JP2006301002A - Developing device and image forming apparatus with the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a developing device which can be made compact while having sufficient strength, and an image forming apparatus having the same. <P>SOLUTION: A developing device 10 according to the present invention carries out development by putting one of a plurality of developing units 13Y, 13M, 13C, and 13K opposite a photoreceptor 2. The developing device has a housing 11 loaded in and unloaded from a color printer 1 by being rotated on a center of rotation and also axially moved, and the housing 11 has the plurality of developing units 13Y, 13M, 13C, and 13K fixedly arranged at its peripheral edge. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a printer and a copying machine, and a developing device thereof. More specifically, the present invention relates to a rotating type developing device in which developing devices of respective colors are arranged on a circumference and sequentially developed while rotating around a rotating shaft, and an image forming apparatus having the rotating type developing device.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, electrophotographic image forming apparatuses such as copiers and printers generally have a developing device for developing an electrostatic latent image formed on an image carrier. As this developing device, there is a developing device called a rotary type in which a plurality of developing devices are arranged around a rotation axis, and each developing device is sequentially opposed to an image carrier by rotation of the whole developing device. For example, a color printer capable of color printing has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1), which includes four developing devices each containing a different color toner around the rotation axis.

  The developing device 101 of the color printer 100 described in this document has a substantially cross-shaped rotating rack 102 including a rotating shaft, as shown in FIG. The developing units 103Y, 103M, 103C, and 103K for the respective colors are detachably attached to the four sides of the rotating rack 102, respectively. By rotating the rotating rack 102 around the rotation axis (in the direction of arrow a in the figure), the whole including the developing units 103Y, 103M, 103C, and 103K is rotated.

The color printer 100 includes a charging device 3, an exposure device 4, an intermediate transfer unit 5, a fixing device 6 and the like in addition to the developing device 101, and can form a color image on a sheet. The respective developing units 103Y, 103M, 103C, and 103K are sequentially faced to the photosensitive member 2, whereby toner images of respective colors are sequentially formed on the photosensitive member 2. The rotating rack 102 is formed to have a predetermined strength and rigidity so as to reliably hold and appropriately rotate the developing units 103Y, 103M, 103C, and 103K.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-235995

  However, in the conventional developing device described above, each of the developing units 103Y, 103M, 103C, and 103K attached to the rotating rack 102 includes a developing unit and a toner supply unit, and has a certain weight. . Moreover, after the rotation by a predetermined angle, the developing units arranged on the outer periphery of the rotation must be stopped so as to be properly arranged. Accordingly, the rotating rack 102 needs to have a predetermined strength and rigidity, and the developing units 103Y, 103M, 103C, and 103K themselves and their mounting portions need to have a predetermined strength and stability. For this reason, the rotating rack 102 itself, the rotating shaft portion, the mounting portion, etc. tended to increase in size. As a result, there has been a problem that the developing device becomes large as a whole, which in turn leads to an increase in the size of the entire image forming apparatus.

  The present invention has been made to solve the problems of the conventional developing device described above. That is, the object is to provide a developing device that can be reduced in size while maintaining sufficient strength, and an image forming apparatus having the developing device.

  The developing device of the present invention, which has been made for the purpose of solving this problem, is a developing device that performs development with any one of a plurality of developing units facing the image carrier, and rotates around the center of rotation. A rotating body is attached to and detached from the image forming apparatus by movement in the axial direction, and a plurality of developing units are fixedly arranged on the periphery of the rotating body.

  According to the developing device of the present invention, a plurality of developing units are fixedly arranged on the periphery of the rotating body, so that an attaching portion for detaching each developing unit from the rotating body is unnecessary. Further, since it is sufficient that the rotator and each developing unit have appropriate strength as a whole, it is possible to reduce the size while maintaining sufficient strength. Furthermore, if the developing unit here also includes a toner agitation unit and a toner storage unit, the spatial arrangement can be set according to the shape of each developing unit in the rotating body. An amount of toner can be accommodated. Further, since the rotating body is attached to and detached from the image forming apparatus by moving in the axial direction, the rotating body can be replaced when the life of the developing unit is reached.

Alternatively, the developing device of the present invention is a developing device that performs development with any one of a plurality of developing units facing the image carrier, and has a rotating body that rotates around a rotation center. One of the plurality of development units may be detachably disposed from the front side in the axial direction, and the remaining development units may be disposed in a fixed manner at the periphery.
Even in such a case, since a plurality of developing units are fixedly arranged on the periphery of the rotating body, the size can be reduced while maintaining sufficient strength. If one of the plurality of developing units can be detached from the front side in the axial direction, for example, only the black developing unit can be replaced. Therefore, the stored toner can be used without waste. In addition, you may enable it to exchange as the whole rotary body.

  Furthermore, the present invention is an image forming apparatus having an image carrier and a developing device that performs development with one of a plurality of development units facing the image carrier, the developing device having a center of rotation. The present invention also extends to an image forming apparatus that has a rotating body that rotates around and can be pulled out in the axial direction toward the front surface, and a plurality of development units are fixedly arranged on the periphery of the rotating body.

