Image forming apparatus

Abstract

To suppress occurrence of a serviceman call to a minor trouble.SOLUTION: An image formation apparatus includes: an apparatus body; and a unit which can be detachably attached to the apparatus body and has storage means 22. The unit includes a unit side terminal connected to a body side terminal provided in the apparatus body at an attachment position to the apparatus body. The image formation apparatus comprises: access means 14 which accesses to the storage means; movement means 31 which moves the unit from the attachment position such that the unit side terminal becomes the non-connection state from the state of being connected to the body side terminal; an operation display part; and control means 15. The control means, in a case where a malfunction occurs in the access to the storage means by the access means, controls the movement means 31 so as to move the unit from the attachment position to a non-connection position where the unit side terminal and the body side terminal become the non-connection state and cause the operation display part 17 to perform display such that the unit moved to the non-connection position is moved to the attachment position.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an image forming apparatus that can suppress the occurrence of service calls for minor troubles.

Background Art

[0002] A conventional image forming apparatus that can suppress the occurrence of service calls for minor troubles is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2019-061057 (Patent Document 1). According to Patent Document 1, when an error occurs when reading toner remaining amount information from an IC chip provided in a toner bottle (toner cartridge), if the control unit acquires information that deviates from data patterns and rules that it should not originally be able to obtain, it is determined that the IC chip has failed, and an image forming apparatus that displays a message prompting replacement of the toner bottle is disclosed. On the other hand, it is disclosed that when it is merely a reading error, a message prompting reinstallation of the toner bottle (toner cartridge) is displayed.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] In a conventional image forming apparatus that can suppress the occurrence of service calls for minor troubles, it was configured as described above. When it was merely a reading error, a message prompting reinstallation of the toner bottle was displayed, but which toner bottle should be reinstalled was not specified, so there was a problem that the user was unclear about how to deal with it.

[0005] This disclosure is made to resolve the above-mentioned problems and aims to provide an image forming apparatus that can suppress the occurrence of service calls for minor troubles that can be resolved with simple operation. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The image forming apparatus according to this disclosure comprises an apparatus body and a unit detachable from the apparatus body and having a storage means. The unit has a unit-side terminal that connects to a main body-side terminal provided on the apparatus body at a mounting position on the apparatus body in order to access the storage means from the apparatus body. The image forming apparatus comprises an access means for accessing the storage means, a moving means for moving the unit from the mounting position so that the unit-side terminal changes from a connected state to a disconnected state with the main body-side terminal, an operation display unit, and a control means. If a malfunction occurs in accessing the storage means by the access means, the control means controls the moving means to move the unit from the mounting position to a disconnected position where the unit-side terminal and the main body-side terminal are disconnected, and displays on the operation display unit that the unit moved to the disconnected position should be moved back to the mounting position.

[0007] Preferably, if a malfunction occurs in accessing the storage means, the control means performs a recovery operation at least once to attempt to access the access means again. If the recovery operation fails to access the storage means more than a predetermined number of times, the control means moves the unit to a disconnected position and displays a request on the operation display unit to move the unit to its mounting position.

[0008] More preferably, if an access problem occurs to the storage means during the image forming operation and access is normalized by a recovery operation, the control means moves the unit to the disconnected position after the image forming operation is completed and displays a request on the operation display unit to move the unit to its mounting position.

[0009] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the system further includes an environmental sensor capable of detecting humidity. The environmental sensor detects the humidity when the power to the main unit of the image forming apparatus is turned on. When the environmental sensor determines that the environment is under predetermined conditions, the image forming apparatus performs access to the storage means using an access means before performing the image forming operation. If a problem occurs during access, the unit is moved from its mounting position to a disconnected position where the unit-side terminals and the main unit-side terminals are disconnected. The operation display unit then displays a message instructing the user to move the unit from the disconnected position back to its mounting position.

[0010] The unit may contain toner inside. [Effects of the Invention]

[0011] According to this disclosure, if an access failure (read / write failure) occurs due to a communication failure to the storage means, the unit is forcibly moved to disconnect the connector, and the user is asked to reattach it, thereby stabilizing the contact state at the connector. This prevents access failures such as communication failures caused by poor contact.

