JP2009080402A - Toner supplier - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a toner supplier that can prevent inability to discharge toner from a toner bottle due to the solidification of the toner in the toner bottle. <P>SOLUTION: The toner supplier has a plurality of rotatable toner bottles and supplies the toner in the toner bottle to a developing device by rotating a toner bottle for supplying the toner among the plurality of toner bottles. Assuming that: the toner bottle which supplies the toner at first when supplying the toner is a first toner bottle 50K1; and the toner bottles other than the first toner bottle are second toner bottles 50K2, the toner supplier rotates the second toner bottles 50K2 periodically in a direction opposite to a rotating direction of the first toner bottle 50K1 and further uses the toner in the second toner bottles 50K2 periodically. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a toner replenishing device, and more particularly to a toner replenishing device of an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic system.

  In an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic system, when an image including a large number of copies and a solid image such as a photograph (referred to as a high printing rate image) is printed, the toner consumption increases, and the toner is consumed. A method for enlarging a toner bottle to be accommodated and a method for mounting a plurality of toner bottles of the same color have been proposed. However, the larger the toner bottle, the larger the image forming apparatus, so there is a limit to the size of the toner bottle.

  In addition, in the method of loading a plurality of toner bottles, in the case of toner bottles in which the order of toner replenishment is slow, the fluidity of the toner in the toner bottles deteriorates due to changes in the temperature of the environment when placed in the image forming apparatus for a long time. It is possible to do. The toner having poor fluidity causes a problem that it becomes difficult to transport the toner from the toner bottle to the toner discharge port during replenishment.

  In order to solve these problems, in Patent Document 1, a toner replenishing device having a plurality of toner containing containers is provided with a rotating means for rotating all the toner containing containers (toner bottles) at the time of toner replenishment. Then, when the toner in the first toner bottle is replenished, the rotation of the second toner bottle is stopped, and the toner in the toner bottle is rotated by rotating the second toner bottle for a predetermined time other than during the toner replenishment. The technology which can prevent the deterioration of the fluidity of is described.

In Patent Document 2, the image forming apparatus can be loaded with a plurality of black toner bottles having the same size as the color toner bottle. In addition, a technique is described in which an arbitrary number of black toner bottles can be rotated at the same time, and a required number of black toner bottles are rotated so that the supply amount matches the consumption amount according to the consumption amount of the black toner. ing.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-1981147 JP 2006-301284 A

  However, in the technique described in Patent Document 1, since the first toner bottle and the second toner bottle are rotated, the toner is also discharged from the second toner bottle, so that the toner is not discharged from the toner discharge port. Thus, there arises a problem that a mechanism for closing the discharge port has to be provided. In the technique of Patent Document 2, when an image with a small amount of toner consumption such as a character image is printed, the time for leaving other bottles (second toner bottles) is long until a plurality of toner bottles rotate simultaneously. In some cases, even if the second toner bottle is rotated, the fluidity of the toner is poor and the toner cannot be discharged.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a toner replenishing device that prevents toner in a toner bottle from solidifying and preventing the toner from being discharged from the toner bottle.

The above object can be achieved by the following configuration.
1. A toner replenishing device that has a plurality of rotatable toner bottles, rotates a toner bottle that replenishes toner among the plurality of toner bottles, and replenishes toner in the toner bottle to a developing device;
At the time of toner replenishment, a toner bottle that first replenishes toner is a first toner bottle, and a toner bottle other than the first toner bottle is a second toner bottle.
Toner replenishment comprising control means for controlling the second toner bottle to rotate periodically in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation for discharging the toner in the first toner bottle. apparatus.
2. A toner replenishing device that has a plurality of rotatable toner bottles, rotates a toner bottle that replenishes toner among the plurality of toner bottles, and replenishes toner in the toner bottle to a developing device;
At the time of toner replenishment, a toner bottle that first replenishes toner is a first toner bottle, and a toner bottle other than the first toner bottle is a second toner bottle.
A toner replenishing device comprising control means for controlling the toner in the second toner bottle to be used periodically.
3. 3. The toner replenishing device according to 1 or 2, further comprising measuring means for measuring the rotation speeds of the plurality of toner bottles.
4). The control unit is configured to cause the second toner in a direction opposite to the rotation direction of the first toner bottle when the rotation number of the first toner bottle measured by the measurement unit reaches a predetermined value. 4. The toner replenishing device according to 1 or 3, wherein the toner replenishing device is controlled to periodically rotate the bottle.
5). The control unit periodically uses the toner in the second toner bottle when the rotation number of the first toner bottle measured by the measurement unit reaches a predetermined value. 4. The toner replenishing device according to 2 or 3, wherein

  According to the present invention, the toner in the toner bottle is prevented from solidifying by periodically rotating the second toner bottle in the direction opposite to the rotation direction of the first toner bottle. Can be discharged.

