JP2007072385A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus which can uniformly recover waste toner into a waste toner storage container, with a simple configuration and achieve stable installation of the waste toner storage container with saved space. <P>SOLUTION: The image forming apparatus is provided with: a cleaning device 24 recovering the waste toner generated by an image forming process in an image forming section 13; a waste toner conveying device 50 conveying the recovered waste toner; and a waste toner storage container 40 storing the waste toner conveyed by the waste toner conveying device 50. In the image forming apparatus, a shutter 70 is provided near the waste toner discharge port 53 of the waste toner conveying device 50. In addition, the shutter 70 has the function of opening the waste toner discharge port 53, when the waste toner storage container 40 is located under the waste toner discharge port 53 and the function of changing a fall position in the waste toner storage container 40 into which the waste toner falls, according to the opening state of the waste toner discharge port 53. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus including a waste toner storage container for storing waste toner in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer.

  In general, image forming apparatuses such as copying machines and printers are provided with a waste toner storage container for storing residual toner that is not transferred to a transfer sheet during an image forming process using toner.

  The waste toner container has a certain amount of storage capacity because if the storage capacity is reduced to reduce the size and weight of the apparatus, it will soon become full and frequent maintenance such as replacement work will be required. Things are desirable.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, an electronic image forming apparatus 100 in which a waste toner storage container having a sufficient storage capacity is installed without interfering with various apparatuses in the copying machine main body and without impairing maintainability of the various apparatuses is provided. It is known that a waste toner storage container 140 is loaded in a space on the back side (lower side on the back side of the copying machine main body 110) of a paper feeding / conveying unit 114 that feeds and conveys transfer paper at the lower part of the photographic process unit 116. (See Patent Document 1).

  However, even if the waste toner is simply collected in the container, the collected waste toner may be unevenly collected in the container or may be piled up. There arises a problem that it cannot be collected efficiently.

Therefore, in order to collect the waste toner evenly in the container, for example, a sorting member that sorts the waste toner collected near the opening of the waste toner storage container is integrally provided and collected in the waste toner storage container. The waste toner storage container swings and tilts according to the bias of the waste toner, and the position where the waste toner falls is moved so that the waste toner is evenly distributed in the storage container. Is known (see Patent Document 2)
JP-A-4-134391 Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 60-80480

  However, the waste toner storage technology as described above has a problem in that the configuration of the waste toner storage container is complicated and the waste toner storage container cannot be stably installed.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional problems, and waste toner can be evenly collected in a waste toner storage container with a simple configuration, and the waste toner storage container can be stably installed in a small space. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus.

The configuration of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention for solving the above-described problems is as follows.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 includes a cleaning unit that collects waste toner generated by an image forming process in an image forming unit that forms an image, and a waste toner transport unit that transports the waste toner collected by the cleaning unit. And a waste toner storage container for storing the waste toner transported by the waste toner transport unit, wherein the waste toner discharge port is opened and closed near the waste toner discharge port of the waste toner transport unit A waste toner opening opening / closing means for opening the waste toner discharge opening when the waste toner storage container is positioned below the waste toner discharge opening; The drop position in the waste toner container where the waste toner falls is changed according to the opening state of the discharge port. Features and that is characterized in that it has a.

  In addition to the configuration described in claim 1, the image forming apparatus described in claim 2 includes, as the configuration of the waste toner opening opening / closing means, a guide portion when the waste toner falls, and the guide portion includes: The inclination angle toward the inside of the waste toner storage container is changed in accordance with the weight of the waste toner stored in the waste toner storage container.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration described in the second aspect, the configuration of the guide portion is inclined toward the inside of the waste toner storage container in accordance with a change in the installation state of the waste toner storage container. This is characterized in that the angle is changed.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the cleaning unit that collects the waste toner generated by the image forming process in the image forming unit that forms the image, and the waste toner transport unit that transports the waste toner collected by the cleaning unit. And a waste toner storage container for storing the waste toner transported by the waste toner transport unit, wherein the waste toner discharge port is opened and closed near the waste toner discharge port of the waste toner transport unit A waste toner opening opening / closing means is provided, and the waste toner opening opening / closing means has a function of opening the waste toner discharge port when the waste toner storage container is positioned below the waste toner discharge port. With the waste toner container in place and in a stable state, open the waste toner discharge port to Can be stored in the waste toner storage container without being biased by the function of changing the drop position in the waste toner storage container where the waste toner falls according to the open state of the waste toner discharge port. Toner can be stored. Since the waste toner storage structure can be easily configured in this way, the waste toner storage container and the components including the waste toner storage container can be configured in a small space, and the waste toner storage container can collect the waste toner evenly in a stable installation state. It is possible to achieve an excellent effect of being able to.

