JP2005173388A - Waste toner recovery device and image forming device equipped with same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a useful inner layout of an image forming device to be adopted, while maintaining a high toner filling efficiency by moving waste toner in a waste toner container, in a direction opposite to the moving direction of the container. <P>SOLUTION: Since the waste toner container 11 turns around a rotation shaft extending in the vertical direction, the waste toner in the waste toner container moves in a direction away from the rotating shaft by the centrifugal force generated by the rotation, thereby causing the waste toner in the waste toner container, to move in the direction different from the moving direction (turning direction) of the waste toner container. Accordingly, even when a waste toner, container with a shape different from that of a conventional device in which waste toner can only be moved in the same direction as the moving direction of the waste toner container, a high filling efficiency, equivalent to that of a conventional device, can be maintained. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a waste toner collecting apparatus that collects waste toner into a waste toner container, and an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, and a facsimile equipped with the waste toner collecting apparatus.

In this type of image forming apparatus, unnecessary toner remaining on the image carrier such as a photosensitive drum is removed from the surface of the image carrier, and the toner is removed using a conveyance unit such as a conveyance coil. What is collected in a waste toner container is known. In such an image forming apparatus, generally, when a large amount of waste toner is stored in the waste toner container, the waste toner in the waste toner container is transferred to another container, or the waste toner container is replaced with a new one. Then, the waste toner is disposed of. The unnecessary toner conveyed by the conveying means usually falls as waste toner from a receiving port facing upward of the waste toner container, and is accommodated in the waste toner container. For this reason, the waste toner inside the container accumulates in a state where it rises locally and rises vertically below the receiving port. When the toner accumulates in this manner, the waste toner container reaches the receiving port even though there is still a space in the waste toner container that can accommodate the toner, and the waste toner container needs to be replaced. Occurs.
Further, since the waste toner container is usually installed in a limited space in the image forming apparatus, it is difficult to increase the size of the waste toner container, and there is a limit in increasing the amount of storage. As the amount of waste toner containers stored decreases, the frequency of waste toner disposal operations increases and the convenience tends to be impaired. In order to reduce the frequency of waste toner disposal work as much as possible, it is necessary to increase the waste toner filling efficiency in the waste toner container in order to store waste toner without waste in a limited amount of waste toner container.

In Patent Document 1, a waste toner container is linearly reciprocated on a horizontal plane, and a large acceleration (in a direction opposite to the moving direction) with respect to the waste toner container moving in one of the forward path and the return path ( A waste toner leveling device that applies impact) is disclosed. According to the waste toner leveling device, the waste toner that is locally raised due to the impact is broken down, and the waste toner accumulated in the waste toner container is moved from the vertically lower position of the receiving port to another position by the inertial force. Can be moved.
Further, Patent Document 2 discloses a waste toner collecting device that linearly reciprocates a waste toner container on an inclined surface slightly inclined from a horizontal plane. In this waste toner collecting device, a large acceleration (impact) in the direction opposite to the moving direction is applied to the waste toner container moving on the inclined surface downward in the vertical direction. Therefore, also in this waste toner collecting device, the waste toner that rises locally is destroyed, and the waste toner accumulated in the waste toner container is moved from the vertically lower position of the receiving port to another position by inertia force. Can do.
In any of the devices disclosed in the above-mentioned patent documents, waste toner that has fallen from the receiving port can be moved from a position vertically below the receiving port to another position in the waste toner container. Therefore, waste toner can be filled into a space in a waste toner container that has conventionally been wasted without being filled with toner. As a result, when the accumulated waste toner reaches the receiving port, a useless space left in the waste toner container can be reduced, and the filling efficiency can be increased.

