Image forming apparatus having a toner replenishment operation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11262683-B2
Application number	US-202017034387-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 28, 2020
Priority date	Oct 2, 2019
Publication date	Mar 1, 2022
Grant date	Mar 1, 2022

Abstract

An image forming apparatus includes a first display portion to display a ratio of an amount of toner accommodated in the developer container to a maximum amount of toner that the developer container is capable of accommodating, and a controller to, in a case where a replenishment operation, in which toner is supplied from the replenishment container to the replenishment port, is performed when a second display portion is in a second state, switch the second display portion from the second state to a first state and perform a display processing of displaying, on the first display portion, the ratio corresponding to an amount of toner accommodated in the developer container after the replenishment operation.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An image forming apparatus to and from which a replenishment container accommodating toner is attachable and detachable and which is configured to form an image on a recording material, the image forming apparatus comprising:
an image bearing member;
a developer container configured to accommodate toner;
a developer configured to develop an electrostatic image formed on the image bearing member into a toner image by using the toner accommodated in the developer container;
a replenishment port configured to allow replenishment of toner from the replenishment container, which is arranged outside of the image forming apparatus, to the developer container therethrough in a state where the replenishment container is attached to the replenishment port;
a first display configured to display a ratio of an amount of toner accommodated in the developer container to a maximum amount of toner that the developer container is capable of accommodating;
a second display configured to switch between a first state and a second state different from the first state, the developer container being capable of accepting more toner for replenishment in a case where the second display is in the second state than in a case where the second display is in the first state; and
a controller configured to, in a case where a replenishment operation, in which toner is supplied from the replenishment container to the replenishment port, is performed when the second display is in the second state, perform a display processing after switching the second display from the second state to the first state, the controller displaying, on the first display, the ratio corresponding to an amount of toner accommodated in the developer container after the replenishment operation in the display processing.

2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a detector whose output value changes on a basis of completion of the replenishment operation,
wherein the controller performs the display processing on a basis of a change of the output value of the detector.

3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the second display comprises a plurality of indicators,
a first number of indicators among the plurality of indicators light up in a state where the second display is in the first state, and
a second number of indicators among the plurality of indicators light up in a state where the second display is in the second state, the second number being smaller than the first number.

4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the second display is a panel member that continuously lights up in the first state and intermittently lights up in the second state.

5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the second display is a panel member that lights up at a first brightness in the first state and lights up at a second brightness lower than the first brightness in the second state.

6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the controller obtains the amount of toner accommodated in the developer container after the replenishment operation, from a sum of an amount of toner accommodated in the developer container before the replenishment operation and an amount of toner accommodated in the replenishment container.

7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the controller obtains an amount of toner accommodated in the developer container before the replenishment operation, by using an amount of toner consumption calculated from a number of pixels of an image formed on a recording material.

8. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a toner remainder amount detector whose output value changes on a basis of the amount of toner accommodated in the developer container,
wherein the controller obtains the amount of toner accommodated in the developer container before the replenishment operation, on a basis of the output value of the toner remainder amount detector.

9. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a toner remainder amount detector whose output value changes on a basis of the amount of toner accommodated in the developer container,
wherein the controller obtains the amount of toner accommodated in the developer container before the replenishment operation, on a basis of the output value of the toner remainder amount detector and an amount of toner consumption calculated from a number of pixels of an image formed on a recording material.

10. An image forming apparatus to and from which a replenishment container accommodating toner is attachable and detachable and which is communicable with an information processing apparatus comprising a first display and is configured to form a toner image on a recording material, the image forming apparatus comprising:
an image bearing member;
a developer container configured to accommodate toner;
a developer configured to develop an electrostatic image formed on the image bearing member into a toner image by using the toner accommodated in the developer container;
a replenishment port configured to allow replenishment of toner from the replenishment container, which is arranged outside of the image forming apparatus, to the developer container therethrough in a state where the replenishment container is attached to the replenishment port;
a second display configured to switch between a first state and a second state different from the first state, the developer container being capable of accepting more toner for replenishment in a case where the second display is in the second state than in a case where the second display is in the first state; and
a controller configured to, in a case where a replenishment operation, in which toner is supplied from the replenishment container to the replenishment port, is performed when the second display is in the second state, perform a display processing after switching the second display from the second state to the first state, the controller displaying, on the first display, a ratio of an amount of toner accommodated in the developer container after the replenishment operation to a maximum amount of toner that the developer container is capable of accommodating in the display processing.

11. The image forming apparatus according to claim 10 , further comprising a detector whose output value changes on a basis of completion of the replenishment operation,
wherein the controller performs the display processing on a basis of a change of the output value of the detector.

12. The image forming apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein the second display comprises a plurality of indicators,
a first number of indicators among the plurality of indicators light up in a state where the second display is in the first state, and
a second number of indicators among the plurality of indicators light up in a state where the second display is in the second state, the second number being smaller than the first number.

13. The image forming apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein the second display is a panel member that continuously lights up in the first state and intermittently lights up in the second state.

14. The image forming apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein the second display is a panel member that lights up at a first brightness in the first state and lights up at a second brightness lower than the first brightness in the second state.

15. The image forming apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein the controller obtains the amount of toner accommodated in the developer container aft

Assignees

• Canon Kk

Inventors

• Umeda Kensuke
• Kobayashi Shinsuke
• Funatani Kazuhiro
• Watanabe Takanori
• Suzuki Ai

Classifications

• G03G15/0856 Primary

  Detection or control means for the developer level · CPC title

• G03G15/5016

  User-machine interface; Display panels; Control console · CPC title

• G03G15/556 Primary

  for toner consumption, e.g. pixel counting, toner coverage detection or toner density measurement · CPC title

• G03G15/0867

  cylindrical developer cartridges, e.g. toner bottles for the developer replenishing opening · CPC title

• G03G15/0865 Primary

  Arrangements for supplying new developer · CPC title