JP2006085124A - Powder container and method and apparatus for cleaning same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To device a shape and a structure of a toner replenishing vessel (powder container), a cleaning method thereof, and a cleaning apparatus thereof, so that a cleaning medium can be spread throughout the inside of the toner replenishing vessel regardless of the shape of the toner replenishing vessel, so that dirt stuck to its inside surface is surely cleaned and many toner replenishing vessels can be cleaned in a short period of time by continuously cleaning them. <P>SOLUTION: In the cleaning method of a powder container 10, a powdery cleaning medium 1 having a property to adsorb powder is thrown into the powder container 10 having a first opening part 11 and at least one second opening part 12 facing the first opening part 11 in the front and the rear respectively, so as to be brought into contact with remaining powder stuck to the inside of the powdery container 10 to remove the remaining powder, wherein the cleaning medium 1 is made to flow down from a position higher than the first opening part 11 of the powder container 10 toward the first opening part 11 to clean the inside of the powder container. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

The present invention relates to a powder storage container, a powder storage container cleaning method, and a powder storage container cleaning apparatus, and more particularly, to a powder storage container such as a dry toner of an electrophotographic apparatus or the inside of a developing unit. The present invention relates to a powder container, a method for cleaning a powder container, and a cleaning device for efficiently removing residual toner remaining in the container.
The present invention also relates to a method and apparatus for cleaning a powder container, in which a plurality of powder containers are simultaneously dry-type and cleaned at high speed.

It is desirable to reuse toner supply containers such as toner bottles, toner cartridges, developing units, etc., that collect toner and supply it to the image forming apparatus after collection in order to preserve the global environment. However, at present, such reuse processing is very expensive. The main costs are recovery costs and cleaning costs.
In the collected toner supply container (toner container), toner that has not been used because the process conditions are not satisfied remains. Such residual toner is generally a defective toner that is agglomerated or poorly charged. Therefore, in order to recycle the toner supply container with a guaranteed quality, the remaining toner must be extracted and the inside must be cleaned or cleaned.

  Currently, cleaning is performed in a factory with a dedicated large-scale cleaning facility, and it is difficult to clean at low cost. In particular, conventionally, in the cleaning process, a wet cleaning method using a cleaning liquid has been mainly used, and the cleaning process is complicated, resulting in high costs. In addition, the wet cleaning consumes a large amount of energy for the waste water treatment of the cleaning liquid and the drying after the cleaning, which is not desirable in terms of environmental load.

In JP-A-8-173922 and JP-A-11-90368, as a method for removing deposits (dirt) remaining on the inner and outer surfaces of a powder container such as a dry toner for electrophotography, There has been proposed a cleaning apparatus for a powder container provided with means for air blowing to a powder adhering portion of a container to which powder has adhered, and means for collecting dust generated by air blowing.
However, in such a cleaning method, the powder (toner) adhering to the container is blown off and scattered by air blow, but cannot be completely recovered by the dust collecting means, and is in a state of floating in the container. Become. The surface of the container made of resin is frictionally charged by air blow, and fine powder (toner) is reattached to the surface by this electrostatic force and remains.

In order to increase the efficiency in such cleaning, a plurality of design methods for providing two or more opposed openings in a unit or container have been proposed. Representative examples thereof include JP-A-7-306576 (toner container and cleaning method), JP-A-8-328368 (development unit and cleaning unit), and JP-A-2000-147878 (toner supply container). Can be mentioned.
In the inventions described in these conventional examples, as one means of the cleaning method, a high-pressure air stream is blown from one opening and suction is performed from the other opening, thereby reducing the flow inside the container. It is rectified and generates a strong removal force to realize dry cleaning.
However, the toner contamination of the used product does not stop at the adhesion of the toner, but there is a contamination where the toner aggregates and adheres to the inner and outer surfaces of the container after a long period of use. This cannot be easily removed by the air blowing force described above, and the container becomes unsuitable for reuse. In addition, in the case of a container having a complicated internal shape, there are places where the air flow is weakened, and the toner may be reattached to such places and cleaning may be difficult.

In order to solve such a toner contamination problem, a cleaning method using a cleaning medium is proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-268383.
This cleaning method using a cleaning medium is a method for adsorbing and removing dirt components by introducing particles into the container that adsorb dirt components and that can be easily discharged and supplied. The granules are referred to as Cleaning Medium. A resin ball or the like is used as the cleaning medium. FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram in which a cleaning medium 1 that is a resin sphere adsorbs toner 2 that is a main component of dirt on the surface. The resin balls adsorb the toner 2 by electrostatic force, and by removing the charge, the toner 2 can be separated and reused as a cleaning medium.

However, when the method described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-268383 is used for a toner supply container, there are the following problems.
If the cleaning medium is simply flowed between the two openings so that the air flow flows between the two openings, an area where the cleaning medium does not reach every corner of the container and does not come into contact is generated. In order to spread the cleaning medium to every corner of the container, batch processing is required in which the cleaning medium is put into the toner supply container to close the opening, and the toner supply container is vibrated or rocked for a certain period of time. Such a cleaning method by batch processing requires many procedures and is inefficient.

JP-A-7-306576 JP-A-8-328368 JP 2000-147878 A JP 2002-268383 A

  An object of the present invention is to spread the cleaning medium to every corner of the toner replenishing container (powder container) so that the dirt adhering to the inner surface can be surely cleaned, and continuously cleaned. It is to devise the shape and structure of the toner supply container, the toner supply container cleaning method, and the cleaning device so that a large number of toner supply containers can be cleaned in a short time.

In the toner supply container (powder container), the means for solving the above-described problem is that a cleaning medium is introduced from one opening of the toner supply container and continuously flows toward the other opening. The inside of the toner supply container is basically cleaned.
Next, features of a method for cleaning the toner supply container, which is a means for solving the above problems, will be described below.
First, in a toner replenishing container having two or more openings, one of the openings is fixed so as to face upward, and the cleaning medium is introduced from the upper opening. Then, the cleaning medium passes through the inside of the toner supply container and is collected in a state where the dirt component is adsorbed from the lower opening. The cleaning medium accelerated by gravity during the flow down can collide with and rub against the inner wall of the toner replenishing container or an internal member, thereby obtaining a dirt removing effect. The dirt removal effect mentioned here means an effect in which the toner dirt component is separated from the adherend by receiving some external force.

Further, in the toner supply container, by arranging a member (flow control member) that changes the movement direction by collision of the cleaning medium in the container, the cleaning medium can be naturally diffused in the container. If the rebound resilience of the cleaning medium with respect to the member is high, the cleaning medium collides with the member and is reflected (bounces back). Depending on the shape and angle of the member, the cleaning medium is reflected to a place where the cleaning medium is difficult to reach. Can also be cleaned. The rebound resilience here means (velocity perpendicular to the collision surface of the granule after collision) ² / (velocity perpendicular to the collision surface of the granule before collision) ² . The washed-down cleaning medium is discharged from the lower opening. With such a technique, the toner supply container can be efficiently cleaned.
When the flow control member is disposed in the toner replenishing container, the toner replenishing container is attached to the cleaning device by providing the cleaning device with flow control means supported (suspended or supported) by the support (supporting member). The flow control means is inserted into the opening of the toner replenishing container when it is mounted, and is configured to contact (or collide) with the flow control means when the cleaning medium flows down inside the container. it can. In this case, the flow control means needs to be sized to be inserted from the opening. At this time, the flow control means is provided with a control function that gives a moving speed and a moving direction sufficient to reach the inner wall of the container to the cleaning medium that comes into contact (or collides).
By providing such a function in the flow control means, even if the flow control means is small relative to the toner supply container, the cleaning medium can be diffused inside the container and brought into contact with the inner wall of the container. The cleaning ability required to clean the container is obtained.
Further, as a secondary effect, the method using this cleaning method uses energy flowing down due to gravity, so not only does not require compressed air or suction, but also as shown in the above-mentioned JP-A-2002-268383, The power for strongly vibrating or swinging the toner supply container is not necessarily required. For this reason, cleaning with energy saving can be realized.
Needless to say, this cleaning method is not limited to cleaning of toner stains, but is effective as a general cleaning (cleaning) method and apparatus for containers for storing powder.

[Solution 1] (corresponding to claim 1)
Solution 1 taken to solve the above problems adsorbs powder in a powder container having a first opening and at least one or more second openings opposed to the first opening. Assuming a cleaning method for a powder container, which is charged with a cleaning medium for particles having properties and contacted with the residual powder adhering to the inside of the powder container.
The inside of the powder container is cleaned by allowing the cleaning medium to flow downward from the first opening of the powder container toward the first opening.
[Operation]
A first and a second opening are provided at opposing positions of the powder container, and a cleaning medium is poured from the first opening and discharged from the second opening. Can be continuously cleaned. Further, since the flow of the cleaning medium is accelerated by gravity, the cleaning ability of the cleaning medium can be improved.

[Solution 2] (corresponding to claim 2)
Solution 2 taken in order to solve the above problems adsorbs powder in a powder container having a first opening and at least one or more second openings opposed to the first opening. Assuming a cleaning method for a powder container, which is charged with a cleaning medium for particles having properties and contacted with the residual powder adhering to the inside of the powder container.
A plurality of the powder containers are continuously arranged in the front-rear direction, and the cleaning medium is disposed from a position higher than the first opening in the powder container at the end of the continuously arranged powder container. Is made to flow down toward the first opening, and the inside of the plurality of powder containers is simultaneously cleaned.
[Operation]
The powder container is continuously disposed in the front-rear direction having the first and second openings, and the cleaning medium is introduced from the first opening of the powder container at the end, so that the cleaning medium is Sequential washing is performed by sequentially flowing down the powder container located below. As a result, a plurality of powder containers can be cleaned simultaneously. Further, like the solution 1, the flow of the cleaning medium is accelerated by gravity, so that the cleaning ability of the cleaning medium can be improved.

[Embodiment 1] (corresponding to claim 3)
Embodiment 1 is to arrange a plurality of powder containers continuously in the front-rear direction in the method for cleaning a powder container of the above solution 2.
[Operation]
Since a plurality of powder containers are continuously connected in the front-rear direction, a plurality of powder containers can be cleaned at the same time, and the cleaning medium and powder dirt leak or scatter between the powder containers. There is nothing to do.

