JP2007199162A - Developer storage container - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a toner container which takes an effect to loosen toner in whatever placing way the toner container is transported or kept and which prevents the damage and the lock of a motor for rotating and driving a member for stirring toner. <P>SOLUTION: The toner container 1 includes a main body part 2, a tray member 5 and a conveying roller 10. The main body part 2 has a discharge port 11 for discharging the toner 8 to the outside. The tray member 5 has cylindrical shape, and is turnably supported in the main body part 5 at the end in the shaft direction. A storing part 6 capable of storing the toner 8 inside, and an opening part 7 provided at a part of a side surface on the cylindrical shape and capable of discharging the toner 8 stored in the storing part 6 to the outside are formed in the tray member 5. The conveying roller 10 is arranged in the main body part 2 and conveys the toner 8 discharged from the opening part 7 of the tray member 5 to the discharge port 11. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a developer container that can store a developer supplied to a developing device of an image forming apparatus.

  Conventional image forming apparatuses employing an electrophotographic system such as a laser printer and a copying machine include a photosensitive drum, a developing device that supplies toner to the surface of the photosensitive drum, and a toner that is supplied to the developing device. And a toner container. The toner container has a form that can be attached to and detached from the image forming apparatus, and includes an agitation member for agitating the toner. The stirring member is rotationally driven by a motor provided on the image forming apparatus side.

  Although the toner has high fluidity, if the toner container does not flow for a long time, for example, when the toner container is stored unused, it will precipitate and condense. When such a toner container is attached to the image forming apparatus and starts to be used, a large torque is applied to the rotation driving motor of the stirring member because the toner is condensed. In particular, a polymerized toner, which is an example of toner stored in a toner container, has extremely high fluidity, and thus the phenomenon described above appears remarkably.

  Therefore, the user should be encouraged to remove the toner by writing a note “Please shake the toner well when installing it in the image forming device” on the box containing the toner container and the instruction manual. ing.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a developing device including a toner container that prevents toner from condensing when transported in a standing state. The developing device of Patent Document 1 is further provided with a swing plate in the conventional developing device. The swing plate is attached to the inner wall of the toner container so as to be swingable with a spring interposed between the inner wall of the toner container containing the toner and spreads along the end surface of the toner container in the rotation axis direction. Is located. As a result, the swinging plate swings during transport of the developing device, and the toner inside the toner container is released.

  Patent Document 2 discloses a developing device including a toner container that prevents breakage of a stirring member and locking of a motor that drives the stirring member even when toner in a toner container attached to an image forming apparatus is condensed. In the developing device of Patent Document 2, a blocking release member is fixed on the downstream side in the rotation direction of the stirring member. When the angle α formed with the stirring member is viewed from the rotation direction side, the blocking release member is 90 It is installed so that ° <α <180 °. When this apparatus is started, the blocking release member first releases the aggregated toner, and then the stirring member stirs the toner.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228561 discloses a collected toner classification device that removes condensed toner when collecting and reusing toner remaining in the process of image formation. The recovered toner classifying device of Patent Document 3 separates, in addition to paper powder larger than the normal toner particle size and toner agglomerates, calcium carbonate, which is an element that condenses the toner, when recovering the remaining toner. The toner is removed and the toner after these are removed is reused.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-240973 JP-A-8-123166 JP 2001-51572 A

  However, an operation performed according to a caution written in a box in which a toner container is packed or an instruction manual is not always executed by a user. Whether or not to execute the described operation depends largely on the consciousness of each person handling the toner container.

  In addition, the developing device of Patent Document 1 has an effect only when the developing device main body is transported in a standing state. However, the developing device is not always transported in a standing state. For example, when the developing device of Patent Document 1 is transported in a horizontally placed state, the swinging plate does not swing, and thus toner condensation is not eliminated.

  In addition, since the developing device of Patent Document 2 is further provided with a blocking member in the conventional stirring member, the structure of the device becomes complicated, resulting in a decrease in productivity of the resulting device. Therefore, the manufacturing cost is high.

  Further, the recovered toner classifying device of Patent Document 3 is effective when the toner is in a state where it flows to some extent as in the case of reusing the toner and the toner aggregates are mixed therein. Immediately after the toner container is mounted on the image forming apparatus, the effect may not be exhibited. This is because there is a high possibility that the toner in the toner container immediately after being attached to the image forming apparatus is totally condensed during the transportation and storage process.

