CN219872138U - Toner box - Google Patents

Abstract

The present utility model discloses a toner cartridge detachably mountable to an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, the toner cartridge comprising: a housing that can house toner, the housing including a top and a bottom in a first direction, the housing including a front side and a rear side in a second direction; an extension part located at the bottom of the housing in the first direction; an output port communicating with the housing and removing toner from the interior of the housing; the electric connecting piece is fixedly connected to the bottom side of the extension part in the first direction; the electrical connector includes a chip insertable into the electrical connector, the electrical connector being configured to electrically connect with a socket of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus; the electrical connector of the utility model can also assist in positioning the toner cartridge inside the electrophotographic image forming apparatus while establishing a communication link with the electrophotographic image forming apparatus, so that the engagement of the toner cartridge with the electrophotographic image forming apparatus is more convenient.

Description

Toner box

Technical Field

The utility model relates to the technical field of electrophotographic imaging, in particular to a toner box.

Technical Field

The prior art discloses a toner cartridge provided separately from a developing unit as a separate consumable for accommodating toner, which reduces the use cost of the toner cartridge by separately providing a toner accommodating unit having a relatively short life and a developing unit having a longer life; in order for the electrophotographic image forming apparatus to recognize information of the type, capacity, etc. of the toner cartridge, the toner cartridge further includes a memory chip connectable to the electrophotographic image forming apparatus, the memory chip being electrically connected to the electrophotographic image forming apparatus when the toner cartridge is mounted to the electrophotographic image forming apparatus, thereby establishing a communication link between the toner cartridge and the electrophotographic image forming apparatus.

In prior art toner cartridges, the storage chip is attached to the main body portion of the toner cartridge by an electrical connector that is provided with an alignment structure that mates with the engagement portion of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus in order to allow the electrolytic removal surface of the storage chip to be aligned with the electrical contact point of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus, while to facilitate the mounting of the toner cartridge to the electrophotographic image forming apparatus, the main body portion of the toner cartridge is also provided with an alignment structure that mates with the engagement portion of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus; the arrangement of the electrical connector and the main body of the toner cartridge for alignment and positioning respectively makes the structure of the toner cartridge more complex, and is disadvantageous and meets the small-sized requirements of the toner cartridge.

Disclosure of Invention

Therefore, the utility model provides a toner cartridge for solving the technical problems, which is mainly realized by the following technical scheme:

a toner cartridge detachably mountable to an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, the toner cartridge comprising:

a housing that can house toner, the housing including a top and a bottom in a first direction, the housing including a front side and a rear side in a second direction;

an extension part located at the bottom of the housing in the first direction;

an output port communicating with the housing and removing toner from the interior of the housing;

the electric connecting piece is fixedly connected to the bottom side of the extension part in the first direction; the electrical connector includes a chip insertable into the electrical connector, the electrical connector being configured to electrically connect with a socket of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus.

Further, the electrical connector includes an inner socket and an outer socket, the width of the inner socket in the second direction and the third direction being smaller than the width of the outer socket.

Further, a guide part is arranged between the inner socket and the outer socket.

Further, the guide portion is configured as a downwardly inclined guide surface.

Further, the output port is closer to the top than the extension in the first direction.

Further, the chip has an electrical contact surface facing in the second direction.

Further, the lowermost end of the chip in the first direction is higher than the uppermost end of the guide surface.

The beneficial effects are that:

the electric connector can also assist the positioning of the toner box in the electrophotographic imaging apparatus while establishing a communication link with the electrophotographic imaging apparatus, so that the toner box can be conveniently and quickly jointed with the electrophotographic imaging apparatus; the positioning mode of the electric connecting piece is matched with a part of the positioning alignment of the toner box, so that the structure of the toner box is optimized, and the miniaturization requirement of the toner box is met.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a toner cartridge of the present utility model ready for installation into an electrophotographic image forming apparatus;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a developing unit of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus of the present utility model;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the mounting area of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus of the present utility model;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a toner cartridge of the present utility model;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of another angle of the toner cartridge of the present utility model

