JP2006011273A - Toner recovery device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a toner recovery device capable of easily preventing a motor buzzing without altering the motor itself. <P>SOLUTION: The toner recovery device 1 which agitates used toner recovered in a waste toner container 2 comprises a shaft member 3 which is supported rotatably on both side walls of the waste toner container 2, a blade 3A provided integrally with the shaft member 3, the motor 4 which is provided outside the waste toner container 2 and drives one end of the shaft member 3 for rotation, a cylindrical warm gear 16 which is provided between the motor 4 and one end of the shaft member 3 and transmits the rotation of the motor 4 to the shaft member 3 and also makes the motor spindle 4A generate a thrust force, and an elastic member 17 which is provided at one end side of the shaft member 3 and energizes the shaft member 3 toward the other end. When the motor 4 drives the shaft member 3 to rotate, the elastic member 17 increases the thrust force generated by the motor spindle 4A by using an increase in rotational torque of the shaft member 3 by the energizing force applied to the shaft member 3. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a toner recovery device used in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus.

  In an image forming apparatus configured as a copying machine, a facsimile, a printer, or a multifunction machine having at least two of these functions, which visualizes an electrostatic latent image formed on an image carrier with powdered toner In various cases, toner is transferred from one place to another for various purposes. Representative examples include transferring toner from the toner reservoir to the developing device, or transferring transfer residual toner collected from the image carrier in the cleaning device to a waste toner container or developing device.

  A toner transfer device is used for such toner transfer. The toner transfer device is, for example, a cylindrical stator having a spiral groove formed on the inner peripheral surface thereof, and a toner transfer space formed between the stator and the inner peripheral surface of the stator. And a drive device that rotationally drives the rotor, the stator is made of an elastic body, and the rotor is made of a rigid body. A pump having a cylindrical stator and a rotor in this manner is called a uniaxial eccentric screw pump or a mono pump, and is well known in the art, but by using such a pump for an apparatus for transferring powdery toner, Space saving and improvement of toner transfer efficiency can be achieved.

  By the way, the rotor of this type of toner transfer device is formed of a rigid body, the stator arranged so as to wrap around the rotor is formed of an elastic body, and the toner is transferred by the rotor being driven to rotate. . However, when the toner transfer device operates in this way, a loud beat noise is generated, and this noise may worsen the environment around the image forming apparatus and cause discomfort to the operator of the image forming apparatus. The generation of the roaring sound suggests that it is caused by the rotation of the rotor and the accompanying vibration of the rotor and the vibration of the stator, and suggests that it is caused by the vibration of the stator.

Therefore, in Patent Document 1, by integrally providing at least one protrusion extending in the axial direction on the outer peripheral portion of the stator, the vibration changes from a non-uniform vibration to a stable vibration, thereby causing a beat sound. It is described that generation | occurrence | production of is reduced.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-352778

  The waste toner container for collecting the used toner is directly connected to the outlet of the toner transfer path of the toner transfer device. For this reason, the powdery waste toner transferred into the waste toner container tends to gather near the outlet of the toner transfer path to form a lump. The toner is powdery and inherently rich in fluidity, but if left in a lump, it cools and hardens, possibly closing the outlet of the toner transfer path. For this reason, a shaft member having blades is rotatably supported in the waste toner container. By rotating the shaft member by a motor, the toner is stirred by the blades provided on the shaft member, and the air is put in flat. This ensures the fluidity of the toner and increases the recovery rate. Hereinafter, an apparatus having this configuration is referred to as a toner recovery apparatus.

  However, when the toner recovery device operates in this way, the motor itself makes a noise, and this noise may worsen the environment of the image forming apparatus and cause discomfort to the user of the image forming apparatus. The cause of the squeal is that the motor shaft and its bearings and the metal of the bearing contact each other due to vibration of the motor shaft, and metal noise is generated. In this case, the method described in Patent Document 1 cannot prevent such noise generated from the motor itself.

