| 摘要 |
An inexpensive and reliable toner fill sensor for a toner recovery device has a recovery box (5) into which residual toner is scraped from the latent image carrying member by a cleaning means. A window comprising a transparent or translucent housing (11) projects upwardly through said recovery box and an optical sensor (12a, 12b) having light emitting and receiving elements is arranged across the projecting housing. A flat float member (20) is vertically movable on top of the toner recovered in the recovery box and a light shielding flag (30) is erected on said float member at the position corresponding to the projecting housing so that as the level of toner recovered rises the light shield of the float member blocks the light path of the optical sensor, providing a signal indicating that the recovery box is full of toner. |
