CN212411020U

CN212411020U - Image forming apparatus, chip, process cartridge assembly, and printing system

Info

Publication number: CN212411020U
Application number: CN202022070607.0U
Authority: CN
Inventors: 尹爱国; 黄超豪; 李海雄; 张晓博
Original assignee: Zhuhai Pantum Electronics Co Ltd
Current assignee: Zhuhai Pantum Electronics Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-09-18
Filing date: 2020-09-18
Publication date: 2021-01-26
Anticipated expiration: 2030-09-18

Abstract

The utility model provides an image forming device, chip, processing box subassembly and printing system, in the image forming device, a plurality of processing box installation departments are used for installing the processing box respectively and are connected with the chip electricity of processing box, wherein, the chip stores the color attribute information of processing box; the communication unit is electrically connected with the plurality of processing box mounting parts in a one-to-one correspondence manner and is used for acquiring the color attribute information stored by the chip from the processing box mounting parts; and a processing unit electrically connected to each communication unit for determining a cartridge mounting error in the cartridge mounting portion corresponding to the communication unit and inhibiting the operation of the cartridge when the interface attribute information of the communication unit does not match the color attribute information acquired by the communication unit, wherein each color attribute information corresponds to the interface attribute information of the communication unit which can be recognized by the processing unit, thereby reducing the possibility of the cartridge color mounting error and improving the printing reliability.

Description

Image forming apparatus, chip, process cartridge assembly, and printing system

Technical Field

The utility model relates to a printing technique especially relates to an image forming device, chip, processing box subassembly and printing system.

Background

In an image forming apparatus having a plurality of process cartridges, a main control chip communicates with the chips of the respective process cartridges, respectively, to realize print control. When printing color images, the image forming device controls the processing boxes with different colors to respectively form carbon powder with different colors on the transfer printing belt, and then the carbon powder is superposed together to form a color image. The consumption of carbon powder of each different color is different along with the different colors in the printing draft; moreover, due to the error of the mechanical position and the influence of temperature, the developing time of each color processing box can be calibrated at any time, so that the developing time of different processing boxes can be different. Therefore, the image forming apparatus needs to ensure the correct mounting of the respective process cartridges.

The prior art generally identifies the mounting positions of the process cartridges in different colors or provides corresponding mounting instructions.

However, the prior art still has the problem of wrong installation of the processing box, which causes that the color printing process can not obtain the correct developer component and developers with different colors can develop at the correct time, thereby affecting the image quality.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

The utility model provides an image forming device, chip, processing box subassembly and printing system has reduced the possibility of processing box colour installation mistake, has improved the printing reliability.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus comprising:

the processing box comprises a plurality of processing box mounting parts, a plurality of processing box mounting parts and a plurality of control parts, wherein the processing box mounting parts are used for respectively mounting the processing boxes and are electrically connected with chips of the processing boxes, and the chips store color attribute information of the processing boxes;

the communication units are electrically connected with the plurality of processing box mounting parts in a one-to-one correspondence mode, and each communication unit is used for acquiring the color attribute information stored in the chip from the processing box mounting parts;

and the processing unit is electrically connected with each communication unit and used for determining the installation error of the processing box in the processing box installation part corresponding to the communication unit and forbidding the processing box to work when the interface attribute information of the communication unit is not matched with the color attribute information acquired by the communication unit, wherein each color attribute information corresponds to the interface attribute information of the communication unit which can be identified by the processing unit.

Optionally, the processing unit is further configured to store interface attribute information corresponding to each of the communication units.

Optionally, the processing unit is further configured to determine that the process cartridge is correctly mounted in the process cartridge mounting portion corresponding to the communication unit when the interface attribute information corresponding to the communication unit matches the color attribute information acquired by the communication unit.

Optionally, the plurality of process cartridge mounting portions and the communication unit electrically connected to the plurality of process cartridge mounting portions in a one-to-one correspondence are connected to a common clock signal terminal;

the plurality of processing box mounting parts and the communication units electrically connected with the plurality of processing box mounting parts in a one-to-one correspondence mode are connected to a common grounding signal end.

Optionally, the processing unit is further configured to sequentially send polling signals to the plurality of process cartridge mounting portions through the communication unit, and read the color attribute information stored in the chip corresponding to the process cartridge mounting portion in a cycle of the polling signals.

Optionally, an intermediate circuit board is further included; at least one of the communication units is electrically connected to the process cartridge mounting portion through the intermediate circuit board.

