JP2001175135A - Recycled toner classifier - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a recycled toner classifier for an image forming device which allows preventing the clogging of mesh at low cost and surely with age too. SOLUTION: This recycled toner classifier for an image forming device comprises a mesh member 1 which is constituted with a double mesh structure consisting of a regular mesh 1a and a spacer mesh 1d. The spacer mesh 1d forms a space between the regular mesh 1a and a filtering member 6, prevents the contact of the regular mesh 1a with the filtering member 6 and, thereby, prevents the breakage of the regular mesh 1a. Therein, the spacer mesh 1d is set so as to have a larger opening part than that of the regular mesh 1a and have high rigidity.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recycled toner classifying apparatus for separating toner collected after image forming processing in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile, or a multifunction machine of these machines.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In electrophotographic copying, an image is formed by forming an electrostatic latent image on a photoreceptor of a uniformly charged image carrier by exposure or optical writing. This electrostatic latent image is visualized using, for example, a two-component developer in which a magnetic carrier and a toner are mixed or a one-component developer in which the two are integrated, and the visible image is formed. Is transferred to a transfer material to obtain a copy.

[0003] Such an image forming apparatus toner removes coarse particles and the like in the toner through a screen at the final stage of the manufacturing process, so that when an image is formed, sand-like fog, vertical It is necessary to prevent occurrence of abnormal images such as streak-like unevenness and transfer failure. For this reason, a cleaning device is provided for removing toner remaining on an image carrier such as a photoconductor or an intermediate transfer body after transferring a visible image. Further, even in other image forming portions such as a transfer belt and a transporting device for transferring a transfer material having a transferred visible image to a fixing device, the toner not finally used for image formation remains. A cleaning device is also provided for any residual toner.

Conventionally, the residual toner removed by these cleaning devices has been processed so as to be directly collected in a waste bottle or the like and discarded. However, in recent years, effective use of resources has been required, and reuse of removed toner has been performed.

However, when the toner collected by the cleaning device is transported to a developing device or a toner replenishing device and is to be reused, paper dust is mixed in the collected toner or the toner aggregates to form a toner aggregate larger than an appropriate size. The problem is that not a few lumps are present. That is, if such collected toner is returned to the developing device as it is, these paper dusts and toner agglomerates often cause abnormal images such as white spots and black spots, and the quality of the formed image deteriorates. It is.

Therefore, various techniques have been proposed which include a mesh filter in order to remove paper dust and toner aggregates from the collected toner. For example, the applicant of the present application has proposed an apparatus for rotating filter means having a cylindrical mesh filter in order to efficiently separate reusable toner from collected toner.

FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view of a conventionally known apparatus for classifying and recycling transfer residual toner, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a state in which the mesh of the apparatus of FIG. 1 is clogged. In the figure, 1 is a mesh member, 1a is a mesh, 1b is a rib, 2 is a casing, 3
Is a conveying screw, 4 is a drive gear, and 5 is a drive motor. A metal mesh is mainly used for the mesh 1a.
The transfer residual toner 7 is transported to the mesh member 1 by the transport screw 3 driven by the drive motor 5 and the drive gear 4, and the toner that has passed through the mesh 1a of the mesh member 1 is converted into recyclable toner and then to a toner hopper or the like. The toner, carrier, paper dust, and the like that have returned and have not passed through the eyes of the mesh 1a accumulate to some extent in the mesh member 1 and then fall from the left end of the mesh member 1 in the drawing to be separated as waste toner.

However, in such a device configuration,
As shown in FIG. 2, the mesh 1a of the mesh member 1 is easily clogged with the waste toner 8, and when the waste toner 8 completely blocks the mesh 1a, the classification rate (reusable Toner amount / total waste toner amount). That is, the transfer residual toner is an aggregate of toner that has been pulverized in the transfer process, and is very easily aggregated as compared with new toner. Therefore, in the case where the amount of waste toner is increased due to a toner that is likely to be aggregated in a high-temperature and high-humidity environment or a copy with a large image area is continuously taken, the mesh 1a is used.
Are likely to cause clogging, and the classification rate is extremely reduced. As a result, the number of sheets that can be passed per toner is considerably reduced despite the provision of the toner recycling mechanism. In addition, the waste toner tank immediately becomes full, and the replacement cycle of the waste toner tank becomes very fast. In such a situation, in the worst case, the toner may continue to stay in the mesh member 1 to cause toner blocking, possibly leading to destruction of the apparatus.