[Embodiment 2] (corresponding to claim 4)
Embodiment 2 is to arrange a plurality of powder containers in the front-rear direction through spacers in the powder container cleaning method of Solution 2 described above.
[Operation]
Since the plurality of powder containers are continuously arranged using the spacer, the flow path of the cleaning medium can be formed even when the powder containers cannot be directly connected to each other. Can be applied.
In addition, by making the spacer longer, the cleaning medium decelerated in the powder container can be accelerated again.

[Embodiment 3] (corresponding to claim 5)
Embodiment 3 is the powder container cleaning method according to any one of Solution 1, Solution 2, Embodiment 1 and Embodiment 2, wherein the flow of the cleaning medium flowing down in the powder container is controlled by the flow control means. Is to control.
[Operation]
By controlling the flow of the cleaning medium flowing down in the powder container by the flow control means, the flow of the cleaning medium can be guided to a place where dirt is difficult to be removed in the powder container. It can be cleaned evenly.

[Embodiment 4] (corresponding to claim 6)
Embodiment 4 is to control the flow of the cleaning medium by providing a flow control means in the powder container in the method for cleaning a powder container of Embodiment 3 above.
[Operation]
By providing the flow control means in the powder container, it is possible to obtain a flow of the cleaning medium that matches the shape of the powder container, and it is possible to clean the inside of the powder container without unevenness.

[Embodiment 5] (corresponding to claim 7)
Embodiment 5 is to control the flow of the cleaning medium flowing down in the powder container by the flow control means provided in the spacer in the method for cleaning a powder container of Embodiment 2 above.
[Operation]
The flow of the cleaning medium can be controlled without providing a flow control means in the powder container. Even if the powder container is not particularly devised, the flow of the cleaning medium can be controlled as in Embodiment 3 or Embodiment 4, so that the inside of the powder container can be cleaned evenly.

[Embodiment 6] (corresponding to claim 8)
Embodiment 6 is that in the method for cleaning a powder container according to any of Embodiments 3 to 5, the flow control means is controlled either or both of its position and posture.
[Operation]
By changing the position or posture of the flow control means, it is possible to guide the flow of the cleaning medium to each location even if there are a plurality of locations where the powder stains tend to remain.

[Embodiment 7] (corresponding to claim 9)
Embodiment 7 is to drive the flow control means by the drive means in the powder container cleaning method of any one of Embodiments 3 to 6.
[Operation]
By driving the flow control means by the driving means, the respective actions can be achieved in the third to sixth embodiments.

[Embodiment 8] (corresponding to claim 10)
Embodiment 8 is to hold the position and posture of the flow control means by the holding means in the powder container cleaning method of Embodiment 6 or Embodiment 7.
[Operation]
The motor and gear for driving the flow control means serve both as a drive mechanism and a holding mechanism, and can maintain the position and posture of the flow control means even when the cleaning medium collides with the flow control means.

[Embodiment 9] (corresponding to claim 11)
Embodiment 9 is the method for cleaning a powder container according to Embodiment 5 described above, in which the flow control means is inserted into the inside of the opening of the powder container and flows into the cleaning medium flowing down through the powder container. It is arrange | positioned in the position which contacts.
[Operation]
By inserting the flow control means into the powder container and disposing it at a position in contact with the supplied cleaning medium, the cleaning medium can be dispersed throughout the powder container.

[Embodiment 10] (corresponding to claim 12)
Embodiment 10 is that the flow control means is rotationally driven in the powder container cleaning method of Embodiment 9 above.
[Operation]
The rotational motion is relatively easy to increase in speed, and stronger kinetic energy can be given to the cleaning medium. Further, by rotating the flow control means, it is possible not only to prevent the cleaning medium from adhering to the flow control means due to static electricity but also to fluidize the cleaning medium.

[Embodiment 11] (corresponding to claim 13)
In the eleventh embodiment, in the powder container cleaning method according to the ninth embodiment, the flow control means changes the volume of the cleaning medium by changing the volume thereof.
[Operation]
By reducing the flow control means, the powder container can be easily charged. Further, the cleaning medium colliding with the flow control means can be accelerated by the expansion / contraction operation of the flow control means. Furthermore, at the time of expansion, the cleaning medium can be accelerated at a position closer to the inner wall of the powder container.

[Solution 3] (Corresponding to Claim 14)
Solution means 3 taken to solve the above-mentioned problem has a first opening and at least one or more second openings opposed to the front and back, and flows from the first opening. It is a powder container having a flow control member for controlling the moving direction of the cleaning medium.
[Operation]
Since the flow control member for controlling the moving direction of the cleaning medium flowing in from the first opening of the powder container is provided in the powder container, it matches the shape of the powder container as in the fourth embodiment. Thus, it is possible to obtain a flow of the cleaning medium and to clean the inside of the powder container evenly.

[Embodiment 12] (corresponding to claim 15)
The twelfth embodiment is that in the powder container of the solution 3, the flow control member has a taper with respect to the inflow direction of the cleaning medium.
[Operation]
Since the flow control member is provided in the powder container, the flow of the cleaning medium can be controlled. In particular, by adjusting the taper angle, the cleaning medium can be made to collide with the vicinity of the first opening, and the powder container can be cleaned evenly.

[Embodiment 13] (corresponding to claim 16)
Embodiment 13 is the powder container according to Solution 3 or Embodiment 12, wherein the flow control member is composed of a plurality of members extending radially.
[Operation]
When the cleaning medium that has flowed into the powder container collides with the flow control member provided in the container and is reflected, the reflection amount of the cleaning medium can be made almost equal (evenly) in each direction. . This is particularly effective when the powder container is cylindrical.

[Embodiment 14] (Corresponding to Claim 17)
Embodiment 14 is that in the powder container according to Solution 3, Embodiment 12 or Embodiment 13, a connecting portion is provided at the front and rear openings of the powder container.
[Operation]
By providing the connecting portion at the opening of the powder container, the opening of the powder container is connected to form a flow path for the cleaning medium, and the cleaning method of the solving means 2 can be applied. And the inside of the plurality of powder containers can be simultaneously and continuously washed. Further, by connecting the respective powder containers at the connecting portion, the cleaning medium and the powder dirt are not leaked or scattered between the powder containers.

[Embodiment 15] (Corresponding to Claim 18)
Embodiment 15 is the powder container according to Embodiment 14, wherein the connecting portion is composed of a first opening and a recess and / or a protrusion provided in the second opening.
[Operation]
This is the same as the operation of the embodiment 14, and the connection and separation between the powder containers are easy.

[Embodiment 16] (corresponding to claim 19)
Embodiment 16 is the powder container according to Embodiment 14, wherein the connecting portion has the same inner diameter of the connecting portion provided in the first opening and the outer diameter of the connecting portion provided in the second opening. That is.
[Operation]
This is the same as the operation of the embodiment 14, and the connection and separation between the powder containers are easy.

[Embodiment 17] (corresponding to claim 20)
Embodiment 17 is the powder container of any one of Solution 3 or Embodiments 12 to 16, wherein the end surface provided with the first opening and the end surface provided with the second opening are tapered. The taper angle is larger than the repose angle of the cleaning medium.
[Operation]
When cleaning the powder container, the end surface on the opening side from which the cleaning medium flowing into the container is discharged is inclined more than the angle of repose of the cleaning medium, so that the cleaning medium flows smoothly out of the container. can do.

[Embodiment 18] (Corresponding to Claim 21)
Embodiment 18 is the powder container of any one of Solution 3 or Embodiments 12 to 17, wherein the powder container is configured to be separable, and the same part of a plurality of powder containers can be connected. It is configured.
[Operation]
The powder containers can be separated and can be cleaned at the same time by connecting a plurality of portions of the same shape of the plurality of powder containers.

[Solution 4] (Corresponding to Claim 22)
The solution 4 taken to solve the above problem is to put a granular cleaning medium having a property of adsorbing powder into a powder container having an opening, and adhere to the inside of the powder container. Assuming a cleaning device for a powder container that contacts the cleaning medium with the residual powder and removes the residual powder,
The cleaning medium holding means for holding the cleaning medium and the powder container have openings at the front and rear, and the powder container is held so that one opening is positioned above the other opening. A powder container holding mechanism, and a flow-down means for flowing the cleaning medium toward the upper opening from a position higher than the upper opening of the powder container,
The inside of the powder container is washed by allowing the washing medium to flow down toward the upper opening.
[Operation]
The powder container having the opening part in front and behind is held by the powder container holding mechanism so that one opening part is located above the other opening part, and more than the upper opening part of the held powder container. The inside of the powder container can be continuously cleaned by causing the cleaning medium held by the cleaning medium holding means to flow downward from the height toward the upper opening by the flow-down means. Since the cleaning medium is accelerated by gravity, the cleaning ability of the cleaning medium can be improved.

[Solution 5] (Corresponding to Claim 23)
Solution 5 taken in order to solve the above-mentioned problem is that a granular cleaning medium having a property of adsorbing powder is put into a powder container having an opening and adhered to the inside of the powder container. On the premise of a powder container cleaning device for removing the residual powder by bringing the cleaning medium into contact with the residual powder,
The cleaning medium holding means for holding the cleaning medium and the powder container have openings in the front and rear, and a plurality of the powder containers are arranged so that one opening is located above the other opening. From the height above the upper opening in the uppermost powder container of the powder container that is continuously arranged and held in the front-rear direction, and the powder container that is continuously arranged and held, Downflow means for flowing down the cleaning medium toward the upper opening,
The cleaning medium is caused to flow toward the upper opening, and the insides of the plurality of powder containers are simultaneously cleaned.
[Operation]
A plurality of powder containers having front and rear openings are continuously arranged and held in the front-rear direction by a powder container holding mechanism so that one opening is positioned above the other opening. The cleaning medium held by the cleaning medium holding means is caused to flow downward toward the upper opening by the flow-down means from a position higher than the upper opening of the uppermost powder container held by the plurality of powder containers. It is possible to continuously and continuously clean the inside of the body container. Since the cleaning medium is accelerated by gravity, the cleaning ability of the cleaning medium can be improved.