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of the handle of the present utility model in a first position;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of the stop tab and stop tab of the present utility model with the handle in the second position;

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of the stop tab and stop tab of the present utility model with the handle in a third position;

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of a handle according to another embodiment of the present utility model;

FIG. 10 is a schematic view of an extension of the present utility model;

FIG. 11 is a schematic view of a rib of the present utility model;

FIG. 12 is a schematic view of another angle of the extension of the present utility model;

FIG. 13 is a schematic view of the electrical connector and extension of the present utility model in a partially disassembled state;

FIG. 14 is a schematic view of an electrical connector of the present utility model in alignment with an electrical connection;

FIG. 15 is a schematic view of another angle of the electrical connector of the present utility model in alignment with an electrical connection;

FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional view of an extension of the present utility model in a first direction;

FIG. 17 is a schematic view of an engagement unit of the present utility model;

FIG. 18 is a schematic view of an opening member of the present utility model;

FIG. 19 is a schematic view of the stirring element of the present utility model in an exploded condition;

FIG. 20 is a schematic view of the present utility model in an exploded condition with the bore and seal ring;

FIG. 21 is a schematic view of the present utility model in combination with a seal ring.

Detailed Description

For the purpose of making the technical solutions and technical effects of the embodiments of the present utility model more clear, the technical solutions of the toner cartridge of the present utility model will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is apparent that the described embodiment is only one preferred embodiment of the present utility model, but not all embodiments, and that other embodiments, which are obtained by those skilled in the art without inventive effort, are within the scope of the present utility model based on the embodiments of the present utility model.

As shown in fig. 1, in order to better describe the technical solution in the present utility model, in the following description, the directions of the toner cartridge 100 and the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10 will be defined, the toner cartridge 100 being defined as the up-down direction (first direction) being the direction in which the toner cartridge 100 is mounted to the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10; the front-rear direction (second direction) is positioned as the rotation axis direction of the driven gear 131; the left-right direction (third direction) is perpendicular to both the up-down direction and the front-back direction.

1. Electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10

As shown in fig. 1-3, the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10 includes an image transfer portion including one or more image stations that are substantially identical except for different colors of toners, each of the image stations including a toner cartridge 100 and a developing unit 200, the developing unit 200 being mounted on a common photosensitive unit 300; the developing unit 200 includes a developing housing 210 for accommodating toner, an input port 220 provided at an end of the developing housing 210 for conveying toner from the housing 110 to an inside of the developing housing 210, and a cover 230 covering the input port 220; the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10 further includes a mounting area 400 for mounting the toner cartridge 100, the mounting area 400 corresponding to the number and positions of the developing units 200, the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10 further includes a cover plate 11 for covering the mounting area 400 above the mounting area 400, the cover plate 11 is movable between a first position in an open state and a second position in a closed state, an elastic member (not shown) for maintaining the open state of the cover plate 11 is provided between the cover plate 11 and the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10 body when the cover plate 11 is in the first position, and a locking member (not shown) for maintaining the closed state of the cover plate 11 is provided between the cover plate 11 and the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10 body when the cover plate 11 is in the second position, and a user can push the cover plate 11 to move from the first position to the second position.

1.1, mounting area 400

As shown in fig. 3, the lower interior of the mounting region 400 includes an electrical connection 410; the mounting area 400 further includes one or more limiting members 430, in this embodiment, the limiting members 430 include a limiting post 431 and a limiting groove 432, and the limiting post 431 and the limiting groove 432 are disposed on two opposite sides of the interior of the mounting area 400 with respect to the electrical connection portion 410.

1.2 developing Unit 200

As shown in fig. 2 and 3, a slidable cover 230 is provided on the input port 220 of the developing unit 200, the cover 230 is provided to be slidable between a first position where the input port 220 is closed and a second position where the input port 220 is opened, the cover 230 is provided with an elastic member (not shown) for holding the cover 230 in the first position, and the elastic member allows the developing unit 200 to maintain the closed state of the cover 230 to the input port 220 when not connected to the toner cartridge 100, preventing the toner leakage process inside the developing unit 200.

