JP2001324910A - Toner cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a toner cartridge capable of removing residual toner adhering to the surface of a photoreceptor. SOLUTION: A shutter 9 is turnably attached to a housing H in order to open/close an aperture 5 provided in the housing H. A cleaning member made of gigged cloth is attached to the inside of the shutter 9, and slides at the part of the surface of the photoreceptor (1) facing to the aperture 5 with the opening/ closing operation of the shutter 9. The shutter 9 is opened/closed when it is attached to/detached from an electrophotographic recording device, and residual toner at one part of the surface of the photoreceptor 1 is removed by the cleaning member at this time.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a toner cartridge which is detachable from an electrophotographic recording apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an electrophotographic recording apparatus such as a laser printer and a copying machine, the surface of a rotating drum-shaped photoconductor is uniformly charged by a charger, and the surface of the charged photoconductor is irradiated with laser light or the like. To remove the charge on the exposed portion by photoconductive phenomenon to form an electrostatic latent image, and apply the toner charged with the opposite polarity to the unexposed portion to the exposed portion on the surface of the photoreceptor. Attach. Thus, a toner image as a visible image is formed. Then, the toner image is transferred onto one surface of the recording paper in contact with the photoreceptor, and the transferred toner image is fixed.

[0003] Japanese Patent No. 2898310 discloses a toner storage container for storing toner for supply, a charger, and a cleaning device for removing residual toner adhering to the surface of a photoreceptor, which is detachably mountable to an electrophotographic recording apparatus. A toner cartridge is disclosed. With this toner cartridge, each part is removed separately during maintenance,
Since there is no need to attach, it is easy to replace parts, repair and clean the electrophotographic recording device.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 10-111595 discloses that a photoconductor, a toner storage container, a charger, a developing roller for attaching toner to the surface of a photoconductor, and a cleaning device are integrally housed in a housing, and the developing roller and A toner receiving member for receiving toner that has fallen without being attached when the toner is attached to the surface of the photosensitive member by the developing roller is detachably attached to a part of the housing below the part where the photosensitive member is opposed. There is disclosed a toner cartridge which is provided so that when toner accumulates in the toner receiving member, the toner receiving member is detached from the housing to facilitate removal of the toner.

In this toner cartridge, the toner is scattered when the user removes the toner that has fallen without adhering to the surface of the photoreceptor and has accumulated in the toner receiving member by removing the toner receiving member. Can be prevented from being contaminated.

[0006]

However, in the conventional toner cartridge as described above, even when the residual toner is removed from the surface of the photoreceptor by a cleaning device, the residual toner may not be completely removed. The remaining toner that cannot be removed is scattered as described above, thereby contaminating the inside of the electrophotographic recording apparatus, and the remaining toner that cannot be removed is transferred to recording paper while adhering to unnecessary portions of the photoconductor. As a result, there is a problem that the transferred image is deteriorated.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and cleans the surface of a photoconductor inside a shutter that opens and closes an opening provided in a housing for bringing the photoconductor into contact with a recording sheet. The cleaning member is attached to the electrophotographic recording apparatus, and the shutter is opened and closed in accordance with the attachment and detachment of the electrophotographic recording apparatus, and the residual toner adhered to the surface of the photoconductor is scraped off by the cleaning member with the opening and closing of the shutter. Removes residual toner that could not be removed by the container, prevents contamination inside the electrophotographic recording device due to scattering of residual toner, and not only toner necessary for transfer to recording paper, but also residual toner on recording paper. An object of the present invention is to provide a toner cartridge capable of preventing deterioration of an image due to transfer.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a toner cartridge in which a photosensitive member, a toner container for storing toner, and toner supplied from the toner container are formed on the surface of the photosensitive member. And a developing unit that adheres to the surface of the photoconductor in accordance with the electrostatic latent image to form a toner image, and is integrally housed in a housing, so that the toner image on the photoconductor is transferred to recording paper. In a toner cartridge detachably mountable to an electrophotographic recording apparatus, the housing has an opening provided in the vicinity of the photoreceptor, and the shutter opens and closes the opening in accordance with attachment and detachment to the electrophotographic recording apparatus. And a cleaning member attached to the inside of the shutter and abutting on the surface of the photoconductor when the shutter is closed.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a toner cartridge, comprising: a photosensitive member; a toner storage container for storing toner; and a toner supplied from the toner storage container, the toner being supplied to an electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the photosensitive member. An electrophotographic recording apparatus, wherein a developing unit for forming a toner image by adhering to the surface of the photoconductor is housed integrally in a housing, and the toner image on the photoconductor is transferred to recording paper. In the toner cartridge detachably attached to the, the housing,
An opening provided in the vicinity of the photoreceptor, a protrusion is provided at a position corresponding to a contact member provided in the electrophotographic recording apparatus, and a swingably mounted near the opening of the housing. A shutter attached to the shutter and the housing, and a spring for urging the shutter in a direction to close the opening, and a shutter attached to the inside of the shutter, the shutter being closed when the shutter is closed. A cleaning member made of cloth that comes into contact with the surface.

