JP2002055517A - Developing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a developing device capable of peeling a sealing body from a toner cartridge just by easy operation that the toner cartridge is attached to the developing device and exchanging the toner cartridge without soiling a hand. SOLUTION: The toner cartridge (9) is attached to the developing device (1) and a driving shaft (14) from the driving source (13) of the device (1) is coupled with the coupling shaft (16) of a supply means (15). The driving source (13) starts driving according to a toner supply signal from the device (1) and the supply means (15) is driven, then a take-up shaft (12) is turned by a driving transmitting means (18) according to such driving action. Since the leading edge of the sealing body (11) is previously fixed on the shaft (12), the sealing body is successively taken up by the turning of the shaft (12).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a developing device provided with a toner cartridge for supplying toner to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A developing device is known in which a new toner cartridge filled with toner is replaced after the toner in the developing device is completely consumed by image formation, and toner is replenished. As an example, the toner cartridge has a toner supply port provided in a part thereof and communicating with the inside of the developing device, and a supply unit for sending out the toner from the toner supply port into the toner cartridge. The toner cartridge is supplied after the developing device is mounted. The means becomes operable, and external driving means connected to the supply means is driven by a signal from a toner presence / absence detection sensor or the like into the developing device to appropriately send toner into the developing device.

On the other hand, before replacing the toner cartridge, the toner supply port is sealed by a seal or the like so that the toner does not leak. Generally, after the toner cartridge is attached to the developing device main body, one end of the seal body is pulled or removed. Alternatively, the seal member is wound up by a winding device provided on the developing device main body side, and the toner supply port is opened.

[0004]

However, according to the above-described automatic winding method of the seal body, the wound seal body must be removed at least at the time of the next replacement of the toner cartridge. The tip of the seal must be fixed by winding the tip of the seal so that it can be rolled up. When the seal is unwound, toner splatters easily, and the hands become dirty. Becomes complicated.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and allows the seal member to be removed from the toner cartridge only by a simple operation of mounting the toner cartridge on the developing device, and furthermore, the toner cartridge can be replaced without touching the hand. It is an object of the present invention to provide a developing device that can perform the above-described operations.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a take-up mechanism for automatically taking up and peeling off a seal member closing a toner supply port when the seal member is attached to and detached from a developing device main body. It is characterized by being provided in a flexible toner cartridge.

Also, a toner cartridge detachable from the developing device main body, a toner supply port provided in the toner cartridge, a seal member closed so that toner does not leak from the toner supply port, and an external part of the toner cartridge And a supply unit for receiving the drive of a drive shaft connected to the drive source for feeding the toner in the toner cartridge from the toner supply port. A transmission unit, and a winding shaft provided on the toner cartridge for winding the seal member in response to a drive branched by the drive transmission unit, and the winding shaft is mounted in advance when the toner cartridge is mounted on the developing device. The seal body having the leading end fixed to the take-up shaft is driven by the drive source. Characterized in that it is wound on the serial winding shaft.

Further, the drive shaft extends in the axial direction of the supply means, and when the toner cartridge is mounted, an end of the drive shaft is connected to an end of a connection shaft of the supply means, and the drive transmission means is provided. A first gear provided on a connecting shaft of the supply means, a second gear meshing with the first gear and having a first helical gear, and a first gear meshing with a first helical gear and A second bevel gear fixed to the take-off shaft.

[0008] Still further, a pressing member for pressing a seal member wound around the winding shaft against the winding shaft is provided, and the winding shaft has a reduced diameter for winding the seal member. And a roller that is turned back so that the surface of the seal member to which the toner adheres is wound inside the winding shaft.

With such a configuration, the toner cartridge is mounted on the developing device, and a driving shaft from a driving source of the developing device is connected to the connecting shaft of the supply means. The drive source starts driving in accordance with the toner supply signal from the developing device, and the supply unit is driven. According to this operation, the winding shaft is rotated by the drive transmission unit. Since the tip of the seal is fixed to the take-up shaft in advance, the seal is sequentially taken up by the rotation of the take-up shaft. After the wound seal body,
Although the rotation is performed by the operation of the supply unit, the pressing unit presses the seal body wound around the winding shaft to maintain the wound state.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of a developing device according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a top view of the toner cartridge, and FIG. 3 is a top view showing a main part of the drive transmission means of the toner cartridge in a portion A of FIG. FIG. 4 is a front view of the toner cartridge, and FIG. 5 is a front view showing a main part of the drive transmitting means of the toner cartridge in a portion B of FIG. The developing device 1 includes, for example, a developing container 2 containing a developer made of an insulating non-magnetic one-component toner, a developing roller 3 made of an elastic body, and a developing roller 3 arranged in contact with the developing roller 3 at an appropriate pressure. A layer thickness regulating member 4 for regulating the thickness of a toner layer formed on the developing roller 3; a supply roller 5 provided in contact with the developing roller 3 to supply toner to the developing roller 3;
The image forming apparatus includes a stirring member 6 disposed behind the supply roller 5 and develops an electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 7 by a known image forming method.

The developing device 1 further has a cylindrical toner cartridge 9 filled with toner for replenishment and having a toner replenishing port 8 in a part of the peripheral surface thereof, and a mounting portion 10 for mounting the toner cartridge 9. As shown in FIG. 2, in the embodiment, the toner cartridge 9 has a toner supply port 8 composed of a plurality of holes linearly arranged in the axial direction (arrow C). As shown in FIG. 4, the new toner cartridge has a seal member 11 of a predetermined width that seals the toner supply port 8 adhered thereto with an adhesive or heat fusion. It is fixed to the shaft by adhesive tape or fusion.