  In particular, in recent toner containers, there is a tendency to use a small and inexpensive motor for a stirring member in order to reduce the cost. However, when the motor is small, the greater the degree of toner condensation, the more likely the motor will run out of torque, resulting in problems such as the motor stopping.

  Therefore, the present invention provides a case where the work for releasing the toner is not performed in accordance with the precautions displayed on the box in which the toner container is packed or the instruction manual, or when the toner container is transported and stored in any way. Even so, it is possible to provide a toner container in which the toner is reliably unwound and the torque of the motor that rotates the toner stirring member is prevented from being insufficient.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, a first aspect of the present invention is a developer storage container that can store a developer supplied to a developing device of an image forming apparatus, and includes a container main body, a tray member, and a transport roller. An agent storage container is provided. The container body has a discharge port for discharging the developer to the outside. The tray member has a cylindrical shape, and an axial end portion of the tray member is rotatably supported in the container main body, and an accommodating portion capable of accommodating a developer therein, and the cylindrical shape An opening that is provided on a part of the side surface and that can discharge the developer accommodated in the accommodating portion to the outside is formed. The transport roller is disposed in the container main body and transports the developer discharged from the opening of the tray member to the discharge port.

  For example, it is assumed that the tray member has a rotation support shaft for rotating freely on the container body, and a motor for rotating the rotation support shaft is provided in the image forming apparatus. When the developer storage container is attached to the image forming apparatus, the rotation support shaft of the tray member is connected to the motor of the image forming apparatus, and the tray member in the developer storage container starts to rotate. The developer in the tray member flows while receiving the force generated by the rotation of the tray member, and flows out of the tray member when the opening of the tray member faces the lower part of the container body. As described above, since the developer is automatically released when the developer storage container is attached to the image forming apparatus, the developer storage container is attached to the image forming apparatus without the user performing the work of removing the developer. However, the developer is ready for use. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the influence on the image forming apparatus such that the image forming process cannot be performed because the toner is condensed. Further, when the developer is released, a large torque is not applied to the motor that rotates the tray member. Accordingly, since the motor can be prevented from being damaged, a small and inexpensive motor can be used.

  A second aspect of the invention includes the first stirring member according to the first aspect, wherein one end is fixed to the outer peripheral wall of the tray member, and the other end extends from the one end to the inner wall side of the container body, and has a flexibility. A developer container is provided.

  When the tray member rotates and the opening is directed toward the lower part of the container body, the developer in the tray member flows out of the tray member through the opening and accumulates in the lower part of the container body. Since the one end of the first stirring member is fixed to the tray member, the first stirring member rotates together with the tray member. Thereby, the other end of the first stirring member can stir the developer accumulated in the lower portion of the container main body and scrape the developer to the downstream side in the rotation direction.

  A third aspect of the present invention provides the developer storage container according to the second aspect, wherein the transport roller and the discharge port are located downstream in the rotation direction of the tray member.

  As a result, the developer accumulated in the lower portion of the tray member is surely scraped out toward the transport roller and the discharge port by the first stirring member. Therefore, the developer is smoothly discharged to the outside of the developer storage container.

  A fourth aspect of the present invention includes the flexible end of any one of the first to third aspects, comprising a fixed end fixed to the inner wall of the container body and a free end extending from the fixed end toward the tray member. A second agitating member having a property, wherein the free end portion extends through the opening so as to reach the developer in the accommodating portion.

  When the developer storage container is mounted on the image forming apparatus and the tray member starts to rotate, the second stirring member bends while contacting the side surface of the rotating tray member. When the opening of the tray member reaches the second stirring member, the second stirring member is vigorously inserted into the developer stored in the tray member by a restoring force. Accordingly, at least a part of the developer stored in the tray member is agitated.

  In a fifth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to fourth aspects, the developer main body is located inside the tray member from the outside of the container main body at a position corresponding to the opening in the upward direction. A developer storage container further having a supply port for replenishing is provided.

  As a result, even if the amount of developer stored is reduced, the developer can be replenished inside the tray member.