  Moreover, according to the invention of Claim 2 or 3, in addition to the said common effect obtained by the invention of Claim 1, the following effect can be acquired.

  That is, according to the second aspect of the present invention, the waste toner opening portion opening / closing means includes a guide portion when the waste toner falls, and the inclination angle of the guide portion toward the inside of the waste toner storage container is provided. Is changed according to the weight of the waste toner stored in the waste toner storage container, so that the drop position of the waste toner changes as the waste toner accumulates in the container, so that the waste toner is efficiently put into the container. Can be stored.

  According to the third aspect of the invention, the guide portion is configured such that the inclination angle toward the inside of the waste toner storage container changes according to the change in the installation state of the waste toner storage container. The waste toner storage container can be inclined according to the weight of the waste toner stored in the container, and the guide portion can be inclined according to the inclination angle, so that the waste toner can be uniformly stored in the container.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
1 to 4 show an example of an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the overall configuration of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing a state when the toner storage container is installed, FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing a state where the waste toner storage container is installed, and FIG. 4 shows a state where the waste toner storage container is sufficiently stored with waste toner. It is explanatory drawing.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment has a transparent document placing table 11 on the upper surface of the apparatus body 10, and a document cover 12 covering the document placing table 11 is the apparatus body 10. It is arranged at the top of the door so that it can be opened and closed.

  In the apparatus main body 10, an image forming unit 13 that executes an image forming process and a paper feeding / conveying unit 14 that feeds transfer paper below the image forming unit 13 and conveys it to the image forming unit 13 are provided. It has been.

  The image forming unit 13 includes an optical system 15 and an electrophotographic process unit 16. The optical system 15 includes a copy lamp 17 made of a halogen lamp or the like, a plurality of reflecting mirrors 18, and a lens 19.

  The plurality of reflecting mirrors 18 are arranged so that the reflected light that is irradiated from the copy lamp 17 and reflected by the document placed on the document placing table 11 is guided to the photosensitive member 20 and exposed as indicated by a one-dot chain line. The lens unit 19 has a function of refracting and collecting the reflected light so that the reflected light guided by the reflecting mirror 18 forms a clear image on the photoconductor 20.

  The electrophotographic process unit 16 is provided with a photoconductor 20, and a main charger 21 for charging the photoconductor 20 to form an electrostatic latent image on the photoconductor 20, and a photoconductor around the photoconductor 20. A developing device 22 that attaches toner to the electrostatic latent image formed on the toner 20 and visualizes it as a toner image; a transfer charger 23 that transfers the toner image on the photoconductor 20 onto a transfer sheet; and a transfer device after transfer. A cleaning device (cleaning means) 24 that scrapes waste toner remaining on the photoconductor 20 without being scraped from the photoconductor 20 is disposed.

  Further, on the side on which the sheet after transfer from the photoconductor 20 is carried out, a belt-like conveyance device 25 for placing and conveying the paper, and a toner image on the paper conveyed by the conveyance device 25 are heated and melted. A fixing device 26 is provided.

  In the paper feeding / conveying section 14, upper and lower three-stage paper feeding cassettes 30 that can be taken in and out from the front side of the apparatus main body 10 and transfer paper fed from each paper feeding cassette 30 by a paper feeding roller 30 a are placed upward. And a vertical conveying device 33 for conveying in the transfer position direction.

  The vertical conveyance device 33 is driven by a paper conveyance path 33a for conveying the paper from each paper feed cassette 30 in the vertical direction, and three conveyance rollers 30b and a conveyance roller 30b arranged in the paper conveyance path 33a. There are provided three driven rollers 30c that rotate, and a paper guide plate 34 on which the driven rollers 30c are rotatably mounted and form a part of the paper transport path 33a.

  Reference numeral 37 shown in FIG. 1 is a staple sorter for discharging the paper after fixing the toner image, and 38 is a registration roller for feeding the paper conveyed by the vertical conveying device 33 to the transfer position in time with the image forming operation. is there.

  A waste toner storage container 40 that stores waste toner from the cleaning device 24 is loaded in a space located below the image forming unit 13 in the back side of the vertical conveyance device 33, that is, in the lower back side corner of the apparatus main body 10. Has been.

