CN210119664U

CN210119664U - Toner cartridge and image forming apparatus

Info

Publication number: CN210119664U
Application number: CN201920928943.9U
Authority: CN
Inventors: 小池奖
Original assignee: Toshiba TEC Corp
Current assignee: Toshiba TEC Corp
Priority date: 2019-06-20
Filing date: 2019-06-20
Publication date: 2020-02-28
Anticipated expiration: 2029-06-20

Abstract

The utility model provides a make invariable toner cartridge and image forming device of supply volume of toner. The toner cartridge of the embodiment includes: a housing having a space for accommodating toner formed therein; the stirring part is composed of a stirring shaft which is rotatably arranged on the shell and a stirring blade which is arranged on the stirring shaft, and the stirring part is used for stirring the toner; a supply part composed of a supply shaft rotatably provided on the housing and a helical blade provided on the supply shaft, the supply part conveying the toner toward one end of the housing; a transmission part arranged outside the shell and used for transmitting the driving force for rotating the stirring shaft and the supply shaft; and a one-way driving unit provided on a power transmission path between the transmission unit and the supply shaft, the one-way driving unit transmitting only a driving force for rotating the supply shaft in the first rotational direction to the supply shaft. By the utility model discloses, can avoid appearing the phenomenon of predicting the surplus of the colour toner in wrong toner box.

Description

Toner cartridge and image forming apparatus

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present invention relate to a toner cartridge and an image forming apparatus.

Background

Conventionally, a toner cartridge in an image forming apparatus is used to replenish a transfer portion with toner, and rotation time of a motor for replenishing toner in the toner cartridge is recorded as a means for predicting a remaining amount of toner in the toner cartridge.

However, this requires that the toner replenishment amount per unit rotation time of the motor that replenishes toner must be constant. However, as the interval time between toner replenishing operations becomes longer, toner is compressed by its own weight without being agitated for a long time, and the amount of toner replenished per unit rotation time of a motor for replenishing toner thereafter becomes larger, which leads to a phenomenon of erroneous prediction of the remaining amount of the toner cartridge.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

The utility model provides a make invariable toner cartridge and image forming device of supply volume of toner.

The toner cartridge of the embodiment is used for conveying toner to a transfer part of an image forming apparatus, and comprises: a housing having a space for accommodating the toner formed therein; a stirring section composed of a stirring shaft rotatably provided on the housing and a stirring blade provided on the stirring shaft, the stirring section stirring the toner; a supply portion composed of a supply shaft rotatably provided on the housing and a helical blade provided on the supply shaft, the supply portion conveying the toner toward one end of the housing; a transmission part which is arranged outside the shell and transmits driving force for rotating the stirring shaft and the supply shaft; and a one-way driving unit provided on a power transmission path between the transmission unit and the supply shaft, the one-way driving unit transmitting only the driving force for rotating the supply shaft in a first rotational direction to the supply shaft.

An image forming apparatus of another embodiment includes an original conveying portion that conveys an original to be transferred; a scanner section that reads the original to generate image data of the original; a transfer section that forms a toner image on a sheet based on the image data; a toner cartridge that conveys toner to the transfer portion; a fixing section that fixes the toner image on the sheet; the toner cartridge includes: a housing having a space for accommodating the toner formed therein; a stirring section composed of a stirring shaft rotatably provided on the housing and a stirring blade provided on the stirring shaft, the stirring section stirring the toner; a supply portion composed of a supply shaft rotatably provided on the housing and a helical blade provided on the supply shaft, the supply portion conveying the toner toward one end of the housing; a transmission part which is arranged outside the shell and transmits driving force for rotating the stirring shaft and the supply shaft; and a one-way driving unit provided on a power transmission path between the transmission unit and the supply shaft, the one-way driving unit transmitting only the driving force for rotating the supply shaft in a first rotational direction to the supply shaft.