Optionally, the intermediate circuit board comprises a high pressure plate.

Optionally, the communication unit is an I2C interface unit or a URAT interface unit.

Optionally, the method further comprises: a display panel electrically connected to the processing unit;

the processing unit is also used for sending error installation prompt information when determining that the processing box is installed in the processing box installation part corresponding to the communication unit in an error mode;

and the display panel is used for displaying according to the wrong installation prompt information.

Optionally, the processing unit is further configured to detect whether a process cartridge is mounted in the process cartridge mounting portion corresponding to each communication unit when receiving the detection trigger instruction.

Optionally, the processing unit is specifically configured to detect whether a processing cartridge is mounted in the processing cartridge mounting portion corresponding to each communication unit in a preset order, where a processing cartridge mounting portion detected first in the preset order is used for mounting a processing cartridge with a black attribute.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a chip for being installed in a process cartridge, the chip comprising: a chip memory for storing color attribute information indicating a color of a printing material in the process cartridge, wherein each of the color attribute information corresponds to interface attribute information of a communication unit that is recognizable by a processing unit of an image forming apparatus;

and a chip connecting part electrically connected with the processing box mounting part of the image forming device.

Optionally, the chip connection portion includes:

a data terminal for transmitting the color attribute information to the image forming apparatus through the process cartridge mounting part;

a clock terminal for connecting to a common clock signal terminal through the process cartridge mounting section;

a ground terminal; for connection to a common ground signal terminal through the cartridge mounting portion.

Optionally, the chip is further configured to receive a polling signal sent by the processing unit through the communication unit, and the color attribute information is read in a period of the polling signal.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a process cartridge assembly, comprising at least two process cartridges, and chips as set forth in the second aspect of the present invention disposed on the process cartridges in a one-to-one correspondence;

the process cartridge is detachably attached to the process cartridge mounting portion of the image forming apparatus according to any of the first aspect of the present invention.

Optionally, the color attribute information corresponding to each of the at least two process cartridges is different.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing system comprising the image forming apparatus according to any one of the first aspect of the present invention, and a process cartridge assembly according to the third aspect of the present invention;

the process cartridge assembly is detachably mounted to the image forming apparatus.

The utility model provides an image forming device, a chip, a processing box assembly and a printing system, wherein, in the image forming device, a plurality of processing box installation parts are used for respectively installing processing boxes and are electrically connected with the chip of the processing box, wherein, the chip stores the color attribute information of the processing box; the communication unit is electrically connected with the plurality of processing box mounting parts in a one-to-one correspondence manner and is used for acquiring the color attribute information stored in the chip from the processing box mounting parts; and the processing units are electrically connected with the communication units and used for determining the mounting error of the processing box in the mounting part of the processing box corresponding to the communication unit and forbidding the processing box to work when the interface attribute information of the communication unit is not matched with the color attribute information acquired by the communication unit, wherein each color attribute information corresponds to the interface attribute information of the communication unit which can be identified by the processing unit, so that the possibility of color mounting error of the processing box is reduced, and the printing reliability is improved.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a conventional image forming apparatus;

fig. 2 is a block diagram of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a block diagram of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4a-4b are schematic diagrams of a mechanical structure of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4c is a schematic view of a single process cartridge mounting structure according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4d is a schematic view of a chip mounting structure in a processing box according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of a chip structure according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6 is a block diagram of another printing system provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 7 is a block diagram of another printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention clearer, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by a person skilled in the art without creative work belong to the protection scope of the present invention.

It should be understood that in the present application, "comprising" and "having" and any variations thereof, is intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, system, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of steps or elements is not necessarily limited to those steps or elements expressly listed, but may include other steps or elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.

It should be understood that, in the present invention, "a plurality" means two or more. "comprises A, B and C" and "comprises A, B, C" means that all three of A, B, C comprise, "comprises A, B or C" means that one of A, B, C comprises, "comprises A, B and/or C" means that any 1 or any 2 or 3 of A, B, C comprises.

It should be understood that in the present invention, "B corresponding to a", "a corresponds to B", or "B corresponds to a" means that B is associated with a, and B can be determined from a. Determining B from a does not mean determining B from a alone, but may be determined from a and/or other information.

As used herein, "if" may be interpreted as "at … …" or "when … …" or "in response to a determination" or "in response to a detection", depending on the context.

