JP2009115935A - Toner supply device and image forming apparatus equipped therewith - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a toner supply device wherein a container guide for guiding a toner container is easily attached to/detached from a body frame, and to provide an image forming apparatus equipped therewith. <P>SOLUTION: In the toner supply device constituted to attach/detach the toner container along the container guides 26a to 26d provided in the body frame 100A of the image forming apparatus, the container guides 26a to 26d are constituted to be attached to/detached from the body frame 100A. Recessed holding parts 31 for holding the container guides 26a to 26d when attaching/detaching the container guides 26a to 26d are formed on the container guides 26a to 26d. In the toner supply device equipped with a plurality of container guides 26a to 26d, hole parts 38 closed by the holding parts 31 of the adjacent container guides 26a to 26d are formed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a toner replenishing device configured to attach and detach a toner container along a container guide provided on a main body frame of an image forming apparatus, and an image forming apparatus including the toner replenishing device.

  In an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or the like that forms an image on a sheet by electrophotography, the electrostatic latent image formed on the carrier is developed by a developing device to be visualized as a toner image. Transfer on paper. The sheet onto which the toner image has been transferred is conveyed to a fixing device, and after the toner image is fixed by heat and pressure by the fixing device, it is discharged out of the apparatus, thereby completing a series of image forming operations. .

By the way, there is known an image forming apparatus including a toner replenishing device that replenishes toner from a toner container when the image forming operation is repeated and toner in the developing device is consumed and the remaining amount thereof is reduced. In such an image forming apparatus, the toner container containing the replenishing toner is attached and detached by opening the main body cover, but the toner container is attached and detached along a container guide provided on the main body frame.
JP 2005-164720 A JP 2005-128414 A JP 2007-072422 A

In an image forming apparatus that employs a system that replenishes toner from a toner container to a developing device, a configuration is proposed in which a container guide is detachable from a main body frame. In a color image forming apparatus having one toner container, there is a problem that it is not easy to attach and detach the four container guides. The container guide has the same color as that of the guided part of the toner container to be mounted. The color of the container guide should be changed by changing the color arrangement or changing the color itself to be used. It is mounted for the purpose of facilitating visual confirmation with

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a toner replenishing device that can easily attach / detach a container guide for guiding a toner container to / from a main body frame. An object is to provide an image forming apparatus.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a toner replenishing device configured to attach and detach a toner container along a container guide provided on a main body frame of an image forming apparatus. The container guide is configured to be detachable, and the container guide is formed with a concave grip portion for gripping when the container guide is attached or detached.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, a plurality of the container guides are provided, and a hole portion closed by a grip portion of an adjacent container guide is formed.

  An image forming apparatus according to a third aspect includes the toner replenishing device according to the first or second aspect.

  According to the present invention, when the container guide is attached to and detached from the main body frame, the container guide can be easily attached and detached by grasping the grip portion formed on the container guide.

  Further, when a plurality of container guides are provided as in the toner replenishing device provided in the color image forming apparatus, a hole portion closed by the grip portion of the adjacent container guide is formed. Each container guide can be easily attached and detached by inserting a hand.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a front sectional view of a color image forming apparatus as an embodiment of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention. The illustrated color image forming apparatus is a tandem type, and a magenta is provided at the center of the main body 100. The image forming unit 1M, the cyan image forming unit 1C, the yellow image forming unit 1Y, and the black image forming unit 1BK are arranged in tandem at regular intervals.

  The image forming units 1M, 1C, 1Y, and 1BK are provided with photosensitive drums 2a, 2b, 2c, and 2d, respectively, and around the photosensitive drums 2a to 2d, chargers 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d, developing devices 4a, 4b, 4c and 4d, transfer rollers 5a, 5b, 5c and 5d as transfer means, and drum cleaning devices 6a, 6b, 6c and 6d are arranged, respectively.

  Here, the photosensitive drums 2a to 2d are drum-shaped photosensitive members, and are rotationally driven at a predetermined process speed in a direction indicated by an arrow (clockwise) by a variable speed stepping motor (not shown). The chargers 3a to 3d uniformly charge the surfaces of the photosensitive drums 2a to 2d to a predetermined potential by a charging bias applied from a charging bias power source (not shown).

  Further, the developing devices 4a to 4d contain magenta (M) toner, cyan (C) toner, yellow (Y) toner, and black (BK) toner, respectively, and are formed on the respective photosensitive drums 2a to 2d. In addition, the toner of each color is attached to each electrostatic latent image to visualize each electrostatic latent image as a toner image of each color.