Through the utility model discloses, the phenomenon of the compressed toner that leads to because toner supply interval time overlength can not appear, can make the toner supply volume of the every unit rotational time of the motor of supply toner stabilize, avoid appearing the phenomenon of the surplus of the toner in the prediction error toner box.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of an image forming apparatus of the present embodiment;

fig. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of the toner cartridge of the present embodiment;

fig. 3 is a structural sectional view of the toner cartridge of the present embodiment, as viewed from a-a of fig. 2;

fig. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram in which the supply shaft and the agitating shaft rotate simultaneously in the toner cartridge of the present embodiment;

fig. 5 is a schematic view of a configuration in which a stirring shaft in the toner cartridge of the present embodiment rotates alone;

fig. 6 is an operation flowchart of the toner cartridge of the present embodiment.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, a toner cartridge and an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

In the drawings, the same reference numerals are used for the same portions. The "conveyance direction" related to the sheet (paper) is defined as a direction from the paper feed cassette to the paper discharge portion, that is, the paper feed cassette end is defined as "upstream side" and the paper discharge end is defined as "downstream side". In addition, "above" and "below" refer to "up" and "down" directions when the image forming apparatus shown in fig. 1 is normally placed on the floor.

As shown in fig. 1, the image forming apparatus 1 of the present embodiment is, for example, an MFP (Multi-function peripherals), a printer, a copier, or the like. Next, an example of a case where the image forming apparatus 1 is an MFP will be described.

The image forming apparatus 1 has a main body 11. A document table 12 made of transparent glass is provided on the upper portion of the main body 11. An Automatic Document Feeder (ADF)13 is provided on the document table 12. An operation unit 14 is provided at an upper portion of the main body 11. The operation unit 14 includes an operation panel 14a having various keys and a touch panel type operation display unit 14 b.

A scanner unit 15 is provided below the ADF 13. The scanner section 15 reads a document conveyed by the ADF13 or a document set on the document table 12. The scanner section 15 generates image data of an original. For example, the scanner section 15 has an image sensor 16. For example, the image sensor 16 may be a contact type image sensor.

The image sensor 16 moves along the document table 12 when reading an image of a document placed on the document table 12. The image sensor 16 reads an original image on one page of an original line by line.

When reading an image of a document conveyed by ADF13, image sensor 16 reads the conveyed document at a fixed position shown in fig. 1.

The main body 11 has a transfer portion 17 at a central portion in the height direction. The main body 11 includes sheet feed cassettes 18A and 18B and a manual sheet feed unit 18C at a lower portion.

The paper feed cassettes 18A and 18B are disposed inside the main body 11. The paper feed cassettes 18A and 18B are arranged to overlap one another in order from the top toward the bottom.

The manual paper feed unit 18C protrudes below a reverse conveyance path 84, which will be described later, to the side of the main body 11.

The paper feed cassettes 18A and 18B and the manual paper feed unit 18C accommodate sheets (paper) P of various sizes.

The paper feed cassette 18A (18B) has a paper feed mechanism 19A (19B). Note that the paper feed cassette 18A (18B) having the paper feed mechanism 19A (19B) means that the paper feed cassette 18A has the paper feed mechanism 19A and the paper feed cassette 18B has the paper feed mechanism 19B. The same applies to the following description.

The paper feed mechanism 19A (19B) takes out the sheets P one by one from the paper feed cassette 18A (18B) and conveys the sheets P to a conveyance path. For example, the paper feeding mechanism 19A (19B) may include a pickup roller, a separation roller, and a paper feeding roller.

The manual paper feed unit 18C has a manual paper feed mechanism 19C. The manual paper feed mechanism 19C takes out the sheets P one by one from the manual paper feed unit 18C and conveys them to the conveyance path.

The transfer section 17 forms an image on the sheet P based on image data read by the scanner section 15 or image data made by a personal computer or the like. The transfer unit 17 is, for example, a tandem color printer.