  Furthermore, since the toner in the second toner bottle is regularly used, the toner in the toner bottle can be prevented from solidifying.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described. In addition, although this invention is demonstrated based on embodiment of illustration, this invention is not restricted to this embodiment. In addition, the following assertive description in the embodiment of the present invention shows the best mode, and does not limit the meaning or technical scope of the terms of the present invention.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a simplified configuration of an image forming apparatus main body GH according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows a configuration around a toner replenishing device provided in the image forming apparatus main body GH shown in FIG. It is an enlarged view. The image forming apparatus main body GH is a full-color image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic method, and is a multifunction machine having functions such as a copying machine and a printer.

Here, the outline of the overall configuration of the image forming apparatus main body GH will be described first, and then the toner replenishing device according to the present invention will be described.
(Image forming device)
The image forming apparatus main body GH is called a tandem color image forming apparatus, and includes a plurality of sets of image forming units 10Y, 10M, 10C, and 10K, a belt-shaped intermediate transfer member 6, a sheet feeding unit, and a fixing device 24. Consists of. The alphabet at the end of the reference numerals of each part is K (black), C (cyan), M (magenta), and Y (yellow) representing each color, and is described when specifying the color.

  The image forming unit 10Y that forms a yellow image includes a charging device 2Y, an exposure device 3Y, a developing device 4Y, and a cleaning device 8Y disposed around the photoreceptor 1Y. The image forming unit 10M that forms a magenta image includes a photoreceptor 1M, a charging device 2M, an exposure device 3M, a developing device 4M, and a cleaning device 8M. The image forming unit 10C that forms a cyan image includes a photoreceptor 1C, a charging device 2C, an exposure device 3C, a developing device 4C, and a cleaning device 8C. The image forming unit 10K that forms a black image includes a photoreceptor 1K, a charging device 2K, an exposure device 3K, a developing device 4K, and a cleaning device 8K. An electrostatic latent image is formed on each of the photoreceptors 1K, 1Y, 1M, and 1C by the charging device 2Y and the exposure device 3Y, the charging device 2M and the exposure device 3M, the charging device 2C and the exposure device 3C, and the charging device 2K and the exposure device 3K. The latent image forming means for forming the image is configured.

  The intermediate transfer member 6 is stretched around the driving roller 9A and the driven rollers 9B to 9E, and circulates and moves as indicated by arrows during image formation.

  Each single-color image formed by the image forming units 10Y, 10M, 10C, and 10K is sequentially primary-transferred onto the intermediate transfer body 6 by the transfer rollers 7Y, 7M, 7C, and 7K to form a superimposed color image. The The image forming units 10Y, 10M, 10C, and 10K that form color images on the intermediate transfer member 6 and the transfer rollers 7Y, 7M, 7C, and 7K constitute an image forming unit.

  The sheets P stored in the plurality of sheet feeding cassettes 20a, 20b, and 20c are fed by a sheet feeding unit 21 including a feeding roller and a separating member, and pass through sheet feeding rollers 22A, 22B, 22C, a registration roller 102, and the like. The color image is secondarily transferred onto the paper P by the transfer roller 7A to which the transfer voltage is applied by the power source 7B.

  The sheet P on which the color image is formed is separated from the intermediate transfer member 6 by a driving roller 9A as a separating unit. The separating means is composed of a driving roller 9A composed of small rollers. By bending the intermediate transfer body 6 with a small radius of curvature by the driving roller 9A, the sheet P is transferred to the intermediate transfer body 6 by utilizing the straightness of the paper. Separate from.