For this reason, as shown in FIG. 3, the applicant of the present application has already proposed a technique of arranging a filtering member 6 in the mesh member 1 to thereby prevent clogging of the mesh 1a. FIG. 3 also shows that the mesh 1 a
FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing a portion that is easily damaged by the above. When the entire mesh member 1 rotates in the direction of the arrow as shown in FIG. 3A, the mesh 1a as shown in FIG.
The filtering member 6 comes into contact with a portion of the rib 1b formed so as to be integrated with the filter member (point X in FIG. 3B), whereby the filtering member 6 rolls. Then, when the sifting member 6 rolls and hits the rib 1b while rolling, the toner or the like adhering to the sifting member 6 is removed and the mesh 1 is removed.
a is prevented from being clogged.

The filtering member 6 enables the toner initially entering the mesh 1a to effectively pass through the mesh. However, the filtering member 6 comes into contact with the mesh 1a and is filtered out. 1a is easily damaged. That is, when the squeezing member 6 rolls, considerable stress is applied to the mesh 1a near the point X where the squeezing member 6 and the rib 1b come into contact, and the mesh 1a is likely to be damaged with time. As shown in FIG. 3 (C), the sifting member 6 rarely moves in parallel in the longitudinal direction, and is mostly inclined with respect to the axis of the mesh member 1, and at least one of the ends has a mesh. 1a (point Y in FIG. 3C). Even at this contact position, stress is applied to the mesh 1a, and the mesh 1a is broken down with time. When the mesh 1a is damaged, the classification ability of the recycled toner is reduced immediately.

FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view (A) and an enlarged view (B) of a main part of a conventionally known apparatus for classifying and recycling transfer residual toner.
It is. This device has the same basic configuration as the device of FIG. 1, but in order to prevent the mesh 1a from being clogged by applying an impact to the mesh member 1 instead of the filtering member 6,
A cam portion 1c is provided coaxially with the mesh member 1. A diaphragm 9a and a spring 9b serving as hitting means are in contact with the cam portion 1c. Therefore, when the ridge of the cam portion 1c finishes sliding contact with the spring 9b when the mesh member 1 rotates, the diaphragm 9a is hit against the valley portion of the cam portion 1c by the urging force of the spring 9b. The impact at this time is transmitted to the mesh member 1 to remove toner or the like that is about to adhere to the mesh 1a, and the mesh 1a
To prevent clogging.

However, in the above-described conventional apparatus, since the cam portion 1c is provided at a position distant from the mesh member 1, it is difficult for the shock from the diaphragm 9a to be transmitted to the mesh 1a, and therefore, the mesh 1a is clogged. Prevention may be unstable. Since the diaphragm 9a and the cam portion 1c are always in contact with each other, the rotation of the mesh member 1 causes the cam portion 1 and / or the diaphragm 9a to wear over time, and the impact force on the mesh member 1 is increased. May not be able to produce.

In view of the above-mentioned disadvantages of the prior art, the present invention provides an apparatus capable of reliably preventing clogging of a mesh at low cost and with time, using a method of filtering out a mesh member and placing a diaphragm on the mesh member. Any of the methods of applying and shaking off the toner is proposed.

[0014]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recycled toner classifying apparatus for collecting and reusing a transfer residual toner of an image carrier of an image forming apparatus to achieve the above object. A recycle toner classifier comprising a mesh body for removing foreign matter such as carrier, agglomerated toner, paper dust and the like with coarseness and separating the recyclable toner from the recycle toner, wherein a cylindrical mesh forming the mesh body is provided. In a recycled toner classifying apparatus provided with a filtering member for filtering toner from the mesh material for preventing clogging of toner or the like in the material, the mesh material and the filtering member are not directly contacted with each other. A spacer is provided between the mesh material and the filtering member.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, in order to collect and reuse a transfer residual toner on an image carrier of an image forming apparatus, a carrier and an agglomerated toner with a coarse mesh are used. Claims: 1. A recycled toner classifying apparatus comprising a rotatable mesh body for removing foreign matter such as paper dust and separating the same from recyclable toner, wherein the mesh body holds a mesh material for filtering and the mesh material. And a frame member integrated with a mesh member, the frame member having a cam-shaped portion on a part of an outer peripheral portion thereof, and a beating member such as a leaf spring contacting the cam-shaped portion. And a hitting means for applying an impact to the mesh member during rotation to prevent clogging of the mesh material.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, the spacer is at least one mesh material different from the mesh material.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, the another mesh material has higher rigidity than the mesh material.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, the another mesh material has a larger opening than the mesh material.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, the beating member is provided with a roller at a tip of the frame body which is in contact with the cam-shaped portion.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, the cam-shaped portions are formed in at least two or more places on the frame, and the hitting means is made to correspond to these cam-shaped portions. It is characterized by being arranged.

