CN113687581B

CN113687581B - Toner cartridges and toner cartridge error-proofing devices

Info

Publication number: CN113687581B
Application number: CN202010426517.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 蔡绍元
Original assignee: General Plastic Industrial Co Ltd
Current assignee: General Plastic Industrial Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-05-19
Filing date: 2020-05-19
Publication date: 2023-11-10
Anticipated expiration: 2040-05-19
Also published as: CN113687581A

Abstract

The invention provides a toner cartridge and a toner cartridge error-proofing device, wherein the toner cartridge error-proofing device is used for limiting a specific toner cartridge to be assembled into an electronic imaging device after rotating around a rotating axle, the toner cartridge error-proofing device comprises a guide part and a fixing part, the guide part is arranged on the electronic imaging device and is provided with an axle center groove and a positioning groove, the positioning groove is provided with a circular arc section, the fixing part is arranged at one end of the toner cartridge and is provided with an axle post and a side post, the axle post is positioned at the rotating axle center and extends into the axle center groove, the side post and the axle post are spaced and extend into the positioning groove, and when the toner cartridge rotates around the rotating axle center, the side post moves along the circular arc section of the positioning groove. Therefore, the error-proofing device for the toner cartridge can ensure that a user loads the preset toner cartridge into a correct position, avoid material waste and cleaning procedures caused by incorrect assembly, and achieve the aim of saving time and money.

Description

Carbon powder box and error-proofing device thereof

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an electronic imaging device, and more particularly, to an error proofing device for a toner cartridge of an electronic imaging device.

Background

Electronic imaging devices such as photocopiers and office machines have become indispensable aids for modern work and life, four different color toner cartridges are generally required to be installed for printing color graphics, each color toner cartridge has a corresponding preset position, and when a user loads or replaces the toner cartridge, the user may be warned by the electronic imaging device and need to reload the toner cartridge if the user carelessly loads the toner cartridge in a wrong position, or the user does not find the wrong color until the wrong color is printed, and time is required to find out the erroneously loaded toner cartridge, and the peripheral elements polluted by the different colors may need to be cleaned, so that time and effort are wasted.

Disclosure of Invention

Accordingly, the present invention is directed to an error proofing device for a toner cartridge, which can ensure that a user loads a predetermined toner cartridge into a correct position, thereby avoiding waste of time and money.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned objects, the present invention discloses a toner cartridge error preventing device for limiting the possibility of assembling a specific toner cartridge into an electronic imaging device after rotating around a rotation axis, the toner cartridge error preventing device comprising a guiding portion and a fixing portion; the guide part is arranged on the electronic imaging device and comprises an axle center groove and a positioning groove, the axle center groove is intersected with the rotating axle center, the positioning groove is provided with an arc section, and the curvature center of the arc section is positioned on the rotating axle center; the fixing part is arranged at one end of the toner cartridge and comprises a shaft post and a side post, wherein the shaft post is positioned at the rotating shaft center and stretches into the shaft center groove, the side post and the shaft post are separated and stretch into the positioning groove, and when the toner cartridge rotates, the side post moves along the arc section of the positioning groove.

The invention also discloses a toner cartridge, which is used for being assembled into an electronic imaging device after rotating around a rotating shaft center, the electronic imaging device is provided with a guide part, the guide part comprises a shaft center groove and a positioning groove, the shaft center groove is intersected with the rotating shaft center, the positioning groove is provided with a circular arc section, the curvature center of the circular arc section is positioned on the rotating shaft center, and the toner cartridge comprises a shell and a fixing part; the fixing part is arranged at one end of the shell and comprises a shaft post and a side post, the shaft post is positioned at the rotating shaft center and is used for extending into the shaft center groove, the side post is spaced from the shaft post and is used for extending into the positioning groove, and when the toner cartridge rotates, the side post moves along the arc section of the positioning groove.