In the present invention, unless otherwise expressly specified or limited, the terms "mounted," "connected," "secured," and the like are to be construed broadly, e.g., as meaning fixedly connected, detachably connected, or integrally formed; may be mechanically coupled, may be electrically coupled or may be in communication with each other; either directly or indirectly through intervening media, such as through internal communication or through an interaction between two elements. The specific meaning of the above terms in the present invention can be understood according to specific situations by those skilled in the art.

The technical solution of the present invention will be described in detail with specific examples. The following several specific embodiments may be combined with each other, and details of the same or similar concepts or processes may not be repeated in some embodiments.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a conventional image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus 100 shown in fig. 1 includes 4 process cartridges (Y, M, C, K), a transfer belt 105, a secondary transfer roller 106, an entrance sheet cassette 107, a manual sheet feed tray 108, a sheet feed roller 109, a conveying roller 110, a Laser Scanning Unit (LSU) 111, a heat roller 112, a pressure roller 113, a discharge roller 114, a discharge sheet cassette 115, and the like. The 4 processing boxes (Y, M, C, K) correspond to 4 printing colors respectively, and the specific structure comprises photosensitive drums 101Y-K, charging rollers 102Y-K, developing rollers 103Y-K and powder bins 104Y-K for containing toner of respective colors respectively. The LSU 111 shown in fig. 1 is in the form of a single LSU that includes four optical paths. The four charging rollers 102Y-K are used to charge the surfaces of the four photosensitive drums 101Y-K, respectively, and the four optical paths of the LSU 111 emit laser beams, respectively, to form electrostatic latent images on the surfaces of the photosensitive drums 101Y-K. The four developing rollers 103Y-K are used to develop and form toner images of the respective colors on the surfaces of the photosensitive drums 101Y-K, respectively. The image forming apparatus 100 employs a secondary transfer method, in which four photosensitive drums 101Y-K sequentially transfer toner images onto a transfer belt 105, and then color toner images formed on the transfer belt 105 are secondarily transferred onto paper by a secondary transfer roller 106. The inlet cassette 107 stores sheets, and the feed roller 109 conveys the stored sheets to the conveyance path. The conveyance roller 110 conveys the sheet on the conveyance path to the secondary transfer roller 106 to perform transfer image formation. The secondary transfer roller 106 carries the image-formed sheet to a nip of a heat roller 112 and a pressure roller 113, the heat roller 112 and the pressure roller 113 are used to fix toner images on the sheet, the heat roller 112 may adopt a ceramic heating method, the heat roller 112 and the pressure roller 113 carry the fixed sheet to a discharge roller 114, the discharge roller 114 discharges the sheet to a discharge paper cassette 115 and stacks it, thereby completing image printing.

In the case where the image forming apparatus shown in fig. 1 is, for example, a printer, the printer controls the four process cartridges of different colors shown in fig. 1 to perform color image printing after receiving information to be printed transmitted from the host computer. Obviously, if the process cartridge is mounted incorrectly, this will result in the wrong color being printed. In the prior art, only the installation position is subjected to color identification, and the possibility of wrong installation of the processing box still exists, so that the color printing reliability is not high enough. In order to solve the problem, the present invention provides a process cartridge mounting portion, a communication unit, and a processing unit in an image forming apparatus according to various embodiments described below, to improve the accuracy of mounting a process cartridge, and further improve the reliability of color printing.

Of course, the image forming apparatus in the embodiment of the present invention may be a printer, and may also be other apparatuses for printing images, copying images and texts, laser coding, or medical images. The host may be a terminal device, such as a desktop computer, a notebook computer, a tablet computer, a mobile phone, and a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), which transmits and/or receives data related to an image forming task.

Fig. 2 is a block diagram of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 2, the image forming apparatus may include a plurality of cartridge mounting portions (4 cartridge mounting portions as shown in fig. 2), communication units (4 communication units as shown in fig. 2) electrically connected to the plurality of cartridge mounting portions in one-to-one correspondence, and a processing unit electrically connected to each communication unit, and each communication unit may be integrated in the processing unit or may be provided independently of hardware of the processing unit.

The processing box comprises a plurality of processing box installation parts, a plurality of processing box installation parts and a plurality of processing box installation parts, wherein the processing box installation parts are used for respectively installing the processing boxes and are electrically connected with chips of the processing boxes, and the chips store color attribute information of the processing boxes. The cartridge mounting portion may be a mounting portion which is mechanically and electrically matched with the cartridge for mechanical mounting and electrical connection of the cartridge. The mechanical structure may be adapted, for example, with a snap or mounting allowing the cartridge to be mechanically seated. The mating of the electrical structures may be, for example, metal potential points or electrical interfaces that allow the cartridge to be electrically connected after mechanical placement is complete. The present embodiment is not particularly limited in terms of the mechanical and electrical structure of the cartridge mounting portion.