JP 2001-312190 A JP 2001-350382 A

However, any of the conventional apparatuses disclosed in the above-mentioned patent documents applies the acceleration and moves the waste toner in the waste toner container with an inertial force. In this case, the direction in which the waste toner in the waste toner container can move is the same as the movement direction of the waste toner container just before the large acceleration in the reverse direction is applied. Therefore, in order to achieve high filling efficiency in a waste toner container having a limited storage amount, the configuration of the waste toner container is restricted. That is, regarding the configuration of the waste toner container, the shape of the container must be long in the container movement direction, and a receiving port must be provided on the upper surface of the upstream end in the movement direction of the waste toner container immediately before the acceleration is applied. There are restrictions. As a result, for example, when it is difficult to position the waste toner discharge port of the transport unit above the reception port of the waste toner container due to the layout inside the image forming apparatus, such a layout cannot be adopted. . As described above, the conventional apparatus has a restriction on the configuration of the waste toner container. Therefore, even if the layout inside the image forming apparatus is useful, this cannot be adopted.
The reason why such a problem occurs in the conventional apparatus is that the configuration of the waste toner container is limited as described above in order to obtain high filling efficiency. This restriction is added because the waste toner in the waste toner container can only be moved in the same direction as the movement direction of the waste toner container. Therefore, in order to maintain a high filling efficiency similar to that of the conventional apparatus and adopt a useful layout that cannot be adopted by the conventional apparatus, the waste toner in the waste toner container is moved in a direction different from the moving direction of the waste toner container. A new configuration that can be moved is needed.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above background, and an object of the present invention is to collect waste toner that can move waste toner in the waste toner container in a direction different from the movement direction of the waste toner container. The present invention provides an apparatus and an image forming apparatus including the apparatus.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention of claim 1 has a waste toner container for storing waste toner, and drops the waste toner conveyed by the conveying means from a receiving port facing upward of the waste toner container. In the waste toner collecting apparatus for storing waste toner in the waste toner container, the waste toner container has a rotating means for rotating the waste toner container around a rotation shaft extending in the vertical direction. is there.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the waste toner collecting apparatus of the first aspect, the rotating means rotates the waste toner container so as to reciprocate within a predetermined angle range. Accelerating means for moving waste toner in the waste toner container in the direction of rotation by applying acceleration in a direction that prevents the rotation of the waste toner container rotating in one of the return paths It is characterized by having.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the waste toner collecting apparatus according to the second aspect, wherein the waste toner container is biased toward one end in the longitudinal direction of the container on one side of the container elongated in the lateral direction. The projecting part has a shape projecting outward and the projecting part is formed with the receiving port, and the pivoting means is arranged so that the pivoting shaft is positioned on the end side of the projecting part. In addition, the acceleration applying means is configured such that acceleration is applied in a direction that hinders the rotation of the waste toner container toward the other end in the longitudinal direction of the container.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the waste toner collecting apparatus according to the second or third aspect, further comprising detection means for detecting the waste toner present in the detection region in the waste toner container, and the waste dropped from the receiving port. The detection means is arranged so that the detection region is positioned in the vicinity of the receiving port or in the direction opposite to the waste toner moving direction in which the toner moves due to the centrifugal force generated by the rotation. Is.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided cleaning means for cleaning unnecessary toner on the image carrier, transport means for transporting unnecessary toner cleaned by the cleaning means as waste toner, and waste toner transported by the transport means. In the image forming apparatus provided with the waste toner collecting means for collecting the waste toner, the waste toner collecting apparatus according to claim 1, 2, 3 or 4 is used as the waste toner collecting means.

  In the waste toner collecting apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4 and the image forming apparatus according to claim 5, the waste toner container is rotated about a rotation shaft extending in the vertical direction. It receives centrifugal force along the horizontal plane generated by the movement. Therefore, due to this centrifugal force, a force is applied to the waste toner in the waste toner container in a direction away from the rotation axis along the horizontal plane. As a result, the waste toner in the waste toner container can be moved in a direction different from the movement direction (rotation direction) of the waste toner container. In addition, in this apparatus, the waste toner can be moved from a position vertically below the receiving port to another position by the centrifugal force, so that it is possible to maintain the same high charging efficiency as that of the conventional apparatus. It is.