[0012] As a result, we can provide an image forming apparatus that can reduce the number of service calls for minor problems that can be resolved with simple operations.

[0013] The aforementioned purposes, other purposes, features, and advantages of this disclosure will become even clearer from the detailed description of the embodiments described below with reference to the drawings. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0014] [Figure 1] This is a schematic cross-sectional view of an image forming apparatus according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 2A] This is a perspective view of the image forming apparatus, seen from the front, showing all toner cartridges in their mounting positions. [Figure 2B] This is a perspective view of the image forming apparatus, seen from the front, showing one of the toner cartridges in the eject position. [Figure 3] It is a diagram showing a toner cartridge. [Figure 4] It is a perspective view showing the states before and after connecting the cartridge side connector to the main body side connector. [Figure 5A] It is a diagram showing the state of the drive unit before the eject mechanism operates. [Figure 5B] It is a diagram showing the state of the drive unit after the eject mechanism operates. [Figure 6] It is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the image forming apparatus. [Figure 7] It is a flowchart explaining the operations performed by the control unit. [Figure 8] It is a diagram showing an example of the reinstallation request message displayed on the operation display unit.

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0015] [[ID=2⑧]]Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an image forming apparatus (ID=10) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The image forming apparatus (ID=10) has a plurality of functions such as a copying function, a printer function, an image scanner function, and a fax function. Therefore, the image forming apparatus (ID=10) includes a device main body (ID=11), an image reading unit (ID=12), an image forming unit (ID=13), and a control unit that controls the entire image forming apparatus (ID=10), which will be described later.

[0016] The image reading unit (ID=12) is responsible for image reading processing that reads an image of a document (not shown) and outputs two-dimensional read image data corresponding to the image of the document. Such an image reading unit (ID=12) includes a document placement table on which the document is placed. The image reading unit (ID=12) includes an image reading unit that includes a light source (not shown), a plurality of mirrors, lenses, a line sensor, etc. Further, the image reading unit (ID=12) includes a drive mechanism for moving the image reading position by the image reading unit. Also, the image reading unit (ID=12) includes an automatic document feeder (Auto Document Feeder: ADF).

[0017] The image forming unit 13 is responsible for image forming processing, which forms an image on a sheet-like image recording medium, such as paper (not shown), based on appropriate image data, such as read image data, which is read and output by the image reading unit 12. This image forming processing is performed, for example, by a known electrophotographic method. For this reason, the image forming unit 13 includes a photosensitive drum, a charging device, an exposure device, a developing device, a transfer device, a fixing device, etc., and the image recording medium, in other words, the printed material, on which the image has been formed by the image processing of the image forming unit 13 is discharged into the output tray 19. In addition, the image forming unit 13 includes a toner cartridge 21 as a unit. Detailed illustrations are omitted, but the toner cartridge 21 is detachably attached to the main body of the image forming apparatus 10. Furthermore, when attaching or removing this toner cartridge 21 from the main body of the apparatus, it is necessary to move the front cover 29, which will be described later and constitutes part of the housing of the image forming apparatus 10, to the open position (Figures 2A and 2B show the state in which the front cover 29 is in the open position) to expose the cartridge storage section 25. In Figure 1, to realize color image formation processing, for example, four toner cartridges 21a to 21d are provided, corresponding to four colors according to the CMYK color model. In addition, four photoreceptor drums, charging devices, exposure devices, and developing devices are also provided, corresponding to four colors each.

[0018] FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B are perspective views of the image forming apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1 as seen from the front side thereof. FIG. 2A shows a state in which all the toner cartridges 21a to 21d are in the mounting positions, and FIG. 2B shows a state in which one of the toner cartridges in which a communication failure has occurred (here, the toner cartridge 21b) is in the ejection position. Note that FIGS. 2A and 2B show a state in which the front cover 29 disposed on the front side of the toner cartridges 21a to 21d is in the open position (a state in which it has fallen forward and become horizontal about a rotation axis (not shown) provided below the front cover 29) in order to make the states of the toner cartridges 21a to 21d easy to understand. Also, in a state in which the front cover 29 is in the closed position (a position rotated upward from the horizontal state fallen forward to the vertical state), the toner cartridges 21a to 21d are hidden by the front cover 29 and cannot be seen.