As shown in fig. 1, the transfer section 17 includes image forming sections 51Y, 51M, 51C, 51K of respective colors such as yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), black (K), etc., an exposure device 52, and an intermediate transfer belt 53. In the present embodiment, the transfer unit 17 includes four image forming units 51Y, 51M, 51C, and 51K. The transfer section 17 has a so-called quad image forming section.

The configuration of the transfer section 17 is not limited to this, and the transfer section may have two or three image forming sections, or may have five or more image forming sections.

The image forming units 51Y, 51M, 51C, and 51K are disposed below the intermediate transfer belt 53. The image forming units 51Y, 51M, 51C, and 51K are arranged in parallel along the downstream side from the upstream side in the moving direction (the direction from the left side to the right side in the figure) below the intermediate transfer belt 53.

The exposure unit 52 irradiates the image forming sections 51Y, 51M, 51C, and 51K with exposure light L, respectively_Y、L_M、L_C、L_K. The exposure unit 52 may be configured to generate a laser scanning beam as exposure light. The exposure unit 52 may be configured to include a solid-state scanning element such as an led (light Emitting diode) that generates exposure light.

The image forming portions 51Y, 51M, 51C, and 51K have the same configuration except that the toner colors are different. As the toner, any of a general color toner and a decoloring toner may be used. The decoloring toner is a toner that becomes transparent when heated at a temperature equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature. The image forming apparatus 1 may be an image forming apparatus capable of using the decoloring toner, or may be an image forming apparatus incapable of using the decoloring toner.

As shown in fig. 1, a toner supply unit 66 is disposed above the image forming units 51Y, 51M, 51C, and 51K.

The toner supply unit 66 supplies toner to the developers in the image forming units 51Y, 51M, 51C, and 51K, respectively. The toner supply unit 66 includes toner cartridges 66Y, 66M, 66C, and 66K. The toner cartridges 66Y, 66M, 66C, and 66K store yellow, magenta, cyan, and black toners, respectively.

Each of the toner cartridges 66Y, 66M, 66C, and 66K is provided with an unillustrated indicator portion for causing the main body 11 to detect the type of toner stored therein. The identification portion includes at least information of the color of the toner cartridges 66Y, 66M, 66C, and 66K and information identifying whether the toner is normal toner or achromatic toner. When the image forming portions 51Y, 51M, 51C, 51K in the transfer portion 17 lack toner, the toner cartridges 66Y, 66M, 66C, 66K respectively convey toner to the image forming portions 51Y, 51M, 51C, 51K of the transfer portion 17.

The intermediate transfer belt 53 moves circularly. The intermediate transfer belt 53 is stretched over a driving roller 69 and a plurality of driven rollers 70.

The secondary transfer roller 71 faces the drive roller 69 across the intermediate transfer belt 53. The contact portion between the intermediate transfer belt 53 and the secondary transfer roller 71 constitutes a secondary transfer position. The driving roller 69 drives the intermediate transfer belt 53 to rotate.

When the sheet P passes through the secondary transfer position, a secondary transfer voltage is applied to the secondary transfer roller 71. When a secondary transfer voltage is applied to the secondary transfer roller 71, the secondary transfer roller 71 secondarily transfers the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 53 onto the sheet P.

As shown in fig. 1, a belt cleaner 72 is disposed at a position facing one of the driven rollers 70 across the intermediate transfer belt 53. The belt cleaner 72 removes the residual transfer toner on the intermediate transfer belt 53 from the intermediate transfer belt 53.

A conveying roller 75A and a registration roller 76 are provided on a conveying path from the paper feed cassette 18A to the secondary transfer roller 71. The conveying roller 75A conveys the sheet P taken out of the sheet feeding cassette 18A by the sheet feeding mechanism 19A.

The registration rollers 76 align the positions of the leading ends of the sheets P fed from the feed rollers 75A at the mutual contact positions. The mutually abutting positions on the registration rollers 76 constitute registration positions. When the leading end of the toner image reaches the secondary transfer position, the registration roller 76 conveys the sheet P so that the leading end of the transfer area of the toner image on the sheet P reaches the secondary transfer position.

