JP2007322856A - Toner storage cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a toner storage cartridge in which toner is prevented from being bridged/flocculated without reference to a period for which and an attitude in which the cartridge is transported/stored. <P>SOLUTION: This development cartridge 10 has a toner storage section 21 for storing the toner and is used while loaded in an image forming apparatus. The development cartridge 10 has a partitioning member 12 which partitions off the toner storage section 21 from a developing device section 22 and a dividing member 18 which divides the inside of the toner storage section 21 into a plurality of small rooms 21a. Further, the partitioning member 12 is disposed in the image forming apparatus as a loading destination along the axis of a photoreceptor, and the dividing member 18 divides the inside of the toner storage section 21 along the axis of the photoreceptor. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a toner containing cartridge that supplies toner to an image forming apparatus. More specifically, the present invention relates to a toner containing cartridge stored in a state where toner is contained, and includes a toner cartridge and a developing cartridge.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, some image forming apparatuses that form an image with toner use a cartridge that contains toner and is detachable. Examples of such a cartridge include a toner cartridge including only a toner accommodating portion, a developing cartridge including a toner accommodating portion and a developing device portion, and the like. In such an image forming apparatus using a cartridge, when the toner contained in the cartridge is used up, the cartridge is replaced by the user or a maintenance worker.

In general, in order not to increase the replacement frequency of the cartridge so much, the developing cartridge is configured to accommodate a relatively large amount of toner. For this reason, in a new cartridge, the total weight of the contained toner is often quite large. For this reason, there is a possibility that a part of the toner is aggregated particularly when stored for a long time in an environment of high temperature and high humidity. On the other hand, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a device in which a crushing member is provided on a sealing member that suppresses the outflow of toner from a toner storage portion to a developing portion, and loosens toner near the opening.
JP-A-2004-45657

  However, in the conventional toner storage cartridge described above, when transported and stored in an axial direction, the toner stored inside gathers downward, and the toner on the lower side has a considerable weight due to its own weight. Pressure is applied. When stored in this state for a long time, the toner may be crosslinked and aggregated at the end of the cartridge, particularly when environmental factors are added. Since the toner thus formed is difficult to disperse immediately even after stirring, there is a problem that the toner is not supplied uniformly and the image quality is deteriorated. This problem was particularly noticeable at the beginning of cartridge use.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the problems of the conventional toner containing cartridge described above. That is, an object of the present invention is to provide a toner containing cartridge capable of preventing the crosslinking and aggregation of the toner regardless of the transportation period and storage period and posture.

  In order to solve this problem, a toner storage cartridge according to the present invention is a toner storage cartridge that has a toner storage portion for storing toner and is used by being attached to an image forming apparatus. It has a partition member for partitioning from the toner supply destination site, and a split member for splitting the interior of the toner storage portion into a plurality of small chambers.

  According to the toner containing cartridge of the present invention, the toner containing portion for containing the toner is partitioned from the toner supply destination portion by the partition member and the dividing member and is divided into the small chambers. Therefore, regardless of the period and posture during transportation and storage, the maximum amount of toner to be stacked is only the amount filled in the small room. From this, the pressure applied to the toner on the lower side can be made not so large, so that crosslinking and aggregation of the toner can be prevented.

  Here, the “toner storage cartridge” refers to all cartridges stored in a state where toner is stored. In other words, the toner cartridge may include only a toner storage unit that does not include a developing unit, or may include a developing cartridge that includes a developing unit. Alternatively, a process cartridge including not only the developing unit but also the image forming unit may be used. Further, the “toner supply destination part” refers to a part that receives toner directly from the toner storage unit. That is, the toner cartridge is a developing device included in the image forming apparatus to which the toner cartridge is attached, and the developing cartridge is a developing unit included in the cartridge.

  Furthermore, in the present invention, it is desirable that the toner container has a lid member that shields the inside of the toner container from the outside, and the dividing member is integrated with the lid member. If it is such, the division | segmentation member is not attached in the state before attaching a cover member. Therefore, since the toner container is not divided into small rooms, no special device is required for filling the toner.

  Furthermore, in the present invention, it is desirable that the partition member is disposed in a direction along the axial direction of the photoconductor of the image forming apparatus to which the partition is attached. In many cases, the toner is supplied from the toner container from a wide range along the axial direction of the photosensitive member. If the partition member is provided in this way, the entire range can be partitioned. Further, it is desirable that the dividing member divides the inside of the toner containing portion in the axial direction of the photosensitive member. In many cases, the toner accommodating portion is long in the axial direction of the photoreceptor. According to this dividing member, since the longitudinal direction is divided, it is possible to prevent a large amount of toner from being stacked regardless of the orientation of the cartridge.