  Therefore, in the past, in order to prevent this noise, the motor design itself was changed to reduce the clearance between the motor shaft and its bearings and bearings. However, this method has a problem in that all the motors that have been produced as rated products until now must be changed, which increases costs.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a toner recovery device that can easily prevent the noise generated from the motor without changing the motor itself. To do.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a toner collecting device for stirring used toner collected in a waste toner container, a shaft member rotatably supported on both side walls of the waste toner container, and the shaft. A blade provided integrally with the member; a motor provided on the outside of the waste toner container; and a motor for rotationally driving one end of the shaft member; provided between the motor and one end of the shaft member; Means for transmitting rotation of the motor to the shaft member and generating a thrust force on the motor shaft; and an elastic member provided on one end side of the shaft member and biasing the shaft member in the other end direction. When the shaft member is driven to rotate, the thrust force generated in the motor shaft is increased by utilizing the increase in the rotational torque of the shaft member due to the biasing force applied to the shaft member by the elastic member. That.

  As a means for generating a thrust force on the motor shaft, a helical gear or a cylindrical worm gear can be used.

  Further, the elastic member is made of an abrasion-resistant foam material. Alternatively, the elastic member is made of a foam material, and an abrasion-resistant sheet is attached to the rubbing surface. Furthermore, the foam material is a foam material having open cells.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to generate a thrust force on the motor shaft without directly changing the design of the motor itself, and to determine the thrust direction position of the motor shaft. Can be suppressed. Further, even when the elastic member slides on the shaft member or the side wall of the waste toner container, the rotational torque of the shaft member can be increased without worrying about wear of the elastic member. In addition, a constant elastic force can be always obtained without worrying that the elastic member does not return to its original state due to the compression of the elastic member, so that fluctuations in rotational torque can be reduced.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of a toner recovery device used in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a main part of the toner recovery device. As shown in these drawings, the toner recovery device 1 includes a waste toner container 2 for storing powdery used toner, a shaft member 3 rotatably supported on both side walls of the waste toner container 2, a shaft A blade 3A provided integrally with the member 3 and a motor 4 provided on the outer side of the waste toner container 2 for rotating and driving one end of the shaft member 3 are provided.

  One end of the shaft member 3 is inserted into a through hole (not shown) provided in one side wall of the waste toner container 2, and a driven side having a single centrifugal blade 5A extending in the axial direction at the tip thereof. A rotating member 5 is attached. At one end of the shaft member 3, a disk 3 </ b> B that maintains a predetermined distance from the inner surface of one side wall of the waste toner container 2 is provided integrally with the shaft member 3. An elastic member 17 is attached to the surface of the disk 3B with an adhesive or the like.

  The elastic member 17 is made of a foam material such as urethane, and is a ring-shaped member in which one end of the shaft member 3 can be inserted into a central hole. The elastic member 17 is in contact with the surface of the disk 3B and is on one side wall of the waste toner container 2. The elastic member 17 is selected to have a thickness capable of generating an elastic force between the inner surface thereof and the disk 3B. The elastic member 17 biases the shaft member 3 in a direction from one end to the other end, thereby increasing the rotational torque of the shaft member 3.

  However, when the shaft member 3 rotates, the elastic member 17 is rubbed against the inner surface of one side wall of the waste toner container 2. For this reason, if the abrasion resistance of the foamed material of the elastic member 17 is weak, the foamed material is scraped, resulting in a problem that the life of the elastic member 17 is shortened. Therefore, an effect of increasing the rotational torque of the shaft member 3 by using an elastic member 17 made of an abrasion-resistant foam material or using an abrasion-resistant sheet attached to the rubbing surface of the elastic member 17 is provided. While maintaining, the elastic member 17 excellent in wear resistance can be obtained.

  When the elastic member 17 is required to have a large increase in rotational torque, the elastic member 17 made of a closed-cell foam material can be used between the inner surface of one side wall of the waste toner container 2 and the disk 3B after long-term use. Since 17 is pressed and the bubbles are crushed by that force, the elasticity is lost, and an increase in rotational torque cannot be expected. Therefore, by using the elastic member 17 made of an open-cell foam material, it is possible to maintain elasticity and stably obtain a large rotational torque.

  The other end of the shaft member 3 is supported by a bearing 2 </ b> A provided on the inner surface of the other side wall of the waste toner container 2. A gear casing 6 is attached to one side wall of the waste toner container 2. A cover 7 is fitted into the gear casing 6. Shafts 8 and 9 are projected on the inner wall of the cover 7.