[0019] Hereinafter, when directions are described in this specification, the front side when the image forming apparatus 10 is viewed from the front will be referred to as the "front side" (indicated by F in the figure), and the back side will be referred to as the "back side" (indicated by R in the figure).

[0020] As shown in FIG. 2A, an operation display unit 17 for displaying operations and the like of the image forming apparatus 10 is provided on the front side of the apparatus main body 11, and four cartridge storage units 25a to 25d are provided corresponding to each of the four toner cartridges 21a to 21d. Each of the four cartridge storage units 25a to 25d stores (mounts) the corresponding toner cartridges 21a to 21d in an insertable and removable manner.

[0021] The toner cartridges 21a to 21d are inserted into the cartridge storage units 25a to 25d from the front side toward the back side (rear side) of the cartridge storage units 25a to 25d. Also, when the toner cartridge 21 is removed, it is pulled out (removed) to the front side.

[0022] As shown in Figure 2(A), when the toner cartridges 21a to 21d are in the mounting position (storage position), the user cannot grasp the toner cartridges 21a to 21d or their front ends. Therefore, when the toner cartridge 21 is in the storage position, it cannot be removed from the cartridge storage section 25a to 25d, or it is difficult to remove.

[0023] On the other hand, as shown in Figure 2(B), a toner cartridge experiencing a communication failure (in this case, toner cartridge 21b) is moved to the eject position by the eject mechanism, which will be explained later. Since it is in front of the storage position, the front end of toner cartridge 21b protrudes in front of the cartridge storage section 25b. In this case, the user can grasp the front end of toner cartridge 21b. This position of toner cartridge 21b is called the removable position. For example, the removable position is a position where toner cartridge 21 has moved approximately 15mm to 20mm forward from the storage position. In other words, the front ends of toner cartridges 21a to 21d protrude approximately 15mm to 20mm in front of the cartridge storage section 25.

[0024] In other words, in this embodiment, the toner cartridge 21b ejected by the eject mechanism protrudes more from the front than the other toner cartridges 21a, 21c-21d, allowing the user to easily identify which toner cartridge caused the communication failure. Even when toner cartridge 21b is protruding more than the other toner cartridges 21a, 21c-21, the front cover 29 can still be moved to the closed position. Therefore, to confirm the position of the toner cartridge, it is necessary to move the front cover 29 to the open position.

[0025] Figure 3 shows one of the four toner cartridges 21a to 21d described above. Referring to Figure 3, the toner cartridge 21 is a rectangular container with a rectangular cross-section and a long, cylindrical shape extending in the front-to-back direction (R-F direction), and it contains toner inside. Although not shown in the illustration, the container body 26 is equipped with an auger screw, which is a transport screw for transporting toner to the toner transport section 33 (see Figure 4) that transports toner to the developing unit 34, and a stirring member that stirs the toner inside the container body 26 to loosen it and supplies toner to the auger screw.

[0026] Furthermore, the rear end of the toner cartridge 21 is provided with a cartridge-side terminal (unit-side terminal) 27a electrically connected to an IC chip (not shown), a cartridge-side connector 27 including a mounting holder 27b that holds a substrate (not shown) containing the IC chip, and a coupling 28 for driving a transport screw (auger screw) and agitator. The cartridge-side terminal 27a is a terminal for electrically connecting the IC chip to the control unit of the image forming apparatus 10, which will be described later. Here, the cartridge-side terminal 27a is formed on the substrate to which the IC chip is attached, and is attached to the mounting part of the toner cartridge 21 by the mounting holder 27b. In other words, the cartridge-side terminal 27a is detachably attached to the toner cartridge 21 by the mounting holder 27b.

