JP2002014503A - Toner recovery assembly used for tandem type full color image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a toner recovery assembly capable of recovering toner scavenged by a cleaning device in each image forming area by an extremely simple means without complicating the structure of a tandem type full color image forming device nor causing the cost rising of the device. SOLUTION: This toner recovery assembly is arranged on the back surface of the inside of the housing of the tandem type full color image forming device having structure where plural image forming areas having different colors from each other are juxtaposed on a transfer belt for carrying transfer paper and is constituted of plural toner recovery tanks arranged side by side along the back surface of the inside of the housing. At least one aperture for introducing recovered toner is provided on the toner recovery tank, and the toner recovered in the image forming area is introduced to any of the toner recovery tanks through the aperture for introducing the recovered toner. Then, the recovery tank is provided to be integrally drawn out from the side surface of the housing on a transfer paper ejection side.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a toner collecting assembly used in a tandem type full-color image forming apparatus having a structure in which a plurality of image forming areas of different colors are arranged side by side on a transfer belt for conveying transfer paper. Things.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A so-called tandem type full-color image forming apparatus is known as an apparatus for forming a full-color image by electrophotography. In this tandem-type full-color image forming apparatus, for example, in addition to a region for forming a monochrome image using black toner, a region for forming a cyan (blue) image using cyan toner, a region for forming a magenta (red) image using magenta toner, and yellow. A color image forming region such as a region where a yellow (yellow) image is formed by toner is arranged side by side on a transfer belt that conveys transfer paper. That is, the photosensitive drum is arranged on the transfer belt for each image forming area, and the toner image formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum by the toner of each color is transferred onto transfer paper conveyed on the transfer belt. By forming a full-color transfer image by superimposing, a transfer paper having such a transfer image is introduced into a fixing device arranged on the discharge side of the transfer belt, and the transfer image is fixed on the transfer paper. Image formation is performed. This type of full-color image forming apparatus has an advantage that an image can be formed while a transfer sheet is continuously conveyed by a transfer belt.

[0003]

In the tandem-type full-color image forming apparatus having the above-described structure, a photosensitive drum is provided for each of a plurality of juxtaposed image forming areas to form an image. The residual toner adhered to the photosensitive drum for each area is collected by the cleaning device. Therefore, there is a problem how to collect the toner collected in each image forming area.

As means for collecting such collected toner,
A toner collection tank is provided in a toner cartridge provided for each image forming area, and toner collected by a cleaning device provided in each image forming area is
A method of collecting toner in a toner collecting tank provided in each image forming area by a spiral or the like is actually used.

However, in such a collected toner collecting means, since the toner cartridge having the toner collecting tank is located above the cleaning device,
The toner collected by the cleaning device must be conveyed into the toner collection tank against gravity, and as a result, the structure of the image forming apparatus becomes complicated, resulting in an increase in cost. In addition, the structure of the toner cartridge itself becomes complicated, which leads to an increase in cost of the toner cartridge. Further, since the toner collection tank is provided in the toner cartridge, the capacity (particularly the height) of the toner collection tank is limited. That is, since the capacity of the toner collection tank cannot be increased, there is also a problem that the number of times of replacing the tank increases.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a tandem type full-color image forming apparatus which can clean each image forming area by extremely simple means without complicating the structure of the apparatus and increasing the cost. An object of the present invention is to provide a toner collecting assembly capable of collecting toner collected by the apparatus. Another object of the present invention is to
An object of the present invention is to provide a toner collecting assembly which has a toner collecting tank having a relatively large capacity, can reduce the number of times of replacing the toner collecting tank, and can easily perform the operation of replacing the toner collecting tank.

[0007]

According to the present invention, there is provided a tandem-type full-color image forming apparatus having a structure in which a plurality of image forming areas having different colors are arranged side by side on a transfer belt for conveying a transfer sheet. The toner collection assembly disposed on the back includes a plurality of toner collection tanks arranged side-by-side along the back inside the housing, wherein each toner collection tank has at least one collected toner introduction opening. The toner collected in the image forming area is introduced into any of the toner collection tanks through the collected toner introduction opening, and each of the collection tanks is disposed on the transfer paper discharge side of the housing. A toner collection assembly is provided that can be integrally pulled out.

