POWDER DETECTOR DEVICE, DEVELOPER RESIDUAL QUANTITY DETECTOR, AND POWDER DETECTION METHOD

• Main Authors: KIKUCHI KENJI, SATO KAZUHO, YAMAMOTO MITSUFUMI, NISHIZAKI SHINGO, HIROTA TETSUO, TOKUMARU HIROSHI, HOSOKAWA HIROSHI
• Format: Patent
• Language: English; Japanese
• Published: 20.06.2016
• Subjects: CINEMATOGRAPHY; ELECTROGRAPHY; ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY; MAGNETOGRAPHY; MEASURING; MEASURING ELECTRIC VARIABLES; MEASURING MAGNETIC VARIABLES; MEASURING VOLUME, VOLUME FLOW, MASS FLOW OR LIQUIDLEVEL; METERING BY VOLUME; PHOTOGRAPHY; PHYSICS; TESTING

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To accurately detect a state in which the residual quantity of a developer in a vessel is small, by accurately detecting the timing when a vibration unit whose behavior varies in response to the toner residual quantity is periodically snapped and starts to vibrate.SOLUTION: The powder detector for detecting the residual quantity of powder having fluidity in a vessel includes: a vibration plate 201 that is disposed inside the vessel and vibrates by an influence of the powder in the vessel; a magnetic flux sensor 10 for detecting the vibration state of the vibration plate 201; a stirring member 205 for vibrating the vibration plate 201; a CPU 21 for detecting the residual quantity of the powder in the vessel on the basis of the detection result by the magnetic flux sensor 10. On the basis of the conduction state between the vibration plate 201 and the stirring member 205, the residual quantity of the powder in the vessel is detected on the basis of the detection result after the timing when the vibration plate 201 is vibrated by the stirring member 205.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4 【課題】容器内の顕色剤の残量が残り少なくなった状態を高精度に検知するため、トナー残量に応じて挙動が変化する振動部が周期的に弾かれて振動し始めるタイミングを正確に検知すること。【解決手段】流動性を有する粉体の容器内における残量を検知する粉体検知装置であって、容器内部に配置され、容器内部の粉体の影響を受けて振動する振動板２０１と、振動板２０１の振動状態を検知する磁束センサ１０と、振動板２０１を振動させる撹拌部材２０５と、磁束センサ１０による検知結果に基づいて容器内の粉体の残量を検知するＣＰＵ２１とを含み、振動板２０１と撹拌部材２０５との導通状態に基づき、撹拌部材２０５によって振動板２０１に振動が与えられたタイミング以降の検知結果に基づいて容器内の粉体の残量を検知することを特徴とする。【選択図】図４