The communication units shown in fig. 2 are electrically connected to the cartridge mounting portions in a one-to-one correspondence. Assuming that there are 4 process cartridge mounting portions in the image forming apparatus shown in fig. 2, 4 communication units are provided correspondingly, connected in one-to-one correspondence. Each communication unit is used for acquiring the color attribute information stored by the chip from the processing box mounting part. And each communication unit is electrically connected to the processing unit. The processing unit is used for determining that the processing box is installed wrongly in the processing box installation part corresponding to the communication unit when the interface attribute information of the communication unit is judged not to be matched with the color attribute information acquired by the communication unit, and forbidding the processing box to work, so that the possibility of color printing errors is reduced. Wherein each color attribute information corresponds to interface attribute information of a communication unit that can be recognized by the processing unit.

The processing unit is further configured to store interface attribute information corresponding to each communication unit. The interface attribute information indicates color preset information and interface parameters matched with the communication unit. In some embodiments, the interface attribute information includes color preset information and interface parameters for the communication unit. For example, the processing unit stores interface attribute information of each communication unit. The processing unit may also receive the interface attribute information sent by the communication unit, or may actively identify and acquire the interface attribute information for the communication unit, while receiving the color attribute information acquired from the chip by the processing unit from the communication unit. The processing unit then determines whether the process cartridge is mounted erroneously based on whether the interface attribute information and the color attribute information match each other. The processing unit is further configured to determine that the process cartridge is correctly mounted in the process cartridge mounting portion corresponding to the communication unit when the interface attribute information corresponding to the communication unit matches the color attribute information acquired by the communication unit. For example, if the interface attribute information and the color attribute information do not match, an error message is sent to prompt that the process cartridge is mounted incorrectly in the process cartridge mounting part corresponding to the communication unit; if the interface attribute information matches the color attribute information, the process cartridge is mounted correctly in the process cartridge mounting portion corresponding to the communication unit. The matching may be whether the color preset information in the interface attribute information is consistent with the color attribute information acquired from the chip, if so, the color preset information is matched, and if not, the color attribute information is not matched.

In other embodiments, the interface attribute information may include interface parameters, and each interface parameter corresponds to a color preset information. Specifically, for example, the processing unit stores information as shown in table 1 below, and the interface parameters of the communication unit are stored in association with the color preset information. The installation identification process of the processing box comprises the following steps: when a certain process cartridge is mounted in one of the process cartridge mounting portions, the communication unit of the process cartridge mounting portion communicates with the chip of the process cartridge and reads color attribute information (e.g., information indicating that the process cartridge is yellow) stored in the chip, and the communication unit of the process cartridge mounting portion transmits the read color attribute information to the process unit; the processing unit identifies the interface attribute information (for example, the interface attribute information contains an interface parameter of 'information 1-1') of the communication unit, and obtains the color preset information stored in a correlated manner according to the interface parameter (the information 1-2 is obtained according to the following table 1); the processing unit compares the color attribute information (such as information indicating that the processing box is yellow) read by the communication unit with the self-stored color preset information (such as information 1-2), if the color attribute information does not match with the color preset information, the processing box is installed wrongly, and if the color attribute information matches with the color preset information, the processing box is installed correctly.

TABLE 1

Interface parameters	Color preset information
		Information 1-1	Information 1-2
Information 2-1	Information 3-2
		Information 3-1	Information 3-2
Information 4-1	Information 4-2

The above-described embodiments provide an image forming apparatus, a plurality of process cartridge mounting portions for respectively mounting process cartridges and electrically connecting with chips of the process cartridges, wherein the chips store color attribute information of the process cartridges; the communication unit is electrically connected with the plurality of processing box mounting parts in a one-to-one correspondence manner and is used for acquiring the color attribute information stored by the chip from the processing box mounting parts; and a processing unit electrically connected to each communication unit for determining a cartridge mounting error in the cartridge mounting portion corresponding to the communication unit and inhibiting the operation of the cartridge when the interface attribute information of the communication unit does not match the color attribute information acquired by the communication unit, wherein each color attribute information corresponds to the interface attribute information of the communication unit which can be recognized by the processing unit, thereby reducing the possibility of the cartridge color mounting error and improving the printing reliability.