A first important feature of the toner collection assembly of the present invention is that a plurality of toner collection tanks are disposed side-by-side along the back inside the tandem full color image forming apparatus housing.
That is, by arranging the toner tank in such a position, it is not necessary to transport the toner collected by the cleaning device provided in each image forming area upward against the gravity, for example, the toner is arranged horizontally. It is possible to convey the toner into the toner collection tank only by using the used spiral. Therefore, the structure in the device is not complicated, and an increase in the cost of the device can be effectively avoided. Further, the height of the toner collection tank can be set to be extremely large as compared with the case where the toner collection tank is provided in the toner cartridge. The number of replacements can be significantly reduced.

A second important feature is that a plurality of toner collection tanks arranged at the above-mentioned positions are provided so as to be able to be integrally pulled out from the side of the housing on the transfer paper discharge side. is there. This makes it possible to replace the toner collection tank very easily. In addition, a finisher such as a sorter is disposed on the side of the transfer paper discharge side of the image forming apparatus. Therefore, when the toner recovery tank is pulled out from the side of the transfer paper discharge side, the length of the drawer is usually limited to about 300 mm or less. However, in the present invention, a plurality of toner collection tanks arranged side by side,
All of these toner recovery tanks can be easily pulled out despite such restrictions because they are associated with each other so that they can be pulled out integrally. That is, in the present invention, for example, if the length of one toner collection tank is set to 300 mm or less, 1
By pulling out the toner collection tanks, the adjacent collection tanks are also drawn out to the side of the transfer paper discharge side, so that the toner collection tanks can be sequentially drawn out with a drawer length of 300 mm or less. In the present invention, the length of the toner collection tank needs to be set to 300 mm or less. However, as described above, by increasing the height, the capacity of each collection tank is increased. And the number of replacements can be reduced.

In the present invention, in order to allow the plurality of toner collection tanks arranged side by side to be integrally pulled out, a locking projection is provided on one side of each toner collection tank, and the other is provided on the other side. What is necessary is just to provide a locking recessed part. That is, between two toner collection tanks arranged at positions adjacent to each other, a locking projection provided on one toner collection tank and a locking recess provided on the other toner collection tank. May be detachably engaged. Thus, if one of the toner collection tanks is pulled out, the other tank is also pulled out by being dragged by this.

Also, a rail-shaped tank support member is provided,
By mounting a plurality of (particularly two) toner collection tanks on the tank support member in close contact with each other, these toner collection tanks can be integrally pulled out.
That is, each of the toner collecting tanks can be drawn out by pulling out the above-mentioned tank supporting member with a drawing length of 300 mm or less. In this case, it is preferable that a handle for drawing out is formed in the tank support member.

In the above-described present invention, it is preferable that the plurality of toner collecting tanks arranged side by side along the rear surface of the housing are formed in the same shape to reduce the manufacturing cost.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to specific examples shown in the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a view showing a schematic structure of a tandem image forming apparatus provided with a toner collecting assembly of the present invention, and FIGS. 2A and 2B show an example of a toner collecting assembly of the present invention. FIG. 3
FIG. 4A is a view showing another example of the toner recovery assembly of the present invention, and FIGS. 4A and 4B are views showing a drawing-out process of the toner recovery assembly shown in FIG. is there.

Referring to FIG. 1, the tandem type image forming apparatus includes a transfer belt 1 running in a housing 50 stretched between a pair of rollers.
Transfer paper 2 is introduced from a paper feed cassette 3 shown in the lower part of the figure, and the transfer paper 2 conveyed by the transfer belt 1 passes through a fixing device 4 arranged on the left side of the transfer belt 1. Thus, it is configured to be discharged above the housing 50. Although not shown, a finisher such as a sorter is disposed on the side surface 50a on the transfer paper discharge side of the housing 50, so that the transfer paper 2 can be discharged into the finisher.

On the traveling path above the transfer belt 1, that is, on the transfer path of the transfer paper 2, in order from the right, a monochrome image forming area B, a cyan (blue) image forming area C, and a magenta (red).
An image forming area M and a yellow (yellow) image forming area Y are provided, and a photoconductor drum 6 is arranged in each of the image forming areas and is transferred so as to face each photoconductor drum 6. A transfer roller 7 is arranged below the belt 1. (Note that the arrangement order of the image forming areas is not particularly limited, and this arrangement can be appropriately changed.)