In the case of the toner cartridge according to the present invention, a cleaning member that comes into contact with the surface of the photoconductor when the shutter is closed is attached inside a shutter that opens and closes an opening provided near the photoconductor in the housing, The shutter was opened and closed in accordance with the attachment and detachment of the electrophotographic recording apparatus, and the residual toner adhering to the surface of the photoreceptor was scraped off by the cleaning member with the opening and closing of the shutter. Residual toner can be removed to prevent contamination inside the electrophotographic recording apparatus due to scattering of the residual toner, and not only the toner necessary for transfer to the recording paper, but also the residual toner is transferred to the recording paper. This can prevent the image from deteriorating.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings showing the embodiments. FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing the configuration of the toner cartridge according to the present invention.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a drum-shaped photosensitive member. The photoconductor 1 is housed in a housing H of a toner cartridge 10 that is detachable from an electrophotographic recording apparatus.
An electric motor (not shown) provided in the electrophotographic recording apparatus is rotatable counterclockwise in the figure. At a position slightly upstream of the photoconductor 1 from the upper portion of the photoconductor 1 in the housing H, a charging roller 2 that is disposed in parallel with the photoconductor 1 and is in contact with the entire length of the photoconductor 1 is installed. I have. A laser light irradiator (not shown) is provided outside the housing H and above the photoconductor 1 so as to irradiate the photoconductor 1 with laser light. Above the body 1, a laser light entrance path 3, which is a path of the laser light, is provided as an elongated opening parallel to the photoconductor 1.

At a position downstream of the charging roller 2 and the laser beam entrance path 3 in the rotation direction of the photosensitive member 1, a developing roller 4 for adhering toner to the surface of the photosensitive member 1 and forming a toner image is provided. The photoconductor 1 is provided so as to be in contact with the photoconductor 1 in parallel. Further, the photosensitive member 1 further downstream in the rotation direction of the photosensitive member 1
An elongated opening 5 parallel to the photoconductor 1 is provided below the housing H so that the transfer roller 6 provided in the electrophotographic recording apparatus in parallel with the photoconductor 1 can come into contact with the photoconductor 1. It has become.

On the opposite side of the photosensitive member 1 from the contact position with the developing roller 4, a cleaning blade 7 of a long plate parallel to the photosensitive member 1 is arranged so that one side is opposed to the rotating direction of the photosensitive member 1. Arranged to abut. On the inner surface of the housing H below the cleaning blade 7, a waste toner storage unit 8 for collecting waste toner removed from the surface of the photoconductor 1 is provided.
It is provided in a substantially V-shaped groove shape in a side view parallel to the photoconductor 1.

Next, the operation of the electrophotographic recording apparatus will be described. The photoconductor 1 is rotated counterclockwise in the figure by an electric motor (not shown). The charging roller 2 rotates in a direction opposite to the rotation direction of the photoconductor 1 according to the rotation of the photoconductor 1 while being in contact with the photoconductor 1. The surface of the photoconductor 1 is uniformly charged by the charging roller 2, and is exposed by the laser light traveling along the laser light entrance path 3. The charge in the exposed portion is lost due to the photoconductive phenomenon, and an electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the photoreceptor 1 as an electrostatic charge pattern.