[Embodiment 19] (corresponding to claim 24)
Embodiment 19 is a powder container cleaning apparatus according to Solution 4 or Solution 5, wherein the powder container includes a flow control member for controlling the flow of a cleaning medium. A driving means for driving the control member;
[Operation]
Since the flow control member provided in the powder container is driven by the driving means, the flow of the cleaning medium matching the shape of the powder container can be obtained in the same manner as in the fourth embodiment. The inside of the container can be cleaned evenly.

[Embodiment 20] (corresponding to claim 25)
Embodiment 20 is a powder container cleaning apparatus according to Solution 5 described above, wherein a plurality of powder containers are continuously held in the front-rear direction through a spacer including a flow control means for controlling the flow of the cleaning medium. Is to wash.
[Operation]
When the flow control means is provided in the spacer connected to the powder container and the flow of the cleaning medium in the powder container can be controlled, the flow control member is not provided in the powder container. However, it is possible to clean the inside of the powder container evenly.

[Embodiment 21] (corresponding to claim 26)
Embodiment 21 is the powder container cleaning apparatus according to Embodiment 20, wherein the flow control means has a function of controlling either or both of the moving direction and the moving speed of the cleaning medium, and the spacer cleaning medium It is supported by a support member provided in the passage.
[Operation]
Since the flow control means is fixed to the connection mechanism around the opening in the powder container by the support member provided on the spacer, the flow control means is connected by connecting the powder container to the spacer. It can be inserted into the powder container and placed at a position where the flow of the cleaning medium is to be controlled.

[Embodiment 22] (corresponding to claim 27)
Embodiment 22 is the powder container cleaning apparatus according to Embodiment 21, wherein the flow control means includes a curved surface that changes the moving direction of the cleaning medium in contact with the rolling medium by rolling or sliding.
[Operation]
The flow control means has a curved surface, and by moving the cleaning medium in contact with the curved surface along the curved surface, it is possible to change the movement direction of the cleaning medium regardless of the collision.

[Embodiment 23] (corresponding to claim 28)
Embodiment 23 is the powder container cleaning apparatus according to Embodiment 21, wherein the flow control means includes at least one movable part and also includes drive means for moving the movable part.
[Operation]
When the movable part of the flow control means is driven by the drive means, the cleaning medium in contact therewith can be accelerated and dispersed toward the inner wall of the powder container.

[Embodiment 24] (corresponding to claim 29)
Embodiment 24 is the powder container cleaning apparatus according to Embodiment 23, wherein the movable part of the flow control means has at least one degree of freedom of rotation.
[Operation]
The rotation mechanism can be realized with a relatively simple configuration, and by rotating the movable part at a high speed, the cleaning medium in contact therewith can be accelerated and dispersed toward the inner wall of the powder container. .

[Embodiment 25] (Corresponding to Claim 30)
Embodiment 25 is the powder container cleaning apparatus according to Embodiment 24, wherein the flow control means is formed in a substantially conical shape, and the blade member fixed substantially perpendicular to the rotational direction on the outer peripheral surface of the conical shape is provided. It is to have.
[Operation]
Since the blade member (blade-shaped protrusion) is provided on the surface of the substantially conical flow control means, a large amount of the cleaning medium collides with the blade member, and this can be accelerated. Moreover, since the rotating body has a conical shape, the movement direction of the cleaning medium can be diffused in the powder container.

[Embodiment 26] (corresponding to claim 31)
Embodiment 26 is the powder container cleaning apparatus according to Embodiment 23, wherein the movable part of the flow control means includes a mechanism for changing the volume.
[Operation]
By changing the volume of the flow control means, the flow control means can be easily loaded into the powder container. Further, by changing the volume of the movable part during cleaning, it is possible to accelerate and diffuse the cleaning medium in contact with it, and to prevent the cleaning medium from bridging.

[Embodiment 27] (Corresponding to Claim 32)
Embodiment 27 is the powder container cleaning apparatus of Solution 5 described above, wherein the powder container holding mechanism has guide means for aligning a plurality of powder containers.
[Operation]
By introducing the powder container to be cleaned along the guide means, the powder container can be naturally aligned and the openings can be easily aligned.

The effects of the present invention are summarized for each main claim as follows.
(1) The invention according to claim 1 When the cleaning medium is poured from the first opening of the powder container and discharged from the second opening, continuous cleaning becomes possible and the cleaning efficiency is high. Further, by accelerating the flow of the cleaning medium by gravity, it is possible to improve the cleaning ability of the cleaning medium and realize energy-saving cleaning.
(2) The invention according to claim 2 The cleaning medium is sequentially introduced from the first opening in the powder container at the end (uppermost part) of the powder containers arranged continuously. A plurality of powder containers can be washed efficiently at the same time by flowing down inside the powder container located below. Further, by accelerating the flow of the cleaning medium by gravity, it is possible to improve the cleaning ability of the cleaning medium and realize energy-saving cleaning.

(3) Invention of Claim 3 Since a plurality of powder containers are connected and continuously arranged, a plurality of powder containers can be cleaned simultaneously. Further, the cleaning medium and the powder dirt can be completely recovered without leaking or scattering between the powder containers.
(4) The invention according to claim 4 Even when the powder containers cannot be directly connected to each other, a plurality of powder containers can be continuously arranged using the spacer, so that the cleaning according to the invention according to claim 2 is performed. The method (cleaning method for continuously cleaning a plurality of powder containers simultaneously) can be easily applied.
In addition, by making the spacer longer, the cleaning medium decelerated in the powder container can be accelerated again.

(5) The invention according to claim 5 By guiding the cleaning medium by the flow control means to the place where the dirt of the powder container is difficult to be removed, the inside of the powder container can be cleaned evenly, and the cleaning efficiency ( The amount of dirt that can be removed in a certain time can be greatly improved.
(6) Invention of Claim 6 By providing the flow control means in the powder container, it is possible to obtain a flow of the cleaning medium that matches the shape of the powder container. As a result, the inside of the powder container can be cleaned evenly, and as a result, the cleaning efficiency can be further greatly improved.

(7) Invention of Claim 7 The flow of the cleaning medium can be controlled without providing flow control means in the powder container. Even if there is no particular design ingenuity in the powder container, it is possible to clean the inside of the powder container without unevenness as in the invention according to claim 5 or claim 6 and greatly improve the cleaning efficiency. it can.
(8) The invention according to claim 8 By changing the position or the posture of the flow control means, even if there are a plurality of places where the powder stains are likely to remain, the flow of the cleaning medium can be guided to each place. Therefore, it is possible to achieve uniform cleaning.

(9) Invention of Claim 9 By driving the flow control means by the drive means, the effects of the inventions according to Claims 5 to 8 can be produced.
(10) The invention according to claim 10 Even if the cleaning medium collides with the flow control means, it is possible to maintain the position and posture of the flow control means, so that it is possible to maintain a stable flow of the cleaning medium. .

(11) The invention according to claim 11 The flow control means is inserted into the powder container and disposed at a position in contact with the supplied cleaning medium, whereby the cleaning medium is dispersed throughout the powder container. Therefore, the inside of the container can be cleaned uniformly and efficiently.
(12) The invention according to claim 12 Rotational motion is relatively easy to increase in speed and can give stronger kinetic energy to the cleaning medium. Therefore, use a cleaning medium that is light in specific gravity and difficult to accelerate by gravity. Can do.
Further, by rotating the flow control means, not only can the cleaning medium be prevented from adhering to the flow control means due to static electricity, etc., but also the cleaning medium can be fluidized. It is possible to prevent the cleaning medium from bridging, and the cleaning medium can be easily discharged from the container.

(13) The invention according to claim 13 By reducing the flow control means, the powder container can be easily loaded, so that the powder container can be easily attached and detached when washing.
Further, the cleaning medium that collides with the flow control means can be accelerated by the enlargement / reduction operation of the flow control means. Further, at the time of enlargement, the cleaning medium is accelerated at a position closer to the inner wall of the powder container at a high speed. Since it can be made to collide with the inner wall of the container, the cleaning ability and the cleaning speed can be greatly improved.

(14) The invention according to claim 14 Since the direction of movement of the cleaning medium can be controlled by the flow control member provided in the powder container, the flow of the cleaning medium matching the shape of the powder container is obtained. It is possible to clean the inside of the powder container evenly.
(15) The invention according to claim 15 By adjusting the angle of the taper formed in the flow control member, the cleaning medium can be made to collide with the vicinity of the first opening (cleaning medium inflow side opening). It is possible to clean the entire inside of the powder container without unevenness, and as a result, the cleaning efficiency can be greatly improved.

(16) The invention according to claim 16 When the cleaning medium that has flowed into the powder container collides with the flow control member and is reflected, the reflection amount of the cleaning medium is substantially equal (evenly) in each direction. Can do. Therefore, it is particularly effective in a cylindrical powder container.
(17) The invention according to claim 17 The cleaning method of the invention according to claim 2 can be applied by connecting the openings of the powder container by the connecting portion provided in the opening of the powder container, The inside of a plurality of powder containers can be cleaned continuously at the same time. Further, by connecting each powder container at the connection portion, it is possible to prevent leakage and scattering of the cleaning medium and powder dirt between the powder containers.

(18) Inventions of Claims 18 and 19 The effect of the invention of claim 17 is the same as that of the invention of claim 17, and the connection / separation of the openings of the powder container is easy.
(19) The invention according to claim 20 When cleaning the powder container, the end surface on the opening side for discharging the cleaning medium that has flowed into the container is inclined larger than the angle of repose of the cleaning medium. It can flow out to the outside smoothly and can be washed efficiently.

(20) The invention according to claim 21 Since the powder container can be separated and a plurality of portions having the same shape can be connected and cleaned at the same time, efficient cleaning can be performed.
(21) The invention according to claim 22 By allowing the cleaning medium to flow down from the upper opening of the powder container held by the powder container holding mechanism, the inside of the powder container can be continuously cleaned and cleaned. High efficiency. Further, by accelerating the cleaning medium by gravity, it is possible to improve the cleaning ability of the cleaning medium and realize energy-saving cleaning.

(22) The invention according to claim 23 In the powder container continuously held in the front-rear direction by the powder container holding mechanism, by causing the cleaning medium to flow down from the upper opening of the uppermost powder container, The inside of a plurality of powder containers can be cleaned continuously at the same time, and the cleaning efficiency is high. Further, by accelerating the cleaning medium by gravity, it is possible to improve the cleaning ability of the cleaning medium.
(23) The invention according to claim 24 By driving the flow control member provided in the powder container by the driving means, the cleaning medium that matches the shape of the powder container as in the invention according to claim 6 Therefore, the inside of the powder container can be cleaned evenly, and as a result, the cleaning efficiency can be further improved.