2. Toner cartridge 100

As shown in fig. 4-5, a toner cartridge 100, removably mountable in a top-down orientation into an electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10, includes a housing 110 for containing toner and an output port 120 for removing toner from the housing 110, the housing 110 including a handle 116 extending from the top, the handle 116 being sized and positioned to be grasped by a user during insertion and removal of the toner cartridge 100 from the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10; an extension 111 extending from the bottom of the housing 110, the inside of the housing 110 being provided with a stirring unit 130 for assisting the movement of the toner inside the housing 110; the toner cartridge 100 is provided with an opening member 121 at the output port 120 for controlling the opening and closing of the output port 120.

3. Handle 116

As shown in fig. 5-6, in one embodiment, the top of the housing 110 includes a handle slot 117 that mates with the handle 116, the handle 116 being configured to be rotatable relative to the housing 110 between a first position in which it is nested in the handle slot 117 and a second position perpendicular to the handle slot 117; when a user needs to move toner cartridge 100, handle 116 may be rotated to the second position to facilitate grasping by the user; when toner cartridge 100 is mounted to electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10, cover plate 11 is rotated to the second position covering toner cartridge 100, cover plate 11 applies a downward urging force to toner cartridge 100 under the combined action of the weight of cover plate 11 itself and the connecting force of the snap-fit portion (not shown) between cover plate 11 and electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10, handle 116 is rotated to the first position fitted into handle groove 117 under the urging force, saving the installation space inside electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10, and achieving the demand for miniaturization of electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10 and toner cartridge 100; the urging force exerted by cover plate 11 on toner cartridge 100 thereby provides for a tighter installation of toner cartridge 100 with electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10.

Preferably, as shown in fig. 7-8, in one embodiment, the handle slot 117 includes a stop tab 117a disposed over one side, the stop tab 117a being configured as a sheet that can be elastically deformed; the handle 116 includes a stop tab 116a that mates with a stop tab 117 a; handle 116 rotates to a third position between the first position and the second position when cover 11 applies a pushing force to toner cartridge 100; in the third position of handle 116, stop tab 116a contacts stop tab 117a, and when stop tab 116a contacts stop tab 117a, an upward resisting force is generated to resist the urging force of cover 11 against toner cartridge 100, and the resisting force generates a compressive force on housing 110 to enhance the downward mounting tendency of housing 110 to provide a tighter mounting of toner cartridge 100; upon further urging of cover 11 against toner cartridge 100, stop tab 117a deforms allowing handle 116 to rotate from the third position to the first position.

Further, the width of the handle slot 117 is greater than the handle 116, allowing the user to conveniently move the handle 116 from the first position to the second position again.

Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 9, in another embodiment, where handle 116 is coupled to housing 110 relatively stationary, handle 116 is configured as a grip portion protruding from the top of housing 110 in a first direction, and the urging force of cover plate 11 against toner cartridge 100 is transmitted to housing 110 via handle 116, allowing toner cartridge 100 to be more tightly mounted in electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10.

4. Extension 111

As shown in fig. 10 to 12, the extension 111 is configured as a cavity opened downward, and the inside of the cavity accommodates an engaging unit 140 for driving the cover 230 to move and an electrical connector 150 for electrically connecting with the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10; the extension 111 and the housing 110 are not in communication with each other; the extension 111 has a width N' measured in the front-rear direction smaller than the width N of the housing 110, so that the toner cartridge 100 is configured to be large in the top and small in the bottom, and can be more conveniently installed in the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10.