On the opposite side of the contact portion of the developing roller 4 with the photoreceptor 1, a U-shaped toner replenishing container 41 arranged in parallel with the photoreceptor 1 is provided in a side sectional view. The toner is stored inside the toner supply container 41, and an opening for supplying the toner is provided at a lower portion of the toner supply container 41 on the photoconductor 1 side. Between the developing roller 4 and the toner replenishing container 41, a toner replenishing roller 42 is disposed in parallel with and in contact with the developing roller 4. The developing roller 4 rotates in the direction opposite to the rotation direction of the photoconductor 1 in accordance with the rotation of the photoconductor 1, and the toner supply roller 42 rotates in the same direction as the rotation direction of the developing roller 4. It has become. The toner supplied from the opening of the toner supply container 41 is transported to the developing roller 4 by the toner supply roller 42 and adheres to the surface of the developing roller 4.

Above the developing roller 4, a long doctor blade 43 parallel to the developing roller 4 is arranged so that one surface thereof is in contact with the surface of the developing roller 4. Developing roller 4
The toner adhered to the surface of the developing roller 4 is made uniform in thickness by the doctor blade 43, and the toner adheres to the electrostatic latent image due to friction with the doctor blade 43. Is charged with the same polarity as that of the unexposed portion.

The toner adhering to the surface of the developing roller 4 is
The electrostatic latent image of the photoconductor 1 is attracted to the unexposed portion by the electric field, and a visible toner image is formed on the surface of the photoconductor 1.

A recording sheet is introduced between the photoreceptor 1 and the transfer roller 6 from a recording sheet supply unit (not shown) of the electrophotographic apparatus. The first toner image is transferred to recording paper.
Then, the transferred recording paper is conveyed to a fixing unit provided on the electrophotographic recording apparatus side, the toner on the recording paper surface is melted by instantaneous heat and pressure, and the image is fixed by adhering to the recording paper fibers. Let it.

Residual toner adhering to the photoreceptor 1 without being transferred is removed from the surface of the photoreceptor 1 by the cleaning blade 7 and collected in the waste toner storage unit 8 to prepare for the next image input.

When the toner cartridge 10 is removed from the electrophotographic recording apparatus, it is necessary to close the opening 5 in order to prevent deterioration of the photosensitive member 1 due to ultraviolet rays. Therefore, a shutter 9 for opening and closing the opening 5 is provided at a lower portion of the housing H. FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged side view illustrating the configuration of the shutter 9. Shutter 9
Is a long plate slightly larger than the opening 5 so as to cover the entire opening 5 when closed, and a plate portion 91 whose short side is formed in an arc shape according to the shape of the photoconductor 1, and both ends of the plate portion 91 Arms 9 extending vertically from the center toward the center of the arc
And 2. The distal ends of the arm portions 92 are each supported by a rotating shaft, and the shutter 9 can rotate about the rotating shaft.

A spring retainer for holding one end of the helical spring S is provided on the inner surface of each of the arm portions 92, respectively. The other end of the helical spring S is held by a spring retainer provided on the inner surface of the housing H, and the shutter 9 is urged by the helical spring S in the direction indicated by the arrow in the figure. On the outer surface of the arm portion 92, there is provided a protruding piece 93 for abutting on a guide plate P described later provided on the electrophotographic recording device side when the toner cartridge 10 is mounted on the electrophotographic recording device. The opening 5 is opened by pushing the shutter 9 with the protruding piece 93 in contact with the contact member.

On the inner surface of the plate portion 91, a cleaning member 95 made of an insulating brushed cloth which is detachable by a hook-and-loop fastener is attached. The cleaning member 95 comes into contact with the surface of the photoconductor 1 when the shutter 9 is closed.

The cleaning member 95 may be an insulating sponge.

FIG. 3 is a view for explaining the operation of the shutter 9 when the toner cartridge 10 is mounted on the electrophotographic recording apparatus. As shown in FIG. 3A, before the toner cartridge 10 is mounted on the electrophotographic recording apparatus, the shutter 9 is held in a closed state by the elastic force of the helical spring S. The toner cartridge 10 in this state is inserted into the mounting position inside the electrophotographic recording apparatus from the toner supply container 41 side. At both ends of the mounting position of the toner cartridge 10 of the electrophotographic recording apparatus, guide plates P for contacting the projecting pieces 93 and pushing up the shutter 9 are provided at positions where both end surfaces of the mounted toner cartridge 10 face each other. Have been. In the guide plate P, the corner between the vertical side and the upper side on the entrance side of the mounting position has an arc shape.

