Canon Kabushiki Kaisha

Masahiro Suetsugu

Shinichi Nishida

Mitsuhiro Sato

Kengo Sakai

Hiroyuki Munetsugu

Tetsushi Uneme

Tsuyoshi Ogawa

Daisuke Abe

Yu Fukasawa

Goshi Ozaki

Yukio Kubo

Sohta Sugimoto

Takeo Kawanami

Shinjiro Toba

Yuichi Fukui

Hisashi Taniguchi

Shingo Ito

Noritomo Yamaguchi

Kazuhiro Hosohara

Takuya Oka

Yuichiro Okawa

Yasuyuki Egami

Seiya Ishikawa

Provided is an image forming apparatus, including: an accommodation chamber for developer; a photosensitive drum; notification unit for making a notification to a user, and a control unit for controlling the notification unit. A replenishment container for developer is detachably attached to the accommodation chamber. The notification unit makes a first notification indicating that a developer amount in the accommodation chamber is a first state, a second notification indicating that the developer amount is a second state smaller than in the first state, and a third notification indicating that the developer amount is a third state smaller than in the second state. The image forming apparatus is capable of operating in a first mode and a second mode. The notification unit makes the notifications in an order of the first, second, and third notifications as consumption of the developer progresses.

Image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus includes an apparatus body, an image bearing member, and a process unit attached to the apparatus body. The process unit includes a frame including a storage portion configured to store developer, a developer bearing member configured to supply developer to the image bearing member to develop an electrostatic latent image, and a circuit board attached to the frame. The circuit board includes a light emitting portion configured to emit light, and a light receiving portion configured to receive the light emitted from the light emitting portion and having passed through an interior of the storage portion.

Image forming apparatus having detection of stored toner amount

An image forming apparatus includes: a main body; a developing cartridge having a housing, a memory medium, a memory medium unit, a developer carrier, and a protrusion portion in the longitudinal direction of the developer carrier; and a tray having a frame, an image bearing member, a guide member provided at one end in the longitudinal direction, an electric contact portion with the memory medium, and a memory unit support portion. The guide member includes a portion which functions as a memory unit support portion, and a downstream portion located downstream of the memory unit support portion in the mounting direction of the developing cartridge. The memory unit support portion guides the protrusion portion to the downstream portion when the developing cartridge is mounted on the frame.

Image forming apparatus and developing cartridge

An image forming apparatus includes a mounting portion, an accommodating portion, a remaining toner amount detecting portion, a display portion, and a controller. In a supplying operation, the controller sets a threshold on the basis of a first output value before toner supply from the toner container to the accommodating portion. The controller discriminates whether or not toner in a certain amount or more is supplied to the accommodating portion by comparing the threshold with a second output value after the toner is supplied from the toner container to the accommodating portion. The threshold is a value between the first output value and a third output value when the toner in a total amount accommodated in the toner container that has never been used is supplied to the accommodating portion before supply of the toner, and is closer to the third value than to the first value.

Image forming apparatus and image forming system with display of remaining toner amount

An image forming apparatus includes a main assembly and a plurality of process cartridges detachably mountable to the main assembly. The process cartridges each includes a photosensitive member, a first frame rotatably supporting the photosensitive member, a developing member for depositing toner onto the photosensitive member, and a second frame rotatably supporting the developing member and movable relative to the first frame between a developing position for the developing member to deposit the toner onto the photosensitive member and a retracted position in which the developing member is more remote from the photosensitive member than in the developing position. The apparatus further includes a connecting member connecting at least two of the second frames of the process cartridges and removable from at least one of the process cartridges and from the main assembly.

Image forming apparatus, process cartridges, and connecting member

Provided a toner container having: a storage portion configured to store toner; a nozzle portion having a discharging port configured to discharge, outside the toner container, toner stored in the storage portion, the nozzle portion being fixed to the storage portion such that the nozzle portion and the storage portion are aligned in a first direction; and a loosening member configured to loose toner, the loosening member including at least a portion provided in the storage portion, wherein the loosening member is swingable relative to the storage portion about a swing axis extending in a second direction crossing the first direction.