In this embodiment, as shown in fig. 10 to 12, the extension portion 111 includes a first limiting portion 155 provided at a front side portion, a second limiting portion 156 provided at a right side portion, and a rib 157 provided at a left side portion; the first stopper 155 includes two mutually perpendicular stopper surfaces 155a and 155b toward the front and right sides, and the second stopper 156 is configured to be engaged with the stopper post 431 and includes two mutually perpendicular stopper surfaces 156a and 156b toward the right and front sides; the spacing surface of the present structure is more open than the prior art guide structure, which can improve the alignment efficiency of the toner cartridge 100 with the mounting area 400 during the mounting of the toner cartridge 100 to the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10; the rib 157 is configured as a stopper plate that cooperates with the stopper groove 432, and the rib 157 includes two parallel stopper surfaces 157a and 157b toward the front side and the rear side and a stopper surface 157c toward the right side.

4.1, electrical connector 150

13-15, the electrical connector 150 may be partially or housed inside the extension 111, as shown in FIG. 13, in which embodiment the extension 111 partially houses the electrical connector 150, with the lower edge of the electrical connector 150 extending outwardly beyond the bottom side of the extension 111; the electrical connector 150 has a memory chip 151 for communicating with a controller of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10, the memory chip 151 being fixedly mounted within the electrical connector 150, the memory chip 151 for providing authentication functions, security and operational interlocks, operational parameters and usage information regarding the toner cartridge 100; the storage chip 151 has an electrical contact surface 152, and when the toner cartridge 100 is mounted to the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10, the electrical contact surface 152 cooperates with a corresponding electrical contact 421 of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10 to establish a communication link with a controller of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10.

As shown in fig. 14 to 15, the electric connector 150 includes a socket 153 fitted to the electric connection part 410 of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10, the memory chip 151 is provided inside the socket 153, the electric connection part 410 of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10 is rectangular in shape having a chip slot 420 provided inside and extending in the left-right direction, the electric contact point 421 is provided inside the chip slot 420, the socket 153 is sleeved on the surface of the electric connection part 410 of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10 when the toner cartridge 100 is mounted to the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10, and the memory chip 151 is inserted into the chip slot 420 to establish a communication link.

Further, electrical contact surface 152 faces the rear side of toner cartridge 100 and electrical contact point 421 faces the front side of toner cartridge 100, facilitating contact of electrical contact surface 152 with electrical contact point 421 when toner cartridge 100 is mounted to electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10.

As shown in fig. 12, the socket 153 includes an inner socket 153a and an outer socket 153b, the width X' of the inner socket 153a measured in the left-right direction being smaller than the width X of the outer socket 153 b; the width Y' of the inner slit 153a measured in the front-rear direction is smaller than the width Y of the outer slit 153 b; the periphery of the outer socket 153b is configured as a downwardly sloping guide surface 154; the housing 110 is sized and shaped such that the electrical connector 150 is not visible to a user who normally grasps the handle 116 during insertion of the toner cartridge 100 into the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10, the outer socket 153b can easily contact the inside of the electrical connector 410 when the toner cartridge 100 is mounted to the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10, and the inner socket 153a is connected with the electrical connector 410 under the guiding of the guiding surface 154, in comparison with the prior art; at the same time, the outer peripheral surface of electrical connection 410 engages the inner peripheral surface of the inner socket, thereby allowing electrical connector 150 to establish a communication link with electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10, and also assisting in positioning toner cartridge 100 within electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10, and facilitating engagement of toner cartridge 100 with electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10.

When the toner cartridge 100 is inserted into the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10, the user aligns the rib 157 of the extension 111 with the stopper groove 432 of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10 in a top-down manner, while the stopper surfaces 156a and 156b of the second stopper 156 come close to the surface of the stopper post 431, thereby rapidly completing the alignment of the toner cartridge 100 with the electrophotographic image forming apparatus; thereafter, the user lifts the toner cartridge 100 by the handle 116 so that the toner cartridge 100 is inserted into the device of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10 from top to bottom, the rib 157 is in the limit groove 432, and the limit faces 156a and 156b are moved downward relative to the limit post 431 under the guide of the limit post 431; at this time, the electric connector 150 at the bottom end of the extension 111 first enters the mounting area 400 of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10, and in addition, since the electric connector 410 is located below the inside of the mounting area 400 and protrudes upward, after the electric connector 150 enters the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10, the electric connector 410 can be directly inserted into the external socket 153b of the electric connector 150, and the toner cartridge 100 can be controlled to be inserted downward along the guide surface 154 by the hand feeling of the user during the insertion process; at this time, the inner insertion portion 153a is more conveniently connected to the electric connection portion 150 under the guide of the guide surface 154, improving the efficiency of the installation of the toner cartridge 100.