As shown in fig. 1, a conveying roller 75B is provided on a conveying path from the paper feed cassette 18B to the conveying roller 75A. The conveying roller 75B conveys the sheet P taken out of the sheet feeding cassette 18B by the sheet feeding mechanism 19B to the conveying roller 75A.

A conveyance path is formed between the manual paper feeding mechanism 19C and the registration roller 76 by a conveyance guide 78. The manual paper feed mechanism 19C conveys the sheet P taken out of the manual paper feed unit 18C to the conveyance guide 78. The sheet P moving along the conveyance guide 78 reaches the registration roller 76.

A fixing unit 81 is disposed downstream (upper side in the drawing) of the secondary transfer roller 71 in the conveying direction of the sheet P. Although not shown, the fixing portion 81 has a halogen lamp and a driving motor for conveying the sheet P. The fixing unit 81 heats the sheet P with a halogen lamp to fix the toner image on the sheet P.

A discharge roller 82 is disposed downstream (upper left side in the drawing) of the fixing section 81 in the conveying direction of the sheet P. The discharge roller 82 discharges the sheet P to the sheet discharge portion 83.

A reverse conveyance path 84 is disposed downstream (right side in the drawing) of the fixing section 81 in the conveyance direction of the sheet P. The reverse conveyance path 84 reverses the sheet P and guides the sheet P to the secondary transfer roller 71. The reverse conveyance path 84 is used when performing duplex printing.

Next, the configuration of the control unit of the image forming apparatus 1 will be described.

The control section has a system control section, a Read Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), an interface (I/F), an input-output control circuit, a paper feed and conveyance control circuit, an image formation control circuit, and a fixing control circuit.

The system control unit controls the entire image forming apparatus 1. The system control unit implements a processing function for forming an image by executing a program stored in a ROM or a RAM described later. As the device configuration of the system control unit, for example, a processor such as a cpu (central Processing unit) may be used.

The ROM stores a control program and control data for controlling basic operations of the image forming process.

The RAM is a work memory in the control unit. For example, in the RAM, a control program or control data of the ROM is loaded as necessary. The RAM temporarily stores image data sent from the input/output control circuit or data sent from the system control unit.

The I/F communicates with a connection device connected to the main body 11. For example, the scanner unit 15 is communicably connected to the I/F. Furthermore, an external device can be connected to the I/F. Examples of the external device include a user terminal and a facsimile apparatus.

The input/output control circuit controls the operation panel 14a and the operation display unit 14 b. The input/output control circuit transmits operation inputs received from the operation panel 14a and the operation display unit 14b to the system control unit.

The paper feed and conveyance control circuit controls a drive system included in the main body 11. For example, the drive system includes drive motors that drive the paper feeding mechanisms 19A, 19B, the transport rollers 75A, 75B, the manual paper feeding mechanism 19C, the registration rollers 76, and the toner cartridges 66Y, 66M, 66C, 66K. More preferably, a plurality of drive motors are provided.

A plurality of sensors are electrically connected to the paper feed and conveyance control circuit. For example, the plurality of sensors includes a plurality of sheet detection sensors. The plurality of sheet detection sensors are disposed in the conveyance path of the main body 11, the paper feed cassettes 18A and 18B, and the manual paper feed unit 18C. Each sheet detection sensor detects the presence or absence of a sheet P at the sensor arrangement position.

The detection outputs of the sensors are sent from the paper feed and conveyance control circuit to the system control section.

The paper feed and conveyance control circuit controls the drive motor based on a control signal from the system control unit and detection outputs of the sensors.

The image formation control circuit controls the transfer section 17 in accordance with a control signal from the system control section.

The fixing control circuit controls the drive motor of the fixing unit 81 and the halogen lamp, respectively, based on a control signal from the system control unit.

Next, a specific configuration of the toner cartridge 66Y will be described with reference to fig. 2 and 3.