  The paper feed cassettes 20b and 20c are omitted from the reference numerals, but are provided with a paper feed unit 21 and a transport roller 22A, respectively. The sheet conveyance path from the sheet feeding cassettes 20 a, 20 b, 20 c, the manual sheet feeding table 20 d or the reverse conveyance section for double-sided image formation merges upstream of the loop forming roller 101, and a single sheet conveyance is performed on the loop forming roller 101. Paper P is fed from the road.

  The sheet P on which the color image has been transferred is subjected to fixing processing by the fixing device 24, is sandwiched between the sheet discharge rollers 25, and is placed on the sheet discharge tray 26 outside the apparatus. The fixing device 24 includes upper and lower rollers 24A and 24B, cleaning rollers 24C, and the like, each having a heater disposed therein.

  On the other hand, after the color image is transferred onto the paper P by the transfer roller 7A, the intermediate transfer body 6 from which the paper P has been separated is cleaned by the cleaning device 8A.

  50Y, 50M, 50C, and 50K are toner bottles that replenish new toner to the developing devices 4Y, 4M, 4C, and 4K, respectively.

  An image reading device YS comprising an automatic document feeder 201 and a document exposure device 202 for exposing a document is installed on the upper part of the image forming apparatus main body GH. The document d placed on the document table of the automatic document feeder 201 is conveyed by a conveyance roller, and an image on one or both sides of the document is scanned and exposed by the optical system of the document exposure device 202 and read by the line image sensor CCD. .

  The analog signal photoelectrically converted by the line image sensor CCD is subjected to analog processing, A / D conversion, shading correction, image compression processing, and the like in the image processing unit, and then input to the writing devices 3Y, 3M, 3C, and 3K. .

The automatic document feeder 201 includes double-sided document conveying means. The document exposure device 202 continuously reads the images of a large number of documents d fed from the document placement table and stores them in the storage unit (electronic RDH function), so that the contents of a large number of documents can be obtained by a copying function. It is possible to copy, and it is possible to transmit image data of a large number of documents d by a facsimile function.
(Toner supply device)
Next, the toner replenishing device 5 according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 shows the photoreceptor 1, the developing unit 4, and the toner supply device 5. The toner supply device 5 includes a storage unit 56 that stores toner, a transport unit 57 that transports toner, and a toner bottle 50 that stores toner. The developing device includes a developing unit 4 and a toner supply device 5. The halftone dots in the figure indicate toner.

  The toner bottle 50 has a cylindrical shape in which a spiral groove is provided on the outer periphery, and is configured to be detachably attached to a bottle receiving portion 52 provided in the developing device. When it is estimated that the toner is contained in the toner bottle 50 and the toner is no longer consumed, the toner is removed from the bottle receiving portion 52 and replaced with a new one. The estimation of whether or not toner is present in the toner bottle may be performed by, for example, a method of determining by directly measuring the mass of the toner bottle, or by providing a toner amount detection sensor in the toner reservoir, and the sensor sends a toner-free signal a predetermined number of times. There is a method of estimating that there is no toner in the toner bottle when the above is transmitted.

  The toner bottle 50 has a toner discharge port 53, the tip of which is coupled to a drive shaft (not shown) of the toner replenishing device main body, and the toner bottle 50 is rotated by a driving force from the motor M 50 via a gear 55. The toner bottle 50 is provided with a spiral groove (projecting on the inner wall of the container) to generate a thrust for conveying the toner. The toner is conveyed in the direction of the arrow X by the thrust, and is supplied from the discharge port 53 to the storage unit 56. Details of the mechanism for discharging the toner from the toner bottle 50 are described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 2001-66870 and 2001-183896.

  Here, the measuring means 150 for measuring the rotation speed of the toner bottle is performed by measuring the rotation speed of the motor M50 in the present embodiment. The motor M50 is preferably a motor that can count the number of rotations, such as a stepping motor, and the number of rotations can be easily calculated by counting the number of steps. The measuring unit 150 uses a counter function of the control unit 100 that controls the operation of the toner supply device.