[0027] The IC chip stores model information indicating the model of the image forming apparatus 10 to which the toner cartridge 21 is applied, identification information for the toner cartridge 21, information for managing toner replenishment, and information such as how much toner remains. The model information of the image forming apparatus 10 and the identification information of the toner cartridge 21 stored in the IC chip are stored when the toner cartridge 21 is manufactured.

[0028] Figure 4 is a perspective view showing the state before and after connecting the cartridge-side connector 27 of a toner cartridge 21d to the main unit-side connector 30d. Referring to Figure 4, the cartridge-side connector 27 and mounting direction 23 of the toner cartridge 21d to be installed are shown. Also shown are the main unit-side connectors 30a to 30d, the motors 32a to 32d for driving the transport screw, the toner transport unit 33, and the developing unit 34.

[0029] Next, we will explain in detail the part that connects the toner cartridges 21a to 21d to the main unit. Figure 5A shows the drive unit 31, which is the means of moving the toner cartridge 21 (one of the toner cartridges 21a to 21d) from the state where it is connected to the main unit connector 30 to the state where it is disconnected. This figure shows the state before the eject mechanism 36, which will be explained later, is activated. Figure 5B shows the state after the eject mechanism 36 has been activated. For ease of understanding, the eject mechanism 36 is shown with diagonal lines here.

[0030] Referring to Figure 5A, when the toner cartridge 21 is in the mounting position where it is stored in the corresponding cartridge storage section 25 (see Figure 2A), the cartridge-side connector 27 is connected to the main unit-side connector 30 (one of 30a to 30d) that corresponds to the toner cartridge 21 (the toner cartridge 21 at the back in Figure 5A). Here, the main unit-side connector 30 is provided with a main unit-side terminal (not shown) that is electrically connected to the control unit 15 (see Figure 6), which will be described later. When the cartridge (unit)-side connector 27 and the main unit-side connector 30 are connected, the cartridge-side terminal 27a of the cartridge-side connector 27 and the main unit-side terminal of the main unit-side connector 30 come into contact, and the IC chip is electrically connected to the control unit 15 of the image forming apparatus 10. In other words, the toner cartridge 21 has a cartridge-side terminal 27a (of the cartridge-side connector 27) that is connected to the main unit-side connection terminal of the main unit-side connector 30 provided on the main unit, in order to access the storage means from the main unit 11 of the apparatus.

[0031] Furthermore, when the cartridge-side connector 27 of the toner cartridge 21 is connected to the main unit-side connector 30, that is, when the toner cartridge 21 is in the mounting position, toner is supplied to the developing unit 34 via the toner supply port 35.

[0032] As shown in Figure 5A, the drive unit 31 is located at the rear of the cartridge storage section 25 (see Figure 2A). The drive unit 31 is connected to the toner cartridge 21 when the toner cartridge 21 is moved to its storage position in the cartridge storage section 25 (see Figure 2A). The drive unit 31 includes a motor 32 and an eject mechanism 36.

[0033] The eject mechanism 36 includes a rotating cam 39 driven by a motor 32, a cylindrical shaft portion 38 extending vertically, an eject arm 41 fitted to the outer circumference of the shaft portion 38, and a kick spring 43 provided on the eject arm 41. The kick spring 43 is a torsion spring wound around the shaft portion 38 of the eject arm 41. The kick spring 43 biases the eject arm 41 so that it contacts the outer circumference of the rotating cam 39.

[0034] When the rotating cam 39 rotates in the direction indicated by the thin, arc-shaped arrow in Figure 5B, the eject arm 41 rotates to the right around the shaft 38 when viewed from above the shaft 38. In other words, in response to the rotation of the rotating cam 39, the eject arm 41 rotates clockwise around the shaft 38 when viewed from above (in the direction indicated by the thick arrow in Figure 5B), pushing out the toner cartridge 21. Note that the toner cartridge 21 pushed out by the eject arm 41 in Figure 5B (the foreground in the figure) is shown in a position further forward than the eject position where it was ejected by the eject mechanism 36, in order to make the position of the eject arm 41 easier to understand. The actual toner cartridge 21 only moves by the amount of rotational movement of the eject arm 41.