Further, the lowermost end of the memory chip 151 in the up-down direction is higher than the uppermost end of the guide surface 154, preventing the memory chip 151 from interfering with the connection of the interposer 153a and the electrical connector 410, facilitating the establishment of a communication link between the memory chip 151 and the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10.

When toner cartridge 100 needs to be replaced, the user may pull handle 116 upward, applying a bottom-up lifting force to toner cartridge 100 via handle 116, thereby moving toner cartridge 100 from bottom to top against the force of gravity, away from electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10, and thus completing the separation of toner cartridge 100 from electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10.

In another embodiment, the positions of the limiting groove 432 and the limiting post 431 in the mounting area 400 are mutually exchanged compared with the previous embodiment, and the rib 157 and the second limiting portion 156 in the toner cartridge 100 are matched to perform exchange adjustment, so that the same function can be achieved.

5. The joint unit 140

As shown in fig. 16 and 17, to achieve communication between the developing unit 200 and the toner cartridge 100 when the toner cartridge 100 is mounted to the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10, the toner in the toner cartridge 100 is allowed to enter the developing unit 200; in the present utility model, toner cartridge 100 further includes an engagement unit 140 disposed inside extension 111; in the present embodiment, the engaging unit 140 includes a first engaging piece 141 for receiving a driving force, a spring 142, and a second engaging piece 143 for pushing the cover 230 open and close, the first engaging piece 141 and the second engaging piece 143 being provided on the right side portion of the extending portion 111, wherein the first engaging piece 141 has a first position and a second position farther from the lower end of the extending portion 111 in the up-down direction than the first position, the first engaging piece 141 includes a pushed portion 144 exposed outside the extending portion 111, the pushed portion 144 is provided on the right side of the extending portion 111 and has a contact surface facing the lower side of the extending portion 111, specifically, the pushed portion 144 is arranged to be matable with the contact surface of the pushed portion 144 against the stopper member 430 against the mounting area 400 and to be pushed by the stopper member 430, so that the first engaging piece 141 slides from the first position to the second position with respect to the extending portion 111 in the substantially down-up direction, that is to be pushed up-down after the first engaging piece 141 is pushed up-down in the up-down direction by the receiving the pushing force; the first engaging member 141 further includes a pushing portion 145 disposed opposite to the pushed portion 144 in the left-right direction, and the pushing portion 145 is configured as a columnar projection extending in the left-right direction, which may also be referred to as a guide post, and when the pushed portion 144 is forced to move, the pushing portion 145 may move in the same general direction from bottom to top as the pushed portion 144 moves.

And, in order to return the first engaging piece 141 after sliding back to the first position again, a spring 142 is provided between the first engaging piece 141 and the extension 111, providing a restoring force to the first engaging piece 141; specifically, when the toner cartridge 100 is mounted in the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10, the first engaging member 141 is moved from the first position to the second position against the elastic force of the spring 142, at which time the spring 142 is compressed in the up-down direction, and compressed from the first length to the second length shorter than the first length in the up-down direction, when the toner cartridge 100 is dismounted from the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10, the urging force exerted on the pushed portion 144 of the first engaging member 141 is removed, and the elastic force accumulated by the spring 142 due to the compression is released, which is exerted on the first engaging member 141, so that the first engaging member 141 can be moved again from the second position to the first position for the next mounting of the toner cartridge 100.