  Furthermore, in the present invention, it is desirable that the partition member be provided so as to be removable. If it is removed when it is mounted on the image forming apparatus and used, toner can be supplied to the toner supply destination site.

  Alternatively, the partition member may rotate around the axis parallel to the axial direction of the photosensitive member in the image forming apparatus to which the partition member is attached, and may be formed with a slit through which the dividing member passes. With this configuration, it is possible to switch between a state in which the toner storage unit and the supply destination part are partitioned and a state in which the toner storage unit and the supply destination part are communicated by rotation of the partition member. Furthermore, the toner can be scraped out from the toner container to the supply destination site by the rotation.

  Furthermore, in this invention, it is desirable to have the sealing member provided in the edge of the partition member. If it does in this way, while the sealing performance by a partition member will become favorable, the slidability at the time of rotation can also be improved. Here, the edge is a portion that first contacts the inner wall surface of the toner storage portion during storage and secondly, a portion that faces the slit.

  According to the toner containing cartridge of the present invention, it is possible to prevent the toner from being cross-linked / aggregated regardless of the period and posture of transportation / storage.

"First form"
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the present embodiment, the present invention is applied to a developing cartridge that is detachably attached to an image forming apparatus.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the developing cartridge 10 of this embodiment includes a housing 11 having a substantially hollow quadrangular prism shape. A partition member 12 is provided in the housing 11 in parallel with the longitudinal direction, and the internal space is partitioned vertically in the figure. An upper section in the figure is a toner storage section 21 in which toner is stored. A lower section is a developing device section 22 in which the developing roller 13, the supply roller 14, the thin layer forming member 15 and the like are disposed. Each member arranged in the developing device section 22 is the same as that used in a general developing device, and the description thereof is omitted here. 1 and 2 show an unused developing cartridge 10 before being attached to the image forming apparatus. FIG. 2 is a sectional view seen from the side of FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the partition member 12 is supported by a support member 16 provided on the inner wall of the housing 11. In FIG. 2, it can be advanced and retracted in the depth direction, and in FIG. In a state before being mounted on the image forming apparatus, the partition member 12 is moved to the left side in FIG. The partition member 12 is in close contact with the inner surface of the housing 11. As a result, the toner is prevented from flowing out from the toner containing section 21 to the developing device section 22.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of dividing members 18 are provided in the longitudinal direction in the toner containing section 21. The divided member 18 is in close contact with the housing 11 in three directions, and the lower part in the drawing is in close contact with the partition member 12. Therefore, in this state, the toner containing section 21 is divided into a plurality of small chambers 21 a in the axial direction by the partition member 12 and the dividing member 18. Further, a moderate amount of toner is accommodated in each small room 21a. In either case, movement to another small room 21a is prevented.

  In the developing cartridge 10, since the toner storage section 21 is divided into a plurality of small rooms 21a as described above, the amount of toner stored in each small room 21a is not so large. The developing cartridge 10 is packed and shipped in this state, and the developing cartridge 10 is transported and stored in this state. Therefore, regardless of the orientation in which the developer cartridge 10 is stored, the total weight applied to the toner on the lower side is only the amount of toner in each small chamber 21a. Therefore, if the number of the dividing members 18 is appropriately set in advance, it is possible to prevent the toner from being cross-linked / aggregated in any direction.

  The dividing member 18 is preferably formed integrally with the lid 19 of the housing 11 as shown in the front view of FIG. 3 and the side view of FIG. In this case, it is not necessary to fill the small chambers 21a partitioned by the respective dividing members 18 with toner when the developing cartridge 10 is manufactured. Instead, it is only necessary to fill the entire toner containing section 21 with the toner before the cover 19 is attached. After that, by attaching the lid 19, it can be divided into the small rooms 21a.

  Next, the image forming apparatus 30 to which the developing cartridge 10 of this embodiment is attached will be described based on the schematic configuration diagram of FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, the image forming apparatus 30 has a photoconductor 31 for carrying a toner image. The photoconductor 31 has a cylindrical shape that is long in the depth direction in FIG. 5 and is driven to rotate as indicated by an arrow in the drawing. Around the photoreceptor 31, a charging device 33, an exposure device 34, and the developing cartridge 10 are arranged in this order in the rotation direction of the photoreceptor 31.

  Further, a transfer device 36 and a separation device 37 are provided below the photoconductor 31 in FIG. 5, and a fixing device 38 and a paper discharge tray 39 are arranged on the right side of the drawing. In addition to this, the image forming apparatus 30 is further provided with a paper feeding device 41, a cleaner device 42, a static elimination device 43, and the like. Here, the portions other than the developing cartridge 10 may be generally used in the image forming apparatus, and the description thereof is omitted here.