  Alternatively, the present invention is an image forming apparatus that includes an image carrier and a developing device that performs development with any one of a plurality of development units facing the image carrier. An image forming apparatus having a rotating body that rotates around, and one of a plurality of developing units is detachably disposed on the periphery of the rotating body from the front side in the axial direction, and the remaining developing units are fixedly disposed It extends to devices.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a developing device that can be reduced in size while maintaining sufficient strength, and an image forming apparatus having the developing device.

"First form"
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In this embodiment, the present invention is applied to a color printer having a rotary developing device.

  The color printer 1 of this embodiment has a rotating type developing device 10 adjacent to the photoreceptor 2 as schematically shown in FIG. Further, around the photosensitive member 2, a charging device 3, an exposure device 4, an intermediate transfer unit 5, a fixing device 6 and the like are provided. The paper supplied from the paper feed cassette 7 is transferred with a toner image by the secondary transfer device 8, fixed by the fixing device 6, and discharged to the paper discharge tray 9. In the present embodiment, except for the rotating type developing device 10, all of them are general devices similar to the conventional ones, and thus description thereof is omitted here.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the developing device 10 includes a housing 11 and developing portions 12Y, 12M, 12C, and 12K for the respective colors therein. This whole is a rotary type rotated in the direction of arrow a in the figure. The developing units 12Y, 12M, 12C, and 12K for each color have the same configuration, and will be described below by using the developing unit 12Y as a representative. In the drawing, the configurations of the other developing units 12M, 12C, and 12K are shown by changing the suffix Y of the configuration in the developing unit 12Y to MCK.

  The developing unit 12Y includes a developing unit 13Y and a toner stirring unit 14Y, as shown in a schematic sectional configuration in FIG. The developing unit 13Y is provided with a developing roller 15Y, a supply roller 16Y, and the like. Further, the toner agitating portion 14Y is provided with an agitating member 17Y so that the contained toner can be appropriately agitated by its rotation. On the other hand, the developing unit 13Y is attached to the housing 11 so that the rollers 15Y and 16Y can rotate.

  As shown by the hatched portion in FIGS. 2 and 3, the housing 11 is integrally formed with a central portion 21, a partition portion 22, and an outer peripheral portion 23. The central portion 21 is a substantially rod-shaped portion including the rotation center of the housing 11, and corresponds to an excessive portion when the toner stirring portions 14Y, 14M, 14C, and 14K of the respective colors are arranged in an appropriate shape. The partition portion 22 is a wall-like member extending in a substantially cross shape from the central portion 21 in four directions, and is continuous with the inner peripheral surface of the outer peripheral portion 23. Moreover, the outer peripheral part 23 is substantially cylindrical shape, and the opening part 24 elongated in the axial direction is provided in four symmetrical places. In addition, four spaces 25 that are symmetrical to each other are formed in the housing 11 by the partition portion 22 and the outer peripheral portion 23.

  The developing units 12Y, 12M, 12C, and 12K are disposed in the spaces 25, respectively. At this time, as shown in FIG. 2, a part of each developing roller 15 </ b> Y, 15 </ b> M, 15 </ b> C, 15 </ b> K is exposed to the outside of the housing 11 from each opening 24. When the developing unit 12Y faces the photoconductor 2, the developing roller 15Y is in contact with or very close to the photoconductor 2 at the exposed portion. For example, in the state shown in FIG. 2, since the developing roller 15K is in contact with the photosensitive member 2, the black image is being developed.

  In this embodiment, the developing units 13Y, 13M, 13C, and 13K for the respective colors and the toner stirring units 14Y, 14M, 14C, and 14K are all attached to the housing 11 and integrally configured. Therefore, the housing 11 does not need to be particularly strongly formed as long as it has the necessary strength and rigidity as a whole. Further, since the individual toner stirring portions 14Y, 14M, 14C, and 14K are not removed, it is not necessary to put them in a container or the like. That is, the space 25 inside the housing 11 can be used without waste. Further, the toner in each of the toner stirring units 14Y, 14M, 14C, and 14K is stored in advance in an amount substantially corresponding to the life of each of the developing units 13Y, 13M, 13C, and 13K.

  The housing 11 is rotatably attached to the housing of the color printer 1 and can be pulled out in the axial direction from the housing of the color printer 1 as a whole. That is, when the life of each of the developing units 13Y, 13M, 13C, and 13K is reached or the toner of each color is used up, the rotary developing device 10 is replaced with the entire housing 11. The color printer 1 can expose the front end of the rotary developing device 10 by opening the door on the front surface of the housing. It can be exchanged by gripping a handle provided at the front end of the rotary developing device 10 and pulling it out in the axial direction.