When the toner cartridge 10 is inserted into the mounting position of the electrophotographic recording apparatus in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. 3A, the protruding piece 93 is positioned near the lower end of the arc-shaped corner of the guide plate P. Abut As the toner cartridge 10 advances, the protruding piece 93 is pushed by the guide plate P, and the shutter 9 is pushed in the direction opposite to the advance of the toner cartridge 10. Then, the protruding piece 93 is pushed up along the arc of the corner of the guide plate P, and accordingly, the shutter 9 is rotated about the rotation axis at the tip of the arm 92, as shown in FIG. 3B. Thus, the opening 5 is opened, and the mounting of the toner cartridge 10 is completed. During this mounting process, the cleaning member 95 slides on the surface of the photoreceptor 1, and removes residual toner attached to this portion.

When the toner cartridge 10 is to be removed from the electrophotographic recording apparatus, the removal operation is performed in a procedure opposite to the mounting procedure. At this time, since the protruding piece 93 separates from the guide plate P, the elastic force of the helical spring S causes the shutter 9 to move.
Is closed. Also at this time, the cleaning member 95 slides on the surface of the photoreceptor 1 and scrapes residual toner adhered to this portion.

[0028]

As described above in detail, in the case of the toner cartridge according to the present invention, the inside of the shutter for opening and closing the opening provided near the photosensitive member of the housing is provided on the surface of the photosensitive member when the shutter is closed. Attachment of a cleaning member to be in contact, opening and closing of the shutter in accordance with attachment and detachment to the electrophotographic recording apparatus, and cleaning of the residual toner adhering to the surface of the photoreceptor with the opening and closing of the shutter by the cleaning member. A part of the residual toner that could not be removed by the container is removed, the contamination inside the electrophotographic recording apparatus due to the scattering of the residual toner is suppressed, and not only the toner necessary for transferring to the recording paper, but also the residual toner. It is possible to suppress deterioration of an image due to being transferred to a recording sheet.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing a configuration of a toner cartridge according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged side view showing a configuration of a shutter.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an operation of a shutter when a toner cartridge is mounted on an electrophotographic recording apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 photoconductor 2 charging roller 3 laser beam entrance path 4 developing roller 5 opening 6 transfer roller 7 cleaning blade 8 waste toner storage section 9 shutter 10 toner cartridge 41 toner supply container 42 toner supply roller 43 doctor blade 91 plate section 92 arm section 93 arm section 93 Projecting piece 95 Cleaning member H Housing P Guide plate S Helical spring

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A photoconductor, a toner storage container for storing toner, and a toner supplied from the toner storage container, wherein the toner is supplied to the surface of the photoconductor in accordance with an electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the photoconductor. A developing unit for forming a toner image by attaching the developing unit to a toner cartridge detachably mountable to an electrophotographic recording apparatus configured to transfer a toner image of the photoconductor onto recording paper; In the above, the housing has an opening provided in the vicinity of the photoconductor, a shutter that opens and closes the opening according to attachment and detachment to the electrophotographic recording apparatus, and a shutter attached to the inside of the shutter. A cleaning member that comes into contact with the surface of the photoconductor when the photoconductor is closed. 2. A photoconductor, a toner storage container for storing toner, and a toner supplied from the toner storage container, wherein the toner is supplied to the surface of the photoconductor in accordance with an electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the photoconductor. A developing unit for forming a toner image by attaching the developing unit to a toner cartridge detachably mountable to an electrophotographic recording apparatus configured to transfer a toner image of the photoconductor onto recording paper; In the above, the housing has an opening provided in the vicinity of the photoreceptor, a projection is provided at a position corresponding to a contact member provided in the electrophotographic recording apparatus, and a vicinity of the opening of the housing is provided. A shutter swingably mounted on the
A spring attached to the shutter and the housing and for urging the shutter in a direction to close the opening; and a cloth attached to the inside of the shutter and abutting against the surface of the photoconductor when the shutter is closed. And a cleaning member.