On the basis of the embodiment of the image forming apparatus shown in fig. 2, referring to fig. 3, a block diagram of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention is provided. Furthermore, a plurality of processing box mounting parts and communication units which are electrically connected with the processing box mounting parts in a one-to-one correspondence mode are connected to a common clock signal end; the plurality of process cartridge mounting portions and the communication unit electrically connected to the plurality of process cartridge mounting portions in a one-to-one correspondence are connected to a common ground signal terminal. As shown in FIG. 3, the 4 communication units, and the cartridge mounting portions to which the communication units are correspondingly connected, share the same clock signal line and the same ground signal line, but the data lines are independent of each other. The clock signal terminals of the different process cartridge mounting portions and the communication unit in the image forming apparatus are connected to each other, so that clocks are synchronized, the use of connecting lines is reduced, and the cost is reduced.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 3, the processing unit may be further configured to sequentially send polling signals to the plurality of cartridge mounting portions via the communication unit, and read the color attribute information stored in the corresponding chip of the cartridge mounting portion in a cycle of the polling signals. It is understood that, when at least two process cartridges are detachably mounted to the image forming apparatus, each communication unit is assigned a different communication cycle, the communication unit transmits a valid inquiry signal to the corresponding process cartridge chip in the communication cycle to which it belongs, and the data side of the chip can communicate information with the communication unit on the image forming apparatus side (for example, transmit color attribute information and the like stored in the chip itself to the communication unit) during reception of the inquiry signal, while the other chips are in a standby inquiry state in which they cannot operate in this communication cycle.

In the various embodiments described above, the communication unit may be an I2C interface unit or a URAT interface unit. The I2C interface units respectively include a data signal interface, a clock signal interface, and a ground signal interface. The data signal interface of each I2C interface unit is connected with the data signal interface of its corresponding processing box chip in a one-to-one correspondence, and all I2C interface units are electrically connected with the clock signal interface of the processing box chip (the clock signal interfaces of the I2C interface units are connected with each other, thus forming a common clock signal terminal), and all I2C interface units are electrically connected with the ground signal interface of the processing box chip (the ground signal interfaces of the I2C interface units are connected with each other, thus forming a common ground signal terminal). In the embodiment using the I2C interface unit, when the output of the clock signal terminal is high, the transition from high to low on the data line is defined as the start condition. When the clock signal terminal output is high, a low-to-high transition on the data line is defined as a stop condition. The I2C interface unit is considered to be busy after a start condition and idle after a stop condition. While a URAT interface unit may provide a data Transmit (TX) signal interface and a data Receive (RX) signal interface. In the embodiment that the communication unit adopts the URAT interface unit, the processing unit can realize four-path data communication by four URAT interface units, and share one grounding signal and one power signal, thereby reducing the number of connecting wires and simplifying the complexity of the connecting wires.

The utility model discloses do not restrict the data signal interface type. Each communication unit of the image forming apparatus includes one data signal interface, a common clock signal interface, and a common ground signal interface. The data signal interface may be an I2C data signal interface, a URAT data signal interface, or another data signal interface that can implement communication between the image forming apparatus and the process cartridge chip, and the common clock signal interface may be only one clock signal interface, or may be a plurality of clock signal interfaces connected (for example, the clock signal interfaces corresponding to the I2C data signal interfaces are connected).

In the actual structure wiring layout, an intermediate circuit board can also be included. At least one communication unit is electrically connected to the cartridge mounting portion via an intermediate circuit board. The portion of the circuit board where the transformer is located is referred to as the high voltage board and further, the intermediate circuit board may include the high voltage board. Referring to fig. 4a and 4b, in order to reduce high voltage interference, in an embodiment where the intermediate plate is a high voltage plate 45, the communication unit is arranged to avoid the transformer of the high voltage plate 45 by a wiring of the high voltage plate 45 to the cartridge mounting portion. The process cartridges (which may include a yellow process cartridge Y, a blue process cartridge M, a red process cartridge C, and a black process cartridge K as shown) typically span both sides of the image forming apparatus, with the process unit and the engine control board 41 of the image forming apparatus disposed on one side of the image forming apparatus, the high-pressure board 45 disposed on the other side of the image forming apparatus, and the process cartridge mounting portion disposed on the side adjacent to the high-pressure board 45. The high-voltage board 45 is close to the chip access contact of the processing box mounting part, and the length of the connecting wire can be greatly reduced through the switching of the high-voltage board 45, so that the cost is reduced.

