Toner recovery system which detects linear movement of a recovered toner transporter

A toner recovery system for an image forming apparatus which carries out an image forming operation to form prints of a toner image on a photosensitive body using a toner, said toner recovery system comprising:

• toner recovery means for recovering the toner which remains on the photosensitive body after the image forming operation for each print;
• a recovered toner tank for accommodating the toner recovered by said toner recovery means;
• transport means for transporting the toner recovered by said toner recovery means to said recovered toner tank by moving in a first direction with a first force;
• first detection means for detecting a movement of said transport means in a second direction which is opposite to said first direction caused by an overflow of the recovered toner in said recovered toner tank;
• second detection means for detecting the movement of said transport means in the second direction prior to said first detection means;
• control means, coupled to said transport means, said first detection means, and said second detection means, for controlling said transport means to transport the recovered toner by moving in the first direction with a second force which is greater than the first force if said first detection means detects the movement of said transport means in the second direction;
• said control means increasing the force of said transport means depending on a moving distance of said transport means in the second direction based on the detections of said first and second detection means.

A toner recovery system for an image forming apparatus which carries out an image forming operation to form prints of a toner image on a photosensitive body using a toner, said toner recovery system comprising:

• toner recovery means for recovering the toner which remains on the photosensitive body after the image forming operation for each print;
• a recovered toner tank for accommodating the toner recovered by said toner recovery means;
• transport means for transporting the toner recovered by said toner recovery means to said recovered toner tank by moving in a first direction with a first force;
• detection means for detecting a movement of said transport means in a second direction which is opposite to said first direction caused by an overflow of the recovered toner in said recovered toner tank;
• a counter for counting a predetermined number of prints generated by the image forming apparatus;
• an alarm;
• and
• control means, coupled to said transport means, said detection means, said counter and said alarm, for controlling said transport means to transport the recovered toner by moving in the first direction, for indicating an alarm when said detection means detects the movement of said transport means in the second direction, for starting the counting means when said detection means detects the movement of said transport means in the second direction, and for stopping operation of the image forming apparatus when said counter reaches said predetermined number.

A toner recovery system for an image forming apparatus which carries out an image forming operation to form prints of a toner image on a photosensitive body using a toner, said toner recovery system comprising:

• toner recovery means for recovering the toner which remains on the photosensitive body after the image forming apparatus for each print;
• a recovered toner tank for accommodating the toner recovered by said toner recovery means;
• transport means for transporting the toner recovered by said toner recovery means to said recovered toner tank by moving in a first direction with a first force;
• first detection means for detecting a movement of said transport means in a second direction which is opposite to said first direction caused by an overflow of the recovered toner in said recovered toner tank;
• second detection means for detecting additional movement of said transport means in the second direction which is beyond the movement detected by the first detection means and which is opposite to said first direction caused by an overflow of the recovered toner in said recovered toner tank;
• an alarm;
• and
• control means, coupled to said transport means, said first detection means, said second detection means, and said alarm, for activating said alarm when said first detection means detects a movement of said transport means and for stopping said image forming operation of said image forming apparatus when said second detection means detects said additional movement of said transport means.