  A stirring member 58 having an elastic thin plate stirring blade rotating along the inner wall of the storage portion 56 rotates gently to prevent the stored toner from adhering to the wall surface and solidifying. . A sensor 561 that detects the amount of toner using a piezo element is provided on the inner wall of the storage unit 56. The detection part of the sensor 561 is also rubbed with the stirring member 58 in a timely manner to prevent erroneous detection when detecting the remaining amount of toner. The detection position in the storage unit 56 of the sensor 561 is provided at a position for detecting a toner amount of about 50 to 55 g as a toner amount. This amount of toner corresponds to a toner amount of about 3000 sheets when a blackening rate of 5.5% is printed on A4 size transfer paper.

  In the vicinity of the bottom of the storage unit 56, a toner transport unit 57 having a toner transport screw 59 for transporting toner is provided. The toner conveying screw 59 is rotated by driving the motor M59 that drives the conveying screw, and the toner in the storage unit 56 is conveyed along the toner conveying unit 57 to the developing unit 4.

3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 2, showing the black K toner replenishing device 5K loaded with a plurality of toner bottles 50K. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the toner replenishing device 5K. In the present embodiment, two toner bottles 50K are provided. 3 and 4, the motor M50 for rotating the toner bottle, the toner bottle loading unit, and the like are omitted. 3 and 4, black will be described as an example, but the same applies to other colors.
Example 1
A toner replenishing device according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  In FIG. 3, the first toner bottle 50K1 is a toner bottle that replenishes toner at the time of toner replenishment, and the second toner bottle 50K2 is a spare toner bottle. The first toner bottle 50K1 is configured to discharge toner while rotating in the arrow Y direction. Further, the second toner bottle 50K2 rotates in the direction of arrow Z in the direction opposite to the direction of arrow Y, so that the toner in the second toner bottle 50K2 is not discharged.

  The second toner bottle 50K2 rotates in the direction opposite to the rotation direction of the first toner bottle 50K1 when the rotation number of the first toner bottle 50K1 measured by the measuring unit 150 reaches a predetermined value. Is performed regularly. In other words, since the toner in the second toner bottle 50K2 is periodically rotated, the fluidity of the toner in the toner bottle does not deteriorate even if the toner bottle is left in the image forming apparatus for a long time. . Further, since the second toner bottle 50K2 rotates in the direction opposite to that of the first toner bottle 50K1, it is not necessary to provide a mechanism for closing the toner discharge port 53 to prevent the toner from being discharged.

In the present embodiment, the term “regular” means that the first toner bottle 50K1 rotates once for the second toner bottle 50K2 for a predetermined rotation number of 30.
(Example 2)
Next, a second embodiment of the toner replenishing device according to the present invention will be described. In the second embodiment, the toner in the second toner bottle 50K2 is regularly used to prevent the fluidity of the toner in the second toner bottle 50K2 from being deteriorated. In the experiment, even when the number of uses of the second toner bottle 50K2 was 1 with respect to the rotation speed 30 of the first toner bottle 50K1, the toner fluidity was not particularly deteriorated.
(Block Diagram)
FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the toner replenishing device 5 according to the present invention.

In FIG. 5, the control means 100 includes a CPU that performs arithmetic control processing, a ROM that stores various operation programs, a RAM that stores measurement result data, a measurement means 150, and the like. The CPU is connected to an external device via an interface I / F. A sensor 561 or the like that detects a predetermined amount of toner in the storage unit 56 is connected to the input side of the interface I / F, and a drive motor M50 that rotates the toner bottle 50 and a storage unit are connected to the output side of the interface I / F. A motor M59 that drives a toner transport screw 59 that transports toner in the unit 56, a display unit 200A that performs display, and the like are connected to an operation unit of the apparatus main body.
(flowchart)
Next, the operation performed by the control means of the toner replenishing device 5 according to the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  In FIG. 6, when the sensor 561K detects that there is no predetermined amount of toner in the reservoir 56K (step S1), the controller 561K causes the motor M50K to rotate the first toner bottle 50K1 and discharge the toner. (Step S2). The sensor 561K again detects whether or not there is a predetermined amount of toner in the storage unit 56K (step S3), and instructs the control means to stop the rotation of the first toner bottle 50K1 (step S4) when S3 is Yes. . If S3 is No, the process returns to S2. It is determined whether or not the rotation speed of the first toner bottle 50K1 has been rotated a predetermined number of times (30 rotations in the present embodiment) (step S5). If S5 is Yes, the second toner bottle 50K2 is moved to the first toner bottle 50K1. The toner bottle 50K1 is rotated in the opposite direction to the rotation direction (step S6). When S5 is No, the number of times is not reached, so the processing ends. It is determined whether or not the second toner bottle 50K2 has been rotated a predetermined number of times (one rotation in the present embodiment) (step S7). When S7 is Yes, the rotation of the second toner bottle 50K2 is stopped (step S8). ). When S7 is No, the process returns to S6.