In each image forming area, a main charger 8, an optical system 9 for exposing an image, and a developing device 10 having a toner of a color specific to each image forming area are provided around the photosensitive drum 6. Are arranged in this order. That is, the developing device 10 in the monochrome image forming region B is filled with black toner, the developing device 10 in the cyan image forming region C is filled with cyan toner, and the developing device 10 in the magenta image forming region M is filled. Is filled with magenta toner, and the developing device 10 in the yellow image forming area Y is filled with yellow toner. Further, a static eliminator (not shown) and a cleaning device 12 are arranged between the area where the transfer roller 7 is provided and the main charger 8.

The image forming cycle in each image forming area is
A description will be given taking the monochrome image forming area B as an example. First,
The photosensitive drum 6 is uniformly charged to a predetermined polarity by the main charger 8 including a corona charger or a contact charging roller. Next, image exposure is performed by light irradiation from an optical system 8 such as an LED, and an electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 6. This electrostatic latent image is developed by the monochrome developing device 10 filled with black toner, and a toner image is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 6. The charge polarity of this toner image is
When development is performed by so-called reversal development, the charge polarity of the photosensitive drum 6 charged by the main charger 8 is the same. When development is performed by so-called regular development, the charge polarity of the photosensitive drum 6 is And reverse polarity. The toner image thus formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 6 is transferred to the transfer belt 1 in a region (transfer region) facing the transfer roller 7.
The image is transferred onto the transfer paper 2 conveyed above. This transfer is performed by applying a bias voltage having a polarity opposite to that of the toner image to the transfer roller 7. After the transfer is completed, the charge is removed by the static eliminator and the cleaning device 12 (not shown).
The charge removal of the photosensitive drum 6 and the cleaning of the toner remaining on the surface of the drum 6 are performed, and the next image forming cycle is performed.

As described above, in the monochrome image forming area B, a monochrome image composed of black toner is formed on the transfer paper 2, and similarly, in the cyan image forming area C, the cyan toner is formed on the transfer paper 2. In the magenta image forming region M, a red image formed of magenta toner is formed, and in the yellow image forming region Y, a yellow image formed of yellow toner is formed. That is, when forming a monochrome image, the above-described image forming cycle is executed only in the monochrome image forming area B, and a monochrome image is formed on the transfer paper 2. When a full-color image is formed, the above-described image forming cycle is executed in each of the image forming areas B, C, M, and Y.
The toner images of the respective colors are superimposed to form a full-color image on the transfer paper 2. The transfer paper 2 on which the above-described image is formed is discharged from the transfer belt 1 and introduced into the fixing device 4, where the image is fixed by heat, pressure or the like and discharged.

In the above-described image forming apparatus, the cleaning device 12 provided in each image forming area includes a cleaning blade 12a and a transport spiral 12b, and is collected from the surface of the photosensitive drum 6 by the cleaning blade 12a. The toner is conveyed to the rear side of the apparatus housing 50 by the conveying spiral. In FIG. 1, the near side is the front of the housing 50, and the far side is the back of the housing 50. An operation panel including switches and the like is provided on the front side of the housing.

According to the present invention, the toner collecting assembly 20 is disposed on the back of the housing 50 of such a tandem type full-color image forming apparatus. The toner collecting assembly 20 includes a plurality of toner collecting tanks,
The plurality of toner recovery tanks are arranged side by side along the rear surface of the housing 50, and can be integrally pulled out from the transfer paper discharge side surface 50a of the housing 50. An example of the toner collecting assembly 20 is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. In FIG. 1, such a toner collecting assembly having the structure shown in FIG. .

Referring to FIG. 2 (FIG. 2 (a) is a side view and FIG. 2 (b) is a perspective view), the toner collecting assembly 20 includes two toner collecting tanks 21a and 21b.
And on the upper surface of each toner collection tank 21,
Each is provided with two collection toner introduction openings. Note that the openings for introducing the collected toner of one toner collecting tank 21a are indicated by 22a and 23a, and the openings for introducing the collected toner of the other toner collecting tank 21b are indicated by 22b and 23b.

On one side surface of the toner collecting tank 21a, an upward locking convex portion 24a is formed, and on the other side surface, an upwardly concave locking concave portion 25a is formed. ing. Further, similarly, in the toner recovery tank 21b, an upward locking projection 2 is provided on one side surface side.
4b is formed, and on the other side surface, a locking concave portion 25b that is concave upward is formed.