Because the structure of the fixing portion of the toner cartridge with different characteristics (such as color) corresponds to the structure of the guiding portion of the electronic imaging device at different positions, the specific toner cartridge can only be combined with the specific guiding portion, and other toner cartridges which are not preset cannot be assembled. Therefore, the error-proofing device for the toner cartridge can ensure that a user assembles the preset toner cartridge to the correct position of the electronic imaging device, so that time-consuming correction errors after error assembly are avoided, and the purposes of saving time and money are achieved.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a toner cartridge error proofing apparatus according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a toner cartridge error proofing device according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a guide portion of a toner cartridge error proofing device according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a front view of the fixing portion of the toner cartridge error proofing device of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 5 through 8 are schematic diagrams illustrating operation of the toner cartridge error proofing apparatus according to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view of a toner cartridge error proofing device according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 10 to 14 are schematic diagrams illustrating an operation of a toner cartridge error proofing device according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[ symbolic description ]

10 toner cartridge

10' toner cartridge

30 guide portion 32 axial slot 322 first inlet

324 first extension 325 wide mouth

34 positioning groove 341 arc section

342 narrow opening 343 second inlet

344 second extension 36 stop surface

38 accommodating portion

30' guide 32' axial slot 324' first extension

325 'wide mouth 34' positioning groove

341 'arc segment 342' narrow mouth

344' second extension

40 outer casing

50 fixing portion 52 shaft column 54 side column

50' fixing portion 52' shaft post 54' side post

60 carbon powder box error proofing device

Error proofing device for 60' toner cartridge

Arotation axis

Af rotation axis

D _MAX Maximum outer diameter

D _MIN Minimum outer diameter

Detailed Description

Referring to fig. 1 and 2, a toner cartridge 10 according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention is configured to be assembled into an electronic imaging device (not shown) after being rotated around a rotation axis a, the electronic imaging device has a guiding portion 30 and a receiving portion 38, the toner cartridge 10 has a housing 40 and a fixing portion 50 disposed at one end of the housing 40, the guiding portion 30 and the fixing portion 50 together form a toner cartridge error preventing device 60, and the toner cartridge error preventing device 60 is configured to limit a specific toner cartridge (i.e. the toner cartridge 10) from being assembled into the receiving portion 38 of the electronic imaging device after being rotated around the rotation axis a.

Referring to fig. 3, the guiding portion 30 has an axial slot 32 and a positioning slot 34, the axial slot 32 extends vertically and is spaced apart from the positioning slot 34 by a predetermined distance, the axial slot 32 intersects the rotation axis a, the positioning slot 34 has a circular arc segment 341, the circular arc segment 341 has a narrow opening 342 with a width smaller than that of the rest, and the curvature center of the circular arc segment 341 is located on the rotation axis a. The outer edge (i.e., top edge) of the guiding portion 30 has a stop surface 36, the axial slot 32 has a first inlet 322 located at the center of the stop surface 36, and a first extension 324 extending vertically downward from the first inlet 322 and intersecting the rotation axis a, the positioning slot 34 has a second inlet 343 located at the stop surface 36, and a second extension 344 extending vertically downward from the second inlet 343, the circular arc segment 341 extends from the bottom end of the second extension 344, and the first extension 324 and the second extension 344 are parallel to each other.

Referring to fig. 2 and 4, the fixing portion 50 includes a shaft post 52 and a side post 54, the shaft post 52 is located at the rotation axis a and extends into the axial slot 32 of the guiding portion 30, the side post 54 is spaced apart from the shaft post 52 by a predetermined distance and extends into the positioning slot 34 of the guiding portion 30, the shaft post 52 and the side post 54 are parallel to the rotation axis a, when the toner cartridge 10 rotates, the side post 54 can move along the arc segment 341 of the positioning slot 34, and the narrow opening 342 of the arc segment 341 allows the side post 54 to push through. The cross section of the axle 52 is non-circular such that the outer diameter of the axle 52 varies with angle at a minimum outer diameter D _MIN And a maximum outer diameter D _MAX In this embodiment, the cross section of the shaft 52 is circular and has two opposite flat surfaces, the maximum outer diameter D _MAX I.e. the diameter of the circle, the minimum outer diameter D _MIN I.e., the vertical distance of the two cutting planes, the width of the first inlet 322 of the axial slot 32 is between the minimum outer diameter D of the axle 52 _MIN And maximum outer diameter D _MAX In the present embodiment, the width of the first inlet 322 is only slightly larger than the minimum outer diameter D _MIN When the side post 54 enters the second extension portion 344 from the second inlet 343 of the positioning slot 34, the shaft post 54 can be moved from the first positionThe inlet 322 enters the first extension portion 324, and the intersection of the first extension portion 324 and the rotation axis A has a wide portion 325, and the width of the wide portion 325 is larger than the width of the rest of the first extension portion 324 and slightly larger than the maximum outer diameter D of the shaft 52 _MAX Allowing the peg 52 to freely rotate within the wide mouth 325.

