting image formation based on the print job, and maintains image quality as high as possible by immediately supplying ink from an ink container 21 whose expiration date has not expired after the image formation is completed.

[0053] In addition, in the first embodiment, two ink containers 21 that supply ink of the same color are exemplified, but since two cleaning liquid containers 23 are also provided, the control unit 39 can use the same configuration and processing as in the case of the ink containers 21 to stop the supply of cleaning liquid from one cleaning liquid container 23 when the cleaning liquid in that cleaning liquid container 23 has expired, and can determine that the cleaning liquid in the other cleaning liquid container 23 has not expired and start the supply of cleaning liquid from the other cleaning liquid container 23. Second Embodiment

[0054] 4 is a cross-sectional view showing an image forming apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention. Image forming apparatus 10A of the second embodiment includes image reading unit 11 and image forming unit 12A. Image reading unit 11 has a CIS that optically reads an image of original document M, and image data representing the image of original document M is output from this CIS.

[0055] The image forming unit 12A receives image data representing an image of a document and forms the image of the document represented by the image data on recording paper using toner by electrophotography. The image forming unit 12A includes toner containers 66 containing four colors (magenta, cyan, yellow, and black) of toner, and a magenta image forming unit 63M, a cyan image forming unit 63C, a yellow image forming unit 63Y, and a black image forming unit 63Bk, which receive the toner of each color from the corresponding toner container 66 and form toner images of each color. Each of the image forming units 63M, 63C, 63Y, and 63Bk uniformly charges the surface of a photoconductor drum 64, exposes the surface of the photoconductor drum 64 to light, forms an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photoconductor drum 64, develops the electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photoconductor drum 64 into a toner image, and transfers the toner image on the surface of the photoconductor drum 64 to the intermediate transfer belt 62. As a result, a color toner image is formed on the intermediate transfer belt 62. This color toner image is secondarily transferred onto the recording paper P conveyed from the paper feed unit 74 through the conveyance path 68 in the nip area N between the intermediate transfer belt 62 and the secondary transfer roller 67 .

[0056] After the image of the original is formed on the recording paper P, the recording paper P is heated and pressurized in the fixing unit 65, and the toner image on the recording paper P is fixed by thermocompression. Furthermore, the recording paper P is discharged onto a discharge tray 71 via a transport roller 69.

[0057] 5 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of an image forming apparatus 10A of the second embodiment. The internal configuration of the image forming apparatus 10A of the second embodiment is generally the same as that of the image forming apparatus 10 of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 2. However, the image forming apparatus 10A of the second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that it employs an electrophotographic image forming unit 12A instead of the inkjet image forming unit 12. A control unit 39 of the image forming apparatus 10A of the second embodiment controls the electrophotographic image forming unit 12A to form an image of the original on recording paper P by the image forming unit 12A in the procedure described above.

[0058] In the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10A configured as described above, each of the image forming units 63M, 63C, 63Y, and 63Bk is provided with two toner containers (corresponding to consumable parts in the claims) 66 containing toner of the same color (corresponding to consumables in the claims), and a supply mechanism 60 is provided to transport and supply toner from one of the two toner containers 66 to one of the image forming units. Each toner container 66 is provided with an RFID tag (not shown). Each RFID tag stores information TD indicating the expiration date SK of the toner in the corresponding toner container 66, or the manufacturing date SZ and warranty period HK of the ink. The control unit 39 controls the image forming unit 12A to, when forming a color image on recording paper, have the RFID reader 35 read the information TD of the toner container 66 from the RFID tag of the toner container 66 for each toner container 66, and obtain the toner expiration date SK or the toner manufacturing date SZ and warranty period HK indicated by the information TD.When the toner manufacturing date SZ and warranty period HK are obtained, the toner expiration date SK is calculated by adding the warranty period HK to the toner manufacturing date SZ.

[0059] For each color of toner, the control unit 39 selects one of the two toner containers 66 containing the same color of toner and supplies the toner. The control unit 39 obtains the toner expiration date SK of the selected toner container 66, obtains the date and time T at which the toner expiration date SK was obtained, and compares the toner expiration date SK with the date and time T to determine whether the toner expiration date SK of the selected toner container 66 has expired. If the control unit 39 determines that the toner expiration date SK has expired, it controls the supply mechanism 60 to stop the supply of toner from the selected toner container 66. At this time, the control unit 39 may control the operation of the supply mechanism 60 to guide the toner remaining in the toner supply path to a waste toner container (not shown) for collection. For example, a screw (corresponding to a discharge unit in the claims) may be provided inside the toner supply path as part of the supply mechanism 60. The control unit 39 rotates the screw to guide the toner remaining in the toner supply path to the waste toner container.

