Toner replenishment device and image forming apparatus having the same

摘要

A toner replenishment device includes a toner receiving port, a toner feed unit feeding toner from the toner receiving port into the device, a toner detector detecting that the device has been filled with a specified amount of the toner, an agitating member having an agitating blade and rotating so as to agitate the toner in the device, a position detector detecting a rotational position of the agitating member and generating a signal indicative thereof, and a recognition unit recognizing the rotational position based on the signal output from the position detector. The toner feed unit feeds the toner into the device when an end edge of the agitating blade is within a specified range, in which a flow path of the toner from the toner receiving port to the toner detector is not blocked by the agitating blade, based on the recognition performed by the recognition unit.

主权项

1. A toner replenishment device for coupling to a toner containing body comprising:
a toner receiving port through which toner is selectively fed into the toner replenishment device; a toner feed unit configured to feed the toner from the toner receiving port into the toner replenishment device; a toner detector configured to is used for detecting, by interaction with the toner, whether the toner replenishment device has been filled with a specified amount of the toner; an agitating member having an agitating blade, the agitating member being operable to rotate so as to agitate the toner in the toner replenishment device, wherein the agitating blade is positioned near the toner detector over certain rotational angles of the agitating member; a position detector configured to generate a signal indicative of a rotational position of the agitating member; and a recognition unit configured to recognize the rotational position of the agitating member based on the signal output from the position detector, wherein the toner feed unit is operable to feed the toner into the toner replenishment device when a position of an end edge of the agitating blade is within a specified range based on the recognition performed by the recognition unit, the agitating blade not blocking a flow path of the toner from the toner receiving port to the toner detector while the end edge thereof is in the specified range,further comprising:
a storage unit that stores data, wherein the position detector is an encoder, and wherein the recognition unit recognizes a present rotational position as a rotation angle of the agitating member based on a predetermined reference position of the agitating member, data stored in the storage unit, the data being indicative of the number of pulses output from the encoder while the agitating member performs one rotation, and the number of pulses output from the encoder, the number of pulses being counted from a pulse corresponding to the reference position.