WASTE TONER QUANTITY DETECTING APPARATUS OF AN IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS, A METHOD THEREOF, AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS EMPLOYING THE SAME, PARTICULARLY FOR DETECTING THE PULL STATE OF A WASTE TONER IN A WASTE TONER BOTTLE THROUGH THE CURRENT VARIATION OF A MOTOR

摘要

PURPOSE: A waste toner quantity detecting apparatus of an image forming apparatus, a method thereof, and image forming apparatus employing the same are provided to reduce a fabrication cost by detecting the pull state of a toner within a waste toner bottle without an additional sensor unit.;CONSTITUTION: A motor current detector(51) detects a driving current of a motor(45), and the motor rotates an auger. The auger smoothens the distribution of the waste toner in the WTB(Waste Toner Bottle), and a judgment unit(63) judges a full state of the waste toner in the waste toner bottle through the difference between first and second current values which respectively correspond to the minimum driving current value among driving current values and the driving current value of the motor in current timing.;COPYRIGHT KIPO 2010