JP2000221827A - Device for supplying releasing agent for fixing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To increase the discharging amount and the discharging speed of releasing agent, and also to prevent the occurrence of variance in the discharging amount. SOLUTION: As to this device 1a for supplying releasing agent for a fixing device having a supplying container 2 provided on a fixing device side and a replenishment container 3 attachably/detachably loaded to the container 2 and replenishing the container 2 with the releasing agent; the container 3 has a releasing agent storing part 3a and a supplying cylinder part 16 with a hole 6a, is provided with a compression spring 8a inside the part 16, and has a valve member 17 capable of opening/closing the hole 6a in accordance with elongation and contraction by the elastic force of the spring 8a. The member 17 is in a shaft shape, a protruding part is provided on its leading end part, and the protruding part of the member 17 abuts on the bottom surface part 11 of the container 2 when the container 3 is loaded, so that the specified amount of the releasing agent is discharged from the hole.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a release agent supply device for a fixing device in an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying machine, a printer, and a facsimile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In such a fixing device, it is necessary to apply a release agent such as silicone oil to the surface of a fixing roller or a pressure roller, and the supply of the release agent is provided to the fixing device. This is performed by a release agent supply device. That is, as shown in FIG.
It has a supply container 2 for supplying a release agent directly to the surface of the fixing roller or the pressure roller, and a supply container 3 which is detachably attached to the supply container 2 and supplies the release agent to the supply container 2. . The supply container 3 includes a storage section 3a for storing the release agent and a supply cylinder section 4.
And a through hole 6 is provided in the lower end surface 5 of the supply cylinder 4. A compression spring 8 and a sphere 9 (valve member) that can open and close the through hole 6 with the elasticity of the compression spring 8 are provided in the inner cylinder 7 of the supply cylinder 4. Then, as shown in FIG. 5, when the supply container 3 is not mounted, the sphere 9 is pressed toward the through hole 6 (downward) by the elastic force of the compression spring 8, so that the through hole 6 is closed. On the other hand, the supply container 2 includes a supply cylinder 4 of the supply container 3.
Is provided, and a projection 12 protruding upward is fixed to a bottom surface portion 11 of the charging cylinder portion 10. The fixed position of the projection 12 is a position substantially facing the through hole 6 when the supply container 3 is mounted.

Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 6, when the supply container 3 is mounted on the supply container 2, the projection 12 passes through the through hole 6, and
The sphere 9 comes into contact with the sphere 9 and is moved in the direction away from the through hole 6 (upward) against the elasticity of the compression spring 8. Thereby, the closure of the through hole 6 by the sphere 9 is opened, and a predetermined amount of the release agent is discharged into the supply container 2 through the through hole 6. The release agent thus discharged flows on one side of the charging cylinder 10 and is supplied to the surface of the fixing roller or the pressure roller. Such discharge is performed until the lower end surface portion 5 of the supply cylinder portion 4 and the upper surface of the replenished release agent substantially match.

[0004]

However, in the case of the above-mentioned release agent supply device of the conventional fixing device, there are the following problems. That is, as shown in FIG. 5, since a very large sphere 9 for opening and closing the through hole 6 cannot be used, the size of the through hole 6 is also relatively small. For this reason, the discharge amount of the release agent itself is not so large, and the supplementary discharge speed cannot be said to be high. Further, the arrangement position of the sphere 9 is arranged at a position substantially opposed to the projection 12,
It is difficult to imagine that the projections 12 necessarily push (abut) the center of the rolling surface of the spherical body 9, which may cause insufficient discharge of the release agent or variation in the discharge amount.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the problems of the above-mentioned conventional release agent supply device of a fixing device, to improve the discharge amount and discharge speed of the release agent, and to make the discharge amount vary. The present invention is to provide a release agent supply device without any problem.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is directed to a supply container provided on a fixing device side, and a supply container detachably attached to the supply container. In a release agent supply device of a fixing device which is mounted and has a supply container for supplying a release agent to the supply container, the supply container includes a release agent storage portion and a supply cylinder portion provided with a through hole. A compression spring is provided inside the replenishing cylinder portion, and a valve member capable of opening and closing a through hole is provided in accordance with elasticity of the compression spring. The valve member has a shaft shape. A protrusion is provided at the tip of the supply container, and when the supply container is mounted, a predetermined amount of the release agent is discharged from the through-hole by the protrusion of the valve member coming into contact with the bottom surface of the supply container. It is a feature.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the surface of the valve member facing the through hole is formed in a tapered shape.

[0008]

1 to 3 show a first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the release agent supply device 1a
Has a supply container 2 for supplying a release agent, and a supply container 3 detachably mounted on the supply container 2 for supplying the release container with the release agent. The supply container 3 stores the release agent. A storage section 3a and a supply cylinder section 4 are provided, and an outer cylinder section 14 is attached to the supply cylinder section 4 by screw connection. A through hole 6a is provided in a lower end surface of the outer cylindrical portion 14.