  A waste toner transport device (waste toner transport means) 50 for transporting the waste toner is provided from the cleaning device 24 to the waste toner storage container 40.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the waste toner transport device 50 includes a waste toner transport pipe 51 mainly extending from the cleaning device to a position where the waste toner storage container 40 is installed, and the waste toner transport pipe 51. It is comprised with the conveyance screw 52 which is arrange | positioned and conveys waste toner by screw conveyance.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a waste toner storage container installation base 60 is provided at a site in the apparatus where the waste toner storage container 40 is stored. The waste toner storage container installation base 60 includes an installation part 61 formed in a plate shape having a flat surface on the upper part, and one end part thereof is pivotally supported by a support shaft 62 so that the other end part can swing vertically. .

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a stopper 63 for fixing and positioning the waste toner storage container 40 disposed on the upper surface of the installation portion 61 protrudes from the other end portion of the installation portion 61. Yes. A coil spring 64 is disposed below the other end portion of the installation portion 61 to bias the other end portion of the installation portion 61 upward and restrict downward swinging with a predetermined force. A waste toner full detection switch 65 is disposed adjacent to the coil spring 64.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the waste toner full detection switch 65 sets the weight of the waste toner storage container 40 and the waste toner when the predetermined amount of waste toner is stored in the waste toner storage container 40. A detection signal is output when the other end of the installation portion 61 is displaced downward by a predetermined amount over the spring force.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the waste toner storage container 40 is formed into a box shape having a trapezoidal shape in a plan view with synthetic resin or the like, and an opening 44 is formed on the upper surface thereof. When the waste toner storage container 40 is disposed at a predetermined position on the waste toner storage container installation base 60, the waste toner discharge port 53 of the waste toner transport pipe 51 is arranged above the opening 44.

  In the vicinity of the waste toner discharge port 53, a shutter (waste toner opening / closing means) 70 for opening and closing the waste toner discharge port is provided separately from the waste toner storage container 40 or the waste toner transport device 50. Yes.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the shutter 70 is in contact with the waste toner discharge port 53 and closes the waste toner discharge port 53. The waste toner container 40 is formed when the waste toner container 40 is formed at a predetermined position, which is integrally formed with the guide part 72 for introducing the waste toner into the waste toner container 40 and the lid 71. And an arm portion 73 that moves the lid portion 71 in conjunction with the movement.

  The shutter 70 is pivotally supported by a support shaft 74 in the vicinity of the waste toner discharge port 53 so that the lid portion 71 and the guide portion 72 can swing together in the vertical direction.

  As shown in FIG. 2, when the waste toner storage container 40 is mounted, the lid portion 71 and the guide portion 72 are disposed at positions that do not interfere with the waste toner storage container 40, respectively. It arrange | positions in the position which obstruct | occludes the discharge port 53, and the guide part 72 is arrange | positioned substantially horizontal.

  The guide portion 72 is constituted by two flaps 72 a and 72 b and is arranged with a distance wider than the opening width of the waste toner discharge port 53. One flap 72a is formed continuously with the lid 71, and the other flap 72b is disposed above the one flap 72a in a state where the lid 71 closes the waste toner discharge port 53.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the arm portion 73 is formed in an L shape, the one end portion 73 a side is pivotally supported by the support shaft 74, and the other end portion 73 b is closed with the lid portion 71 closing the waste toner discharge port 53. The side extends so as to be located below the waste toner discharge port 53.

  The other end portion 73 b is formed so as to be positioned directly below the waste toner discharge port 53 in a state where the lid 71 closes the waste toner discharge port 53, and the waste toner storage container 40 is disposed below the waste toner discharge port 53. The waste toner storage container 40 is brought into contact with the waste toner storage container 40 when positioned at the position.

In a state where the waste toner container 40 is loaded at a predetermined position, as shown in FIG. 3, the other end portion 73 b of the arm portion 73 is pushed down, and the arm portion 73 rotates around the support shaft 74.
At this time, since the arm portion 73, the lid portion 71, and the guide portion 72 are integrally formed, the lid portion 71 and the guide portion 72 rotate downward.

Here, a case where the waste toner storage container 40 is loaded in the apparatus and the waste toner is collected will be described.
First, as shown in FIG. 3, when the waste toner storage container 40 is loaded into a predetermined position in the apparatus, the shutter portion of the shutter 70 is pushed down by the waste toner storage container 40 and the lid portion 71 is discarded. The toner discharge port 53 is opened, and the guide portion 72 swings obliquely downward together with the lid portion 71.