(24) Invention according to Claim 25 Since the flow control means provided in the spacer can control the flow of the cleaning medium in the powder container as in the invention according to Claim 5 or Claim 6, It is possible to clean the inside of the powder container without unevenness, and the cleaning efficiency can be greatly improved.
(25) The invention according to claim 26 By connecting the powder container to the spacer, the flow control means can be inserted into the powder container and placed at a position where it is desired to control the flow of the cleaning medium. Even in a powder container that does not have a flow control member, the cleaning medium can be dispersed throughout the powder container, and the inside can be efficiently cleaned without unevenness.

(26) The invention according to claim 27 By moving the cleaning medium along the curved surface of the flow control means, the direction of movement can be changed without depending on the collision, so that loss of energy due to the collision can be suppressed, The cleaning medium can maintain a moving speed capable of sufficiently cleaning the inner wall of the powder container.
(27) The invention according to claim 28 Since the movable part of the flow control means is driven by the drive means, the cleaning medium in contact therewith can be accelerated and dispersed toward the inner wall of the powder container. It is possible to clean the powder container uniformly and efficiently, and the cleaning effect can be improved.

(28) The invention according to claim 29 The rotation mechanism can be realized with a relatively simple configuration, and by rotating the movable part at a high speed, the cleaning medium in contact therewith is accelerated, and the powder container Since it can disperse | distribute toward an inner wall, it is possible to wash | clean a powder container uniformly and efficiently, and can improve the washing | cleaning effect.
(29) The invention according to claim 30 Since the blade member (blade-shaped protrusion) is provided on the surface of the substantially conical flow control means, a large amount of the cleaning medium collides with the blade member, and this can be accelerated. it can. Moreover, since the rotating body has a conical shape, the movement direction of the cleaning medium can be diffused in the powder container. As a result, the powder container can be efficiently cleaned without unevenness.

(30) The invention according to claim 31 By changing the volume of the flow control means, the flow control means can be easily inserted into the powder container, so the powder container can be easily attached to the cleaning device. Detachable. Also, by changing the volume of the movable part during cleaning, it is possible to accelerate the cleaning medium in contact with it and prevent the cleaning medium from bridging, so that the cleaning medium can be easily discharged from the container. It is possible to clean the powder container efficiently.
(31) Invention of Claim 32 By introducing the powder container along the guide means, the powder container can be naturally aligned and the openings can be easily aligned.

  A large number of toner replenishing containers can be cleaned in a short time by spreading the cleaning medium to every corner of the toner replenishing container so that the dirt adhering to the inner surface can be surely washed. The purpose is to provide an opening on the front and back of the toner replenishing container, and a cleaning medium is introduced from one of the openings, and the toner replenishing container continuously flows toward the other opening. This is realized by a relatively simple configuration.

Embodiment 1 (corresponding to claims 1, 5, 6, 14 to 20, 22) of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 3-2 are explanatory views of the toner supply container, FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of the basic principle of the cleaning method, and FIG. 5 is an outline explanatory view of the dry cleaning apparatus.
In the first exemplary embodiment, the toner supply container 10 is a rectangular parallelepiped toner cartridge of 150 × 90 × 50 mm. Needless to say, the present invention is not limited to a rectangular parallelepiped cleaning target, and may be used for cleaning cylindrical or irregularly shaped toner supply containers. The toner supply container 10 includes a circular opening 11 and a circular opening 12 having a diameter of about 25 mm on opposite surfaces (end surfaces) in the longitudinal direction. Since a small opening for sending the toner to the developing unit exists separately on the side of the container, there is no functional problem even if the opening for refilling the toner is designed relatively freely. A taper is formed on the inner surface of each end wall provided with the openings 11 and 12, and when the toner replenishing container 10 is fixed in a cleaning posture, it has an inclination of 10 ° with respect to the horizontal level. (See FIG. 3-1 (a)). A flow control member 13 that controls the flow of the cleaning medium as a triangular prism-shaped rib is disposed on the center line of the toner supply container 10, and the cleaning medium introduced from the opening 11 collides with it. The flow control member 13 has a triangular prism shape in the present embodiment, but of course, any shape can be used as long as it is a flow control member having a characteristic such as a conical shape that disperses the cleaning medium and does not hinder the discharge of the cleaning medium. It may be. Many conventional toner replenishing containers are designed so that the struts are arranged in the container in order to ensure the strength. By adjusting these shapes, the design of the flow control member that does not hinder the function of the toner replenishing container Is possible.

When the toner supply container 10 has a cylindrical shape, as shown in FIG. 3-2, the flow control member 13 is composed of a plurality of control members extending radially from the center as a connecting portion (for example, Benz By forming the mark in the shape of the mark, it becomes possible to perform cleaning without unevenness.
Around the openings 11 and 12 provided on the end surface of the toner supply container 10 in the longitudinal direction, fitting projections or grooves are arranged as connecting means 17 and 18. FIG. 2 shows an example of a toner supply container 10 having these characteristics, and FIGS. 3-1 and 3-2 show cross-sectional views of the toner supply container 10 having these shape characteristics. .

Next, a basic cleaning principle will be described based on FIG.
The cleaning medium 1 that has flowed down from the hopper 21 through the pipe 23 collides with the flow control member 13, diffusely reflects in the toner supply container 10, and cleans the inner wall by the impact force (FIG. 4A). ). Further, the dirt component separated from the inner wall of the container 10 by impact is adsorbed to the cleaning medium 1 by electrostatic force and does not reattach to the inner wall of the container.
As shown in FIG. 4B, when the cleaning medium 1 is supplied more than the amount discharged from the lower opening 12, the cleaning medium 1 is partially deposited inside the toner supply container 10. When the accumulated cleaning medium 1 is discharged from the lower opening 12, the inner wall of the container 10 and the cleaning medium 1 slip, so that the inner wall of the container is discharged while being cleaned. Accordingly, in such a case, the inside of the toner supply container 10 can be similarly cleaned.
In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3A or FIG. 4, the flow control member 13 is tapered on both the left and right sides so that the cleaning medium 1 is reflected in the left and right directions and diffused widely. Yes. This is because the toner cartridge having the substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape in which the thickness in the front-rear direction (thickness in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. 4) of the toner supply container 10 is smaller than the thickness in the left-right direction is taken as an example. That is, in the fall due to gravity, the cleaning media 1 collide with each other and naturally diffuse. If the thickness range in the front-rear direction of the toner replenishing container is within the range of diffusion of the cleaning medium, the cleaning medium and the inner wall of the toner replenishing container come into contact with each other even if the flow control member is not tapered in the front-rear direction. Is obtained.

Next, the dry cleaning apparatus 20 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
The cleaning device 20 includes a container holding mechanism 26 for mounting the toner supply container 10, and further includes a hopper 21 that holds the cleaning medium 1 and a powder valve 22 that controls supply of the cleaning medium 1. Yes. Between the powder valve 22 and the opening 11 of the toner supply container 10 to be cleaned, a cleaning medium pipe 23 is used, and a pipe having a smooth interior is used as the pipe 23. Since the altitude difference between the powder valve 22 and the container opening 11 affects the flow speed of the cleaning medium 1, the cleaning medium 1 is given a speed sufficient to remove the toner stains fixed inside the toner supply container 10. Height is necessary. Of course, it goes without saying that the height of the hopper 21 and the powder valve 22 may be variable.
Further, the lower opening 12 of the container is connected through a similar pipe 27 to a cleaning medium container 28 that accumulates the cleaning medium 1 that has adsorbed the toner 2. The cleaning medium 1 accumulated in the cleaning medium container 28 is supplied to the cleaning medium regeneration mechanism 32 by the transport pipe 31 that transports the particles, and the toner stains adhered to the surface are removed here. The cleaning medium 1 regenerated in this way is supplied to the hopper 21 through the transport pipe 33 again. The cleaning medium 1 is transported mechanically using a powder screw or the like.
In addition, since the same cleaning effect can be obtained even when the toner replenishing container 10 is fixed with an inclination without standing vertically and the cleaning medium 1 flows down, the toner replenishing container 10 is inclined and washed. Such cases are also included in the present invention.

The cleaning procedure of the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
As a first procedure, the cleaning medium 1 is supplied to the hopper 21 of the cleaning device 20.
The cleaning medium 1 to be used is made of a material that adsorbs dirt by electrification and has good fluidity and can be easily taken out from the container, or a spherical or substantially spherical resin, or a resin of the same material as the container that has little effect even if it remains. It is better to use sublimable granules such as dry ice.
In this embodiment, an alumina sphere having a substantially spherical shape and excellent in charging characteristics and rebound resilience is used as the cleaning medium 1.
The diameter of the cleaning medium 1 needs to be at least one fifth of the diameter of the openings 11 and 12, and more preferably the openings 11 and 11 so that the charging and discharging from the openings 11 and 12 are smooth. , 12 is less than one-tenth of the diameter (a known technique is known to make it difficult to insert and discharge particles having a diameter of one-fifth or more of the diameter of the opening. Is). In this example, the diameter of the alumina sphere was about 2 mm. Further, the angle of repose of the cleaning medium 1 is equal to or less than the angle of the taper formed on the inner side of the end wall facing the longitudinal direction of the toner supply container 10, and more preferably has a characteristic that takes a safety factor and is half of that. And The angle of repose of the alumina sphere used in this example is about 5 °. The angle of repose here is one of the characteristic values of the particles, and means the minimum inclination angle at which the particles slide down the slope.
A sufficient amount of the cleaning medium 1 is put into the hopper 21 at a time, and the flow is stopped and held by the powder valve 22.

  As a second procedure, the toner supply container 10 is fixed to the container holding mechanism 26 of the cleaning device 20. The fixing posture is such that one or more openings 11 are directed vertically upward, and at least one of the remaining openings 12 is directed vertically downward. These openings 11 and 12 are usually sealed with caps.