As is clear from FIGS. 2A and 2B, the toner recovery tanks 21a and 21b are arranged side by side, and the locking recess 25a of the recovery tank 21a is provided.
The locking projection 24a of the collection tank 21b is detachably engaged with the collection tank 21b. That is, the two toner recovery tanks 21a and 21b are the same as those shown in FIG.
Is provided on the inner surface of the rear surface of the housing 50 so as to be located on the side surface 50a side of the housing 50 of the image forming apparatus. For example, an appropriate step may be provided on the back surface of the housing 50, and the assembly 20 including the recovery tanks 21a and 21b may be placed on the step.

In the assembly 20 arranged on the rear surface of the housing 50, the toner collection tank 2
The toner collected by the cleaning device 12 in each image forming area through the collected toner introduction openings 1a and 21b, and the transport spiral 12b is collected in the tank. For example, the cleaning device 12 for the yellow image forming area Y
Is collected through the collected toner introduction opening 22a, and the toner collected by the cleaning device 12 in the magenta image forming area M is collected through the collected toner introduction opening 2a.
The toner is collected in the toner collecting tank 21a through the toner collecting tank 3a. Further, the cleaning device 1 for the cyan image forming area C
The toner collected in Step 2 is collected by the collected toner introduction opening 22b.
And the toner collected by the cleaning device 12 in the monochrome image forming area B is collected into the toner collection tank 21b through the collection toner introduction opening 23b.

In the toner collecting assembly 20 of FIG. 2 arranged on the back of the housing 50 of the image forming apparatus as described above, the locking of the toner collecting tank 21a arranged on the side surface 50a of the housing 50 is performed. These two tanks 21a and 21b can be pulled out integrally by hooking and pulling out the convex portion 24a with a finger. Therefore, after the toner collection tank 21a is pulled out, lifted and taken out, the locking projection 24b of the next toner collection tank 21b (which is drawn out toward the side surface 50a of the housing 50) is hooked with a finger and further pulled out. Can be taken out.

The toner recovery assembly 20 of FIG.
Although two toner recovery tanks are provided so as to be able to be integrally pulled out by a detachable engagement mechanism including a locking projection and a locking recess, such a mechanism is not used. Alternatively, two toner recovery tanks may be provided so as to be able to be integrally pulled out. An example of such a toner collection assembly 20 is shown in FIG.

In FIG. 3, the toner collecting assembly 20 includes a rail-shaped tank supporting member 30 and two toner collecting tanks 21a and 21b disposed on the supporting member 30 so as to be in close contact with each other. I have. A handle 32 is provided at one end of the rail-shaped support member 30.
A guide 33 is formed on each of the other end and the side surface so that the two toner recovery tanks 21a and 21b are stably held on the support member 30. I have.

In the toner collecting assembly 20 shown in FIG. 3, each of the toner collecting tanks 21a and 21b includes
Similarly to the above, the openings 22a and 23 for introducing the collected toner, respectively.
a and 22b and 23b are formed. In addition, knob concave portions 35a and 35b are formed on the side surfaces of the toner collecting tanks 21a and 21b, respectively.

Such a toner recovery assembly 20 includes:
For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the handle 31 is provided on the inner surface of the rear surface of the housing 50 so as to be located on the side surface 50 a side of the housing 50, and similar to the toner recovery assembly of FIG. The toner collected by the device 12 is collected through the collected toner introduction opening 22a, and the toner collected by the cleaning device 12 in the magenta image forming area M is collected through the collected toner introduction opening 23a. Collected in the tank 21a. Further, the toner collected by the cleaning device 12 in the cyan image forming area C is passed through the collected toner introduction opening 22b, and the toner collected by the cleaning device 12 in the monochrome image forming area B is collected by the collected toner introduction port. The toner is collected in the toner collecting tank 21b through the opening 23b.

The drawing of the toner collecting assembly 20 shown in FIG. 3 is performed by a process shown in FIGS. 4 (a) and 4 (b). That is, as shown in FIG. 4A, the user pulls out the side surface 50a of the housing 50 by holding the handle 32 of the support member 30 and firstly removes the toner collection tank 21.
Lift a and take it out. In this state, since the toner recovery tank 21b is drawn out to the side surface 50a of the housing 50, as shown in FIG. 4B, the toner recovery tank 21b is further pulled out by holding the picking concave portion 35b of the tank 21b. And lift it up and take it out.