  According to the present invention, the operation of releasing the toner is not performed in accordance with the precautions displayed on the box in which the toner container is packed or the instruction manual, and image formation is performed no matter how the toner container is transported and stored. Once installed in the device, the toner is released. Thereby, the torque shortage of the motor which drives the stirring member to rotate can be prevented. Therefore, problems such as the motor stopping can be solved.

<Embodiment>
(1) Outline FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a toner container 1 according to the present embodiment and a printer 101 (corresponding to an image forming apparatus) to which the toner container 1 is attached.

  The toner container 1 is detachably attached to the printer 101.

  The printer 101 includes a frame (not shown) for mounting the toner container 1, a drive unit 102 including a motor, a display unit 103, an operation unit 104, and an image forming unit (not shown).

  The frame is provided in the entire mounting location of the toner container 1 in the printer 101.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the drive unit 102 is located on the left side inside the printer 101 toward the display unit 103 and the operation unit 104. The drive unit 102 is connected to first and second rotation support shafts 4a and 4b (described later) of the toner container 1 when the toner container 1 is mounted on the printer 101, and a tray member 6 (described later) inside the toner container 1. In addition, the conveyance roller 10 (described later) is driven to rotate. In FIG. 1, one drive unit 102 is provided for the two rotation support shafts 4a and 4b, but may be provided for each rotation support shaft.

  The display unit 103 is configured by a liquid crystal display, for example, and displays an operation status, a setting screen, and the like of the printer 101.

  The operation unit 104 includes, for example, a cursor key and a numeric keypad, and designates various settings of image forming conditions.

  The image forming unit performs image forming processing and prints on a sheet of paper, and is provided almost at the center of the printer 101 main body. The image forming unit includes a photosensitive drum (not shown), a main charging device, an exposure device, a cleaning device, a developing device, and the like disposed around the photosensitive drum. In addition, a paper feeding unit is provided below the image forming unit, and a paper feeding roller is disposed in a paper feeding direction from the paper feeding unit. The developing device is for supplying the toner stored in the main body of the toner container 1 to the surface of the photosensitive drum, and is installed so as to connect the discharge port 11 (described later) of the toner container 1 and the photosensitive drum. Has been.

(2) Configuration of Toner Container Next, the configuration of the toner container 1 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The toner container 1 includes a main body 2, an upper part 3, a tray member 5, a first stirring member 9, a conveying roller 10, a second stirring member 13, and a sponge 14.

  As shown in FIG. 4, a tray member 5, a first stirring member 9, and a conveyance roller 10 are disposed inside the main body 2 of the toner container 1.

  The tray member 5 has a cylindrical shape, and has a first rotation support shaft 4 a at an end portion in the axial direction, and is rotatably supported in the main body 2 of the toner container 1. In the present embodiment, a case where the tray member 5 has a cylindrical shape is taken as an example. In addition, the tray member 5 includes an accommodating portion 6 that can accommodate the toner 8 inside, and an opening 7 that is provided on a part of the side surface of the cylinder and that can discharge the toner 8 accommodated in the accommodating portion 6 to the outside. Is formed.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 4, when the tray member 5 is rotated about the first rotation support shaft 4a in the direction of the arrow A, the opening 8 has the toner 8 in the tray member 5 outside the tray member 5 as shown in FIG. It is preferable to have as large a cross-sectional area as possible so that it can be easily discharged. In the present embodiment, the opening 7 has a rectangular shape extending in the axial direction of the tray member 5 as shown in FIG.

  Further, it is assumed that the tray member 5 is stationary with the opening 7 facing the upper portion 3 before the toner container 1 is mounted on the printer 101.

  As shown in FIG. 4, one end of the first agitating member 9 is fixed to the outer peripheral wall of the tray member 5, and the other end extends from the one end to the inner wall side of the main body 2 of the toner container 1. At the same time, it rotates in the direction of arrow A. The other end of the first stirring member 9 scrapes the toner 8 discharged to the main body 2 through the opening 7 to the downstream side in the rotation direction A and stirs it. The first stirring member 9 is made of a flexible material such as polyethylene terephthalate. In the present embodiment, three first stirring members 9 are provided.