Toner container

An image forming apparatus that includes an actuator to drive a stirring member, an indicating unit to execute a remaining toner amount indication based on an output value from a first detection unit, and a control unit control the actuator, the first detection unit, and the indicating unit. A control unit executes (i) a first control of controlling the actuator to start driving of the stirring member based on a detection, by a second detection unit, of movement of an opening and closing member from the open position to the closed position, (ii) a second control of controlling the first detection unit to output the output value, and (iii) a third control of controlling the indicating unit to execute the remaining toner amount indication.

An image forming apparatus including an attachment portion, a storage portion, and an agitation member, an actuator, and a control unit, wherein the attachment portion includes an operation portion, including an engagement portion engaging with the shutter, configured to move with the shutter by the engagement portion being engaged with the shutter, the operation portion being movable between a first position where the shutter is at a closed position and a second position where the shutter is at an opened position, and a detection unit detecting a movement of the operation portion, and wherein the control unit controls the actuator so that driving of the agitation member is started based on the detection of a movement of the operation portion from the second position to the first position.

A developing device includes an accommodating portion for accommodating toner, a developing roller and a stirring member. The developing device is for use with an image forming apparatus and detachably mounts a replenishing container for replenishing the toner. The accommodating portion includes a receiving opening through which the toner replenished from the accommodating portion is received in the accommodating portion, the receiving opening being provide on a first end side of the accommodating portion with respect to a rotational axis direction of the developing roller. An opening area of the receiving opening when the developing device is viewed in the rotational direction is wider than the opening area of the receiving opening when viewed in a direction perpendicular to the rotational axis direction.

Developing device and image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus includes a main body having a first metal terminal, a plurality of toner cartridges to store toner and including a housing storing the toner, a supporting member provided at one end, and a memory medium including a chip for recording information about the toner cartridge and an electrical contact and being supported by the supporting member, and a tray movable between a housed position and a drawn-out position. The tray includes a frame which can mount the plurality of toner cartridges, a plurality of tray-side electrical contacts provided at the frame and able to contact the electrical contact of the memory medium of the plurality of toner cartridges respectively, and a second metal terminal electrically connected to the plurality of tray-side electrical contacts and able to contact the first metal terminal.

An image forming apparatus includes a first unit including an image bearing member and a second unit. The second unit includes a developing roller to supply the toner to the image bearing member, a mounting portion in which the replenishing container is dismountably mounted, and an accommodating portion to accommodate the toner replenished from the replenishing container. The second unit is movable between a first position where the developing roller contacts the image bearing member and a second position where the developing roller separates from the image bearing member. When a moving direction in which the second unit moves from the first position toward the second position is defined as a separating direction, the second unit is urged in the separating direction by a force which the mounting portion receives from the replenishing container when the replenishing container is mounted to the mounting portion.

An image forming apparatus includes a container to accommodate a developer, and a sensor to output an output signal depending on an amount of the developer in the container, wherein the sensor includes a light emitting element and a light receiving element which are provided outside the container, and a light guide provided on a wall surface of the container and configured to guide light, emitted by the light emitting element, toward the light receiving element through an inside space of the container. The light guide also includes projected portions configured such that light travels from outside of the container to the inside of the container in a direction intersecting with the direction of gravity.

Image forming apparatus with suppression of light quality attenuation

An image forming apparatus includes an apparatus body, an image bearing member, and a process unit attached to the apparatus body. The process unit includes a frame including a storage portion configured to store developer, a developer bearing member configured to supply developer to the image bearing member to develop an electrostatic latent image. and a circuit board attached to the frame. The circuit board includes a light emitting portion configured to emit light, and a light receiving portion configured to receive the light emitted from the light emitting portion and having passed through an interior of the storage portion.

Image forming apparatus having detection of residual toner amount

An image forming apparatus includes a tray movable between a position housed in a main body and a drawn-out position withdrawn from the main body. The tray includes a frame on which a developing cartridge is mountable, an image bearing member that faces a developer carrier when the developing cartridge is mounted on the frame, an electrical contact portion which abuts on and is electrically connected to a memory medium when the developing cartridge is mounted on the frame, a guide member provided at one end of the developing cartridge when it is mounted on the frame for guiding a protrusion portion and the memory medium unit, the guide member including a portion which abuts on the protrusion portion so that the protrusion portion is positioned, and a memory unit support portion which supports the memory medium unit when the developing cartridge is mounted on the frame.

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Kawasaki, Japan

Masahiro Suetsugu