As the second engaging piece 143 engaged with the first engaging piece 141, which is provided inside the extending portion 111 and has a pushing surface 147 (as shown in fig. 9) exposed to the front side of the extending portion 111, the second engaging piece 143 further includes a pushed portion 146 that can be pushed by the pushing portion 145 of the first engaging piece 141, the pushed portion 146 is configured as a strip-shaped rail groove formed on the second engaging piece 143, which is arranged so that its extending direction intersects the up-down direction and gradually extends from the front side lower end portion toward the rear side upper end portion, which rail groove is also called a guide groove, the pushing portion 145 configured as a guide post can be inserted onto the pushed portion 146 configured as a guide groove, and in the course of the first engaging piece 141 moving from the first position to the second position, the pushing portion 145 can push the pushed portion 146 upward to generate a forward pushing force applied to the pushed portion 146, thereby move the second engaging piece 143 forward from the first position to the second position, that is, the second engaging piece 143 can move between the first position and the second position with respect to the first position 111 in response to the sliding of the first engaging piece 141; the pushing surface 147 is matably contacted with the pushed surface 231 on the side of the cover 230 during the mounting of the toner cartridge 100 to the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10; when the second engagement member 143 is in the first position, the pushed surface 231 is in contact with the underside of the pushing surface 147; during the movement of the second engagement member 143 from the first position to the second position, the pushing surface 147 pushes the pushed surface 231 forward to generate a forward pushing force on the pushed surface 231, thereby moving the cover 230 from the first position to the second position, and when the second engagement member 143 is in the second position, the cover 230 is in the second position with the input port 220 opened, so that toner can enter the belt developing unit 200 from the inside of the toner cartridge 100 through the input port 220.

When the toner cartridge 100 is separated from the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10, the user pulls the toner cartridge 100 to separate from the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10 from bottom to top, the urging force applied to the first engaging member 141 is released during the separation of the toner cartridge 100, and the first engaging member is moved from the second position to the first position by the urging force of the spring 142, the urging portion 145 urges the urged portion 146 downward, so as to generate a urging force applied to the urged portion 146 rearward, thereby moving the second engaging member 143 forward from the second position to the first position, at this time, the urging force applied to the urged surface 231 is released by the urging surface 147, so that the cover 230 is moved from the second position where the input port 220 is opened to the first position where the input port 220 is closed by the driving of the elastic structure itself, in such a manner that when the toner cartridge 100 is connected to and separated from the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10, the automatic opening and closing of the input port 220 of the developing unit 200 is realized, and when the toner cartridge 100 is connected to the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10, the risk of the toner cartridge 100 is reduced when the toner cartridge 100 is connected to the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10, and when the toner cartridge 220 is opened and the toner cartridge 220 is closed.

In another embodiment, force receiving portion 125 extends through the left side of extension 111 and is contained on one side of rib 157 to receive the urging force of the side wall of limiting slot 432 to drive first engagement member 141 to move, thereby effecting movement of the drive cap from the first position to the second position, allowing toner to enter belt developing unit 200 from the interior of toner cartridge 100 through input port 220.

5.1 opening Member 121

As shown in fig. 16 and 18, the toner cartridge 100 further includes an opening member 121 for controlling the opening and closing of the output port 120, the opening member 121 including a first moving member 122 and a second moving member 123 slidable with respect to the housing 110 and a second spring 124 urging the second moving member 123 to slide with respect to the housing 110, the first moving member 122 and the second moving member 123 being provided on a front side of the housing 110, wherein the first moving member 122 has a first position and a second position, the first moving member 122 further includes a force receiving portion 125 exposed outside the housing 110, the force receiving portion 125 being arranged such that an arcuate surface of the force receiving portion 125 is matable with an urging portion 250 of the developing unit 200 and is urged by the urging portion 250 during the mounting of the toner cartridge 100 to the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10, such that the first moving member 122 slides with respect to the housing 110 from the first position to the second position, the first moving member 122 further includes a driving portion provided opposite to the force receiving portion 125 in a front-rear direction, the force receiving portion 125 being urged to move in a direction substantially following the force receiving portion 125 when the force receiving portion 126 is urged to move in the same direction as the urging portion 126; the second spring 124 may provide a restoring force to the first mover 122; when the toner cartridge 100 is removed from the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10, the urging force exerted on the force receiving portion 125 of the first moving member 122 is removed, and the second spring 124 allows the first moving member 122 to be moved again from the second position to the first position for the next installation of the toner cartridge 100.