As an example, at least one data signal interface of the cartridge mounting portion may be connected to the communication unit without passing through the high-pressure plate 45. Taking the example that the processing unit includes four communication units, if all four data signal interfaces pass through the high voltage board 45, the requirement on the number of pins of the high voltage board 45 is high. And the internal circuit of the high-voltage board 45 is complicated, and if all four data signal interfaces pass through the high-voltage board 45, the wiring difficulty of the high-voltage board 45 is increased. Thus, three data lines 43 can be routed individually to connect directly from the process unit to the cartridge mounting portion.

As another example, the engine control board 41 itself has a bus cable for transmitting the signal of the engine control board 41 to the high-pressure board 45, and the connection of the process unit to the process cartridge mounting portion can be arranged by the bus cable 42. The data line 43 that does not pass through the high-pressure plate 45 may be directly connected to the cartridge mounting portion. The high-pressure plate 45 lays out the wires to be transferred to the cartridge mounting portion through the connection terminals via the sockets, see fig. 4c which is a mounting schematic view of a single cartridge. The process cartridge is mounted to the cartridge mounting portion by a projection extending from the right side wall. The data lines between the processing units and the processing box mounting part, and the common clock lines, power lines and ground lines are connected to the flat cable interface 421 of the high-pressure plate 45 through the flat cable 42 of the engine control board 41 and then are arranged on the processing box mounting part, so that additional connecting lines can be saved. For example, in the embodiment where only the cartridge K is switched by the high-voltage plate 45 and the other 3 cartridges are connected to the cartridge mounting portion while avoiding the high-voltage plate 45, in order to arrange the data line of the cartridge K to the cartridge mounting portion of the cartridge K, and simultaneously arrange the common clock line, power line, and ground line to the cartridge mounting portions of the cartridges Y-K (data line + common clock line + common power line + common ground line of the cartridge Y), respectively, one common clock line is divided into four clock lines to be arranged to the cartridge mounting portions of the cartridges Y-K, one common power line is divided into four power lines to be arranged to the cartridge mounting portions of the cartridges Y-K, one common ground line is divided into four ground lines to be arranged to the cartridge mounting portions of the cartridges Y-K, respectively, and finally the high-voltage plate 45 is divided into 13 lines to be transferred to the cartridge mounting portions of the cartridges Y-K, in order to reduce the total length of 13 lines, and also for the sake of simplification of layout, two branched ports 44 are provided on the high-voltage board 45 to lay out thirteen lines to each process cartridge mounting portion so that the same type is connected to each other in the VCC/CLK/GND port of each process cartridge mounting portion. In various embodiments, the power source terminal may be separately provided in the same connection manner as the clock signal terminal, or may be multiplexed with the clock terminal.

In various embodiments, the image forming apparatus may further include: and the display panel is electrically connected with the processing unit. Wherein the processing unit is further configured to issue an erroneous mounting prompt message when it is determined that the process cartridge is mounted in the process cartridge mounting portion corresponding to the communication unit in error. The display panel is used for displaying according to the error installation prompt information. The display panel may be, for example, a liquid crystal display panel or an LED display panel, but is not limited thereto. In other similar embodiments, an indicator lamp may be used in place of the display panel, one indicator lamp for each cartridge mounting portion, and the indicator lamp for the cartridge mounting portion may light up or illuminate a designated warning color (e.g., a correctly installed bright green lamp, a incorrectly installed bright red lamp) when a cartridge is incorrectly installed in the cartridge mounting portion. The processing unit may prohibit an image forming action, such as a printing operation, when issuing the erroneous mounting prompt information.

In some embodiments, the processing unit is further configured to detect whether or not the process cartridge is mounted in the process cartridge mounting portion corresponding to each of the communication units upon receiving the detection trigger instruction. The detection trigger instruction can be triggered under various preset scenes. For example, when an operation such as replacement of a certain process cartridge, opening/closing of a front cover of a cartridge mounting portion, or re-powering of the image forming apparatus occurs, the processing unit receives a detection trigger instruction. The detection trigger command may be generated during sensing of a preset action.

The processing unit is specifically used for detecting whether the processing cartridge is installed in the processing cartridge installation part corresponding to each communication unit according to a preset sequence, wherein the processing cartridge installation part detected firstly in the preset sequence is used for installing the processing cartridge with the black attribute. Taking 4 cartridge mounting portions as an example, it takes 1.5 seconds to confirm whether a single cartridge is mounted, and it takes 2 seconds to confirm whether the cartridge mounted is correctly mounted. See table 2 below for the cartridge mounting portion detection times obtained in the different failure cases.