As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG.
Denotes a drive source provided in the developing device 1, and a drive shaft 14 is provided in front of the drive source 13. The toner cartridge 9 has a supply unit 15 that receives the drive of the drive source 13 and sends out the toner in the toner cartridge 9 from the toner supply port 8. The supply means 15 has a connection shaft 16 connected to the drive shaft 14 and a stirring blade or paddle 17 provided inside the toner cartridge 9 and for sending out the toner inside from the toner supply port 8 to the outside.

Further, the toner cartridge 9 is provided with
Drive transmitting means 18 for branching the drive from the connecting shaft 16
And a winding shaft 12 for winding the seal body 11. The drive shaft 14 extends in the axial direction of the supply means 15,
When the toner cartridge 9 is mounted, the drive shaft 14 urged in the direction of arrow D by the spring means (not shown) is moved in the opposite direction to form a certain gap, and the end of the drive shaft 14 is The end of the connection shaft 16 is connected. In the embodiment, a cross-shaped groove and a projection are provided respectively. The drive transmission means 18 is provided by the supply means 1.
5, a first gear 19 provided on the connection shaft 16, a second gear 21 provided with the first helical gear 20 meshing with the first gear 19, and a first gear 19 meshed with the first helical gear 20 and A second helical gear 22 fixed to the winding shaft 12. The second gear 21 and the first bevel gear 20 are provided coaxially, and the first bevel gear 20 is provided so as to change the direction to an angle of 45 degrees. Further, the second bevel gear 22 provided to change the direction to an angle of 45 degrees receives the rotation of the first bevel gear 20 and rotates the winding shaft 12 in a direction perpendicular to the connection shaft. I have.

After the seal body 11 is wound on the winding shaft 12, the seal body 1 is prevented from being unwound.
1 is provided. The pressing member 23 is preferably made of an elastic member such as a sponge, and presses, so that the winding member 12 is not unwound even if it is rotating or not. Further, it is preferable that the winding shaft 12 is reduced in diameter at a position (approximately near the center) where the seal body 11 is wound. Since the seal body 11 is wound around the reduced diameter portion, the seal body 11 can always be located at the center of the winding shaft 12.

A roller 24 is provided so that the surface of the seal body 11 to which the toner adheres is turned inside. That is, the toner adheres to the outside of the peeled seal body 11 in the figure. A roller 24 for guiding the seal body 11 so that toner does not adhere to the pressing member 23 is provided on the winding shaft 12 that rotates by rotating the seal body 11 in the direction of arrow E. Preferably, a groove is provided so that the central portion of the roller 24 guides the seal body 11.

The operation of the above configuration will be described. The toner cartridge is mounted on the developing device, and the driving source is driven based on a signal indicating that there is no toner. The drive shaft and the connection shaft are driven by the drive of the drive source, and the supply means rotates. The first gear rotates with the rotation of the connection shaft, and this rotation is transmitted to the second gear to rotate the first bevel gear. Further, the first bevel gear transmits to the second bevel gear, and the winding shaft rotates. With the rotation of the take-up shaft, the sealing member is taken up from the tip of the fixed sealing member, and the sealing member is gradually peeled off from the toner cartridge to expose the replenishing port to replenish the stored toner into the developing device. .
The driving source is appropriately driven based on the toner supply signal in the developing unit to drive the supply unit. At this time, since the seal body is pressed by the pressing member, it is held without being unwound.

[0017]

According to the present invention, the seal body can be peeled off without the operator touching only by replacing the toner cartridge. Therefore, replacement can be performed without setting the end of the seal without soiling the hands of the operator.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of a developing device on which a toner cartridge is mounted.

FIG. 2 is a schematic top view of the toner cartridge.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged schematic view of a portion A shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a schematic front view of the toner cartridge.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged schematic view of a portion B shown in FIG. 3;

[Description of Signs] 1 Developing device 2 Developing container 3 Developing roller 4 Layer thickness regulating member 5 Supply roller 6 Stirring member 7 Photosensitive drum 8 Toner supply port 9 Toner cartridge 10 Attachment section 11 Seal body 12 Winding shaft 13 Drive source 14 Drive Shaft 15 supply means 16 connecting shaft 17 paddle 18 drive transmission means 19 first gear 20 first helical gear 21 second gear 22 second helical gear 23 pressing member 24 roller

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A developing device, wherein a take-up mechanism for automatically taking up and peeling off a seal member closing a toner supply port when the seal member is mounted is provided on a toner cartridge detachable from a developing device main body. 2. A toner cartridge detachably attached to a developing device main body, a toner supply port provided in the toner cartridge, a seal member closed so that toner does not leak from the toner supply port, and an exterior of the toner cartridge. And a supply unit for receiving the drive of a drive shaft connected to the drive source for feeding the toner in the toner cartridge from the toner supply port. A transmission unit, and a winding shaft provided on the toner cartridge for winding the seal member in response to a drive branched by the drive transmission unit, and the winding shaft is mounted in advance when the toner cartridge is mounted on the developing device. The seal body having the leading end fixed to the take-up shaft is driven by the drive source to form the winding. A developing device wound around a winding shaft. 3. The drive transmission means, wherein the drive shaft extends in the axial direction of the supply means, and an end of the drive shaft is connected to an end of a connection shaft of the supply means when the toner cartridge is mounted. Is a first shaft provided on the connecting shaft of the supply means.
, A second gear meshed with the first gear and provided with a first helical gear, and a second helical gear meshed with the first helical gear and fixed to the winding shaft. The developing device according to claim 2, further comprising: 4. The developing device according to claim 2, further comprising a pressing member for pressing a seal member wound around the winding shaft against the winding shaft. 5. The developing device according to claim 2, wherein a portion of the take-up shaft on which the seal is wound is reduced in diameter. 6. A roller which is folded back so that the surface of the seal member to which the toner adheres is wound inside the winding shaft.
The developing device according to any one of the above.