  As described in detail above, according to the color printer 1 of the present embodiment, the developing device 10 has the housing 11. Since the housing 11 has the outer peripheral portion 23, sufficient rigidity can be maintained even if a centrifugal force or the like due to rotation is applied. Further, since the developing units 13Y, 13M, 13C, and 13K for the respective colors and the toner stirring portions 14Y, 14M, 14C, and 14K for the respective colors are attached to the housing 11, the entire unit has necessary strength and rigidity. In addition, since each space 25 is formed in the housing 11 by the partition portion 22 and the outer peripheral portion 23, the shape of the toner stirring portions 14Y, 14M, 14C, and 14K may be relatively unreasonable. it can. Therefore, the internal structure has a high degree of freedom and can be downsized as a whole. Thus, the rotary developing device 10 that can be reduced in size while maintaining sufficient strength and the image forming apparatus having the same are provided.

"Second form"
Hereinafter, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In this embodiment, the present invention is applied to a color printer having a rotary developing device. The difference from the first embodiment is only the rotary type developing device, and the other parts are the same, and the description is omitted. Also, common parts in the rotary developing device are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the developing device 30 used in the color printer of this embodiment includes a housing 31 and a housing 32 that are detachable from each other, and the housing 31 includes developing portions 12Y, 12M, and 12C for three colors. However, the housing 32 is provided with a black developing portion 12K. In general, in a color printer, the amount of black toner used is larger than in the other three colors, and there is a risk that only the black toner will be deficient when the same amount is accommodated. Therefore, in this embodiment, only the black developing unit 12K can be replaced from the developing device 30.

  As shown in the left diagram of FIG. 4, the housing 31 of this embodiment has a central portion 21 as in the first embodiment, and a partition portion 22 and an outer peripheral portion 23 for three colors are integrally formed. . In the three spaces 25 formed by the partition portion 22 and the outer peripheral portion 23, three color developing portions 12Y, 12M, and 12C other than black are arranged. The configurations of the developing units 12Y, 12M, and 12C are the same as those of the developing device 10 of the first embodiment. And it has the necessary strength and rigidity as a whole. The housing 31 can be replaced by being pulled out in the axial direction, like the housing 11 of the first embodiment.

  On the other hand, the housing 32 does not have the central portion 21. The housing 32 is used by being attached to the housing 31, and the single body does not need to have sufficient strength. The black developing unit 12K is integrally provided in the housing 32 and is attached and detached together with the housing 32. This detachment may be such that only the housing 32 can be pulled out in the direction of the rotation axis. Alternatively, the developing device 30 may be once pulled out of the housing of the color printer, and only the housing 32 may be removed from the developing device 30 in a direction perpendicular to the axis.

  As described above in detail, the developing device 30 according to the present embodiment can be downsized while maintaining sufficient strength, similarly to the developing device 10 according to the first embodiment. Furthermore, since the developing device 30 has a detachable housing 32 and only the black developing unit 12K can be replaced, the toner of each color can be used even in a usage environment in which black is used in comparison with other colors. It can be used without waste.

In addition, this form is only a mere illustration and does not limit this invention at all. Therefore, the present invention can naturally be improved and modified in various ways without departing from the gist thereof.
For example, the shapes of the illustrated developing units 13Y, 13M, 13C, and 13K, the toner agitating portions 14Y, 14M, 14C, and 14K, the partition portions 22 of the housings 11 and 31, and the like are all examples. What is necessary is just to have appropriate functions, such as a function, and appropriate intensity | strength. Further, the arrangement order of the colors is not limited to this order.
Further, for example, the present invention is applicable not only to the color printer 1 but also to an image forming apparatus such as a color facsimile or a color copier.

It is a schematic block diagram of the principal part of the printer of a 1st form. It is sectional drawing which shows the image development apparatus periphery. It is sectional drawing which shows a housing. It is sectional drawing which shows the developing device periphery of a 2nd form. It is a schematic block diagram of the principal part of the conventional printer.

Explanation of symbols

1 Color printer (image forming device)
2 Photoconductor (image carrier)
10, 30 Developing device 11, 31 Housing (rotating body)
13Y, 13M, 13C, 13K Development unit

Claims (4)

In a developing device that performs development with one of a plurality of developing units facing an image carrier,
A rotating body that rotates around the center of rotation and is attached to and detached from the image forming apparatus by axial movement;
The developing device, wherein the plurality of developing units are fixedly arranged on a periphery of the rotating body. In a developing device that performs development with one of a plurality of developing units facing an image carrier,
A rotating body that rotates around the center of rotation;
A developing device, wherein one of the plurality of developing units is detachably disposed from a front side in the axial direction, and the remaining developing units are fixedly disposed on a peripheral edge of the rotating body. In an image forming apparatus having an image carrier and a developing device that performs development with one of a plurality of development units facing the image carrier, the developing device includes:
An image forming apparatus comprising: a rotating body that rotates around a rotation center and that can be pulled out in an axial direction toward a front surface side; and the plurality of developing units are fixedly disposed on a periphery of the rotating body. . In an image forming apparatus having an image carrier and a developing device that performs development with one of a plurality of development units facing the image carrier, the developing device includes:
A rotating body that rotates around the center of rotation;
An image forming apparatus, wherein one of the plurality of developing units is detachably disposed from a front side in the axial direction, and the remaining developing units are fixedly disposed on a periphery of the rotating body.

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