Watch two

Fault condition	Installation detection time
		Four processing boxes are not installed	6s
Three processing boxes are not installed	8s
		Neither of the two processing boxes is mounted	10s
One process cartridge is not mounted	12s

The mounting detection time is the time taken for making an action trigger detection trigger instruction and displaying a processing box mounting error prompt. For example, when the user replaces the black attribute process cartridge, the black attribute process cartridge is not installed correctly (for example, the process cartridge which is not installed in place or has the wrong color attribute installed), once the front cover of the image forming apparatus is closed, the indicator lamp corresponding to the black attribute process cartridge can be lightened for at most 3.5s to prompt the user that the black process cartridge is installed incorrectly, and the user does not need to wait until 12s to detect all the process cartridge installation parts to know that the black process cartridge is installed incorrectly. Because the black ink material use frequency is generally higher, the process cartridge with the black attribute has higher use frequency compared with the process cartridges with other colors, the process cartridge with the black attribute is preferentially detected, the detected black process cartridge is immediately displayed, a user can be informed as early as possible that the black process cartridge is not installed, and the user experience is greatly improved.

The utility model also provides an install the chip in handling the box. Referring to fig. 4d, a chip is mounted on the lower surface of one of the protrusions extending on the right side of the process cartridge (the left side of the process cartridge is a driving force receiving end, also called a driving head or driving gear) with respect to the process cartridge. Referring to fig. 5, a schematic diagram of a chip structure according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. The chip shown in fig. 5 includes: a chip memory and a chip connection. Wherein the chip memory is configured to store color attribute information indicating a color of the printing material in the process cartridge, wherein each color attribute information corresponds to interface attribute information of a communication unit that can be recognized by the processing unit of the image forming apparatus. The chip connecting portion is used for electrically connecting with the cartridge mounting portion of the image forming apparatus in the embodiment described above, thereby communicating with the image forming apparatus.

As shown in fig. 5, the chip connection portion specifically includes: a data terminal SDA, a clock terminal CLK, a power terminal VCC, and a ground terminal GND. Wherein the data terminal is used for transmitting the color attribute information to the image forming apparatus through the cartridge mounting part. The clock terminal is for connection to a common clock signal terminal through the cartridge mounting section. The ground terminal is for connection to a common ground signal terminal through the cartridge mounting portion. In fig. 5, the clock terminal CLK and the power terminal VCC are independently set, but the embodiment is not limited thereto, and the clock terminal CLK and the power terminal VCC may be multiplexed, that is, there is no independent VCC terminal, and the VCC signal is controlled by the CLK terminal.

Each processing box is provided with a chip as shown in fig. 5, the contact arrangement of the chip is the same, but the color attribute information stored in the chip memory included in the wafer is different. Alternatively, the substrate surface of the chip may be set to the same color in accordance with the color attribute information stored in the chip memory, so that the substrate color of the chip is in accordance with the color of the toner in the process cartridge in which the chip is located.

The process cartridge installation detection process may specifically be that all process cartridges are prompted together after the detection is completed, or one process cartridge prompt may be completed until all process cartridges are installed and detected. The prompting mode can be that the display panel prompts installation errors; it is also possible that the indicator lamps indicate the mounting condition of the respective process cartridges individually.

On the basis of the embodiment of the image forming apparatus and the chip, the utility model also provides a processing box assembly, which comprises at least two processing boxes and the chip which is arranged on the processing box in a one-to-one correspondence manner. The process cartridge is adapted to be detachably mounted to the process cartridge mounting portion of the image forming apparatus in the above-described embodiment. The process cartridge assembly in this embodiment may be an assembly of process cartridges of different color attributes for mounting in the image forming apparatus and supplying ink of different colors to form a color image. That is, the color attribute information corresponding to each of the at least two process cartridges is different.

The utility model discloses still provide a printing system, include image forming device as above, and as above processing box subassembly. The process cartridge assembly is detachably mounted to the image forming apparatus. Referring to fig. 6, a block diagram of another printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. Fig. 7 is a block diagram of another printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The image forming apparatus includes, for example, a controller, an I/O port, a sensor, an operation panel, an external memory, and an engine unit.