[0035] The motor 32 can be switched between forward rotation (for example, clockwise) and reverse rotation (for example, counterclockwise). However, the rotation direction of the motor 32 is switched by instructions from the control unit 15 (Figure 6) of the image forming apparatus 10.

[0036] When normal toner transport is performed, the motor 32 rotates forward, and as the auger screw and stirring member rotate, the toner in the container body 26 is transported toward the rear while being agitated. Therefore, the toner is transported toward an outlet (not shown) formed at the rear end of the container body 26 and supplied to the developing device of the image forming unit 13 via the toner supply port 35. Also, when the motor 32 is rotating forward, the rotational force of the motor 32 is not transmitted to the rotating cam 39 by a one-way clutch (not shown) attached to the rotating cam 39, and the rotating cam 39 remains stationary, so no ejection operation is performed.

[0037] Next, the eject (pushing) operation of the eject mechanism 36 will be explained. Here, the eject operation refers to the operation in which the eject mechanism 36 pushes the toner cartridge 21 from its storage position to a removable position (in the direction in which the toner cartridge 21 is removed from the cartridge storage section 25).

[0038] When performing the eject operation, the control unit 15 (Figure 6) reverses the rotation of the motor 32. This causes the one-way clutch attached to the rotating cam 39 to transmit the rotational force of the motor 32, causing the rotating cam 39 to rotate. As described above, the eject arm 41 rotates (in the direction of the arrow in Figure 5B) and pushes out the toner cartridge 21. This eject operation is basically performed when it is determined that the toner cartridge 21 needs to be replaced. Situations where the toner cartridge 21 needs to be replaced include, for example, when the amount of toner in the cartridge 21 falls below a predetermined level, when there is a toner supply failure in the cartridge 21, or when an incorrect toner cartridge is inserted into the cartridge storage section 25.

[0039] Therefore, if there is no need to replace the toner cartridge 21, the eject operation is basically not performed. In such a situation, the normal toner transport operation is performed, and as described above, the motor 32 of the drive unit 31 rotates in the forward direction. In this case, the rotational driving force of the motor 32 is transmitted to the auger screw and then to the stirring member (not shown). Thus, the toner in the toner cartridge 21 is transported and stirred.

[0040] In this embodiment, even when there is no need to replace the toner cartridge 21, the toner cartridge 21 will be ejected if a communication failure occurs in the access unit 14 between the cartridge-side connector 27 and the main unit-side connector 30.

[0041] When the eject arm 41 rotates clockwise when viewed from above the shaft portion 38 (Figure 5B), the contact portion 41c of the eject arm 41 with respect to the toner cartridge 21 moves from the rear to the front (for example, 15mm to 20mm). At this time, if the toner cartridge 21 is in the storage position, the contact portion 41c pushes the toner cartridge 21 forward. When the toner cartridge 21 is pushed forward, the front end of the toner cartridge 21 protrudes in front of the cartridge storage portion 25. In other words, the toner cartridge 21 is moved to the removable position (eject position).

[0042] Next, the control unit 15 of the image forming apparatus 10 according to this embodiment will be described. Figure 6 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the image forming apparatus 10 according to this embodiment.

[0043] Referring to Figure 6, the electrical configuration of the image forming apparatus 10 includes a control unit 15, an external communication unit 16, an image forming unit 13, a storage unit 22 which serves as a storage means for each toner cartridge (unit) 21a to 21d, an access unit 14 for accessing the storage unit 22 and detecting the communication status with the storage unit 22, a drive unit 31 which serves as a moving means for moving the toner cartridge 21, an operation display unit 17, and an environmental sensor 18.

[0044] Therefore, the access unit 14 also operates as a communication status detection unit.