According to another aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, the phases of the cam shapes are shifted from each other.

[0022]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the following, portions common to the related art are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted. FIG. 5 is a sectional view (A) and an enlarged view (B) of a main part of the first embodiment of the recycled toner classification device according to the present invention. In the present embodiment, the mesh of the mesh member 1 is composed of double meshes 1a and 1d. Less than,
The mesh common to the conventional example is called a regular mesh 1a, and the newly provided mesh is called a spacer mesh 1d.

The spacer mesh 1d is a regular mesh 1
a, and a space is provided between the regular mesh 1a, the spacer mesh 1d, and the filtering member 6 in the cross-sectional direction of the regular mesh 1a and the filtering member 6. 6 to prevent damage to the regular mesh 1a.

However, if a space is provided between the regular mesh 1a and the filtering member 6, the classifying rate decreases linearly as shown in FIG. The mesh is used to reliably prevent the contact between the regular mesh 1a and the filtering member 6 in a minimum space. The classification rate in FIG. 7 is a percentage (%) obtained by dividing the amount of toner passing through the regular mesh 1a by the entire amount of waste toner.

As shown in FIG. 5 (B), the opening of the spacer mesh 1d is made larger than the regular mesh 1a, and the wires constituting the mesh are made thicker so as to have high rigidity. . Thereby, the breakage of the regular mesh 1a can be surely prevented while ensuring the classification rate with time.

FIG. 7 is a front view (A) and a side view (B) of a main part of a second embodiment of the recycled toner classification device according to the present invention. In the present embodiment, a cam portion 1e is provided on the outer periphery of one rib 1b of the mesh member 1, and the cam portion 1e is provided.
A leaf spring 9c is provided as a means for hitting e, so that an impact can be directly applied to the mesh member 1.

FIG. 8 is a front view (A) and a side view (B) of a main part of a third embodiment of the recycled toner classification device according to the present invention. The device of the present embodiment also has a cam portion 1e provided on the outer periphery of one rib 1b of the mesh member 1 as in the device of the second embodiment, but is provided at the tip of a leaf spring 9c for hitting the cam portion 1e. The rollers 9d are provided to minimize the abrasion over time on the cam portion 1e side or the hitting means side.

FIG. 9 is a front view (A) and a side view (B) of a main part of a fourth embodiment of a recycled toner classification device according to the present invention. The device of the present embodiment is similar to the device of the third embodiment except that a roller 9d is provided at the tip of a leaf spring 9c for hitting a cam portion 1e provided on a rib 1b of the mesh member 1. Provided on the outer periphery of the two ribs 1b, 1b, the two cams 1e are arranged so that the phases of the cam shapes are shifted, and the number of impacts per rotation of the mesh member 1 in a limited space is increased. The effect of preventing clogging is obtained. Also, by shifting the phase between the cam portions 1e, not only the number of impacts can be increased, but also the hitting operation may be performed while suppressing the impact force of one impact.
The noise generated by hitting can also be suppressed.

Although illustration and detailed description are omitted, it is possible to easily combine the above-described first embodiment with any of the second and subsequent embodiments, and to effectively prevent clogging of the mesh material. It is also possible to do so.

[0030]

According to the present invention, the recycled toner classifying apparatus is
As described above, since a space is formed between the mesh member and the filtering member for filtering the toner of the mesh material, it is possible to prevent the mesh member and the filtering member from directly contacting each other, This has the effect that it is possible to classify the recycled toner with time without damaging the mesh material with the filtering member.

[0031] The recycled toner classifying apparatus of claim 2 is
As described above, the frame member that holds the mesh material or has a cam-shaped portion on a part of the outer peripheral portion of the frame body integrated with the mesh material, and a tapping member such as a leaf spring of a hitting means is provided on the cam-shaped portion. Since the mesh member is brought into contact with the mesh member so as to give an impact when the mesh member is rotated, an impact by hitting can be given directly to the mesh member, so that the mesh can be stably prevented from being clogged.

The recycled toner classifying apparatus according to claim 3 is
As described above, in addition to the above-described common effect, the gap between the filtering member and the regular mesh is minimized by configuring the member for providing a space between the mesh material and the filtering member with the mesh. Thus, there is an effect that it is possible to classify the recycled toner without breaking the mesh while ensuring a stable and high classification rate of the recycled toner over time.