As shown in fig. 6, a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and a communication integration module are integrated in a controller (e.g., a system on a chip), and the controller may serve as the processing unit. The CPU of the controller controls the overall operation of the image forming apparatus. The RAM is used as a main memory, a work memory, and the like of the CPU, and also used as an image information rasterization area and an environment data storage area. The RAM also includes an NVRAM (non-volatile RAM) area, and is configured to expand the memory capacity by an optional RAM connected to an expansion port (not shown). The ROM stores various fonts, control programs executed by the CPU, and the like, as well as various data. The communication Integrated module is used as a module of the controller to integrate various communication interfaces and/or communication Interface units (such as a data signal Interface and a clock signal Interface corresponding to the data signal Interface), and specifically includes, for example, One or more of an SCCP (Serial Control Channel Processor) unit, an SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface) unit, a UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter) unit, an I2S (Inter-IC Sound, Integrated Circuit built-in audio bus) unit, an I2C (Inter-Integrated Circuit, Integrated Circuit bus, I2C main Control chip Integrated in the communication Integrated module) unit, a OWI (One Wire Interface, single Wire Interface) unit, and a GPIO (General-purpose-output/GPIO) unit, for example, the communication units 1 to 4 in fig. 2 may be integrated in a communication integration module. As shown in fig. 6, the I/O port transmits/receives data between the image forming apparatus and the host. The sensor is used to detect various signals and send sensor signals to the controller. The operation panel includes switches for operation, an LED display, and the like. The external memory includes a flash memory, an SSD, a DRAM, etc., and can store hardware information. The controller is in I2C communication with the processing boxes C-Y through at least two I2C communication interface units in the communication integrated module, and each I2C communication interface unit comprises a data signal interface, a clock signal interface and a ground signal interface.

Fig. 7 shows a variant of fig. 6. Compared with the communication unit shown in fig. 6 integrated in the controller, the communication integrated module shown in fig. 7 (which may actually be the system I2C main control chip) is independent from the controller. In embodiments where the communication integration module is an I2C master chip, the controller may communicate I2C with process cartridge C-Y via at least one I2C master chip.

Finally, it should be noted that: the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solution of the present invention, and not to limit the same; although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that: the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments may still be modified, or some or all of the technical features may be equivalently replaced; such modifications and substitutions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. An image forming apparatus, comprising:

2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit is further configured to store interface attribute information corresponding to each of the communication units.

3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the process unit is further configured to determine that the process cartridge is correctly mounted in the process cartridge mounting portion corresponding to the communication unit when the interface attribute information corresponding to the communication unit matches the color attribute information acquired by the communication unit.

4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of process cartridge mounting portions, and the communication units electrically connected to the plurality of process cartridge mounting portions in one-to-one correspondence are connected to a common clock signal terminal;

5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the processing unit is further configured to sequentially issue polling signals to the plurality of cartridge mounting portions via the communication unit, and read the color attribute information stored in the corresponding chip of the cartridge mounting portion in a cycle of the polling signals.

6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an intermediate circuit board; at least one of the communication units is electrically connected to the process cartridge mounting portion through the intermediate circuit board.

7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the intermediate circuit board includes a high-pressure plate.

8. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the communication unit is an I2C interface unit or a URAT interface unit.

9. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a display panel electrically connected to the processing unit;

10. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the process unit is further configured to detect whether a process cartridge is mounted in the process cartridge mounting portion corresponding to each communication unit when the detection trigger instruction is received.

11. The image forming apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the process unit is configured to detect whether a process cartridge is mounted in the process cartridge mounting portion corresponding to each communication unit in a preset order, wherein a process cartridge mounting portion detected first in the preset order is configured to mount a process cartridge of a black attribute.

12. A chip for mounting in a process cartridge, the chip comprising: a chip memory for storing color attribute information indicating a color of a printing material in the process cartridge, wherein each of the color attribute information corresponds to interface attribute information of a communication unit that is recognizable by a processing unit of an image forming apparatus;

13. The chip of claim 12, wherein the chip connection portion comprises:

14. The chip according to any one of claims 12 or 13, wherein the chip is further configured to receive a polling signal sent by the processing unit through the communication unit, and to read the color attribute information during a period of the polling signal.

15. A process cartridge assembly comprising at least two process cartridges, and chips according to any one of claims 12 to 14 provided on the process cartridges in one-to-one correspondence;

the process cartridge is adapted to be detachably mounted to a process cartridge mounting portion of the image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

16. A process cartridge assembly according to claim 15, wherein color attribute information corresponding to each of the at least two process cartridges is different.

17. A printing system comprising the image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 11, and the process cartridge assembly according to claim 15 or 16;