  As described above, according to the first to fifth aspects of the present invention, there is an excellent effect that the waste toner in the waste toner container can be moved in a direction different from the moving direction of the waste toner container. Due to this effect, the waste toner container has a lengthy structure as in the conventional apparatus, and a receiving port must be provided on the upper surface portion of the upstream end in the moving direction immediately before acceleration is applied. There are no restrictions. As a result, while maintaining high filling efficiency, there is a restriction that a receiving port must be provided on the upper end portion of the rear end of the long waste toner container in the container moving direction, so that it is difficult to adopt in the conventional apparatus. Thus, it becomes possible to employ the useful internal layout of the image forming apparatus.

Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an electrophotographic copying machine (hereinafter referred to as “copying machine”) as an image forming apparatus will be described.
FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of the copying machine according to the present embodiment.
The copying machine includes a scanner unit 20 for reading an original and a printer unit 21 that forms an image on a transfer sheet based on a digital signal output from the scanner unit 20. The scanner unit 20 reads an image of a document placed on the document table by an image reading device (not shown) via an irradiation lamp, a mirror, a lens, and the like, and sends the read data to an image processing unit (not shown). The image processing unit performs necessary processing on the read data and converts it into an image signal (digital), and then sends the digital signal to the printer unit 21.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view showing the printer unit.
In the printer unit 21, the surface of the photosensitive drum 1 as an image carrier that is rotationally driven in the direction of arrow A in the figure is uniformly charged by a charging roller 2 as a charging means. A latent image corresponding to the image of the document is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 1 by the exposure device 3 including a semiconductor laser, a polygon mirror, a reflection mirror, and the like based on the image signal from the image processing unit. The The latent image on the photosensitive drum 1 is developed with a developer supplied from a developing roller 4a as a developer carrying member included in the developing device 4, and becomes a toner image. The toner image is transferred by the transfer device 5 onto the transfer paper P that has been conveyed from the paper feed tray 22 to the transfer portion that is timed by the registration roller 6 and faces the photosensitive drum 1. Thereafter, the transfer paper P onto which the toner image has been transferred passes through the fixing device 9 and is fixed to the toner image and is discharged outside the apparatus. Here, the untransferred toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 1 after the transfer of the toner image is unnecessary toner, and is thus cleaned from the photosensitive drum 1 by the cleaning device 7 and collected by the cleaning device 7. Then, the surface of the photoreceptor drum 1 after cleaning is subjected to charge removal by the charge removal lamp 8, and is used for the next image formation.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a waste toner collecting apparatus 10 in the present embodiment. FIG. 4 is a side view of the waste toner collecting device 10 when viewed from the photosensitive drum axial direction. FIG. 5 is a top view of the waste toner collecting device 10 as viewed from above in the vertical direction. FIG. 6 is a side view of the waste toner collecting device 10 when viewed from a direction parallel to the photosensitive drum axis.
The waste toner collecting device 10 has a waste toner container 11. Unnecessary toner collected by the cleaning device 7 is transported as waste toner in the axial direction of the photosensitive drum 1 by a transport screw 23 serving as transport means. The end of the conveying screw 23 is connected to a joint 12 formed on the upper surface of the waste toner container 11. The joint 12 communicates with a receiving port 11 a that opens upward on the upper surface of the waste toner container 11. Therefore, the waste toner transported by the transport screw 23 falls into the waste toner container 11 from the receiving port 11a through the joint 12.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the waste toner container 11 of the present embodiment has a substantially L-shaped horizontal cross section. The waste toner container 11 includes a projecting portion 11b having an opening 11a on the upper surface and a container body 11c extending vertically from the end of the projecting portion, and these are in communication with each other inside. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the protruding portion 11b is disposed between the side plate 24 inside the copying machine main body and the cover 25 constituting the outer wall of the copying machine, and the container main body 11c extends from its end to the photosensitive drum. It extends parallel to the axial direction. One end portion (L-shaped tip portion) of the protruding portion 11b is supported by a cushion 13 provided between the side plate 24 and the cover 25. In addition, as shown in FIG. 4, the lower surface of the waste toner container 11 is supported by a roller 19. With such a configuration, the waste toner container 11 can be rotated on a horizontal plane with the point supported by the cushion 13 as a rotation axis.