  The transfer rollers 5a to 5d as transfer means are disposed so as to be in contact with the photosensitive drums 2a to 2d via the intermediate transfer belt 7 in each primary transfer portion. Here, the intermediate transfer belt 7 is stretched between the secondary transfer counter roller 8 and the tension roller 9 and is disposed on the upper surface side of each of the photosensitive drums 2a to 2d. The roller 8 is disposed so as to be in contact with the secondary transfer roller 10 via the intermediate transfer belt 7 in the secondary transfer portion. A belt cleaning device 11 is provided in the vicinity of the tension roller 9. As a material for the intermediate transfer belt 7, for example, a dielectric resin such as polycarbonate, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), or the like is selected.

  By the way, above the image forming units 1M, 1C, 1Y, and 1BK in the apparatus main body 100, toner containers 12a, 12b, and 12c constituting a toner replenishing device for replenishing the developing devices 4a to 4d. , 12d are arranged in a line.

  In addition, a laser scanner unit (LSU) 13 is disposed below the image forming units 1M, 1C, 1Y, and 1BK in the apparatus main body 100, and a paper feed cassette 14 is detachably attached to the bottom of the main body 100 below the image forming units. is set up. A plurality of sheets (not shown) are stacked and accommodated in the paper feed cassette 14, and a pickup roller 15 for taking out the paper one by one from the paper feed cassette 14 is taken out in the vicinity of the paper feed cassette 14. A feed roller 16 and a retard roller 17 are provided for feeding the fed paper to the transport path L.

  The conveyance path L extending in the vertical direction on the side of the apparatus main body 100 includes a conveyance roller pair 18 that conveys the sheet, and the secondary transfer counter roller 8 and the second transfer opposing roller 8 at a predetermined timing after the sheet is temporarily held. A registration roller pair 19 is provided to be supplied to the secondary transfer portion which is a contact portion with the next transfer roller 10. Next to the conveyance path L, another conveyance path L ′ used for forming an image on both sides of the sheet is formed, and a plurality of conveyance roller pairs 20 are appropriate for this conveyance path L ′. Are provided at regular intervals.

  By the way, the conveyance path L arranged in the vertical direction on one side in the apparatus main body 100 extends to the paper discharge tray 21 provided on the upper surface of the apparatus main body 100, and the fixing device 22 and the discharge path are in the middle. A paper roller pair 23 and a paper discharge device 24 are provided.

  Next, an image forming operation by the color image forming apparatus having the above configuration will be described.

  When an image formation start signal is issued, the photosensitive drums 2a to 2d are driven to rotate at a predetermined process speed in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 1 (clockwise) in each of the image forming units 1M, 1C, 1Y, and 1BK. The drums 2a to 2d are uniformly charged by the chargers 3a to 3d. The laser scanner unit 13 emits a laser beam modulated by a color image signal for each color, irradiates the surface of each photosensitive drum 2a to 2d with the laser beam, and each color is applied to each photosensitive drum 2a to 2d. An electrostatic latent image corresponding to the color image signal is formed.

  First, magenta toner is attached to the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 2a of the magenta image forming unit 1M by the developing device 4a to which a developing bias having the same polarity as the charged polarity of the photosensitive drum 2a is applied. The electrostatic latent image is visualized as a magenta toner image. This magenta toner image is transferred to the arrow shown in FIG. 1 by the action of the transfer roller 5a to which a primary transfer bias having a polarity opposite to that of the toner is applied at the primary transfer portion (transfer nip portion) between the photosensitive drum 2a and the transfer roller 5a. Primary transfer is performed on the intermediate transfer belt 7 which is rotationally driven in the direction.

  The intermediate transfer belt 7 on which the magenta toner image has been primarily transferred as described above moves to the next cyan image forming unit 1C. In the cyan image forming unit 1C as well, the cyan toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 2b is transferred to the magenta toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 7 in the primary transfer portion in the same manner as described above.

  Similarly, yellow and black toners respectively formed on the photosensitive drums 2c and 2d of the yellow and black image forming units 1Y and 1BK on the magenta and cyan toner images superimposed and transferred on the intermediate transfer belt 7, respectively. The images are sequentially superimposed at each primary transfer portion, and a full-color toner image is formed on the intermediate transfer belt 7. The transfer residual toner which is not transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 7 and remains on the photosensitive drums 2a to 2d is removed by the drum cleaning devices 6a to 6d, and the photosensitive drums 2a to 2d are prepared for the next image formation. It is done.

  Then, the pickup from the paper feed cassette 14 is performed in accordance with the timing at which the front end of the full color toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 7 reaches the secondary transfer portion (transfer nip portion) between the secondary transfer counter roller 8 and the secondary transfer roller 10. The sheet fed to the conveyance path L by the roller 15, the feed roller 16 and the retard roller 17 is conveyed to the secondary transfer unit by the registration roller pair 19. Then, a full-color toner image is collectively transferred from the intermediate transfer belt 7 to the sheet conveyed to the secondary transfer unit by the secondary transfer roller 10 to which a secondary transfer bias having a polarity opposite to that of the toner is applied. .