  The conveying roller 10 has a spiral structure, and is arranged at the bottom of the main body 2 of the toner container 1 and on the downstream side in the rotation direction A of the tray member 5 so as to extend in the axial direction of the tray member 5. Yes. Further, the transport roller 10 has a second rotation support shaft 4 b at the end thereof and is rotatably supported in the main body 2 of the toner container 1. The transport roller 10 transports the toner 8 discharged to the main body 2 of the toner container 1 to a discharge port 11 formed below the transport roller 10 as shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, a replenishing port 12 is formed in the upper part 3 of the toner container 1. The replenishing port 12 is formed at a position facing the opening 7 of the tray member 5 that is facing upward before the toner container 1 is mounted on the printer 101. The toner is replenished from the replenishing port 12 into the toner container 1 in the manufacturing process of the toner container 1.

  A second stirring member 13 and a sponge 14 are disposed inside the upper portion 3 of the developer container 1.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the second stirring member 13 includes a fixed end fixed to the inner wall of the upper portion 3 of the toner container 1 and a free end extending from the fixed end to the tray member 5 side. ing. The free end extends through the opening 7 of the tray member 5 so as to reach the toner 8 in the storage unit 6. The second stirring member 13 is formed of a flexible material such as polyethylene terephthalate, and stirs at least a part of the toner 8 in the tray member 5. In the present embodiment, the second stirring member 13 is disposed on the downstream side in the rotation direction of the tray member 5, that is, on the right side of the supply port 12 in FIG.

  The sponge 14 is installed between the tray member 5 and the upper portion 3, and holes are provided at locations corresponding to the opening 7 of the tray member 5 and the supply port 12 of the upper portion 3. The sponge 14 prevents the supplied toner from leaking to the outside of the tray member 5 when the toner is supplied from the outside of the toner container 1 through the supply port 12.

  The upper part 3 has a role of a cover that covers the opened surface of the main body 2 and has a supply port 12 for supplying toner from the outside.

(3) Operation Next, the operation inside the toner container 1 when the toner container 1 is mounted on the printer 101 will be described with reference to FIGS. First, it is assumed that the toner container 1 is mounted on the printer 101 and the first and second rotation support shafts 4 a and 4 b are connected to the motor 102 of the printer 101.

  The first rotation support shaft 4a and the second rotation support shaft 4b are driven to rotate by the motor 102, and the tray member 5 and the transport roller 10 inside the main body 2 of the toner container 1 are connected to the first and second rotation support shafts 4a and 4b. Rotate around each.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the second stirring member 13 bends in the rotation direction A side of the tray member 5 by the rotation of the tray member 5. As shown in FIG. 5, when the opening 7 reaches the second stirring member 13, the second stirring member 13 is vigorously inserted into the toner 8 in the tray member 5 by the restoring force, and at least the toner 8 Stir a part.

  The toner 8 accommodated in the accommodating portion 6 of the tray member 5 flows while being unwound under the force of the rotation of the tray member 5, and eventually when the opening 7 of the tray member 5 faces downward of the main body portion 2, As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, it flows out of the tray member 5.

  The first agitating member 9 rotates with the rotation of the tray member 5 and eventually reaches the lower part of the main body 2 and agitates the toner 8 that has flowed out of the main body 2 as shown in FIG. Scrap out downstream. As a result, the toner 8 is guided toward the transport roller 10.

  The transport roller 10 transports the guided toner 8 to the lower discharge port 11. The toner 8 is discharged to the outside of the toner container 1 through the discharge port 11.

(4) Effect When the toner container 1 is mounted on the printer 101, the first rotation support shaft 4a of the tray member 4a is connected to the motor 102 of the printer 101, and the tray member 5 starts to rotate. The toner 8 in the storage portion 6 of the tray member 5 flows while receiving the force generated by the rotation of the tray member 5, and flows outside the tray member 5 when the opening 7 of the tray member 5 faces the lower portion of the main body portion 2. Spill to As described above, when the toner container 1 is mounted on the printer 101, the toner 8 is automatically released. Therefore, even if the user mounts the toner container 1 on the printer 101 without performing the operation of removing the toner 8, the toner is removed. 8 is ready to use. Further, when the toner 8 is released, a large torque is not applied to the motor 102 that rotationally drives the tray member 5. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent a phenomenon such as the motor from stopping, and to use a small and inexpensive motor 102.