  The waste toner collecting apparatus 10 includes a turning mechanism as a turning means for turning the waste toner container 11. This rotating mechanism has one end surface (the rear end surface in FIG. 1, the right end surface in FIG. 5; hereinafter referred to as “first end surface”) of the waste toner container 11 as the other end surface (the front end surface in FIG. 1). 5, a left end face (hereinafter referred to as “second end face”). As a biasing means that always biases toward the side, a cam drive that reciprocates the plate spring 14 and the container main body 11c along the photosensitive drum axis direction. Part 15. When the cam gear 15a is rotated clockwise in FIG. 6 by the cam gear 15a receiving a rotational driving force from a motor (not shown), the cam portion 15b configured integrally with the cam gear 15a rotates. The cam surface of the cam portion 15b rotates while rubbing the inner wall surface of the center sliding portion 15d of the swing plate 15c. When the cam portion 15b rotates, the swing plate 15c pushes the container body 11c urged by the leaf spring 14 in the direction of arrow C in FIG. 5 in the direction of arrow D in FIG. Thereby, the container main body 11c moves to the right side in FIG. When the cam portion 15b further rotates and its cam surface reaches the stepped portion of the center sliding portion 15d, the urging force by the cam driving portion 15 is released, and the container body 11c is moved by the urging force of the leaf spring 14 in FIG. Move rapidly to the left. Then, the second end surface of the waste toner container 11 collides with the collision plate 16 vigorously. Due to this collision, the waste toner inside the container main body 11c moves to the second end face side by the inertial force in the direction of arrow E in FIG. Thereby, the waste toner in the container main body 11c is filled in order from the second end face side. Thus, in this embodiment, the said rotation mechanism is functioning also as an acceleration provision means. In this embodiment, a buffer sheet 17 is provided on the second end surface of the waste toner container 11 as a buffer unit. As a result, it is possible to relieve the force when the swing plate 15c pushes the second end face, and to reduce the noise at the time of collision with the collision plate 16.

  Further, as the container main body 11c reciprocates by the rotation mechanism, the waste toner container 11 as a whole rotates the end of the protruding portion 11b sandwiched by the cushion 13 as shown by an arrow B in FIG. As an axis, it rotates on a horizontal plane. By this rotation, the centrifugal force in the direction of arrow F in FIG. 5 acts on the waste toner in the waste toner container 11. By this centrifugal force, the waste toner in the protruding portion 11b can move into the container body 11c. Therefore, the waste toner that has fallen from the receiving port 11a on the upper surface of the protruding portion 11b and accumulated in the protruding portion 11b moves into the container main body 11c due to the centrifugal force generated by the rotation, and thereby the inside of the container main body 11c. The waste toner that has moved to 1 receives the inertial force at the time of impact and further moves to the second end face side. As a result, the waste toner dropped from the receiving port 11a is sequentially filled from the second end surface side of the container body.

  In this embodiment, the waste toner container 11 having an L-shaped horizontal cross section is used. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the horizontal cross section is T in order to increase the storage amount as much as possible according to the layout inside the copying machine. It is also possible to use a waste toner container having a letter shape, a Y letter shape, or other shapes. In this case, the waste toner container is configured to rotate so as to obtain the highest filling efficiency in consideration of the direction in which the waste toner moves due to the centrifugal force generated by the rotation and the inertial force at the time of impact. Is desirable.