  At this time, the shutter 70 is disposed in the waste toner storage container 40 with the guide portion 72 inclined toward the support shaft 62 side of the waste toner storage container installation base 60.

  In this state, when the waste toner is collected in the waste toner storage container 40, the waste toner is introduced to the support shaft 62 side in the waste toner storage container 40. When the weight of the collected waste toner increases, the other end side swings downward by overcoming the spring force of the coil spring 64 below the waste toner storage container installation base 60. As a result, the waste toner container 40 is tilted, so that the arm portion 73 is further pushed and the shutter 70 swings.

  At this time, the shutter 70 is tilted to the left in the drawing, and the guide portion 72 is directed toward the center of the waste toner storage container 40. In this state, if the waste toner is further collected in the waste toner storage container 40, the weight of the waste toner further increases, and therefore, the other end portion of the waste toner storage container installation base 60 swings downward.

  Accordingly, the waste toner storage container 40 is further tilted, the arm portion 73 is further pushed, and the shutter 70 is further tilted to the right in the waste toner storage container 40.

  In this manner, the shutter 70 in the waste toner storage container 40 swings from the support shaft 74 side to the other end side (left side to right side in the drawing) of the waste toner storage container installation base 60, so that the waste toner storage container 40. The waste toner collected inside can be stored evenly.

  When a specified amount of waste toner is stored in the waste toner storage container 40, the other end of the waste toner storage container installation base 60 is pushed down the waste toner full detection switch 65, and is discarded in the waste toner storage container 40. It is detected that a specified amount of toner has been stored.

  With the above-described configuration, according to the present embodiment, when waste toner is collected, the waste toner storage container 40 is simply loaded into a predetermined position, and is normally closed by the shutter 71 by the shutter 70. The waste toner discharge port 53 is opened so that the collected waste toner can be stored, and the shutter 70 is swung according to the weight of the waste toner stored in the waste toner storage container 40 to store the waste toner. The waste toner can be stored in the container 40 substantially uniformly. Thereby, waste toner can be easily collected and stored efficiently.

  In this embodiment, the flaps 72a and 72b of the guide part 72 of the shutter 70 are made wider than the opening of the waste toner discharge port 53 and arranged substantially in parallel. However, the shape and dimensions of the guide portion are appropriately determined according to the shape and capacity of the waste toner storage container.

  Similarly, the shape and configuration of the stopper 63 are not limited to the present embodiment, but are appropriately determined.

1 is an explanatory diagram showing an overall configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a state when a waste toner storage container constituting the image forming apparatus is installed. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a state where the waste toner storage container is installed. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a state where waste toner is sufficiently stored in the waste toner storage container. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration of a waste toner storage container in a conventional image forming apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming apparatus 10 Apparatus main body 24 Cleaning apparatus (cleaning means)
40 Waste toner container 44 Opening 50 Waste toner transport device (waste toner transport means)
51 Waste Toner Conveying Pipe 52 Conveying Screw 53 Waste Toner Discharge Port 60 Waste Toner Storage Container Installation Base 61 Installation Unit 62 Supporting Shaft 63 Stopper 65 Waste Toner Full Detection Switch 70 Shutter (Waste Toner Opening / Closing Means)
71 Lid portion 72 Guide portions 72a, 72b Flap 73 Arm portion 73a One end portion 73b The other end portion 74 Axle

Claims (3)

A cleaning unit that collects waste toner generated by an image forming process in an image forming unit that forms an image, a waste toner transport unit that transports waste toner collected by the cleaning unit, and a waste toner transport unit that transports the waste toner In an image forming apparatus comprising a waste toner storage container for storing waste toner,
A waste toner opening opening / closing means for opening and closing the waste toner discharge opening is provided in the vicinity of the waste toner discharge opening of the waste toner conveying means,
The waste toner opening opening / closing means has a function of opening the waste toner discharge port when the waste toner storage container is positioned below the waste toner discharge port, and a waste toner according to an open state of the waste toner discharge port. An image forming apparatus having a function of changing a dropping position in the waste toner storage container where the toner drops. The waste toner opening opening / closing means includes a guide portion when the waste toner falls,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an inclination angle of the guide portion toward the inside of the waste toner storage container changes according to a weight of the waste toner stored in the waste toner storage container.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein an inclination angle of the guide portion toward the inside of the waste toner storage container changes according to a change in an installation state of the waste toner storage container.

Images