  As a third procedure, the cap of the opening 11 located on the upper surface of the toner supply container 10 is opened, and the granule piping 23 connected to the hopper 21 and the powder valve 22 is connected to the opening 11. When connecting means 17 and 18 such as fitting protrusions are formed around the openings 11 and 12 of the toner replenishing container 10, the granule pipe 23 is fitted to the connecting means 17. To do. Similarly, the cap is also opened at the opening 12 arranged on the lower surface of the toner supply container 10 and connected to the granular material pipe 27.

As a fourth procedure, the powder valve 22 is opened. Accordingly, the cleaning medium 1 held by the hopper 21 flows down toward the toner supply container 10 through the particle piping 23. In this embodiment, the opening amount of the powder valve 22 is adjusted so that a supply speed of 1.4 liters / minute can be realized. The cleaning medium 1 flows into the toner supply container 10 from the opening 11 and collides with the flow control member 13. Due to the shape and arrangement of the flow control member 13, a flow of the cleaning medium 1 is generated inside the container, and dirt on the inner wall of the toner supply container 10 is removed.
The effect of removing dirt on the side surface of the container in the fourth procedure was confirmed by measuring the change in the removal rate with respect to time (see FIG. 6). Each series in FIG. 6 is a measurement of the stain removal rate in a region obtained by dividing the inner wall side surface of the toner supply container 10 every 30 mm from the upper side. In this experiment, the bottom of the triangular prism that is the flow control member 13 is located at a height of 60 mm from the upper side of the toner supply container 10, and the area above the flow control member 13 is removed in about 60 seconds. ≈1.0, so that the toner contamination is almost removed.

While the cleaning medium 1 flows down in the toner supply container 10, kinetic energy is added to the cleaning medium 1 as a fifth procedure if necessary. In this embodiment, vibration is applied to the toner supply container 10 by the vibration means. As a means for adding kinetic energy, an impact force may be applied by an impact generating means, or any other means for giving kinetic energy to the cleaning medium may be used. By applying impact force or vibration force from the outside and applying kinetic energy to the cleaning medium, the cleaning medium is prevented from bridging and can flow smoothly. In addition, the cleaning ability is improved by increasing the kinetic energy of the cleaning medium.
The cleaning medium 1 that has flowed down inside the toner supply container 10 and has reached the lowermost surface moves to the opening 12 by a taper attached around the opening 12 and is discharged. The discharged cleaning medium 1 is accumulated in the cleaning medium container 28 through the granule piping 27. The cleaning medium 1 accumulated in the cleaning medium container 28 is transported to the cleaning medium regeneration mechanism 32 through the transport pipe 31, and the toner adhering thereto is separated and reused.

As a sixth procedure, the powder valve 22 is closed and the supply of the cleaning medium 1 into the toner supply container 10 is stopped. Then, it waits for a predetermined time until the cleaning medium 1 is completely discharged from the toner supply container 10.
As a seventh procedure, the toner supply container 10 is removed from the cleaning device 20.
If necessary, as an eighth procedure, the toner supply container 10 is turned upside down, and the second procedure is re-executed. This is because the cleaning medium 1 is accelerated by gravity, so that the surface positioned upward in the initial fixed state (mounting posture) of the toner replenishing container 10 has a dirt removing effect compared to the surface positioned downward. This is because there is a possibility that becomes low. By reversing the toner supply container 10 and applying the same cleaning process, the cleaning is completed in a shorter time.
In this way, by performing the first procedure to the eighth procedure, the inside of the container can be cleaned. In this embodiment, the operator performs the process until the toner supply container 10 is fixed to the container holding mechanism 26, and the opening / closing of the powder valve 22 and the ON / OFF of the vibration mechanism are automatically set by setting a timer. It is to be controlled.

Compare tact with conventional methods. The technique described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-268383, which is a conventional technique, is a technique for accelerating a cleaning medium inside a container by rotating a magnet plate outside the container, and a batch cleaning procedure is assumed. Yes.
A batch-type cleaning procedure using a conventional cleaning medium is shown below.
Procedure (1) Supplying the cleaning medium to the hopper Procedure (2) Fixing the powder container to the cleaning device Procedure (3) Connecting the opening of the powder container to the hopper Procedure (4) Loading the cleaning medium from the hopper into the powder container Step (5) Accelerate the magnet plate until the cleaning medium reaches the required cleaning speed Step (6) Maintain the required cleaning speed and clean Step (7) Decelerate the magnetic plate Step (8) Open the powder container Step (9) Drain the cleaning medium-Repeat the above steps (3) to (9) until the target cleaning level is reached-
Step (10) Remove the powder container from the cleaning device.

In the conventional method, the procedures (5) to (7) are procedures in which the cleaning medium actually moves and removes dirt. On the other hand, in the method of the present embodiment, the fourth procedure and the fifth procedure are procedures having a cleaning effect for removing dirt. As shown in FIG. 7, the conventional method has a large proportion of time spent for setups other than the procedures (5) to (7) having a cleaning effect. In particular, the procedure (4) for supplying a certain amount of the cleaning medium and the procedure (9) for discharging take a long time. Further, since there is an upper limit on the amount of dirt adsorbed on the supplied cleaning medium, the cleaning medium must be replaced at least once, and setup is required each time.
Compared with the conventional method, the method of the present embodiment is more efficient because the ratio of the time required for setup with respect to the total cleaning time is reduced. Further, since the new cleaning medium can be continuously fed, the amount of dirt adsorbed on the cleaning medium does not reach the limit.
Therefore, it is possible to achieve cleaning with a shorter tact than the conventional method.

Example 2 (corresponding to claims 5, 6, 8 to 10 and 24) of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 8 is an explanatory view of a toner replenishing container provided with a flow control member, FIG. 9 is an explanatory view of a cleaning operation inside the toner replenishing container by the flow control member, and FIG. 10 is an illustration of a toner replenishing container provided with a flow control member. It is explanatory drawing of a washing | cleaning apparatus.
As shown in FIG. 8, a flow control member 13a capable of freely controlling the angle is provided inside the toner supply container 10a. This flow control member 13a has a rotatable blade shape, is provided between the first opening 11 and the second opening 12, and can be controlled by a gear 16 outside the toner supply container 10a.

The inclination of the blade member of the flow control member 13a and the cleaning operation will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 9A, the flow control member 13a is tilted 30 to 45 degrees to the right, so that most of the cleaning medium 1 is reflected to the left and flows along the left side of the toner supply container 10a. The cleaning medium 1 adsorbs dirt on the surface and cleans it. In FIG. 9B, by directing the flow control member 13a in the vertical direction, the cleaning medium 1 flows down straight and falls while cleaning the flow control member 13a itself. In FIG. 9C, the cleaning medium 1 reflects to the right side and flows along the right side surface of the toner supply container 10a by tilting to the left side as opposed to FIG. 9A. Wash the right side. In this way, the entire inner surface of the toner supply container 10a can be cleaned by performing the swinging motion of the blade member as shown in FIGS. 9 (a) to 9 (c).
When cleaning of the toner replenishing container 10a is completed and a new toner is injected into the container, the flow control member 13a is set in the vertical direction as shown in FIG. Therefore, the original function of the toner supply container is not hindered.

  More specifically, the control of the angle of the flow control member 13a is performed by switching the posture in time. That is, at the process design stage, the degree of cleaning of each part of the toner supply container 10a at each angle of the flow control member 13a is recorded. Depending on the angle of the flow control member 13a, the part where the dirt is often removed and the part where the dirt cannot be removed become clear. By combining a plurality of such cleaning degrees and complementing each other, a combination of angles of the flow control member 13a capable of cleaning the entire inside of the container can be derived. In the actual cleaning process, the flow control member 13a is controlled by a timer so that the flow control member 13a is fixed at the above-mentioned angle for a certain period of time.

FIG. 10 shows an example of the dry cleaning device 20a for the toner supply container 10a shown in FIG. As shown in the first embodiment (see FIG. 5), the basic configuration is a hopper 21 that holds the cleaning medium 1, a valve 22 for powder, and a pipe that guides the cleaning medium 1 into the toner supply container 10a. 23. Further, a support claw 42 is provided as means for positioning and fixing the toner supply container 10a, and a gear 46 of the cleaning device 20a is provided at a position where the toner supply container 10a is engaged with the gear 16 that drives the flow control member 13a of the toner supply container 10a. Yes. The gear 46 on the side of the cleaning device 20 a is driven by a motor 45 built in the column 41.
The torque of the motor 45 is equal to or greater than the impact force generated by the collision of the cleaning medium 1 and has a holding force against the collision of the cleaning medium 1. That is, the motor 45 and the gear 46 serve as a drive mechanism and a holding mechanism. The motor 45 causes the flow control member 13a in the toner replenishing container 10a to move to the aforementioned angle by the timer control, and the cleaning medium 1 flowing down as a result of the cleaning medium 1 colliding with the flow control member 13a diffuses inside the container. It becomes possible to collide with the entire surface inside the container. As a result, powder dirt is removed from the inner wall of the toner supply container 10a and cleaned.

Embodiment 3 of the present invention (corresponding to claims 2, 3, 17 to 19, 23, 32) will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 11 is an explanatory view of a toner supply container holding mechanism in the dry cleaning apparatus, FIG. 12 is an explanatory view of the connection of the toner supply containers, and FIG. 13 is an explanatory view of the connected toner supply container cleaning apparatus. is there.
As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, the toner replenishing container 10 to be cleaned in the third embodiment is provided with connecting means 17, 18 at opposed openings 11, 12. The inner diameter and the outer shape of the connecting means 18 are designed to be the same. By designing in this way, it is possible to fit by the connecting means, and the openings 11 and 12 can be brought into close contact with each other. Further, as another embodiment of the connecting means, the connecting means 17 and 18 have the same size, and it is possible to close each opening by providing a concave portion and a convex portion in each opening. Become.
The size and shape of the openings 11 and 12 and the size and shape of the connecting means are not limited to the present embodiment, and other methods may be used as long as they have a function of connecting the openings. It goes without saying that can be used.