[0045] In other words, the toner cartridge 21 has a cartridge-side connector (connection terminal) 27 that connects to a main body-side connector 30 provided on the main body 11 at the mounting position on the main body 11 in order to access (communicate with and read from and write to) the storage unit (storage means) 22 from the main body 11. The image forming apparatus 10 includes an access unit (access means) 14 for accessing the storage unit 22 and detecting the communication status with the storage unit 22, a drive unit (moving means) 31 for moving the toner cartridge 21 from the mounting position so that the cartridge-side connector 27 is no longer connected to the main body-side connector 30, an operation display unit 17, and a control unit (control means) 15.

[0046] The control unit 15 is responsible for the overall control of the image forming apparatus 10. Therefore, the control unit 15 includes a computer, such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 15a. In addition, the control unit 15 has a main memory unit 15b, which is a main memory means directly accessible by the CPU 15a. The main memory unit 15b includes a ROM (Read Only Memory) and a RAM (Random Access Memory), which are not shown. The ROM stores a control program (firmware) for controlling the operation of the CPU 15a. The RAM constitutes a work area and buffer area for when the CPU 15a executes processing based on the control program.

[0047] The external communication unit 16 is an example of a communication means. Specifically, the external communication unit 16 is connected to a communication network (not shown) and handles bidirectional communication through that network. The connection between the external communication unit 16 and the communication network may be wired or wireless. The communication network referred to here may be a LAN (Local Area Network), the Internet, or a public switched telephone network.

[0048] The operation display unit 17 is an example of a display means and has a display. The operation display unit 17 also has the function of receiving operations from the image forming apparatus 10.

[0049] The environmental sensor 18 is a sensor that detects the environment (particularly humidity) in which the image forming apparatus is located.

[0050] Next, the operation of the control unit 15 in this embodiment will be described. Figure 7 is a flowchart illustrating the operation performed by the control unit 15 in one embodiment of the present disclosure. Referring to Figure 7, the image forming apparatus 10 performs a print job (S11) and performs necessary data writing related to the print job in progress (S12). Specifically, as an image is formed and toner is consumed by performing the print job, the amount of toner consumed for the colors used is written to the storage unit 22 of the IC chip, and it is determined whether or not this data writing has been completed successfully (S13).

[0051] If data writing does not complete successfully in S13 (No in S13), determine whether the number of retries is below the specified limit (in S22). In S22, if the number of retries is below the specified limit (Yes in S22), retry data writing (S23), add 1 to the number of retries (S24), add 1 to the cumulative number of retries (S25), and return to S13.

[0052] In other words, in this embodiment, if the data writing to the toner cartridge 21 does not complete successfully (No in S13), a retry is performed. Specifically, the data is written to the storage unit 22 again, and it is checked whether the data has been written successfully (whether the writing operation has completed successfully).

[0053] Here, "retry" refers to a recovery operation in which, if a problem occurs in accessing the storage unit 22 of the toner cartridge 21 (No in S13), the access unit 14, which detects the communication status with the storage unit 22, attempts to access it again. There is a set upper limit on the number of times this recovery operation can be performed.

[0054] On the other hand, if data writing is completed successfully in S13 (Yes in S13), the retry count is cleared (S14), and it is determined whether the print job has finished or not (S15). If the print job has not finished in S15 (No in S15), the process returns to S11.

[0055] Here, the number of retries is defined as the number of retries and the cumulative number of retries. The number of retries indicates how many retries were made for the current write operation. It is counted when there is a problem accessing the memory unit 22 (No in S13), and is reset (S14) when the next data write operation is completed successfully (Yes in S13). On the other hand, the cumulative number of retries indicates the total number of retries for the IC chip itself. It is used to determine whether the IC chip is generally functioning correctly and shows the history of the IC chip. Therefore, even if the number of retries is reset, it will not be reset until the toner cartridge is ejected.

[0056] If the print job is completed in S15 (Yes in S15), it is determined whether the cumulative number of retries is below the specified limit (S16). If the cumulative number of retries is below the specified limit in S16 (No in S16), the process is terminated.