Hereinafter, since the toner cartridges 66M, 66C, and 66K have the same configuration as the toner cartridge 66Y and the toner cartridges each contain only different colors of toner, the configuration common to the toner cartridges 66M, 66C, and 66K will be described by way of an example of the toner cartridge 66Y.

Fig. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of the toner cartridge 66Y according to the present embodiment.

Fig. 3 is a structural sectional view of the toner cartridge 66Y of the present embodiment, as viewed from a-a in fig. 2.

The toner cartridge 66Y conveys toner to the image forming portion 51Y of the transfer portion 17 of the image forming apparatus 1. As shown in fig. 2, the toner cartridge 66Y is constituted by the casing 61, the stirring section 62, the supplying section 63, the transmitting section 64, and the one-way driving section 65.

As shown in fig. 2, the housing 61 is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped as a main body of the toner cartridge 66Y, the inside of the housing 61 is a hollow structure, and a space for accommodating toner is formed inside the housing 61. A first opening and a second opening are formed on both side walls in the longitudinal direction of the housing 61 (the left-right direction shown in fig. 2 is the longitudinal direction of the housing 61), respectively. An opening 611 through which toner is discharged is formed in a bottom portion near one end of the housing 61 in the longitudinal direction, and toner can be supplied to the transfer portion 17 through the opening 611.

As shown in fig. 2 and 3, the stirring section 62 is composed of a rotatable stirring shaft 621 and stirring blades 622 provided on the outer peripheral surface of the stirring shaft 621 in the axial direction of the stirring shaft 621. The stirring shaft 621 is formed in a shape of a circular roller, both ends of the stirring shaft 621 are erected at the first opening of the housing 61 through a bearing, and the stirring shaft 621 is rotatably provided by the driving force transmitted from the transmission part 64. The stirring blade 622 is formed in a rectangular shape and has a plurality of stirring blades 622, and the plurality of stirring blades 622 are provided at a certain distance on the outer circumferential surface of the stirring shaft 621 (refer to fig. 3). The stirring section 62 stirs the toner contained in the housing 61 with the rotation of the stirring shaft 621 by the plurality of stirring blades 622, avoiding the toner from being compressed by its own weight.

As shown in fig. 2 and 3, the supply portion 63 is composed of a rotatable supply shaft 631 and a spiral blade 632 provided on the outer peripheral surface of the supply shaft 631 along the axial direction of the supply shaft 631. The supply shaft 631 is formed in a shape of a circular roller having a diameter slightly smaller than the agitating shaft 621, and both ends of the supply shaft 631 are bridged at a second opening of the housing 61, which is slightly closer to the lower side of the housing 61 than the first opening, by bearings. The supply shaft 631 is rotatably provided by the driving force transmitted through the transmission 64. The spiral blade 632 is formed in a spiral shape on the outer peripheral surface of the supply shaft 631 along the axial direction of the supply shaft 631 so as to feed the toner to one end of the housing 61. The supply portion 63 conveys the toner in the housing 61 to the end of the housing 61 where the opening portion 611 is formed by the rotation of the supply shaft 631 by the spiral blade 632.

As shown in fig. 2, a first motor 671 and a second motor 672 are provided in the main body 11 of the image forming apparatus 1, the first motor 671 and the second motor 672 are drive sources that drive the stirring shaft 621 and the supply shaft 631 to rotate, and the rotation directions of the output shafts of the first motor 671 and the second motor 672 are unique and different. The transmission portion 64 is provided outside one end of the housing 61 in the longitudinal direction away from the opening portion 611. The transmission unit 64 is used to transmit the driving force output from the output shaft of the first motor 671 or the second motor 672 to the supply shaft 631 of the supply unit 63 and the stirring shaft 621 of the stirring unit 62, and the transmission unit 64 can receive the driving force transmitted from only one motor at a time. The driving direction (e.g., the first driving direction t1 in fig. 4 and the second driving direction t2 in fig. 5) of the driving force transmitted from the transmission 64 to the supply shaft 631 and the stirring shaft 621 varies according to the rotation direction of the output shaft of different motors, i.e., the transmission 64 can transmit the driving force for rotating the supply shaft 631 and the stirring shaft 621 in different rotation directions (e.g., the first rotation direction q1 in fig. 4 and the second rotation direction q2 in fig. 5).

