Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba

Toshiba Tec Kabushiki Kaisha

Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd.

Other

Hitachi, Ltd.

Fuji Electric Co., Ltd.

Toshiba America Business Solutions, Inc.

Shinichi Itoh

Tadayoshi Ohno

Takashi Yamaguchi

Yoshiharu Taniyama

Noriyuki Umezawa

Takayuki Nishi

Hisatoshi Tanaka

Tatsuyuki Miura

Tetsuo Katoh

Seiji Tsuzuki

Tokihiko Ise

Takayuki Takeda

Toshiaki Oshiro

Masayuki Taniguchi

Hisanori Okamura

Hiroaki Sato

Yukio Asari

Kunio Miyazaki

Naruaki Hiramitsu

Kousuke Nakamura

Hisao Shigekane

Akio Chiba

Katsuyuki Itoh

Tomoyuki Asada

Tomio Yasuda

Hirosi Akiyama

Kenzo Tsuji

Yukio Okoshi

Takahiro Kanamori

Mutuo Kamoshita

Michiaki Otsuki

A method and apparatus for discriminating bottle types, for stirring the toner, and for detecting the amount of toner remaining in the toner bottle. A toner bottle is adapted to fit the apparatus for discriminating toner bottle types, and a toner bottle is adapted for the apparatus for stirring toner. The genuineness of the toner bottle product is checked by sensing a rib assumed to be formed with a predetermined length on the outer surface of the toner bottle. Toner is stirred by continuously rotating the toner bottle in forward and reverse directions. The toner bottle can be easily rotated in the forward and reverse directions by sensing the rib of the toner bottle by using the sensor. Since the load of rotation of the toner bottle changes in accordance with the amount of remaining toner, the rotational speed of the toner bottle is sensed by using the sensor to check whether toner is close to empty.

Toner bottle having rib

A sheet feed device comprises a main body section, a support section, a first link, a second link, an engagement mechanism, an energization section and a correcting section. The correcting section is movable in an approaching position at which the support section approaches the main body section against energization force of the energization section while being contactable with the second link in a direction in which the first link moves to a downstream side in the conveyance direction, and is movable in a separation position at which the support section is separated from the main body section while being separable from the second link in a direction in which the first link moves to an upstream side in the conveyance direction.

Sheet feed device and image forming apparatus

Toner bottle having rib away from discharge port

TONER BOTTLE HAVING RIB BEING SENSED FOR BEING DISCRIMINATED, METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DISCRIMINATING TONER BOTTLE TYPES ACCORDING TO A SENSED OBJECT ON THE TONER BOTTLE, STIRRING TONER, AND DETECTING THE AMOUNT OF REMAINING TONER

A developer cartridge which is rotatably mounted in the developing unit of an image forming apparatus, and supplies a developer to the developing unit while rotating includes a cylindrical cartridge main body having a developer outlet hole in the outer surface near one end, and a ring-like cartridge-side shutter which is fitted on the outer surface near one end of the cylindrical cartridge main body to be movable along the rotating shaft of the cylindrical cartridge main body between a position where the developer outlet hole is opened and a position where the developer outlet hole is closed. The developing unit has a guide for inserting the developer cartridge and a driving unit for rotating the developer cartridge, and the guide has a main body-side shutter with a hole. When the developer cartridge is mounted, the cartridge-side shutter moves from the position where the developer outlet hole is closed to the position where the developer outlet hole is opened, and the developer outlet hole aligns itself with the hole of the main body-side shutter. The cylindrical cartridge main body and the main body-side shutter integrally rotate to align the developer outlet hole and the hole of the main body-side shutter with a developer replenishment port formed below the main body-side shutter. Every time this happens, the developer in the developer cartridge is supplied from the developer replenishment port to the developing unit via the developer outlet hole and the hole of the main body-side shutter.A toner bottle for use in an image forming apparatus includes an elongated cylindrical body portion having an outer surface. The toner bottle also includes a first end portion at a first end of the cylindrical body portion, the first end portion including an end face, a toner outlet port positioned at the first end portion. The toner bottle further includes a cartridge shutter positioned at the first end portion and configured to be axially movable. The toner bottle still further includes at least one disconnection prevention projection formed at the first end portion to limit axial movement of the cartridge shutter in a direction toward the end face, thereby preventing the cartridge shutter from disconnection from the toner bottle, when the cartridge shutter is located at the closed position.

