| 摘要 |
PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To accurately detect the fullness of waste toner and to effectively use a waste toner container by detecting content quantity in a container and the presence or absence of the container and informing of the detected result. SOLUTION: The waste toner container 16 is provided with transparent windows 16c at two proper parts, and an LED 16a and a photosensor 16b are arranged outside either window 16c and the other window 16c, respectively. The container 16 is provided with a rotating body 16d inside. The rotating body 16d is rotated, so that the waste toner is equally leveled, and the window 16c is cleaned. At such a time, when the LED 16a is turned on, an optical path between the LED 16a and the photosensor 16b is intercepted by the rotation of the rotating body 16d and output from a sensor is changed. Based on the detected result, display is performed. Thus, the waste toner amount, the presence or absence of the container 16, and the fault of the sensor system are detected by one photosensor 16b, and misoperation is prevented, then the container 16 is effectively used. |