In the toner recovery assembly 20 of the present invention shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 described above, a finisher such as a sorter is disposed on the side surface 50a side of the housing 50, and as shown in FIG. Its maximum drawer length d
Is about 300 in consideration of the evacuation space of the finisher.
mm or less. Therefore, the length of the toner collection tanks 21a and 21b is also set to 300 mm or less.

In the examples of FIGS. 2 and 3, two toner recovery tanks 21a and 21b are used. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and is, for example, provided in an image forming apparatus. The number of the toner collection tanks corresponding to the number of the image forming areas can be arranged and used side-by-side, and the toner collected by the cleaning device 12 in each image forming area can be collected in a dedicated toner collection tank. Can be.

In a tandem type full color image forming apparatus, the amount of toner consumed in each image forming area is usually different.
Is consumed in the largest amount. Therefore, for example, three openings for introducing collected toner are formed in the above-described toner collecting tank 21a, and the three collected toner introducing openings are collected by the cleaning device 12 for the yellow image forming area Y, the magenta image forming area M, and the cyan image forming area C. It is also possible to collect the toner and collect the toner collected by the cleaning device 12 in the monochrome image forming area B in the toner collection tank 21b.

Further, in the present invention, the above-mentioned toner collection tank and the like are formed of polyester such as polyethylene terephthalate or polyolefin such as polyethylene or polypropylene. Most preferably, the tanks have the same shape. In the tandem-type full-color image forming apparatus provided with the above-mentioned toner collecting assembly 20, it is desirable to provide a collecting tank detecting sensor inside the tandem type in order to prevent forgetting to put the collecting tank.

[0035]

According to the toner collecting assembly of the present invention, it is possible to collect the toner collected by the cleaning device without forming a conveying path against the gravity.
It is possible to effectively avoid inconveniences such as a complicated structure of the tandem-type full-color image forming apparatus and an increase in cost. In addition, the replacement operation of the toner collection tank can be performed extremely easily, and the capacity can be increased as much as possible. Therefore, the number of replacements of the toner collection tank can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic structure of a tandem image forming apparatus provided with a toner collecting assembly of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view showing an example of a toner collecting assembly according to the present invention. FIG. 2 (a) is a side view, and FIG. 2 (b) is a perspective view.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing another example of the toner collecting assembly of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a drawing-out process of the toner collection assembly shown in FIG. 3;

[Explanation of symbols]

 1: transfer belt 2: transfer paper 6: photosensitive drum 20: toner recovery assembly 21a, 21b: toner recovery tank 30: tank support member 50: housing

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A toner collection assembly disposed on a rear surface inside a housing of a tandem-type full-color image forming apparatus having a structure in which a plurality of image forming areas having different colors are juxtaposed on a transfer belt that conveys transfer paper. A plurality of toner collection tanks arranged side-by-side along the inside of the housing; each toner collection tank is provided with at least one collection toner introduction opening and collected in the image forming area; The collected toner is introduced into any of the toner collection tanks through the collected toner introduction opening, and each of the collection tanks is provided so as to be able to be integrally pulled out from the side of the housing on the transfer paper discharge side. A toner collecting assembly. 2. Each toner collection tank has a locking projection on one side and a locking recess on the other side, and two toner collection tanks arranged adjacent to each other. The tanks are detachably engaged with the locking projection provided on one toner recovery tank and the locking recess provided on the other toner recovery tank.
The toner recovery assembly according to claim 1, wherein the toner collection assembly can be pulled out integrally. 3. The toner collection tank according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of toner recovery tanks are mounted on a rail-shaped tank support member in close contact with each other, and are pulled out integrally by pulling out the tank support member. Toner collection assembly. 4. The toner collecting assembly according to claim 3, wherein a handle portion is formed at an end of the tank supporting member on a drawer side. 5. The toner collecting assembly according to claim 1, wherein said plurality of toner collecting tanks are formed in the same shape. 6. The toner collecting assembly according to claim 2, wherein the number of the toner collecting tanks is equal to the number of the image forming areas. 7. The tandem-type full-color image forming apparatus, wherein a monochrome image forming area, a cyan image forming area, a magenta image forming area, and a yellow image forming area are formed as the image forming areas. The toner collection tank includes a toner collection tank in which toner collected in a monochrome image forming area is introduced, and a toner collection tank for introducing toner collected in an image forming area of another color. Item 4. The toner recovery assembly according to item 2 or 3.