  In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11, a plurality of such toner replenishing containers 10 are connected with the positions of the openings 11, 12, and the connected toner replenishing containers 10, 10,. , And the interior of the plurality of toner replenishing containers 10, 10,... Is simultaneously cleaned by executing the same cleaning procedure as in the first embodiment. By using such means, a plurality of toner replenishing containers can be cleaned at the same time, and there is an advantage of shortening the cleaning tact. In addition, the consumption of the cleaning medium can be reduced. This is because, while the cleaning medium flows down a longer distance, the removed soil components are dispersed among the cleaning media, and as a result, retain more soil components than flow down a short distance. Further, the same effect can be obtained even when the connected toner replenishing containers 10, 10,... Are inclined vertically without causing the cleaning medium to flow down.

As shown in FIG. 13, the cleaning device 20b according to the third embodiment holds a plurality of toner supply containers 10, 10,... And simultaneously positions the plurality of toner supply containers 10, 10,. A container holding mechanism 55 including a container guide 47 having a function is provided. Further, in order to make the cleaning medium flow smoothly, the vibration device 53 is in close contact with the container guide 47, and has a function of constantly applying vibration to the row of the toner supply containers 10, 10,.
Next, the procedure for using the cleaning device 20b of this embodiment will be described. In the cleaning device 20 b, the operator puts in the toner supply container 10 to be cleaned from the upper part of the container guide 47 of the container holding mechanism 55 and sends it downward along the container guide 47. The toner replenishing container 10 is automatically positioned by a container guide 47, whereby the upper and lower openings 11 and 12 are connected by connecting means 17 and 18. When all of the toner replenishing containers 10 to be cleaned are connected, the piping 27 under the hopper 21 and the powder valve 22 is connected to the connecting means 17 of the uppermost toner replenishing container 10. Subsequent procedures are the same as the fourth and subsequent procedures in the first embodiment. When the cleaning medium is completely discharged after the cleaning is completed, the toner replenishing containers 10, 10,... By such a procedure, cleaning of the plurality of toner supply containers 10, 10,... Can be realized simultaneously.

Example 4 (corresponding to claims 4, 5, 7 to 10, 25, 26, and 28) of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 14 and FIG. 15 are diagrams for explaining the structure relating to the connecting member of the toner replenishing container, and FIG. 16 is a view for explaining the function relating to the connecting member of the toner replenishing container.
The fourth embodiment is a method of connecting a plurality of toner supply containers 10, 10,... And cleaning them at the same time as in the third embodiment, but directly connecting the plurality of toner supply containers 10, 10,. This is an example of a method that does not. More specifically, by using a tubular connecting member 60 as a spacer as shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, the openings 11, 12 of the plurality of toner supply containers 10, 10,. And perform cleaning.

The connecting member 60 includes a fitting groove 62 or a protrusion that can be connected to the openings 11 and 12 of the toner supply container 10 by fitting. In this case, it is not always necessary to fit a cylindrical groove or protrusion, and any shape can be used as long as the cleaning medium can be smoothly guided to the opening 11 of the toner supply container 10 positioned below. Can be used. 14 and 15 includes a flow control valve 61 that is rotationally driven in conjunction with a gear 64 outside the connection member 60 as a flow control member. The gear 64 is controlled by driving means provided in the cleaning device via a toothed belt 65. In this embodiment, the flow control valve 61 is oscillated at a constant cycle.
The operation in this embodiment using the connecting member 60 will be described with reference to FIG. The dry cleaning procedure is the same as that of the second embodiment except that the plurality of toner supply containers 10, 10,... Are connected by the connecting member 60. By rotating the flow control valve 61 in the connecting member 60, the flow amount of the cleaning medium can be increased with respect to a predetermined surface of the toner replenishing container 10, and the surface can be cleaned. Further, the same cleaning effect can be given to all the surfaces inside the toner supply container 10 by swinging the flow control valve 61 at regular intervals. The cleaning procedure is the same as the procedure described in the first embodiment.

A fifth embodiment (corresponding to claims 11 and 25 to 27) of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram of a spacer having a flow control means, and FIG. 18 is an operation explanatory diagram when the spacer is cleaned by connecting it to a toner supply container.
In the fifth embodiment, as in the fourth embodiment, the spacer (connecting member) 90 is connected to the toner replenishing container 10 for cleaning, and a plurality of toner replenishing containers 10, 10,. These containers can be cleaned at the same time by interposing them.
In the fifth embodiment, a toner cartridge that is a rectangular parallelepiped having a size of 300 × 90 × 50 mm is described as an example of the toner replenishing container 10. However, of course, this embodiment is limited to a rectangular parallelepiped cleaning target. Needless to say, it can be used for cleaning cylindrical or irregularly shaped toner supply containers. The toner replenishing container 10 does not have a flow control member therein, and is provided with circular openings 11 and 12 each having a diameter of about 20 mm on the opposing surfaces in the longitudinal direction of the container.

A cylindrical spacer (connecting member) 90 is formed with a support member 90 a in the radial direction, and a flow control means 91 is attached to the support member 90 a via a shaft 92. The flow control means 91 includes a substantially trumpet-shaped flow control curved surface 91a, and substantially reverses the flow direction of the cleaning medium flowing in the axial direction of the shaft 92.
The cleaning medium 1 used here is made of a resin that adsorbs dirt when charged and has a good fluidity and is easily removed from the container, or a container that has little influence even if it remains in the container. It is preferable to use a resin of the same kind as that of, and sublimable particles such as dry ice. In this embodiment, a cleaning medium made of nylon 66 having a substantially spherical shape and excellent charging characteristics is used.
In addition, the diameter of the cleaning medium 1 needs to be at least one fifth of the diameter of the opening in order to smoothly insert and discharge from the openings 11 and 12 of the toner replenishing container 10. Desirably, a diameter of 1/10 or less of the diameter of the opening is suitable. In this embodiment, since the diameter of the openings 11 and 12 is 20 mm, the diameter of the cleaning medium 1 is preferably about 2 mm.

The procedure for cleaning the toner supply container 10 is performed as follows.
First, as shown in FIG. 18, the toner supply container 10 is connected to the hopper 21 of the cleaning medium supply mechanism by a cylindrical spacer 90 having a cleaning medium flow control means 91, and the opening of the toner supply container is opened. It fixes to a container holding mechanism so that the parts 11 and 12 may face a perpendicular direction. When the cleaning medium 1 is introduced into the spacer 90, the cleaning medium 1 flows down through the spacer toward the toner supply container 10 and flows into the toner supply container from the opening 11 to control the flow. Contact means 91. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 17, the cleaning medium 1 flowing down by using the flow control means 91 having a substantially trumpet-shaped flow control curved surface 19 a whose edge portion warps obliquely upward. The flow direction is changed upward by following the flow control curved surface 19a. Accordingly, since the moving direction of the cleaning medium 1 is changed without colliding, the speed of the cleaning medium 1 is not decreased, and the cleaning medium 1 can be guided to a location where the cleaning medium is difficult to reach inside the toner supply container 10. it can. The maximum diameter of the cross section of the flow control means 19 is equal to or smaller than the diameter of the openings 11 and 12, and is large enough to be inserted into the toner supply container.

After sufficiently supplying the cleaning medium 1, the cleaning medium adsorbing the toner stain is collected from the lowermost opening 12 of the toner supply container 10.
By using such a configuration, it is possible to clean the inside of the toner replenishing container uniformly and easily by simply flowing the cleaning medium 1 continuously, so that the working efficiency is very good.
In this embodiment, the cleaning medium is accelerated by gravity. However, the cleaning medium is rotated so as to generate a centrifugal force toward the lowermost portion of the toner supply container 10 or a blower is connected to the uppermost opening 11. The same effect can be obtained by using a cleaning medium accelerating method such as vacuum suction from the other opening 12 to accelerate the cleaning medium 1.

A sixth embodiment (corresponding to claims 12 and 28 to 30) of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 19 is a schematic diagram of a spacer having a conical flow control means, FIG. 20 is an explanatory view of the operation when the spacer is connected to a toner supply container for cleaning, and FIG. 21 is a schematic diagram of another conical flow control means. FIG. 22 is a schematic view of a flow control means having an opening / closing member.
In the sixth embodiment, similarly to the fifth embodiment, the toner replenishing container 10 is connected and cleaned by the spacer (connecting member) 90 provided with the flow control means 93. The flow control means 93 is a conical screw-shaped flow control means 93 having a substantially conical shape as shown in FIG. 19 and having a blade member 93a on the surface thereof. As the blade member 93a, a blade-shaped projection is fixed so that its surface is perpendicular to the rotation direction, and the cleaning medium collides with the surface of the blade member 93a by the rotation.

  The conical flow control means 93 is coupled to a rotation mechanism 94 at the center of the cylindrical spacer 90 by a shaft 92 having a length of about 50 mm. The rotating mechanism 94 is rotatably supported with respect to the spacer main body by a thrust bearing 94a, and has a rotating disk (driven pulley) 94b having a hole 94b 'having a size that does not prevent the flow of the cleaning medium, and the rotating disk 94b. The belt 94c drives the motor 94b, and the motor 94d drives the belt 94c with a driving pulley 94e. By rotating the motor 94d, the rotating disk 94b inside the spacer 90 is rotated, and the conical flow control means 93 fixed to the central portion of the rotating disk 94b via the shaft 92 is also rotated. The spacer 90 is fixed to the support column 95 by a spacer holder 95a, the motor 94d is also fixed to the support column 95, and the support column 95 is fixed to the base of the cleaning apparatus.

Next, the cleaning method of the sixth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
The plurality of toner replenishing containers 10, 10,... Are connected via a spacer 90 having a flow control means, as in the fourth or fifth embodiment. The conical flow control means 93 provided in the spacer 90 is always rotated, and when the flowing cleaning medium collides with the rotating conical flow control means 93, the conical flow control means 93 is provided. Is transmitted to the cleaning medium via the blade member 93a, and thus strong kinetic energy is added to the cleaning medium. As a result, as shown by the arrow in FIG. 20, the cleaning medium violently diffuses in the toner supply container 10 and collides with the inner wall of the container, thereby removing strong toner stains. Further, even when the distance between the conical flow control means 93 and the inner wall of the container is large, it is possible to provide a sufficient speed so that the cleaning medium can reach the inner wall of the container.

As a method for supplying and discharging the cleaning medium to and from the toner replenishing container 10, the same method as in the fifth embodiment is used.
Thus, by rotating the conical flow control means 93, it is possible to prevent the cleaning medium from adhering to the flow control means due to static electricity or the like. Further, by fluidizing the cleaning medium, bridging inside the toner replenishing container can be prevented, and the toner can be easily discharged from the container. In this case, of course, the rotational speed of the conical flow control means 93 may be variable.