The second moving member 123 is disposed inside the housing 110, and includes a driven portion 127 that can be driven by the driving portion 126 of the first moving member 122, the driven portion 127 being configured as a bar-shaped rail groove that cooperates with the driving portion 126, the driving portion 126 pushing the driven portion 127 upward during the movement of the first moving member 122 from the first position to the second position, thereby forcing the second moving member 123 to slide rearward from the first position to the second position; the second moving member 123 further includes a cover portion 128, the cover portion 128 being a flat plate member provided on the second moving member 123 and matably covering the output port 120, the cover portion 128 closing the output port 120 on the toner cartridge 100 when the second moving member 123 is in the first position, the toner being blocked by the cover portion 128 from leaking out through the output port 120, the cover portion 128 opening the output port 120 when the second moving member 123 is in the second position, the toner being supplied to the developing unit 200 through the output port 120; in this embodiment, during the mounting of the toner cartridge 100 to the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10, the opening and closing of the input port 220 of the developing unit 200 and the output port 120 of the toner cartridge 100 can be simultaneously achieved, thereby achieving the controllable communication and closing of the developing unit 200 of the toner cartridge 100 and avoiding the leakage of toner.

Preferably, a sponge is provided as a sealing member at the bottom surface of the output port 120, which has excellent sealing performance because it can be elastically deformed.

6. Stirring unit 130

As shown in fig. 19 to 21, the stirring unit 130 includes a driven gear 131 for receiving a driving force from the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10, and a stirring shaft and a gear train 134 for transmitting the driving force, and in this embodiment, the stirring shaft includes a first stirring shaft 132 and a second stirring shaft 133, and the first stirring shaft 132 and the second stirring shaft 133 penetrate to the front end portion and the rear end portion of the housing 110 through holes 112 provided on the front side wall and the rear side wall of the housing 110, respectively, and are connected to the driven gear 131 and the gear train 134 provided on the front end portion and the rear end portion of the housing 110, respectively. Specifically, the first stirring shaft 132 is connected to the driven gear 131 at the front end portion of the housing 110 and is rotatable with the rotation of the driven gear 131; the first stirring shaft 132 is connected at the rear end of the housing 110 to a drive gear 137 in the gear set 134; the second stirring shaft 133 is connected to the driven gear 138 of the gear set 134 at the rear end of the housing 110, and the driving gear 137 and the driven gear 138 are engaged, that is, when the first stirring shaft 132 rotates, the second stirring shaft 133 may be simultaneously driven to rotate by the gear set 134.

As shown in fig. 21, the hole 112 is configured as a counterbore recessed toward the inside of the housing 110 in the front-rear direction, the bottom of the hole 112 in the front-rear direction is provided with a bearing hole 113 for engaging with the stirring shaft, the bearing hole 113 is for supporting the stirring shaft in rotational connection with the housing 110, and the inside of the hole 112 is provided with a seal ring 139 engaged with the stirring shaft for preventing toner from leaking out from the bearing hole 113.

The first stirring shaft 132 extends a first stirring vane 135 outwardly from the first stirring shaft 132 inside the housing 110, the first stirring vane 135 being configured as a sheet-like structure rotatable with rotation of the first stirring shaft 132; the first agitator blade 135 may be provided with one or more for pushing toner to move inside the housing 110; one or more second stirring vanes 136 extending outwardly from the second stirring shaft 133 are rotated about a stirring shaft axis extending in the front-rear direction; the first stirring shaft 132 is positioned higher than the second stirring shaft 133; in this embodiment, the second agitator lobes 136 and the first agitator lobes 135 are each constructed from a flexible sheet material, such as a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) material.