As shown in FIG. 2, an inner cylinder 16 (see FIGS. 4A and 4B) having a plurality of lattice holes 15 is fitted inside the supply cylinder 4. A compression spring 8a and a valve member 17 capable of opening and closing the through hole 6a in accordance with elasticity of the compression spring 8a are provided therein. The valve portion 18 of the valve member 17 is mortar-shaped, and its surface is formed as a tapered surface. And valve part 18
Shafts 20 and 21 are provided at substantially the center of the base end (upper side in the figure) and the tip end (lower side in the figure). These shafts 2
Reference numerals 0 and 21 project in opposite directions (vertical direction in the figure). Among them, a compression spring 8a is wound around the shaft portion 20 and a through hole 16a (FIG. 4) of the inner cylindrical portion 16 is formed. The shaft portion 21 that is shorter than the shaft portion 20 is inserted through the through hole 6a and protrudes downward. On the other hand, the supply container 2 is provided with a charging cylinder 10 into which the supply cylinder 4 of the supply container 3 can be charged.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, when the supply container 3 is mounted on the supply container 2, the shaft portion 21 moves to the bottom portion 11 of the supply container 2.
Abuts on the valve member 17 so that the compression spring 8a
Is moved in the direction (upper side) away from the through hole 6a against the elasticity of. Thereby, the closing of the through hole 6a by the valve portion 18 is opened, and a predetermined amount of the release agent is discharged to the supply container 2 through the through hole 6a. As described above, since the surface of the valve portion 18 is formed as a tapered surface, the release agent is instantaneously discharged along the tapered surface when the supply container 3 is mounted. Thereby, the discharge amount of the release agent is increased, and the discharge speed can be increased as compared with the conventional example. Also, a valve member
Since the shaft 17 has a shaft shape, positioning at the time of manufacturing can be easily performed, and a stable discharge amount of the release agent can be obtained over a long period of time. Such discharge is performed until the lower end surface of the outer cylinder portion 14 and the upper surface of the supplied release agent substantially match.

The inclination angle α of the inclined portion 23 of the supply container 3 is smaller than the inclination angle β of the inclined portion 24 of the supply container 2 (inclination angle α <inclination angle β), and the inclination is relatively gentle. It is configured as follows. For this reason, even when the fixing device is extremely inclined, the release agent in the supply container 3 does not excessively leak or overflow into the supply container 2.

[0012]

The present invention is as described above. According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a supply container provided on the fixing device side, a detachably attached to the supply container, and a release to the supply container. In a release agent supply device of a fixing device having a supply container for supplying a developer, the supply container has a release agent storage portion and a supply tube portion provided with a through-hole, and the inside of the supply tube portion is Has a valve member that can open and close the through hole as the compression spring expands and contracts due to the elasticity of the compression spring.The valve member has a shaft shape, and a protrusion is provided at the tip of the valve member. When the supply container is attached, a predetermined amount of the release agent is discharged from the through-hole by the projection of the valve member abutting against the bottom portion of the supply container, so that the discharge amount and the discharge speed of the release agent are provided. Is improved, and the discharge amount does not vary. There is an effect that it is possible to obtain a discharge amount of stable release agent over. Further, since the valve member has a shaft shape, there is an effect that positioning can be easily performed.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, since the surface of the valve member facing the through hole is formed in a tapered shape, the discharge amount and the discharge speed of the release agent are reduced. In addition to the improvement, there is an effect that the discharge amount does not vary.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view showing the main part.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view showing an operation state of the valve member.

FIG. 4A is a side view of the inner cylinder portion, and FIG. 4B is a top view thereof.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing a conventional release agent supply device.

FIG. 6 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a state where the supply container is mounted.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1, 1a release agent supply device 2 supply container 3 supply container 3a storage section 4 replenishing cylinder section 6, 6a through hole 7 inner cylinder 8, 8a compression spring 9 sphere 10 loading cylinder section 11 bottom section 12 projection section 14 outside Cylindrical part 16 Inner cylindrical part 16a Through hole 17 Valve member 18 Valve part 20, 21 Shaft

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A release agent supply device for a fixing device, comprising: a supply container provided on a fixing device side; and a supply container detachably attached to the supply container and supplying a release agent to the supply container. The supply container has a release agent storage portion and a supply cylinder portion provided with a through-hole, and a compression spring is provided inside the supply cylinder portion, and with the elasticity of the compression spring, It has a valve member that can open and close the through hole, the valve member has a shaft shape, and a projection is provided at the tip thereof. When the supply container is mounted, the projection of the valve member is located on the bottom surface of the supply container. A release agent supply device for a fixing device, wherein a predetermined amount of the release agent is discharged from the through hole by contacting the release agent. 2. The release agent supply device for a fixing device according to claim 1, wherein the surface of the valve member facing the through hole is formed in a tapered shape.