As the rotating flow control means, as shown in FIG. 21, a conical flow control means 93 ′ having increased rigidity by forming a step 93b on the conical surface instead of the blade member. Or, as shown in FIG. 22, a plurality of opening / closing members 96a, 96a,... A flow control means 96 provided may be considered. When the flow control means 96 rotates, the opening / closing members 96a, 96a,... Are opened by centrifugal force, and the effective area in contact with the cleaning medium is expanded to accelerate the cleaning medium. Are closed so that they can be easily inserted into the opening 11 of the toner supply container 10.
Of course, any rotating body may be used as long as it can change the moving direction of the cleaning medium in the direction of accelerating and diffusing the cleaning medium. These rotators can be driven to rotate by the mechanism shown in FIG. In this embodiment, the driving force by the motor 94d and the transmission means comprising the pulleys 94b and 94e and the belt 94c are employed. For example, by applying electromagnetic force from the outside, the rotational force is flowed in a non-contact manner. It is also conceivable to employ a rotational force generating means that is generated in the above.

A seventh embodiment (corresponding to claims 13 and 31) of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 23 is a diagram for explaining the operation when the toner replenishing container is connected and cleaned by a spacer having a flow control means composed of balloons. FIG. 24 is a diagram showing the operation of connecting the toner replenishing container by a spacer having a flow control means that opens and closes like an umbrella. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing in the case of wash | cleaning.
In the seventh embodiment, similarly to the fifth and sixth embodiments, the toner replenishing container 10 is connected and cleaned by the spacer (connecting member) 90 including the flow control means 97. As this flow control means, as shown in FIG. 23, a balloon 97 that can be expanded or contracted by supplying or discharging air, for example, a balloon made of vinyl is used. The balloon 97 is connected to an air supply pipe 98, and the volume can be increased by opening the electromagnetic valve 99 and feeding positive pressure air. Further, by switching the electromagnetic valve 99 and releasing the air inside the balloon 97 into the atmosphere, the volume can be contracted. The air supply pipe 98 is fixed inside a cylindrical spacer 90, and is further connected from the side surface of the spacer 90 to an external electromagnetic valve 99 through a pipe 98a. The electromagnetic valve 99 in this embodiment is a two-way switching type, one side is supplied with high-pressure air of 4 atm and the other is opened to the atmosphere.

The procedure for cleaning the toner supply container 10 using the method and apparatus of this embodiment will be described below.
First, the toner supply container 10 to be cleaned is inserted into the cylindrical spacer 90 in which the balloon 97 is deflated and inserted into the container through the opening 12 and the air supply pipe 98 is fixed inside. Connecting. When simultaneously cleaning a plurality of toner supply containers, they are connected via a spacer 90 as shown in FIG. Next, the electromagnetic valve 99 is opened, and the balloon 97 is inflated in the toner supply container. Then, as shown in FIG. 23, the surface of the balloon 97 comes close to the inner wall of the toner supply container 10.

Then, with the opening 11 of the toner replenishing container 10 facing upward, a cleaning medium is supplied from above to flow down in the container. When the cleaning medium flows down the gap between the inner wall of the toner supply container 10 and the balloon 97, the cleaning medium is reflected by the surface portion of the balloon 97 and collides with the inner wall of the container frequently. More dirt can be removed. Further, by opening and closing the electromagnetic valve 99 continuously, efficient cleaning can be performed by expanding and contracting the balloon 97 simultaneously with the flow of the cleaning medium.
Since the cleaning medium that has collided with the surface of the balloon 97 during the expansion of the balloon 97 is accelerated by the expansion, a stronger impact force can be applied to the inner wall of the toner supply container and the attached dirt. Further, by repeating the expansion and contraction of the balloon 97, it is possible to prevent the cleaning medium from bridging in the toner supply container, and the cleaning medium can be discharged smoothly.
Further, instead of the flow control means comprising the balloon 97, an umbrella-shaped flow control means 100 that opens and closes as shown in FIG. 24 can be used. In this case, as in the case of using a balloon, cleaning can be performed by opening and closing the umbrella-shaped flow control means 100 simultaneously with the flow of the cleaning medium.

  In addition to the several embodiments described so far, by controlling the position and moving speed of the flow control means charged in the toner supply container, the cleaning medium flowing down in the toner supply container is accelerated, and Although the method to disperse | distribute inside a container can be considered, these are all contained in the scope of the present invention.

An eighth embodiment (corresponding to claim 21) of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 25 is an explanatory view of the toner bottle, and FIGS. 26 and 27 are explanatory views of a cleaning device for cleaning the bottle cap and the bottle main body.
In the eighth embodiment, an example in which the axisymmetric toner bottles 70 are disassembled and connected to each other to clean them will be described.
A toner bottle 70 having male and female bottle caps 72 and 73 and a bottle body 71 is schematically shown in FIG. The toner bottle 70 can be disassembled into three parts: upper and lower bottle caps 72 and 73 and a central bottle body 71. Each joint is a fitting type, and can be joined without leakage by pushing in, thereby preventing powder leakage. Moreover, the diameter of each joint part and the connection method are the same.
The toner bottle 70 has a central bottle body 71 having a cylindrical shape, and bottle caps 72 and 73 as upper and lower parts having a conical shape (funnel shape).

FIG. 26 shows an example of the cleaning devices 80a and 80b for the toner bottle 70 of this embodiment.
First, the toner bottle 70 is disassembled, a plurality of central bottle bodies 71 are connected to the cleaning device 80a, and a conical bottle cap 72 is connected to the uppermost part. Then, a state as shown in FIG. Although not shown in FIG. 26 (a), the connected bottle bodies 71, 71,... Are fixed and held by the holding means, and are not in contact with the flow control means 81. Is held at a predetermined position shown in FIG. In this embodiment, the flow control means 81 is formed by a rod having a thickness that occupies the inner product of the bottle main body 71, and is fixed to the cleaning medium tray 24 provided in the cleaning device 80a. , 71,...
Further, the flow control means 81 is a solid having an elastic reflectance (elastic repulsion rate) that largely reflects (bounces) the washing medium 1 that flows down, and a plurality of such bottle bodies 71, 71,. In the arrangement of the flow control means 81, the plurality of bottle bodies 71, 71,... Can be simultaneously cleaned by causing the cleaning medium 1 to flow down from the opening of the upper bottle cap 72.

  On the other hand, the conical bottle caps 72 and 73 separated from the bottle main body 71 are cleaned by another cleaning device 80b as shown in FIG. The bottle caps 72 and 73 are aligned with the direction of the opening along the cylindrical guide 82 of the cleaning device 80b. Although omitted in FIG. 26B, a mechanism for holding the bottle caps 72 and 73 at regular intervals is provided inside the guide 82. Also, as shown in FIGS. 26B and 26C, the cylindrical guide 82 can be disassembled into one unit (cylindrical guide unit 82a) for each bottle cap, and the bottle cap is placed inside the cylindrical guide. Can be easily fixed. In order to control the flow of the cleaning medium 1, a conical flow control means 83 is provided between the bottle caps 72 and 73. By arranging the bottle caps 72 and 73 and the flow control means 83 in this way, the cleaning medium 1 flows down from the upper direction toward the opening of the bottle cap 72, thereby simultaneously cleaning the plurality of bottle caps 72 and 73. Can be realized.

  The cleaning device 80c for the bottle main body 71 shown in FIG. 27 (a) and the cleaning device 80d for the bottle caps 72 and 73 shown in FIG. 27 (b) are shown in FIG. 26 (a). In the cleaning device 80a for the bottle main body 71 and the cleaning device 80b for the bottle caps 72 and 73 shown in FIG. 26 (b), the flow is composed of blade members that rotate the flow control means 81 and 83, respectively. The control means 85 is used instead. Although omitted in the figure, the flow control means 85 is configured to be driven by the cleaning devices 80c and 80d, and by reflecting and diffusing the cleaning medium 1 flowing down by the rotation of the flow control means 85, Cleaning of powder dirt can be realized by causing the cleaning medium to collide with any part of the inner surface of the bottle main body 71 and the bottle caps 72 and 73.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a spherical cleaning medium that adsorbs toner. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a toner supply container in Embodiment 1 of the present invention. These are explanatory drawings of the toner supply container of Example 1, (a) is a front sectional view, and (b) is a side sectional view. These are explanatory drawings of another toner supply container of Example 1, (a) is front sectional drawing, (b) is A-A 'sectional drawing of (a). These are explanatory drawings regarding the basic principle of the cleaning method of Example 1, (a) before cleaning, (b) during cleaning. FIG. 2 is a schematic explanatory diagram of a dry cleaning apparatus according to a first embodiment, where (a) is a cleaning apparatus, and (b) is a cleaning apparatus equipped with a toner supply container. FIG. 6 is a graph showing a change in toner removal rate with time due to a difference in the position of the side surface of the toner supply container when cleaning is performed with the dry cleaning apparatus of Example 1. FIG. These are graphs showing a tact comparison between the conventional badge technique and the technique of the first embodiment. These are explanatory drawings of a toner replenishing container provided with a flow control member in Embodiment 2 of the present invention, (a) is a front sectional view, (b) is a side sectional view. These are explanatory drawings of the cleaning operation in the toner replenishing container of Example 2, where (a) is when the flow control member is tilted to the right, (b) is when the flow control member is not tilted, and (c) is the flow. This is a case where the control member is tilted to the left. FIG. 4 is a schematic explanatory diagram of a toner replenishing container cleaning device according to a second embodiment, where (a) is a front view and (b) is a side view. These are explanatory drawings of the dry cleaning apparatus in Example 3 of this invention, and are explanatory drawings of the container holding | maintenance mechanism of the dry cleaning apparatus which can wash | clean a several toner replenishment container simultaneously. (a) is a front view, (b) is a side view, and (c) is a plan view. These are explanatory drawings regarding the connection of the toner replenishing containers in the container holding mechanism of the dry cleaning apparatus of Example 3, (a) is a plan view, and (b) is a side sectional view. These are explanatory drawings of the dry-type washing | cleaning apparatus of Example 3, and are schematic explanatory drawings of the washing | cleaning apparatus which wash | cleans the connected toner supply container simultaneously. These are the perspective views of the connection member which connects the toner supply container in Example 4 of this invention. These are the typical explanatory drawings of the connection member of Example 4, (a) is A-A 'sectional drawing of (b), (b) is a top view of (a). These are operation | movement explanatory drawings at the time of connecting a toner supply container with the connection member of Example 4. FIG. These are the schematic diagrams of the spacer connected to the toner supply container in Embodiment 5 of the present invention, (a) is a plan view thereof, (b) is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA ′ of (a). These are operation | movement explanatory drawings in Example 5, when connecting a spacer to a toner supply container and wash | cleaning. These are the schematic diagrams of the spacer connected to the toner supply container in Example 6 of the present invention, (a) is an overall front view with a part cut, and (b) is a plan view. These are operation | movement explanatory drawings in Example 6, when connecting a spacer to a toner supply container and wash | cleaning. These are the schematic diagrams of the another flow control means in the spacer of Example 6, (a) is the front view, (b) is AA 'sectional drawing of (a). These are the schematic diagrams of the another flow control member in the spacer of Example 6, (a) is a state in which the opening and closing member is closed, and (b) is a state in which the opening and closing member is open. These are operation | movement explanatory drawing at the time of connecting and cleaning the spacer in Example 7 of this invention to a toner supply container. These are operation | movement explanatory drawing in the case of wash | cleaning by connecting another spacer in Example 7 to a toner supply container. These are explanatory drawings of the toner bottle which consists of a male-female type bottle cap and a bottle main body in Example 8 of this invention, (a) is a perspective view, (b) is sectional drawing. FIG. 9 is a schematic explanatory diagram of a toner bottle cleaning device according to an eighth embodiment, (a) is a main part of a connected bottle body cleaning device, and (b) is a cleaning device for simultaneously cleaning a plurality of bottle caps. It is the main part. These are outline explanatory drawings of another cleaning device for toner bottles in Example 8, (a) is a main part of the connected bottle body cleaning device, and (b) is a cleaning for simultaneously cleaning a plurality of bottle caps. This is the main part of the device.