As shown in fig. 2, the one-way driving unit 65 is provided on a power transmission path through which the power transmission unit 64 transmits the driving force to the supply shaft 631 of the supply unit 63 but does not reach the supply shaft 631 (assuming that the driving force is transmitted from the transmission unit 64 as a start point, the driving force is transmitted to the supply shaft 631 as an end point, and a path formed between the start point and the end point is a power transmission path). That is, the one-way driving portion 65 is provided on the power transmission path between the power transmitting portion 64 and the supply shaft 631 of the supply portion 63. Although the unidirectional driver 65 can receive the driving forces in different driving directions (for example, the first driving direction t1 in fig. 4 and the second driving direction t2 in fig. 5) transmitted from the transmission 64, the unidirectional driver transmits only the driving force for rotating the supply shaft 631 in the first rotation direction q1 to the supply shaft 631, that is, the supply shaft 631 can rotate only in the first rotation direction q1 and cannot rotate in the second rotation direction q 2.

Next, a specific configuration of the power transmission unit 64 and the one-way driving unit 65 will be described with reference to fig. 2, 4, and 5.

As shown in fig. 2, the transmission part 64 includes a first gear 641 and a second gear 642, the first gear 641 is disposed at an end of the stirring shaft 621 away from the opening 611 by being keyed, and the first gear 641 transmits the driving force to the stirring shaft 621 of the stirring part 62 to rotate the stirring shaft 621. The second gear 642 is provided at an end of the supply shaft 631 distant from the opening 611, the one-way driving unit 65 is provided between the second gear 642 and the power transmission path of the supply shaft 631, and the second gear 642 transmits the driving force to the one-way driving unit 65.

As shown in fig. 4 and 5, the transmission portion 64 further has a worm 643, and the worm 643 is provided at a position where it meshes with both the first gear 641 and the second gear 642, and the driving force of the first motor 671 or the second motor 672 is transmitted to the first gear 641 and the second gear 642 by the rotation of the worm 643.

The one-way driving unit 65 of the present embodiment is a one-way clutch, and as shown in fig. 2, the one-way clutch is provided at the end of the supply shaft 631 where the second gear 642 is provided. As shown in fig. 4 and 5, the one-way clutch is disposed at the radial center of the second gear 642, transmits the driving force of the second gear 642 rotating in the first rotational direction q1 to the supply shaft 631, and does not transmit the driving force of the second gear 642 rotating in the second rotational direction q 2.

Hereinafter, a specific operation of the toner cartridge 66Y will be described with reference to fig. 4, 5, and 6.

Fig. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram in which the supply shaft and the agitation shaft rotate simultaneously in the toner cartridge 66Y of the present embodiment.

Fig. 5 is a schematic view of a configuration in which the stirring shaft alone rotates in the toner cartridge 66Y of the present embodiment.

Fig. 6 is an operation flowchart of the toner cartridge 66Y of the present embodiment.

First, as shown in Act1 in fig. 6, when the sensor in the image forming portion 51Y detects that its toner concentration in the developer is reduced, a signal is sent to the control portion.

When Act1 ends, Act2 is executed, the control unit detects the value of the timer, and if the time from the last toner replenishment is less than or equal to a predetermined value (time during which the toner is not compressed by its own weight), Act5 is executed, otherwise Act3 is executed.

In the following, the example of performing Act3 first will be described. In Act3, when the time from the previous toner replenishment exceeds a predetermined value, the toner in the toner cartridge 66Y is not stirred for a long time and is likely to be compressed by its own weight, and therefore, only the stirring portion 62 is driven.