[0057] On the other hand, if the cumulative number of retries exceeds the specified limit in S16 (No in S16), it is determined in S17 whether the cumulative number of ejects is less than the specified limit. If the cumulative number of ejects is less than the specified limit in S17 (Yes in S17), the toner cartridge 21 is removed and the user is asked to reinsert it. This is because removing and reinserting the toner cartridge 21 may improve communication problems caused by poor contact.

[0058] Therefore, ejection is performed (S18), 1 is added to the cumulative eject count (S19), the cumulative retry count is cleared (S20), a re-installation request message is displayed on the operation display unit 17 (see Figure 6) (S21), and the user is prompted to re-install the toner cartridge 21.

[0059] In other words, in this embodiment, even if the toner cartridge 21 still contains toner, the toner cartridge 21 is pulled out and installed in order to resolve the communication failure.

[0060] On the other hand, in S17, if the cumulative number of ejects exceeds the specified limit (No in S17), the process is terminated in order to make a service call.

[0061] Furthermore, if the number of retries exceeds the specified limit in S22 (No in S22), a warning message is displayed on the operation display unit 17 (see Figure 6) (S26) indicating that the main unit operation will be stopped, the process is terminated, and a service call is made.

[0062] Here, Figure 8 shows an example of a re-installation request message displayed on the operation display unit 17, as explained in S21. Referring to Figure 8, the operation display unit 17 displays the message: "Communication with the toner cartridge is unstable. Push the toner cartridge shown in the figure above in the direction of the arrow to move it to the installation position."

[0063] In other words, in the above embodiment, even if data writing is somehow successful through retries, if the cumulative number of retries is high, it is determined that the communication is unstable and the toner cartridge is ejected. Ejection is performed during the waiting time after the job. Here, an upper limit is set on the number of ejections. The number of ejections is, for example, up to 2 (the cumulative number of retries is specified as, for example, 3). The reason why the upper limit on the number of ejections is 2 is that if a communication failure occurs after ejecting twice, another cause should be considered.

[0064] As described above, if a problem occurs in the access unit (access means) 14 accessing the storage unit (storage means) 22, the control unit (control means) 15 controls the drive unit (movement means) 31 to move the toner cartridge (unit) 21 from the mounting position to a disconnected position where the unit-side terminal 27a and the main unit-side terminal are disconnected, and displays on the operation display unit 17 that the toner cartridge 21 moved to the disconnected position should be moved back to the mounting position. In other words, according to this embodiment, when the control unit 15 determines that communication with the toner cartridge 21 has become unstable, it displays to the user that the toner cartridge 21 should be removed and reinserted. This makes it possible to provide an image forming apparatus that can suppress the occurrence of service calls for minor troubles (such as poor terminal contact) that can be resolved with simple operations such as removing and inserting the toner cartridge 21.

[0065] Furthermore, if a problem occurs in accessing the storage unit (storage means) 22, the control unit (control means) 15 may perform a recovery operation at least once to attempt to access the access unit (access means) 14 again. If the recovery operation fails to access the storage unit 22 even after a predetermined number of attempts, the control unit (control means) 15 may move the toner cartridge (unit) 21 to a disconnected position and display a request on the operation display unit 17 to move the toner cartridge 21 to its mounting position. This allows users to resolve problems through user operation without having to call a service technician.

[0066] Furthermore, if an access problem occurs to the storage unit (storage means) 22 during the image forming operation, and access is normalized by a recovery operation, the control unit (control means) 15 may move the toner cartridge (unit) 21 to the disconnected position after the image forming operation is completed and display a request on the operation display unit 17 to move the toner cartridge 21 to the mounting position. In this way, the probability of communication failure occurring without interrupting printing can be suppressed.

[0067] Furthermore, the image forming apparatus 10 may be equipped with an environmental sensor 18 capable of detecting the surrounding environment (humidity). The environmental sensor 18 detects the humidity when the power to the main unit of the image forming apparatus 10 is turned on, and if the environment around the apparatus is low humidity of 20% or less, the print job will not be performed. In addition, a determination of whether there is a writing failure to the toner cartridge, as shown in Figure 7, may be made in advance to prevent communication failures from occurring during the image forming operation.