Since the toner cartridge error preventing device 60 is used to limit the assembly of toner cartridges containing toner of a specific color or having a specific characteristic to a predetermined position of the electrophotographic device, the toner cartridge 10 containing cyan (cyan) toner and the guide 30, which can only be combined with the fixing portion 50 of the toner cartridge 10, will be described below with reference to the drawings. Referring to FIG. 5, when a user wants to assemble the toner cartridge 10 to the electronic imaging device, the user first moves the toner cartridge 10 horizontally from top to bottom toward the accommodating portion 38, the jamb 54 enters the second extension portion 344 through the second inlet 343, and then the shaft 52 has its minimum outer diameter D _MIN Enter the first extension 324 through the first inlet 322; as shown in fig. 6 and 7, when the post 52 moves to the wide portion 325, the side post 54 just enters the arc segment 341 of the positioning slot 34, and then the toner cartridge 10 is rotated counterclockwise (as viewed in fig. 6 and 7) about the rotation axis a, and the post 52 rotates in place in the wide portion 325 about the rotation axis a, and the side post 54 moves along the arc segment 341; as shown in FIG. 8, the assembly process of the toner cartridge 10 and the electronic imaging device is completed until the side post 54 is pushed through the slot 342 of the circular arc segment 341 by the continued rotation of the user, as shown in FIG. 1, in which case the side post 54 cannot be pushed through the slot 342 in the opposite direction to disengage the toner cartridge 10 from the guide 30 unless a particular force is applied, since the side post 54 is restricted by the slot 342.

As can be seen from the above, since the guide portion 30 has a special design, only the toner cartridge 10 having the structure corresponding to the fixing portion 50 can be assembled as if only a specific key can be inserted into and opened from the lock, and therefore, the toner cartridge error preventing device 60 can ensure that the correct toner cartridge is assembled, and the guide portion 30 having different structures is disposed at different positions in the electronic imaging device, so that the toner cartridges 10 having different colors can be assembled at the preset correct positions, and the following description will be given by taking a toner cartridge having other colors as an example.

Referring to FIG. 9, a second preferred embodiment of a toner cartridge 10' containing black (black) toner is shown, the toner cartridge 10' is substantially identical to the toner cartridge 10 of the first preferred embodiment, the toner cartridge 10' also has a fixing portion 50', the fixing portion 50' has a post 52' and a side post 54', but the distance and relative position between the post 52' and the side post 54' are different from those of the first preferred embodiment; on the other hand, the electronic imaging device has a guiding portion 30', the guiding portion 30' has a structure substantially the same as that of the guiding portion 30 provided in the first preferred embodiment, except that the distance between the axial slot 32 'and the positioning slot 34' is smaller, the length of the second extending portion 344 'is shorter, and the position of the narrow opening 342' is different from that of the first preferred embodiment; the guide 30' and the fixing portion 50' together form another toner cartridge error proofing device 60'.

When a user wants to assemble the black toner cartridge 10 'to the electronic imaging device, the process steps are substantially the same as those of the first preferred embodiment, as shown in fig. 10 to 13, the toner cartridge 10' is moved downward, the side post 54 'enters the second extension 344' first, then the post 52 'enters the first extension 324', and when the post 52 'moves to the wide portion 325', the side post 54 'just enters the arc 341', and then the toner cartridge 10 'is rotated counterclockwise (as viewed in fig. 11 and 12) about the rotation axis a' until the side post 54 'is pushed through the narrow portion 342' due to the continuous forced rotation, thereby completing the process of assembling the toner cartridge 10 'and the electronic imaging device, as shown in fig. 13 and 14, and the user stops rotating the toner cartridge 10'.

As can be seen from the comparison between the first preferred embodiment and the second preferred embodiment, if the user takes the toner cartridge 10 to be combined with the guide portion 30', the toner cartridge 10 and the electronic imaging device cannot be assembled smoothly because the structure of the fixing portion 50 of the toner cartridge 10 and the structure of the guide portion 30' are not corresponding, and similarly, if the user takes the toner cartridge 10 'to be combined with the guide portion 30, the toner cartridge 10' and the electronic imaging device cannot be assembled smoothly. In summary, the error proofing device 60,60' can ensure that the user can assemble the toner cartridge with specific color or characteristic to the correct position of the electronic imaging device, thereby avoiding the waste of materials and time-consuming correction after error assembly, and even cleaning the peripheral components polluted by the toner with different colors, so as to achieve the purpose of saving time and money.