  Further, the present waste toner collecting apparatus 10 includes a waste toner sensor 18 as a detecting means for detecting that the waste toner in the waste toner container 11 is full. As shown in FIG. 4, the waste toner sensor 18 is provided with a sensor portion 18a protruding in a region near the receiving port 11a in the waste toner container 11, and the contact state between the sensor portion 18a and the waste toner is detected. This is for determining whether or not the waste toner is full. The waste toner sensor 18 of the present embodiment is the end opposite to the side where the waste toner that has fallen from the receiving port 11a moves due to the centrifugal force generated by the rotation, that is, the end sandwiched by the cushion 13 in the protruding portion 11b. The sensor part 18a is arranged on the part side. As a result of the inventor's experiment, this is because the waste toner that has fallen from the receiving port 11a moves by the centrifugal force generated by the rotation, that is, on the end portion side that communicates with the container body 11c in the protruding portion 11b. If the sensor unit 18a is disposed so as to be positioned, accurate detection cannot be performed. The reason is considered as follows. That is, in the present embodiment, as described above, the waste toner in the protruding portion 11b is moved toward the container body 11c by the centrifugal force, and an impact is applied. The centrifugal force acting on the waste toner increases as the distance from the rotation axis increases. Moreover, the closer the impact is applied, the greater the impact. Therefore, in the state where the waste toner container 11 is almost full, the waste toner portion on the container body 11c side (left side in FIG. 4) out of the waste toner accumulated in a mountain shape at the receiving port 11a is closer to the cushion 13 (FIG. Compared with the waste toner part (right side of 4), the collapse is severe. For this reason, if the sensor unit 18a is disposed on the container body 11c side (left side in FIG. 4), the contact state between the sensor unit 18a and the waste toner becomes unstable, and accurate detection cannot be performed. If accurate detection is not possible, for example, it may occur that waste toner overflows from the receiving port 11a without being full. It has been confirmed that if there is enough space, it can be accurately detected even if the sensor unit 18a is positioned on the side plate 24 side or the cover 25 side in the vicinity of the receiving port 11a. Therefore, if the sensor unit 18a is arranged near the receiving port 11a and on the side different from the side where the waste toner dropped from the receiving port 11a moves due to the centrifugal force generated by the rotation, the sensor unit 18a is arranged. , Accurate detection is possible.

As described above, the waste toner collecting apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment has the waste toner container 11 that stores the waste toner, and the waste toner conveyed by the conveyance screw 23 that is a conveyance unit is directed above the waste toner container 11. The toner is dropped from the receiving port 11a and the waste toner is accommodated in the waste toner container. Further, since it has a rotation mechanism as a rotation means for rotating the waste toner container 11 around a rotation axis extending in the vertical direction, the waste toner in the waste toner container is centrifuged by the rotation. In response to the force, the waste toner container can move in a direction (in the direction of arrow F in FIG. 5) different from the rotation direction (in the direction of arrow E in FIG. 5). Therefore, in the conventional apparatus, there is no restriction that the receiving port 11a must be provided in the upper surface portion on the first end side (right side in FIG. 5) of the container body 11c. As a result, unlike the present embodiment, the conventional apparatus in which the receiving port 11a is disposed at a position shifted from the container body 11c in a direction perpendicular to the rotation direction (the direction of arrow E in FIG. 5) cannot be employed. Can be configured.
In the present embodiment, the rotation mechanism rotates the waste toner container 11 so as to reciprocate within a predetermined angle range, and the waste toner container rotates in either the forward path or the return path. A rotation mechanism is provided as acceleration applying means for moving the waste toner in the waste toner container 11 in the rotation direction by applying acceleration (impact) in a direction that prevents the rotation to the toner container 11. ing. Thereby, the waste toner in the waste toner container 11 can be moved in a direction different from the rotation direction of the waste toner container 11 by the centrifugal force generated by the rotation, and further, the inertial force is generated by the acceleration. Thus, the waste toner container 11 can be moved in the rotational direction. Therefore, even if the waste toner container 11 has a complicated container shape such that the horizontal cross section is L-shaped, for example, the waste toner can be moved and filled inside the container to a region away from the receiving port 11a. Therefore, the filling efficiency can be increased. As a result, even if a long space cannot be secured due to the layout inside the copying machine, it is possible to increase the filling efficiency while adopting a waste toner container with a large storage amount.
Further, in the present embodiment, the waste toner container has a shape in which a portion that is biased toward one end side in the container body longitudinal direction on one side of the container body 11c that is elongated in the horizontal direction protrudes outward, and In this case, the protruding portion 11b is formed with the receiving port 11a. The rotation mechanism is configured such that the rotation shaft is positioned on the end side of the protruding portion 11b, and the rotation of the waste toner container 11 toward the other end in the longitudinal direction of the container body 11c is prevented. The rotation mechanism as the acceleration applying means is configured so that acceleration is applied to the motor. As a result, the waste toner that has fallen from the drop port 11a on the upper surface of the protruding portion 11b and accumulated in the extension portion 11b can be filled with the waste toner from a location away from the drop port 11a.
In the present embodiment, the waste toner sensor 18 is provided as a detecting means for detecting the waste toner existing in the detection region in the waste toner container 11, and the waste toner that has fallen from the receiving port 11a is generated by the rotation. The waste toner sensor 18 is arranged in the vicinity of the receiving port in the direction opposite to the direction of waste toner movement (direction of arrow F in FIG. 5) that moves by force. Thus, as described above, the waste toner existing in the detection region is accurately detected as compared with the case where the waste toner dropped from the receiving port 11a is disposed on the side where the waste toner moves due to the centrifugal force generated by the rotation. It becomes possible. As described above, the waste toner sensor 18 is arranged so that the detection region is positioned in the vicinity of the inlet in the horizontal direction and orthogonal to the direction of waste toner movement (the direction of arrow F in FIG. 5). However, it has been confirmed that the same effect is produced.
Further, the copying machine according to the present exemplary embodiment has a cleaning device 7 as a cleaning unit that cleans unnecessary toner on the photosensitive drum 1 that is an image carrier, and transport that transports unnecessary toner cleaned by the cleaning device 7 as waste toner. The waste toner collecting device 10 is used as a waste toner collecting means for collecting the waste toner conveyed by the conveying screw 23. Therefore, it is possible to adopt a layout inside the copying machine that could not be adopted in the conventional apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a schematic configuration of a waste toner recovery device in the copier according to the embodiment. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of the copier. FIG. 2 is an enlarged view showing a printer unit of the copier. FIG. 3 is a side view of the waste toner recovery device when viewed from the photosensitive drum axial direction. FIG. 3 is a top view of the waste toner collection device as viewed from above in the vertical direction. FIG. 3 is a side view of the waste toner collecting device when viewed from a direction parallel to the photosensitive drum axis.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Photosensitive drum 4 Developing apparatus 7 Cleaning apparatus 10 Waste toner collection apparatus 11 Waste toner container 11a Receptor 11b Protruding part 11c Container main body 13 Cushion 14 Leaf spring 15 Cam drive part 16 Collision plate 17 Buffer sheet 18 Waste toner sensor 20 Scanner part 21 Printer 23 Transport screw 24 Side plate 25 Cover