Explanation of symbols

1. Cleaning medium 2. Toner 10, 10a ... Toner supply container (powder container)
11, 12 ... Opening 13, 13a ... Flow control member 14 ... Toner supply hole 15 ... Slide cover for toner supply hole 16 ... Gear 17, 18 ... Connection means 20, 20a, 20b ... Dry cleaning Equipment 21 ... Hopper 22 ... Powder valve 23 ... (for granule) piping 24 ... Receptacle 25 ... Height adjustment mechanism 26 ... Container holding mechanism 27 ... (for granule) piping 28 ... Cleaning medium container 31 ... Conveying pipe 32 ... Cleaning medium regeneration mechanism 33 ... Conveying pipe 41 ... Prop 42 ... Supporting claw 44 ... Fixing bracket 45 ... Motor 46 ... Gear 47 ... Container guide 48 ... Guide groove 49 ... Container stopper 51 ... Column 52 ... Fixing bracket 53 ... Vibration device 55 ... Container holding mechanism 60 ... Connecting member, spacer 61 ... Flow control valve 62 ... Fitting groove 63 ... Rotation Shaft 64 ... Gear 65 ... Belt with drive teeth 70 Toner bottle 71 Bottle body 72, 73 Bottle caps 80a to 80d Cleaning devices 81, 83, 85 Flow control means 82 Guide 90 Spacer 90a Support member 91 ... Flow control means 91a Flow control curved surface 92 ... Shaft 93, 93 '... Conical flow control means 93a ... Blade member 93b ... Step 94 ... Rotation mechanism 94a ... Thrust bearing 94b Rotating disk 94b 'Hole 94c Belt 94d Motor 94e Pulley 95 Strut 95a Spacer holder 96 Opening / closing flow control means 96a Opening / closing member 96b Hinge 96c ··· Weight 97 ··· Balloon 98 ··· Air supply pipe 98a ··· Piping 99 ··· Solenoid valve 100 ··· Flow control means for opening and closing in an umbrella shape

Claims (32)

In a powder container having a first opening and at least one or more second openings facing the first opening in the front and rear,
In the method for cleaning a powder container, in which a granular cleaning medium having a property of adsorbing powder is introduced and contacted with the residual powder adhered to the inside of the powder container is removed.
A powder container, wherein the inside of the powder container is cleaned by allowing the cleaning medium to flow downward from the first opening of the powder container toward the first opening. Cleaning method. In a powder container having a first opening and at least one or more second openings facing the first opening in the front and rear,
In the method for cleaning a powder container, in which a granular cleaning medium having a property of adsorbing powder is introduced and contacted with the residual powder adhered to the inside of the powder container is removed.
A plurality of the powder containers are continuously arranged in the front-rear direction,
The cleaning medium is caused to flow toward the first opening from a position higher than the first opening in the powder container at the outermost end of the continuously arranged powder container, and the plurality A method for cleaning a powder container, wherein the inside of the powder container is simultaneously cleaned.   The method for cleaning a powder container according to claim 2, wherein a plurality of the powder containers are continuously connected in the front-rear direction.   The method for cleaning a powder container according to claim 2, wherein a plurality of the powder containers are continuously arranged in the front-rear direction via a spacer.   The method for cleaning a powder container according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the flow of the cleaning medium flowing down in the powder container is controlled by a flow control means.   6. The method for cleaning a powder container according to claim 5, wherein the flow control means is provided in the powder container to control the flow of the cleaning medium.   The method of cleaning a powder container according to claim 4, wherein the flow of the cleaning medium flowing down in the powder container is controlled by a flow control means provided in the spacer.   The powder container cleaning method according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein the flow control means is controlled either or both of its position and posture.   9. The powder container cleaning method according to claim 5, wherein the flow control means is driven by a driving means.   The powder container cleaning method according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the position and orientation of the flow control means are held by holding means.   8. The flow control means according to claim 7, wherein the flow control means is inserted into an opening of the powder container and is in contact with the flow of the cleaning medium flowing down in the powder container. The washing | cleaning method of the powder container as described.   12. The powder container cleaning method according to claim 11, wherein the flow control means is rotationally driven.   12. The method for cleaning a powder container according to claim 11, wherein the flow control means changes the moving direction of the cleaning medium by changing its volume.   It has a flow control member which has a 1st opening and at least 1 or more 2nd opening facing this at the front and back, and controls the motion direction of the cleaning medium which flows in from the 1st opening. A powder container characterized by.   The powder container according to claim 14, wherein the flow control member has a taper with respect to an inflow direction of the cleaning medium.   The powder container according to claim 14 or 15, wherein the flow control member includes a plurality of members extending radially.   The powder container according to any one of claims 14 to 16, wherein a connecting portion is provided at the front and rear openings of the powder container.   18. The powder container according to claim 17, wherein the connection portion includes a concave portion and / or a convex portion provided in the first opening and the second opening.   18. The powder according to claim 17, wherein the connecting portion has the same inner diameter of the connecting portion provided in the first opening and the outer diameter of the connecting portion provided in the second opening. container.   15. The end face provided with the first opening and the end face provided with the second opening are tapered, and the taper angle is larger than the repose angle of the cleaning medium. The powder container according to any one of claims 19 to 19.   The powder container according to any one of claims 14 to 20, wherein the powder container is configured to be separable, and the same part of the plurality of powder containers is configured to be connectable. A granular cleaning medium having a property of adsorbing powder is put into a powder container having an opening, and the cleaning medium is brought into contact with residual powder adhering to the inside of the powder container. In a powder container cleaning device for removing residual powder,
Cleaning medium holding means for holding the cleaning medium;
The powder container has front and rear openings, and a powder container holding mechanism for holding the powder container so that one opening is positioned above the other opening;
Downflow means for flowing down the cleaning medium toward the upper opening from a position higher than the upper opening of the powder container;
A cleaning apparatus for a powder container, wherein the cleaning medium is allowed to flow toward the upper opening to clean the inside of the powder container. A granular cleaning medium having a property of adsorbing powder is put into a powder container having an opening, and the cleaning medium is brought into contact with residual powder adhering to the inside of the powder container so that the residual In a powder container cleaning device for removing powder,
Cleaning medium holding means for holding the cleaning medium;
The powder container has openings at the front and rear, and a plurality of the powder containers are continuously arranged in the front-rear direction and held so that one opening is positioned above the other opening. A powder container holding mechanism;
A flow-down means for flowing down the cleaning medium toward the upper opening from a position higher than the upper opening in the uppermost powder container of the powder container continuously disposed and held;
An apparatus for cleaning a powder container, wherein the cleaning medium is caused to flow toward the upper opening to simultaneously clean the interior of the plurality of powder containers.   24. A cleaning apparatus for cleaning a powder container provided therein with a flow control member for controlling the flow of the cleaning medium, comprising drive means for driving the flow control member. The powder container cleaning device according to 1.   24. The powder container according to claim 23, wherein a plurality of powder containers continuously held in the front-rear direction are washed through a spacer provided with a flow control means for controlling the flow of the cleaning medium. Cleaning equipment.   The flow control means has a function of controlling either or both of the moving direction and the moving speed of the cleaning medium, and is supported by a support member provided in the cleaning medium passage of the spacer. 26. The apparatus for cleaning a powder container according to claim 25.   27. The apparatus for cleaning a powder container according to claim 26, wherein the flow control means includes a curved surface that changes a moving direction of the cleaning medium in contact with the flow by rolling or sliding.   27. The apparatus for cleaning a powder container according to claim 26, wherein the flow control means includes at least one movable part and driving means for moving the movable part.   29. The apparatus for cleaning a powder container according to claim 28, wherein the movable part of the flow control means has at least one degree of freedom of rotation.   30. The powder container according to claim 29, wherein the flow control means includes a blade member formed in a substantially conical shape and fixed substantially perpendicular to the rotation direction on the outer peripheral surface of the conical shape. Cleaning equipment.   29. The apparatus for cleaning a powder container according to claim 28, wherein the movable part of the flow control means includes a mechanism for changing the volume.   24. The apparatus for cleaning a powder container according to claim 23, wherein the powder container holding mechanism has guide means for aligning the plurality of powder containers.

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