  Further, by providing a first stirring member 9 having one end fixed to the outer wall of the tray member 5 and the other end extending to the inner wall side of the main body 2, the toner 8 that has flowed out of the tray member 5 through the opening 7. Can be scraped to the downstream side in the rotational direction A while stirring.

  In addition, by providing the transport roller 10 and the discharge port 11 on the downstream side in the rotation direction A of the tray member, the toner 8 discharged to the lower portion of the tray member 5 is reliably transferred to the transport roller 10 and the discharge by the first stirring member 9. It is scraped out toward the exit 11. Accordingly, the toner 8 is smoothly discharged outside the toner container 1.

  Further, by providing a second stirring member 13 having a fixed end fixed to the inner wall of the main body 2 and a free end extending to the tray member 5 side, at least the toner 8 contained in the tray member 5 is contained. A portion can be further stirred.

  Further, by providing the replenishing port 12 in the upper part 3 of the toner container 1, the toner can be replenished inside the tray member 5 when the amount of toner 8 stored in the toner container 1 is reduced.

<Other embodiments>
(A)
In the above embodiment, the case where the tray member 5 has a columnar shape has been described. However, the tray member 5 has an opening 7 on the side surface and is rotatably supported in the main body 2 of the toner container 1. It may have any shape.

(B)
In the toner container 1 of the above embodiment, the second stirring member 13 is installed, but this may not be installed. This is because the rotation of the tray member 5 eliminates the condensation of the toner 8 in the storage portion 6 of the tray member 5.

(C)
In the above embodiment, the second agitating member 13 has its fixed end fixed to the upper part 3, but the free end faces in the direction of the tray member 5 so that the free end can reach the toner 8 in the tray member 5. As long as it extends, the fixed end may be fixed to the inner wall of the main body 3.

  4 to 7 show a case where three first stirring members 9 are provided on the side surface of the tray member 5, the number of the first stirring members 9 to be installed is not limited to this. The same applies to the second stirring member 13.

(D)
In the above embodiment, the tray member 5 starts rotating after being attached to the printer 101. However, by providing a motor connected to the first rotation support shaft 4a inside the toner container 1, the tray member 5 is attached to the printer 101. You may rotate from before mounting.

  The toner container of the present invention can be applied as a container for storing toner supplied to each model of a copying machine, a printer, and a facsimile machine, and an image forming unit in a multifunction machine having these functions.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a toner container according to the present embodiment and a printer to which the toner container is mounted. The toner container is viewed from above. The figure at the time of removing the sponge of FIG. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the toner container of FIG. 2 taken along line AA. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the toner container of FIG. 2 along the line AA. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the toner container of FIG. 2 along the line AA. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the toner container of FIG. 2 along the line AA.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Toner container 2 Main body part 3 Upper part 4a, 4b Rotation support shaft 5 Tray member 6 Storage part 7 Opening part 8 Toner 9 First stirring member 10 Conveying roller 11 Discharge port 12 Supply port 13 Second stirring member 14 Sponge 101 Printer

Claims (5)

A developer storage container capable of storing a developer supplied to a developing device of an image forming apparatus,
A container body having a discharge port for discharging the developer to the outside;
It has a cylindrical shape, and an axial end thereof is rotatably supported in the container body, and can accommodate a developer inside, and a part of a side surface of the cylindrical shape. A tray member formed with an opening that is provided and can discharge the developer accommodated in the accommodating portion;
A transport roller that is disposed within the container body and transports the developer discharged from the opening of the tray member to the discharge port;
A developer container.   2. The developer according to claim 1, wherein one end is fixed to the outer peripheral wall of the tray member, the other end extends from the one end to the inner wall side of the container body, and further includes a flexible first stirring member. Storage container.   The developer storage container according to claim 2, wherein the transport roller and the discharge port are located downstream in the rotation direction of the tray member.   The free end includes a fixed end fixed to the inner wall of the container body, and a free end extending from the fixed end toward the tray member, and further includes a flexible second stirring member. 4. The developer storage container according to claim 1, wherein the portion extends so as to reach the developer in the storage portion through the opening. 5.   The container main body further has a supply port for supplying the developer from the outside of the container main body to the inside of the tray member at a position corresponding to the opening in a state of facing upward. The developer storage container according to any one of 1 to 4.

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