  A general image forming operation by the image forming apparatus 30 will be briefly described. The photoreceptor 31 is uniformly charged to a desired potential by the charging device 33 and is exposed by the exposure device 34 based on the image data. As a result, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the photoreceptor 31. Next, the electrostatic latent image faces the developing cartridge 10 and is developed with toner attached to the developing roller 13. A recording medium is fed from the paper feeding device 41.

  Next, the toner image formed on the photoreceptor 31 is transferred to a recording medium by the transfer device 36. The recording medium to which the toner image is transferred is separated from the photoreceptor 31 by the separation device 37. Further, the toner image is fixed on the recording medium by the fixing device 38. The recording medium on which the image is formed in this manner is discharged to a discharge tray 39. Further, the toner remaining on the photoconductor 31 after the transfer is completed is scraped off by the cleaner device 42. Then, the photosensitive member 31 is neutralized by the neutralizing device 43 and is prepared for the next image formation.

  Next, a method for mounting the developing cartridge 10 of this embodiment on the image forming apparatus 30 will be described. The user first removes the old developing cartridge from the image forming apparatus 30. Thereafter, a new developing cartridge 10 is inserted with its longitudinal direction set to the depth direction in FIG. When the developing cartridge 10 is inserted all the way into the main body of the image forming apparatus 30, the developing roller 13 and the like are connected to the driving device on the main body side. As a result, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the developing cartridge 10 is fixed to the image forming apparatus 30 in a posture in which the longitudinal direction is horizontal with the toner containing section 21 as the upper side and the developing device section 22 as the lower side.

  Next, the user pulls out the partition member 12 from the developing cartridge 10. As shown in FIG. 6, the partition member 12 can be pulled out in the horizontal direction. As a result, the toner can move between the toner containing section 21 and the developing device section 22. Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the toner stored in the toner storage section 21 falls into the developing device section 22 by its own weight. The developing cartridge 10 is ready for development processing.

  At this time, in the developing cartridge 10 being stored, as described above, crosslinking and aggregation of the toner are prevented. Therefore, after the partition member 12 is removed, the toner is well dispersed only by performing general stirring. As a result, an image with good image quality can be obtained from the beginning after the development cartridge 10 is replaced. The partition member 12 may further have a lock mechanism or the like so that it can be pulled out only when the developing cartridge 10 is attached to the image forming apparatus 30. It should be noted that since the orientation of the developing cartridge 10 is fixed after being attached to the image forming apparatus 30, there is no disadvantageous posture. Therefore, there is no possibility that problems such as toner aggregation due to its own weight occur after installation.

  As described in detail above, in the developing cartridge 10 of this embodiment, the toner containing section 21 is divided into the small chambers 21a by the partition member 12 and the dividing member 18 before use. The amount of toner filled in each small chamber 21a is not so large. Therefore, the weight applied to the toner on the lower side does not increase so much regardless of the position of transportation and storage. As a result, it is possible to prevent the toner from cross-linking and agglomerating regardless of the transportation period and storage period.

"Second form"
Hereinafter, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the present embodiment, the present invention is applied to a developing cartridge that is detachably attached to an image forming apparatus.

  As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the developing cartridge 50 according to the present embodiment has a toner containing section 51 and a developing apparatus section 52 arranged side by side with respect to the photoreceptor 31 when mounted in the image forming apparatus. Is. FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view seen from above in FIG. Other parts of the image forming apparatus may be general ones as in the first embodiment.

  Also in the developing cartridge 50 of this embodiment, a partition member 53 is provided between the toner containing section 51 and the developing device section 52, and the outflow of toner from the toner containing section 51 to the developing device section 52 is prevented. . A rotating shaft 54 is attached to the partition member 53 of this embodiment. 8 and 9, the partition member 53 is stopped at a rotational position where both ends are inscribed in the housing 55. In the developing device section 52, a developing device including a developing roller 56, a supply roller 57, and the like is disposed.

  Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 9, the toner containing section 51 is provided with dividing members 58 at a plurality of locations in the longitudinal direction. This is to divide the toner containing section 51 into a plurality of small chambers 51a, like the dividing member 18 in the first embodiment. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9 and the state at the time of rotation, the partition member 53 is formed with slits 53a through which the divided members 58 are passed at the time of rotation. For example, the partition member 53 is a member in which a plurality of plate members are arranged in the longitudinal direction of the toner containing section 51 with a gap 53a between them. In the unused state shown in FIG. 9, the dividing members 58 are fitted into the slits 53 a of the partition member 53 to prevent the toner from flowing between the toner containing section 51 and the developing device section 52. .

  Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the toner containing section 51 is divided into a plurality of small chambers 51a by the partition member 53 and the dividing member 58 before being attached to the image forming apparatus. Therefore, the total weight of the toner filled in each small chamber 51a is not so increased. In either case, movement to another small room 51a is prevented. For this reason, the toner is prevented from being cross-linked / aggregated regardless of the position of the developing cartridge 50 during storage / transportation.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 9, a gear 59 is attached to the end of the rotation shaft 54 of the developing cartridge 50. The gear 59 is for receiving a rotational driving force for the developing roller 57 from the image forming apparatus and rotating the rotating shaft 54 when the developing cartridge 50 is mounted on the image forming apparatus. That is, when the developing cartridge 50 is mounted on the image forming apparatus and an image forming operation is performed, the rotation shaft 54 is rotated in conjunction with the developing roller 57. The rotation shaft 54 may further include a rotation preventing means for preventing the rotation of the developing shaft 50 before the developing cartridge 50 is mounted on the image forming apparatus.

  Next, an operation after the developing cartridge 50 is mounted on the image forming apparatus will be described. When the developing cartridge 50 is mounted and driven in the image forming apparatus, the rotating shaft 54 is rotated as described above, and the partition member 53 is rotated as indicated by an arrow in FIG. Accordingly, the toner stored in the toner storage section 51 is agitated by the partition member 53, scraped out from the toner storage section 51, and supplied to the developing device section 52. At this time, as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, each divided member 58 passes through the slit 53 a of the partition member 53. Therefore, each divided member 58 does not hinder the rotation of the partition member 53.

  Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 11, if a flexible seal member 60 is arranged on the outer periphery of the partition member 53 and each edge of the slit 53a, the airtightness between the housing 55 and the housing 55 can be improved. The sliding property can be improved. Therefore, it is more preferable because the small chamber 51a can be reliably divided and the rotational torque of the developing roller 57 is not increased.

  As described in detail above, the developing cartridge 50 according to the present embodiment can also prevent the crosslinking and aggregation of the toner regardless of the transporting and storing period and posture.

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 number of divided members shown is an example. In the first embodiment, the partition member 12 is pulled out at the time of mounting. However, it is sufficient that the toner can be circulated between the toner containing section 21 and the developing device section 22, and the cartridge can be completely removed from the cartridge. Not exclusively. Although the developing cartridge has been described in the above embodiment, a similar effect can be obtained by providing a dividing member in a toner cartridge that does not have a developing device section and dividing it into small rooms. Further, the present invention can be applied to a process cartridge including not only a developing unit but also an image forming unit.

It is sectional drawing which shows the developing cartridge before mounting which concerns on a 1st form. It is sectional drawing which shows the developing cartridge before mounting which concerns on a 1st form. FIG. 6 is a front view showing a lid of the developing cartridge. FIG. 6 is a side view showing a lid of the developing cartridge. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus to which a developing cartridge is mounted. It is sectional drawing which shows the developing cartridge after mounting. It is sectional drawing which shows the developing cartridge after mounting. It is sectional drawing which shows the developing cartridge before mounting | wearing which concerns on a 2nd form. It is sectional drawing which shows the developing cartridge before mounting | wearing which concerns on a 2nd form. It is sectional drawing which shows the developing cartridge after mounting | wearing which concerns on a 2nd form. It is sectional drawing which shows the developing cartridge after mounting | wearing which concerns on a 2nd form.

Explanation of symbols

10, 50 Developing cartridge 12, 53 Partition member 18, 58 Dividing member 19 Lid 21, 51 Toner storage compartment 53a Slit 54 Rotating shaft 60 Seal member

Claims (6)

In a toner storage cartridge having a toner storage portion for storing toner and used by being attached to an image forming apparatus,
A partition member for partitioning the toner container from the toner supply destination site;
A toner containing cartridge comprising: a dividing member that divides the inside of the toner containing portion into a plurality of small chambers. The toner storage cartridge according to claim 1,
A lid member that shields the interior of the toner container from the outside;
The toner containing cartridge, wherein the dividing member is integral with the lid member. The toner containing cartridge according to claim 1 or 2,
The partition member is disposed in a direction along the axial direction of the photoreceptor of the image forming apparatus to which the partition is attached,
The toner containing cartridge, wherein the dividing member divides the inside of the toner containing portion in the axial direction of the photosensitive member. The toner storage cartridge according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
A toner containing cartridge, wherein the partition member is detachably provided. The toner storage cartridge according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the partition member includes:
The image forming apparatus to which it is attached rotates around an axis parallel to the axial direction of the photoreceptor.
A toner containing cartridge, wherein a slit through which the dividing member passes is formed during rotation. The toner containing cartridge according to claim 5,
A toner containing cartridge comprising a seal member provided on an edge of the partition member.

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