  Thus, the sheet on which the full-color toner image has been transferred is conveyed to the fixing device 22, and the sheet on which the full-color toner image has been fixed by being heated and pressurized and thermally fixed on the surface of the sheet. Then, the paper is conveyed to the paper discharge device 24 by the paper discharge roller pair 23 and is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 21 by the paper discharge device 24 to complete a series of image forming operations. The transfer residual toner that is not transferred onto the sheet and remains on the intermediate transfer belt 7 is removed by the belt cleaning device 11, and the intermediate transfer belt 7 is prepared for the next image formation.

  Next, the attachment / detachment structure of the toner containers 12a to 12d constituting the toner supply device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  2 is a perspective view of the toner container, FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view of the toner container mounting portion of the main body frame, FIG. 4 is an internal perspective view of the container guide, FIG. 5 is an external perspective view of the container guide, and FIG. FIG. 7 is a partial perspective view showing a state where one container guide is removed from the toner container mounting portion of the main body frame, and FIG. 8 is a container guide mounting operation. FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 are partial perspective views showing the removing operation of the container guide.

  FIG. 2 shows a toner container 12c containing yellow toner. The toner container 12c has a rectangular box shape, and a stirring screw (not shown) that stirs the toner is rotatably accommodated therein. Yes. A coupling 25 is provided at one lower end in the longitudinal direction of the toner content 12c, and is coupled to one axial end of the stirring screw. The other toner containers 12a, 12b, and 12d containing magenta, cyan, and black toners have the same configuration as that of the toner container 12c, and thus illustration and description thereof are omitted.

  Incidentally, a container mounting portion as shown in FIG. 3 is provided in the image forming apparatus main body 100, and four toner containers 12a to 12d are respectively attached to and detached from the container mounting portion. Four container guides 26a, 26b, 26c, and 26d for detaching and mounting the toner containers 12a to 12d in the vertical direction are detachably mounted on the left and right inner surfaces (only one inner surface is shown in FIG. 3). Has been.

  Here, the configuration of the container guide 26c for guiding the attachment / detachment of the toner container 12c shown in FIG. 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. The other container guides 26a, 26b, and 26d have the same configuration as that of the container guide 26c, and a description thereof will be omitted.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a guide groove 27 for guiding the attachment / detachment of the toner container 12c shown in FIG. 2 is formed in the vertical direction at the center in the width direction of the inner surface of the container guide 26c. A rectangular hole 28 is opened in the lower half of the guide groove 27.

  Further, a concave portion 29 and a convex portion 30 are formed on the left and right sides of the upper surface of the container guide 26c. The grip portion 31 is formed. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, engagement claws 32 and 33 extending vertically downward are formed below these gripping portions 31, and inside these engagement claws 32 and 33, respectively. As shown in FIG. 6, a gap δ is formed.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 5, two ribs 34 and 35 extending in the vertical direction are formed in parallel in the center portion in the width direction of the outer surface of the upper end portion inside the left and right grip portions 31 of the container guide 12 c. A trapezoidal mountain-shaped engaging protrusion 34 a is formed on the upper portion of one rib 34, and a guide rib 35 a is formed on a part of the other rib 35. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, at the lower part of the inner surface of the container guide 26c, the left and right sides of the guide groove 27 (rectangular hole 28) receive the bottom surface of the arc convex curved surface of the toner container 12c shown in FIG. A receiving seat 36 having an arc concave curved surface is formed. As described above, the container guide 26c is provided on each of the left and right sides of the main body frame 100A of the container mounting portion shown in FIG. 3, but the other container guide 26c is similarly configured (however, the rectangular hole 28 is formed. Not)

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 7, an upper portion of a portion of the inner surface of the main body frame 100A where the container guides 26a to 26d are mounted (only a portion where the container guide 26c is mounted is shown in FIG. 7) of the container guide 26c. A positioning groove 100a for fitting the guide rib 35a (see FIGS. 5 and 6) formed on the outer surface is formed in the vertical direction, and an engaging protrusion 34a formed on the rib 34 on the outer surface of the container guide 26c. An engaging claw 100b for engaging (see FIGS. 5 and 6) is formed. In addition, on the left and right sides of the step formed on the inner surface of the main body frame 100A, rectangular holes through which the engaging claws 32 and 33 (see FIGS. 5 and 6) protruding from the left and right of the container guide 26c pass. 100c is formed.