The structure of the toner cartridge error proofing device 60,60' may vary in accordance with the spirit of the present invention, for example, the post 52 or the jamb 54 need not be parallel to the rotational axis A, and may be of other configurations or shapes without limitation; similarly, the structures of the axial slot 32 and the positioning slot 34 may also have other variations according to the structures of the axle 52 and the side post 54, for example, the first extension portion 324 and the second extension portion 344 may not be parallel to each other or may not extend vertically downward, as long as the structures of the axial slot 32 and the positioning slot 34 can match the structures of the axle 52 and the side post 54; in other embodiments, the jamb 54 can enter the guide 30 simultaneously with the jamb 52, even though the jamb 54 can enter the guide 30 earlier than the jamb 52; the narrow opening 342 of the arc segment 341 of the positioning slot 34 is mainly used for positioning the side post 54, and in other embodiments, the narrow opening 342 may be changed into other structures, for example, a spring plate or the like may be disposed on the arc segment 341 to achieve the same effect.

It should be understood that the above detailed description with reference to the drawings is provided only for illustrating the technical contents and features of the present invention, and that various simple modifications, substitutions or omissions of elements are included in the scope of the present invention as will be apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art after understanding the technical contents and features of the present invention.

Claims

1. A toner cartridge error-proofing device, characterized in that it is used to restrict a specific toner cartridge from rotating around a rotation axis before it can be assembled into an electronic imaging device. The toner cartridge error-proofing device includes: :

A guide portion is provided on the electronic imaging device. The guide portion includes an axis groove and a positioning groove. The axis groove intersects with the rotation axis. The positioning groove has an arc segment. The arc segment The center of curvature is located on the axis of rotation; and

A fixed part is provided at one end of the toner cartridge. The fixed part includes an axle column and a side column. The axle column is located at the center of the rotation axis and extends into the axis groove. The side column is spaced apart from the axle column. And extends into the positioning groove, when the toner cartridge rotates, the side column moves along the arc segment of the positioning groove;

Wherein, the outer edge of the guide part has a stop surface, the axis groove has a first inlet located on the stop surface, and a first extension part extends from the first inlet and intersects with the rotation axis, The positioning groove has a second inlet located on the stop surface, and a second extension part extending from the second inlet, and the arc segment extends from the second extension part;

Wherein, the cross section of the shaft column is non-circular, so that the outer diameter of the shaft column changes between a minimum outer diameter and a maximum outer diameter with different angles, and the width of the first inlet is between the minimum outer diameter and the maximum outer diameter. diameter and the maximum outer diameter, so that when the side column enters the second extension part from the second inlet, the shaft column can enter the first extension part from the first inlet, and the first extension part and the rotation axis The center intersection has a wide mouth that is wider than the rest, so that the axis column can rotate in the wide mouth.

2. The toner cartridge error-proofing device according to claim 1, wherein the shaft column and the side column are both parallel to the rotation axis.

3. The toner cartridge error-proofing device according to claim 1, wherein the arc section of the positioning groove has a narrow opening through which the side pillar can squeeze.

4. The toner cartridge error proofing device according to claim 1, wherein the first extension extends downward from the first inlet.

5. The toner cartridge error proofing device according to claim 1, wherein the first extension part and the second extension part are parallel to each other.

6. A toner cartridge that is used to rotate around a rotation axis and then be assembled into an electronic imaging device. The electronic imaging device has a guide part, and the guide part includes an axis groove and a positioning groove. The axis groove intersects with the rotation axis. The positioning groove has an arc segment. The center of curvature of the arc segment is located on the rotation axis. It is characterized in that the toner cartridge contains:

a shell; and

A fixed part is provided at one end of the housing. The fixed part includes an axle column and a side column. The axle column is located at the center of the rotation axis and is used to extend into the axle center groove. The side column is spaced apart from the axle column. And used to extend into the positioning groove, when the toner cartridge rotates, the side column moves along the arc segment of the positioning groove;

Wherein, the outer edge of the guide part of the electronic imaging device has a stop surface, the axial groove has a first inlet located on the stop surface, and a first extension part extends from the first inlet and is connected with the stop surface. The rotation axes intersect, the positioning groove has a second inlet located on the stop surface, and a second extension part extending from the second inlet, and the arc segment extends from the second extension part;

7. The toner cartridge according to claim 6, wherein the shaft column and the side column are both parallel to the rotation axis.

8. The toner cartridge according to claim 6, wherein the arc section of the positioning groove has a narrow opening for the side post to squeeze through.