[0068] In other words, when the environmental sensor 18 determines that a predetermined environment is present, it may access the storage unit 22 before performing the image forming operation, and if a problem occurs during access, it may request that the toner cartridge 21 be moved to its mounting position. To put it another way, when the environmental sensor 18 determines that a predetermined environment (for example, a low-humidity environment) is present, the image forming apparatus 10 may access the storage unit (storage means) 22 using the access unit (access means) 14 before performing the image forming operation, and if a problem occurs during access, it may move the toner cartridge (unit) 21 from its mounting position to a disconnected position where the unit-side terminals and the main unit-side terminals are disconnected, and the operation display unit 17 may display a message instructing the user to move the toner cartridge (unit) 21, which has been moved to the disconnected position, back to its mounting position.

[0069] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, if the number of retries exceeds a specified limit and data writing is unsuccessful, the machine is stopped as in the conventional method. However, the configuration is not limited to this, and a request to eject and reinsert the toner cartridge may also be made.

[0070] This disclosure can be implemented in various other forms without departing from its spirit or main features. Therefore, the embodiments described above are illustrative and should not be constrained. Any modifications or changes within the equivalent scope of the claims of this disclosure are within the scope of this disclosure. [Industrial applicability]

[0071] According to this disclosure, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus that can suppress the occurrence of service calls for minor problems that can be resolved with simple operations, and therefore it is useful as an image forming apparatus. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0072] 10 Image forming apparatus 11. Main unit of the device 12 Image reading unit 13 Image forming unit 14. Access Unit (Access means, communication status detection unit) 15 Control Unit (Control Means) 16 External Communications Department 17 Operation display section 18 Environmental Sensors 19 Paper output tray 21 Toner Cartridge (Unit) 22 Storage unit (storage means) 25 Cartridge storage compartment 26 Container body 27. Cartridge-side connector (unit-side terminal) 28 Couplings 29 Front cover 30 Main unit connector (main unit terminal) 31. Drive unit (means of transport) 32 motors 33 Toner transport section 34 Developing Unit 35 Toner supply port 36 Ejection mechanism 38 Shaft section 39 Rotating Cam 41 Eject Arm 43 Kick spring

Claims

1. An image forming apparatus comprising a main body and a unit detachable from the main body and having a storage means, The unit has a unit-side terminal connected to a main-side terminal provided on the main-side of the device, at the mounting position on the main-side of the device, in order to access the storage means from the main-side of the device. The image forming apparatus comprises access means for accessing the storage means, moving means for moving the unit from the mounting position such that the unit-side terminals are connected to the main body-side terminals, and an operation display unit, and a control means. The image forming apparatus is characterized in that, if a malfunction occurs in the access means to the storage means, the control means controls the moving means to move the unit from the mounting position to a disconnected position in which the unit-side terminal and the main body-side terminal are disconnected, and the operation display unit displays a message to move the unit, which has been moved to the disconnected position, back to the mounting position.

2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that, if a malfunction occurs in accessing the storage means, the control means performs a recovery operation to attempt to access the access means again at least once, and if the recovery operation fails to access the storage means even after a predetermined number of attempts, it moves the unit to the disconnected position and displays a request to move the unit to the mounting position on the operation display unit.

3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that, if an access failure occurs to the storage means during the image forming operation and access is normalized by the recovery operation, the control means moves the unit to the disconnected position after the completion of the image forming operation and displays a request to move the unit to the mounting position on the operation display unit.

4. It is further equipped with an environmental sensor capable of detecting humidity, The environmental sensor detects the humidity when the power to the main unit of the image forming apparatus is turned on. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that when the environmental sensor determines that a predetermined environment is present, the access means accesses the storage means before the image forming apparatus performs an image forming operation, and if a problem occurs with the access, the unit is moved from the mounting position to the disconnected position in which the unit-side terminal and the main body-side terminal are disconnected, and the operation display unit displays a message to move the unit that has been moved to the disconnected position back to the mounting position.

5. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the unit contains toner inside.

Images