As shown in fig. 5, the control unit of the image forming apparatus 1 drives the output shaft of the second motor 672 to rotate, and the first motor 671 does not output a driving force. The second motor 672 transmits the driving force to the worm 643 of the transmission 64 by the rotation of the output shaft, and the worm 643 rotates in the second driving direction t2 shown in fig. 5. Thereby, the first gear 641 and the second gear 642 meshing with the worm 643 are driven. The first gear 641 and the second gear 642 rotate in a second rotational direction q2 shown in fig. 5.

Since the one-way driving portion 65 is further provided between the second gear 642 of the power transmission portion 64 and the power transmission path of the supply shaft 631, the one-way driving portion 65 does not transmit the driving force of the second gear 642 rotating in the second rotating direction q2, so that the driving force of the second gear 642 cannot be transmitted to the supply shaft 631, and the supply shaft 631 remains stationary, i.e., the toner is not conveyed to the opening 611 of the toner cartridge 66Y.

Since the first gear 641 is keyed on the stirring shaft 621, the driving force of the first gear 641 rotating in the second rotation direction q2 can be transmitted to the stirring shaft 621, the stirring shaft 621 starts to rotate, and the toner compressed by its own weight in the toner cartridge 66Y is stirred by the rotation of the stirring shaft 621, so that the toner is softened.

The above Act3 ends, performing Act 4.

When the control unit detects that the stirring shaft 621 has rotated for a predetermined time (after the toner compressed by its own weight has been softened by stirring for a predetermined time), the output shaft of the second motor 672 is stopped from rotating.

After Act4 is completed, Act5 is executed, and toner is supplied by driving stirring unit 62 and supply unit 63.

As shown in fig. 4, the control unit of the image forming apparatus 1 drives the output shaft of the first motor 671 to rotate, and the second motor 672 does not output the driving force. The first motor 671 transmits a driving force to the worm 643 of the power transmission unit 64 by the rotation of the output shaft, and the worm 643 rotates in the first driving direction t1 shown in fig. 4. Thereby, the first gear 641 and the second gear 642 meshing with the worm 643 are driven. The first gear 641 and the second gear 642 rotate in a first rotational direction q1 shown in fig. 4.

When the driving force of the first gear 641 rotating in the first rotation direction q1 is transmitted to the stirring shaft 621, the stirring shaft 621 starts rotating, and the toner in the toner cartridge 66Y is continuously stirred by the rotation of the stirring shaft 621, so that the toner is kept in a softened state.

Since the one-way driving portion 65 provided between the second gear 642 of the power transmission portion 64 and the power transmission path of the supply shaft 631 does not affect the transmission of the driving force of the second gear 642 rotating in the first rotation direction q1, the driving force of the second gear 642 is transmitted to the supply shaft 631 through the one-way driving portion 65, the supply shaft 631 starts rotating, and the toner is conveyed toward the opening 611 of the toner cartridge 66Y by the spiral blade 632 on the supply shaft 631.

The control unit opens the opening 611 of the toner cartridge 66Y, drops the toner in the toner cartridge 66Y, and completes the supply of the toner to the transfer unit 17.

The above Act5 ends and returns to the beginning.

In the present embodiment, when the toner replenishment interval time is short, the first motor 671 capable of rotating the stirring shaft 621 and the supply shaft 631 simultaneously is driven to complete the supply of the toner while keeping the toner softened.

When the toner replenishment interval time is long, the second motor 672 which can rotate the stirring shaft 621 but does not rotate the supply shaft 631 is driven to soften the toner in the toner cartridge 66Y, and after a predetermined time, the first motor 671 which can rotate the stirring shaft 621 and the supply shaft 631 simultaneously is driven again to complete the toner replenishment.

With the above-described embodiment, by providing the one-way driving portion 65 for transmitting only the driving force for rotating the supply shaft 631 in the first rotation direction q1 on the power transmission path formed between the power transmission portion 64 and the supply shaft 631, it is possible to maintain the toner in the toner cartridge in a softened state when the interval time for replenishing the toner is long, so that the toner is not compressed by its own weight, and the phenomenon of predicting the residual amount of the toner in the wrong toner cartridge is avoided.