Toner bottle and developer cartridge for use in an image forming apparatus

TONER BOTTLE CAPABLE OF BEING DISCRIMINATED, METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DISCRIMINATING TONER BOTTLE TYPES ACCORDING TO A SENSED OBJECT ON THE TONER BOTTLE STIRRING TONER, AND DETECTING THE AMOUNT OF REMAINING TONER

A developer cartridge which is rotatably mounted in the developing unit of an image forming apparatus, and supplies a developer to the developing unit while rotating includes a cylindrical cartridge main body having a developer outlet hole in the outer surface near one end, and a ring-like cartridge-side shutter which is fitted on the outer surface near one end of the cylindrical cartridge main body to be movable along the rotating shaft of the cylindrical cartridge main body between a position where the developer outlet hole is opened and a position where the developer outlet hole is closed. The developing unit has a guide for inserting the developer cartridge and a driving unit for rotating the developer cartridge, and the guide has a main body-side shutter with a hole. When the developer cartridge is mounted, the cartridge-side shutter moves from the position where the developer outlet hole is closed to the position where the developer outlet hole is opened, and the developer outlet hole aligns itself with the hole of the main body-side shutter. The cylindrical cartridge main body and the main body-side shutter integrally rotate in align the developer outlet hole and the hole of the main body-side shutter with a developer replenishment port formed below the main body-side shutter. Every time this happens, the developer in the developer cartridge is supplied from the developer replenishment port to the developing unit via the developer outlet hole and the hole of the main body-side shutter.

Disclosed is a toner recycle device for supplying recovered toner into a developing device again and reusing it. The ratio of the amount of the recovered toner to be supplied into the developing device to the amount of new toner is arbitrarily increased or reduced. Further, as the remaining amount of the new toner reduces, one or a plurality of the following three processing steps of a toner save mode are executed: (1) to increase the ratio of the amount of the recovered toner, which is supplied into the developing device, to the amount of the new toner; (2) to reduce the total amount of the recovered toner and the new toner to be supplied; and (3) to stop the new toner to be supplied into the developing device and to supply only the recovered toner. Furthermore, an ordinary mode and the toner save mode are automatically switched or arbitrarily switched manually.

Apparatus and method for forming image including controlling supply of new and recycled toner

A sheet collection apparatus has a stacking portion to stack mails in the standing position, a back-up plate in contact with one end of stacked mails in the stacked direction, and take-in rollers arranged at the positions contacting the other end of stacked mails. The take-in rollers are rotated at a slower peripheral speed than the conveying speed of mails taken in the stacking portion.

Sheet collection apparatus

A stamp apparatus having a conveying belt pair for conveying a mail matter in an arrow T direction, sensor for detecting the conveyed mail matter, a stamp hub which roll-contacts a postage stamp portion of the mail matter, rotates, and stamps the portion with a postmark, and a backup roller for pressing the conveyed mail matter onto the stamp hub. The stamp hub is directly connected to the AC servo motor, and is rotated at a speed equal to a conveying speed of the mail matter, when a effective region contacts the mail matter.

Paper sheet stamp apparatus

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and a set-up method for the image forming apparatus for reusing recovered toner collected after toner is used in a developing device of the image forming apparatus by mixing the recovered toner with new toner. Before the image forming apparatus is initially set up, the developing device is in an evacuated state, and a transfer path of the recovered toner is filled with an initial developing agent. Then, when the image forming apparatus is initially set up, the initial developing agent is supplied into the developing device. It is preferable that a recovered toner sub-hopper be filled with the initial developing agent. When the image forming apparatus is initially set up, the initial developing agent is promptly supplied into the developing device by increasing an operation speed.

Image forming apparatus and method of setting up the same

An image forming apparatus and method causes a connecting/conveying device to convey a recovered toner from a cleaner part to a recovered toner housing unit to house therein the recovered toner. A controller controls a recovered toner supply unit and new toner supply unit in accordance with a toner concentration ratio in a developing device, which is detected by toner concentration ratio detecting unit, to supply the recovered toner, which is stored in the recovered toner housing unit, and a new toner, which is stored in new toner housing unit, to the developing device. The controller causes the amount of the recovered toner to be supplied to be less than the amount of the recovered toner during a usual operation, which is determined in accordance with the contents detected by the toner concentration ratio detecting unit, or stops the supply of the recovered toner, while a predetermined period condition is satisfied after the occurrence of a predetermined event in which the amount of the recovered toner stored in the recovered toner housing unit is temporarily excessive.

Apparatus and method for controlling the formation of an image with recovered and new toner

An image forming apparatus and method cause a connecting/conveying device to convey a recovered toner from a cleaner part to a recovered toner housing to house therein the recovered toner, and cause a control device to separately control a recovered toner supply device and a new toner supply device to supply the recovered toner, which is stored in the recovered toner housing, and/or a new toner, which is stored in a new toner housing, to a developing device. The control device restricts the supply of the recovered toner from the recovered toner housing to the developing device when a no-residual-amount detecting device detects no residual amount of the new toner in the new toner housing.

Apparatus and method for supplying new and recovered toner to a developing device

Growing community of inventors

Yokohama, Japan

Shinichi Itoh