[0060] Furthermore, the control unit 39 selects the other toner container 66 that supplies toner of the same color as the one toner container 66, obtains the toner expiration date SK of the other toner container 66, compares this toner expiration date SK with the date and time T when the toner expiration date SK was obtained, and determines whether the toner expiration date SK of the other toner container 66 has expired.If it determines that the toner expiration date SK of the other toner container 66 has not expired, it starts supplying toner from the other toner container 66, and causes each image forming unit 63M, 63C, 63Y, 63Bk to form a toner image of each color, forms a color toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 62, and continues forming a color image by transferring the color toner image from the intermediate transfer belt 62 to the recording paper.

[0061] In other words, even in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10A that is loaded with multiple toner containers 66 containing toner, by using the same processing and similar configuration as the inkjet image forming apparatus 10, when the toner contained in a toner container 66 has expired, toner can be seamlessly supplied from another toner container 66.

[0062] The configurations and processes of the above-described embodiments explained with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5 are merely examples of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to these configurations and processes. [Explanation of symbols]

[0063] 10 Image forming device 10A Image forming device 11 Image reading unit 12 Image forming unit 12A Image forming section 14 Paper feed section 15 Line Head 21 Ink container 31 Operation section 32 Display section 34 Touch Panel 35 RFID Reader 36 Memory section 38 Control Unit 39 Control Unit

Claims

1. a supply mechanism that is loaded with a plurality of consumable parts containing consumable agents and that supplies the consumable agents from each of the loaded consumable parts; an image forming unit that forms an image on a recording medium using the consumable agent supplied from the consumable part by the supply mechanism; a control unit that controls the supply mechanism to supply the consumable agent from any one of the consumable parts to the image forming unit; a data acquisition unit that acquires the expiration date of the consumable part to which the consumable agent is supplied, an image forming apparatus comprising: the control unit compares the expiration date of the consumable part acquired by the data acquisition unit with the date and time when the expiration date was acquired to determine whether the expiration date of the consumable part has passed; and if it determines that the expiration date of the consumable part has passed, stops the supply of the consumable agent from the consumable part that is currently supplying the consumable agent, selects another consumable part different from the consumable part whose supply has been stopped, and supplies the consumable agent from the other consumable part.

2. The image forming apparatus of claim 1, wherein when the control unit selects the different consumable part, it compares the expiration date of the other consumable part acquired by the data acquisition unit with the date and time the expiration date was acquired, and if it determines that the expiration date of the other consumable part has not passed, it supplies the consumable agent from the other consumable part.

3. The image forming apparatus of claim 2, wherein when there are multiple different consumable parts, the control unit selects the consumable part whose expiration date is closest to and later than the date and time at which each expiration date was obtained from the expiration dates of the consumables contained in the multiple different consumable parts, and causes the supply mechanism to supply the consumables from the selected consumable part.

4. the supply mechanism includes a supply path for each of the consumable parts that supplies a consumable agent for the consumable part, and a discharge unit that discharges the consumable agent remaining in the supply path; An image forming apparatus as described in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein when the control unit determines that the expiration date of the consumable part that is supplying the consumable agent has passed, it stops the supply of the consumable agent from the consumable part that is supplying the consumable agent, and causes the discharge unit to discharge the consumable agent remaining in the supply path of the consumable part that is supplying the consumable agent.

5. An image forming apparatus as described in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein when the control unit determines that the expiration date of the consumable part that is supplying the consumable part has passed while the control unit is supplying the consumable part based on a print job and causing the image forming unit to perform image formation, the control unit continues to supply the consumable part from the consumable part that is supplying the consumable part until the image formation based on the print job is completed, and after the image formation based on the print job is completed, selects another consumable part different from the consumable part that is supplying the consumable part and supplies the consumable part from the other consumable part.

6. Further comprising a display unit, 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit, when determining that the expiration date of the consumable agent contained in the consumable part has passed, causes the display unit to display a message urging the replacement of the consumable part.

7. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an RFID reader as the data acquisition unit, which reads the expiration date of each consumable part from an RFID tag provided for each consumable part and which stores the expiration date of each consumable part. Image forming device.

8. the image forming unit forms an image on recording paper using ink, which is the consumable agent, by an inkjet method; 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the consumable parts is an ink container containing the ink.

9. the image forming unit forms an image on recording paper using the toner, which is the consumable material, by an electrophotographic method; 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the consumable parts is a toner container that contains the toner.

Images