The first gear 641, the second gear 642 and the worm 643 form the transmission portion 64, so that the structure of the transmission portion 64 can be simplified, and the processing cost can be reduced.

The use of a one-way clutch as an example of the one-way driving unit 65 can further simplify the structure and reduce the cost for processing the one-way driving unit 65. The one-way clutch is provided at the end of the supply shaft 631 where the second gear 642 is provided, which can save assembly time and improve assembly efficiency.

Although this embodiment shows an example of the structure of the transmission part 64, the structure of the transmission part 64 is not limited thereto, and any structure may be used as long as it can transmit the driving force for rotating the stirring shaft and the supply shaft.

Although the present embodiment shows the one-way clutch as an example of the configuration of the one-way driving unit 65, the configuration of the one-way driving unit 65 is not limited thereto, and may be any configuration as long as it can transmit only the driving force for rotating the supply shaft 631 in the first rotational direction.

In addition, although the present embodiment shows an example in which the driving forces in the different rotational directions of the two motors are transmitted through the transmission portion 64, the number of motors is not limited thereto, and only one motor that can appropriately adjust the different rotational directions may be provided as the case may be. In this case, the time during which the motor can rotate the supply shaft 631 is recorded as a means for predicting the toner remaining amount in the toner cartridge.

According to at least one embodiment described above, toner compression due to an excessively long toner replenishment interval time does not occur, and the toner replenishment amount per unit rotation time of the motor for replenishing toner (i.e., the first motor in the present embodiment) can be stabilized, thereby avoiding the occurrence of a phenomenon in which the remaining amount of toner in the wrong toner cartridge is predicted.

While several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These new embodiments can be implemented in other various manners, and various omissions, substitutions, combinations, and changes can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. These embodiments and modifications are included in the scope and gist of the present invention, and are included in the present invention described in the claims and the equivalent scope thereof.

Claims

1. A toner cartridge that conveys toner to a transfer portion of an image forming apparatus, the toner cartridge comprising:

a housing having a space for accommodating the toner formed therein;

a stirring section composed of a stirring shaft rotatably provided on the housing and a stirring blade provided on the stirring shaft, the stirring section stirring the toner;

a supply portion composed of a supply shaft rotatably provided on the housing and a helical blade provided on the supply shaft, the supply portion conveying the toner toward one end of the housing;

a transmission part which is arranged outside the shell and transmits driving force for rotating the stirring shaft and the supply shaft;

and a one-way driving unit provided on a power transmission path between the transmission unit and the supply shaft, the one-way driving unit transmitting only the driving force for rotating the supply shaft in a first rotational direction to the supply shaft.

2. The toner cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the transmission portion has:

a first gear provided at one end of the stirring shaft, the first gear transmitting the driving force to the stirring shaft;

and a second gear provided at one end of the supply shaft and transmitting the driving force to the one-way driving part.

3. The toner cartridge according to claim 2, wherein the transmission portion further has:

and a worm that is provided at a position where the worm meshes with the first gear and the second gear at the same time, and transmits the driving force to the first gear and the second gear by rotation of the worm.

4. The toner cartridge of claim 3,

the one-way driving part is a one-way clutch.

5. The toner cartridge of claim 4,

the one-way clutch is provided at an end of the supply shaft at which the second gear is provided.

6. An image forming apparatus, comprising:

an original conveying section that conveys an original to be transferred;

a scanner section that reads the original to generate image data of the original;

a transfer section that forms a toner image on a sheet based on the image data;

a toner cartridge that conveys toner to the transfer portion;

a fixing section that fixes the toner image on the sheet;

wherein the toner cartridge has:

a housing having a space for accommodating the toner formed therein;

7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the transmission portion has:

8. The image forming apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the transmission portion further has:

9. The image forming apparatus according to claim 8,

the one-way driving part is a one-way clutch.

10. The image forming apparatus according to claim 9,