Toner replenishing device and image forming apparatus including toner replenishing device
AssigneeRicoh Company, Ltd.
InventorsYuji Suzuki, Eisuke Hori, Nobuo Takami, Kenji Kikuchi, Hideki Kimura, Noriyuki Kimura
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A toner replenishing device includes a sub hopper (toner container), a toner detection sensor, an agitator, and a paddle. The sub hopper contains toner. The toner detection sensor is located on a wall surface in the sub hopper and detects whether toner remains at a height at which it is located. The agitator rotates in the sub hopper to clean the detection surface of the toner detection sensor. The paddle serves as a toner collecting unit that collects toner to the vicinity of the detection surface of the toner detection sensor in the sub hopper.
Claims14
A toner replenishing device comprising:
- a toner container that contains toner;
- a toner detection sensor that is located on a wall surface of the toner container and detects whether the toner remains at a height at which the toner detection sensor is located;
- a detection surface cleaning member that is rotatable in the toner container to make contact with and clean a detection surface of the toner detection sensor;
- and
- a toner collecting unit that moves a portion of the toner to a vicinity of the detection surface of the toner detection sensor in the toner container, wherein the toner collecting unit does not contact the detection surface,
- wherein the detection surface cleaning member is formed by an elastic wire,
- wherein the toner collecting unit is planar,
- wherein when the detection surface cleaning member slides on the detection surface of the toner detection sensor, an angle θ between the detection surface cleaning member and the toner collecting unit satisfies 0°<θ<90°, and
- wherein the angle θ is formed between the detection surface cleaning member and the toner collecting unit in the rotational direction.
An image forming apparatus comprising:
- a latent image carrier;
- a developing unit that develops a latent image on the latent image carrier with a developer in a developer container;
- and
- a toner replenishing device that supplies toner to the developer container, and includes
- a toner container that contains the toner;
- a toner detection sensor that is located on a wall surface of the toner container and detects whether the toner remains at a height at which the toner detection sensor is located;
- a detection surface cleaning member that is rotatable in the toner container to make contact with and clean a detection surface of the toner detection sensor;
- and
- a toner collecting unit that moves a portion of the toner to the vicinity of the detection surface of the toner detection sensor in the toner container, wherein the toner collecting unit does not contact the detection surface,
- wherein the detection surface cleaning member is formed by an elastic wire,
- wherein the toner collecting unit is planar,
- wherein when the detection surface cleaning member slides on the detection surface of the toner detection sensor, an angle θ between the detection surface cleaning member and the toner collecting unit satisfies 0°<θ<90°, and
- wherein the angle θ is formed between the detection surface cleaning member and the toner collecting unit in the rotational direction.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.