  The gear casing 6 has a partition wall 6 </ b> A that maintains a predetermined interval parallel to one side wall of the waste toner container 2. The partition wall 6A is provided with a round hole 6B that is concentric with the axis of the shaft member 3. A cylindrical drive side rotation member 10 is rotatably attached to the shaft 8. The drive side rotating member 10 is inserted into the round hole 6B of the partition wall 6A. The drive-side rotating member 10 has a pair of columnar centrifuge rods 10A projecting in the axial direction at a center angle of 180 ° inscribed in the cylindrical side surface. Further, the driving side rotation member 10 is integrally provided with a stopper 11 and a spur gear 12, and the spur gear 12 is arranged inside the gear casing 6 by the stopper 11 coming into contact with the back surface of the partition wall 6 </ b> A. Yes.

  A worm wheel 13 is rotatably attached to the shaft 9. The worm wheel 13 is integrally provided with a spur gear 14 that meshes with the spur gear 12. A cylindrical worm 15 that meshes with the attached worm wheel 13 is attached to the motor shaft 4A. The cylindrical worm 15 and the worm wheel 13 constitute a cylindrical worm gear 16, which transmits the rotation of the motor 4 to the shaft member 3 and generates a force in the thrust direction (arrow direction in FIG. 2) on the motor shaft 4A. .

  When the motor 4 is driven with the configuration of the toner collecting apparatus 1, the cylindrical worm 15 rotates with the rotation of the motor shaft 4A, and the worm wheel 13 meshing with the rotation rotates on the staggered shaft with respect to the motor shaft 4A. The spur gear 14 rotates integrally with the worm wheel 13. Further, when the spur gear 12 meshing with the spur gear 14 rotates, the driving side rotating member 10 rotates, and the centrifugal rod 10A contacts the centrifugal blade 5A to propel the driven side rotating member 5 in the circumferential direction. The side rotation member 5 rotates. As a result, the shaft member 3 rotates and the toner in the waste toner container 2 is agitated by the blade 3A. At this time, the thrust force generated in the motor shaft 4A can be increased by utilizing the increase in the rotational torque of the shaft member 3 due to the urging force applied to the shaft member 3 by the elastic member 17. Thereby, the shake of the motor shaft 4A is eliminated, and the contact between the motor shaft 4A and its bearing and the metal between the bearings is prevented, so that it is possible to suppress abnormal noise when the motor is driven.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment and can be implemented with various modifications. For example, parallel shaft helical gears or staggered shaft screw gears can be used as means for generating a thrust force on the motor shaft. In addition, other urging means such as a spring can be used as the elastic member. Further, the elastic member may be bonded to the inner surface of one side wall of the waste toner container.

  The present invention can be used in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of a toner recovery device used in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a main part of the toner recovery device.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Toner collection device 2 Waste toner container 2A Bearing 3 Shaft member 3A Blade 3B Disk 4 Motor 4A Motor shaft 5 Driven side rotating member 5A Centrifugal blade 6 Gear casing 6A Bulkhead 6B Round hole 7 Cover 8, 9 Shaft 10 Drive side rotating member 10A Centrifugal rod 11 Stopper 12 Spur gear 13 Worm wheel 14 Spur gear 15 Cylindrical worm 16 Cylindrical worm gear 17 Elastic member

Claims (6)

  In the toner collecting apparatus for stirring the used toner collected in the waste toner container, a shaft member rotatably supported on both side walls of the waste toner container, a blade provided integrally with the shaft member, A motor provided on the outside of the waste toner container for rotationally driving one end of the shaft member, and provided between the motor and one end of the shaft member, transmits the rotation of the motor to the shaft member. A means for generating a thrust force on the motor shaft; and an elastic member provided on one end side of the shaft member for biasing the shaft member in the other end direction. A toner collecting apparatus, wherein a thrust force generated in the motor shaft is increased by utilizing an increase in rotational torque of the shaft member due to an urging force applied by the member to the shaft member.   2. The toner collecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the means for generating a thrust force on the motor shaft is a helical gear.   2. The toner collecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the means for generating a thrust force on the motor shaft is a cylindrical worm gear.   The toner recovery device according to claim 1, wherein the elastic member is made of a wear-resistant foam material.   The toner recovery apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the elastic member is made of a foam material, and a wear-resistant sheet is attached to a friction surface thereof.   6. The toner recovery apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the foam material is a foam material having open cells.

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