[0033] The recycled toner classification device of claim 4 is
As described above, by using a mesh material having higher rigidity than a regular mesh material as a spacer, in addition to the above-mentioned common effect, it is possible to more reliably prevent the regular mesh from being damaged. There is an effect that can be.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recycled toner classifying apparatus,
As described above, since the opening of the mesh material of the spacer is larger than that of the regular mesh material, in addition to the above-described common effect, there is an effect that classification can be performed more reliably with the regular mesh material. .

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recycled toner classifying apparatus,
As described above, since the roller is used at the tip of the tapping member, in addition to the above-mentioned common effects, the wear of the cam or the tapping means with time can be suppressed as much as possible, and the stable mesh material can be prevented from being clogged. There is an effect that it becomes possible.

The recycled toner classification device according to claim 7 is
As described above, at least two or more cam-shaped portions are formed on the frame body and the hitting means are arranged in correspondence with the cam-shaped portions, so that in addition to the above-mentioned common effect, a further effect of preventing clogging is provided. Is obtained.

The recycled toner classification device according to claim 8 is:
As described above, since the phases of the plurality of cam shapes are shifted from each other, in addition to the above-described common effects, the number of impacts per rotation of the mesh material in a limited space can be increased, and stable It is possible to prevent mesh clogging, and it is also possible to increase the number of impacts so as to suppress a single impact force and to suppress noise generated by a hitting operation.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view of a conventionally known apparatus for classifying and recycling transfer residual toner.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a state in which the mesh of the apparatus of FIG. 1 is clogged.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing locations where the mesh is easily damaged by the filtering member in the technique of disposing the filtering member in the mesh member of the apparatus of FIG.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are a partial cross-sectional view and a magnified view of a main part of a conventionally known apparatus for classifying and recycling transfer residual toner.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a first example of a recycled toner classification device according to the present invention.
It is sectional drawing (A) and the enlarged view (B) of the principal part of embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a view showing a decrease in a classification rate when a space is provided between a mesh and a filtering member in the apparatus of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 shows a second example of the recycled toner classification device according to the present invention.
It is the front view (A) and side view (B) of the principal part of 1st Embodiment.

FIG. 8 shows a third example of the recycled toner classification device according to the present invention.
It is the front view (A) and side view (B) of the principal part of 1st Embodiment.

FIG. 9 shows a fourth embodiment of the recycled toner classification device according to the present invention.
It is the front view (A) and side view (B) of the principal part of 1st Embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 mesh member 1a mesh (regular mesh) 1b rib 1c cam portion 1d spacer mesh 1e cam portion 2 casing 3 transport screw 4 drive gear 5 drive motor 7 transfer residual toner 8 waste toner 9a diaphragm 9b spring 9c leaf spring 9d roller

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. An image forming apparatus comprising: a carrier;
A recycle toner classifier including a mesh body for removing foreign matter such as agglomerated toner and paper dust and separating the toner from recyclable toner, wherein clogging of toner or the like is caused in a cylindrical mesh material forming the mesh body. In a recycled toner classification device provided with a sifting member for sifting toner from the mesh material for prevention, the mesh material and the sifting member are separated so that the mesh material does not directly contact the sifting member. A recycled toner classification device comprising a spacer disposed between the two. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the carrier remaining on the image bearing member of the image forming apparatus is collected and reused.
What is claimed is: 1. A recycle toner classifier including a rotatable mesh body for removing foreign matter such as agglomerated toner and paper dust and separating the aggregated toner from a recyclable toner, wherein the mesh body is a mesh material for filtering and the mesh material. And a frame formed integrally with the mesh material, and a cam-shaped portion is provided on a part of the outer peripheral portion of the frame, and a striking member such as a leaf spring is brought into contact with the cam-shaped portion. A recycling toner classifying device, comprising: a hitting means for applying an impact to the mesh material during rotation to prevent clogging of the mesh material. 3. The recycled toner classification device according to claim 1, wherein the spacer is at least one mesh material different from the mesh material. 4. The mesh material according to claim 3, wherein the other mesh material has higher rigidity than the mesh material.
Recycling toner classifier. 5. An apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said another mesh member has an opening larger than said mesh member. 6. The apparatus for classifying recycled toner according to claim 2, wherein the tapping member has a roller at a tip of the frame body that contacts the cam-shaped portion. 7. The frame according to claim 2, wherein the cam-shaped portions are formed in at least two or more places on the frame body, and the hitting means is arranged in correspondence with the cam-shaped portions. Any recycled toner classifier. 8. The recycling toner classification device according to claim 2, wherein the phases of the cam shapes are shifted from each other.