Claims (5)

A waste toner container for storing waste toner;
In a waste toner collecting apparatus for dropping waste toner transported by a transport means from a receiving port facing upward of the waste toner container and storing the waste toner in the waste toner container,
A waste toner collecting apparatus, comprising: a rotating means for rotating the waste toner container around a rotating shaft extending in a vertical direction. The waste toner recovery device according to claim 1.
The rotating means rotates the waste toner container so as to reciprocate within a predetermined angle range.
Acceleration that moves waste toner in the waste toner container in the rotational direction by applying acceleration in a direction that prevents the rotation to the waste toner container that is rotating in either the forward path or the backward path. A waste toner collecting apparatus comprising an applying unit. The waste toner recovery device according to claim 2,
The waste toner container has a shape in which one side in the short side direction of the container elongated in the horizontal direction is biased toward one end in the longitudinal direction of the container. Use the one where the entrance is formed,
The rotation means is configured such that the rotation shaft is positioned on the end side of the protruding portion, and acceleration is applied in a direction that prevents rotation of the waste toner container toward the other end in the longitudinal direction of the container. A waste toner collecting apparatus comprising the acceleration applying means. The waste toner recovery device according to claim 2 or 3,
Detecting means for detecting waste toner present in the detection region in the waste toner container;
The detection means is arranged so that the detection region is located in the vicinity of or in the direction opposite to the waste toner moving direction in which the waste toner that has fallen from the reception port moves due to the centrifugal force generated by the rotation. A waste toner collecting device characterized by being arranged. Cleaning means for cleaning unnecessary toner on the image carrier;
Conveying means for conveying unnecessary toner cleaned by the cleaning means as waste toner;
In an image forming apparatus provided with waste toner collecting means for collecting waste toner conveyed by the conveying means,
An image forming apparatus using the waste toner collecting device according to claim 1, as the waste toner collecting means.

Images