  A second embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 7 is the same as that of the first embodiment up to step S5, but when S5 is Yes, the second toner bottle 50K2 is rotated in the same direction as the first toner bottle 50K1 to discharge the toner (step S10). It is determined whether or not the second toner bottle 50K2 has rotated a predetermined number of times (step S11). When S11 is Yes, the rotation of the second toner bottle 50K2 is stopped (step S12). When S11 is No, the process returns to S10.

  As described above, in an image forming apparatus that prints an image including a large number of copies and a large number of solid images such as photographs (referred to as high printing rate images), a toner replenishing device that loads a plurality of rotatable toner bottles is provided. Used. Then, among the plurality of toner bottles, when the toner bottle to which toner is first replenished at the time of toner replenishment is the first toner bottle, and when the second toner bottle other than the first toner bottle is used, the second toner bottle is By periodically rotating the first toner bottle in a direction opposite to the rotation direction of the first toner bottle, the toner in the second toner bottle does not harden and the toner can be discharged from the toner bottle.

  Further, the toner in the second toner bottle is also prevented from solidifying by regularly using the toner in the second toner bottle.

  In the first and second embodiments, the measuring unit 150 for measuring the rotation speed of the toner bottle is used. However, the rotation speed of the toner bottle is not particularly limited. For example, the toner bottle loaded in the toner supply device is used. You may use the timer which measures the loading time of. A timer measures that the second toner bottle has never been used for a predetermined time, and periodically rotates the second toner bottle in a direction opposite to the rotation direction of the first toner bottle, or periodically Or may be used.

1 is a diagram illustrating a simplified configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an enlarged view showing a configuration around a toner supply device provided in the image forming apparatus of FIG. 1. It is AA sectional drawing of FIG. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a toner supply device 5K. 3 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of a toner replenishing device 5 according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a flowchart of Embodiment 1 performed by a control unit of the toner supply device 5 according to the present invention. 7 is a flowchart of Example 2 performed by the control unit of the toner replenishing device 5 according to the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Photoconductor 4 Developing part 5 Toner supply device 50 Toner bottle 52 Bottle receiving part 56 Storage part 57 Conveying part 59 Toner conveying screw P Paper

Claims (5)

A toner replenishing device that has a plurality of rotatable toner bottles, rotates a toner bottle that replenishes toner among the plurality of toner bottles, and replenishes toner in the toner bottle to a developing device;
At the time of toner replenishment, a toner bottle that first replenishes toner is a first toner bottle, and a toner bottle other than the first toner bottle is a second toner bottle.
Toner replenishment comprising control means for controlling the second toner bottle to rotate periodically in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation for discharging the toner in the first toner bottle. apparatus. A toner replenishing device that has a plurality of rotatable toner bottles, rotates a toner bottle that replenishes toner among the plurality of toner bottles, and replenishes toner in the toner bottle to a developing device;
At the time of toner replenishment, a toner bottle that first replenishes toner is a first toner bottle, and a toner bottle other than the first toner bottle is a second toner bottle.
A toner replenishing device comprising control means for controlling the toner in the second toner bottle to be used periodically. The toner replenishing device according to claim 1, further comprising a measuring unit that measures the number of rotations of the plurality of toner bottles. The control unit is configured to cause the second toner in a direction opposite to the rotation direction of the first toner bottle when the rotation number of the first toner bottle measured by the measurement unit reaches a predetermined value. 4. The toner replenishing device according to claim 1, wherein the toner replenishing device is controlled to periodically rotate the bottle. The control unit periodically uses the toner in the second toner bottle when the rotation number of the first toner bottle measured by the measurement unit reaches a predetermined value. The toner replenishing device according to claim 2, wherein the toner replenishing device is controlled as follows.

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