As shown in fig. 19, the bottom of the housing 110 is configured to be a space circular arc bottom surface, so that the toner at the bottom of the housing 110 on the second stirring blade 136 is convenient to stir, and the situation that the toner at the corner of the housing 110 cannot be stirred is avoided; in addition, the front side of the housing 110 is configured in a stepped structure recessed inward from top to bottom, in engagement with the mating toner cartridge 100 and the developing unit 200; the second stirring blade 136 extends outwards from the outer surface of the second stirring shaft 133, and one end of the second stirring blade 136, which is far away from the second stirring shaft 133, is in interference fit with the inner bottom surface of the shell 110, so that carbon powder is prevented from depositing at the bottom of the shell 110; the first stirring blade 135 includes a stirring portion 135a far away from the first stirring shaft 132, the stirring portion 135a of the first stirring blade 135 is of a trapezoid structure gradually far away from the first stirring shaft 132 from front to back in the front-back direction so as to adapt to the front side structure of the housing 110, the stirring portion 135a of the first stirring blade 135 extends in the front-back direction, and the stirring side portion 135b extending towards the front end of the first stirring blade 135 contacts with the front wall of the housing 110, so that when the stirring blade stirs the toner in the housing 110, a large amount of the toner is adhered to the inner wall of the housing 110, and the use ratio of the toner is improved.

A front cover 114 (shown in fig. 4) for covering an upper portion of the driven gear 131 is provided at a front end portion of the casing 110, and a lower portion of the driven gear 131 in the first direction is exposed outside the front cover 114 for cooperation with a driving gear 240 inside the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 10 to facilitate receiving of a driving force from the driving gear 240, so that the driven gear 131 can drive the stirring unit 130 to push toner inside the casing 110 to move; as shown in fig. 20, a rear cover 115 for covering the gear set 134 is provided at the rear end of the housing 110, gears of the gear set 134 are restricted between the rear cover 115 and the housing 110, preventing gears from falling, and additionally, the bearing hole 113 supports rotation of the stirring shaft inside the housing 110 by integrally forming the hole 112 with the housing 110, reducing the use of bearing plates, optimizing the structure of the toner cartridge 100, and saving costs for production and manufacture of the toner cartridge 100.

The above embodiments are only for illustrating the technical solution of the present utility model, and are not limiting; although the utility model has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that: the technical scheme described in the foregoing embodiments can be modified or some technical features thereof can be replaced by equivalents; such modifications and substitutions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present utility model.

Claims (7)

1. A toner cartridge detachably mountable to an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, said toner cartridge comprising:

a housing that can house toner, the housing including a top and a bottom in a first direction, the housing including a front side and a rear side in a second direction;

an extension located at the bottom of the housing in a first direction;

an output port communicating with the housing and removing toner from inside the housing;

wherein the toner cartridge further comprises:

an electrical connector fixedly connected to the bottom side of the extension in a first direction; the electrical connector includes a chip insertable into the electrical connector, the electrical connector being configured as a socket for making electrical connection with the electrophotographic image forming apparatus.

2. The toner cartridge of claim 1, wherein the electrical connector includes an inner socket and an outer socket, the inner socket having a width in both the second direction and the third direction that is less than a width of the outer socket.

3. The toner cartridge of claim 2, wherein a guide is provided between the inner socket and the outer socket.

4. The toner cartridge of claim 3, wherein the guide is configured as a downwardly sloped guide surface.

5. The toner cartridge of claim 1, wherein the output port is closer to the top than the extension in a first direction.

6. The toner cartridge of claim 1, wherein the chip has an electrical contact surface facing in the second direction.

7. The toner cartridge of claim 4, wherein a lowermost end of the chip in the first direction is higher than an uppermost end of the guide surface.