  Thus, for example, when the container guide 26c is attached to the main body frame 100A, as shown in FIG. 8, the container guide 26c is fitted into the main body frame 100A from above with the inner surface thereof inward. At this time, the guide rib 35a formed on the outer surface of the container guide 26c is fitted into the positioning groove 100a formed in the main body frame 100A to position the container guide 26c, and when the container guide 26c is pushed down as it is, the container guide Engaging claws 32 and 33 projecting to the left and right of 26c are fitted into the rectangular hole 100c formed in the main body frame 100A. When the engagement protrusion 34a formed on the outer surface of the container guide 26c passes through the engagement claw 100b formed on the main body frame 100A and then engages and is locked to the engagement claw 100b, the container guide 26c is fixed to the main body frame 100A to prevent upward slipping, and the main body frame 100A is fitted into a gap δ (see FIG. 6) formed inside the engaging claws 32 and 33 of the container guide 26c. Thus, the container guide 26c is fixedly supported on the main body frame 100A.

  As described above, when the container guide 26c is mounted at a predetermined position of the main body frame 100A as shown in FIG. 3, the convex portion 30 formed on the upper surface of the container guide 26c becomes a black adjacent to the container guide 26c. The container guide 26d is fitted into a recess 29 (see FIG. 7) formed on the upper surface of the container guide 26d, and the container guide 26d is pressed from above. Further, a convex portion 30 (see FIG. 7) formed on the upper surface of the cyan container guide 26b adjacent to the container guide 29c is fitted in the concave portion 29 formed on the upper surface of the container guide 26c. The concave portion 29c of 29c is pressed from above by the convex portion 30 of the cyan container guide 29b.

  When all of the four container guides 26a to 26d are thus attached to the main body frame 100A as shown in FIG. 3, the rectangular holes 28 opened in the container guides 26a to 26d are provided on the main body frame 100A side. The drive-side coupling 37 is exposed. In addition, the magenta container guide 26a and the cyan container guide 26b, the cyan container guide 26b and the yellow container guide 26c, and the yellow container guide 26c and the black container guide 26d which are adjacent to each other are disposed. A total of three closed circular hole portions 38 are formed by the semicircular hole grip portions 31 formed on the left and right sides. 3 shows only the container guides 26a to 26d attached to one side of the main body frame 100A, but similar container guides 26a to 26d (not shown) are also attached to the other side of the main body frame 100A.

  Thus, for example, the toner container 12c shown in FIG. 2 is pushed downward with respect to the main body frame 100A while being guided right and left along the guide groove 27 of the container guide 26c, and its lower surface is a seat for the container guide 26c. By being received by 36, it is mounted at a predetermined position of the container mounting portion. At this time, the coupling 25 of the toner container 12c is coupled to the coupling 37 on the main body frame 100A side.

  Incidentally, for example, when the container guide 26c is removed from the main body frame 100A after the toner containers 12a to 12d are removed from the container mounting portion, as shown in FIG. After the guide 26c is pulled forward (in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 9) to disengage the engagement protrusion 34a from the engagement claw 100b on the main body frame 100A side, the container guide 26c is left as it is as shown in FIG. By pulling upward, the container guide 26c can be easily removed from the main body frame 100A. The other container guides 26a, 16b, and 26d can be easily detached from the main body frame 100A in the same manner.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, since the semicircular grip portions 31 are formed on the left and right of the container guides 26a to 26d, when the container guides 31 are attached to and detached from the main body frame 100A, the grip portions The container guides 26a to 26d can be easily attached and detached by grasping 31.

  In the color image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment, the magenta container guide 26a and the cyan container guide 26b, the cyan container guide 26b and the yellow container guide 26c, and the yellow container that are adjacent to each other. A total of three closed circular hole portions 38 are formed between the guide 26c and the black container guide 26d by the semicircular hole-shaped grip portions 31 formed on the left and right sides thereof. The container guides 26a to 26d can be easily attached and detached by inserting a hand into the hole 38.

  In the above, the embodiment in which the present invention is applied to the full-color color image forming apparatus and the toner replenishing device provided therein has been described. However, the present invention relates to the monochrome monochrome image forming apparatus and the toner replenishing provided therein. Of course, the present invention can be similarly applied to the apparatus.

1 is a front sectional view of a color image forming apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a toner container. FIG. 6 is a partial perspective view of a toner container mounting portion of a main body frame. It is an inner surface perspective view of a container guide. It is an outer surface perspective view of a container guide. It is a side view (figure of the arrow A direction of FIG. 5) of a container guide. FIG. 6 is a partial perspective view illustrating a state where one container guide is removed from a toner container mounting portion of the main body frame. It is a fragmentary perspective view which shows mounting | wearing operation | movement of a container guide. It is a fragmentary perspective view which shows the removal operation | movement of a container guide. It is a fragmentary perspective view which shows the removal operation | movement of a container guide.

Explanation of symbols

1M Magenta image forming unit 1C Cyan image forming unit 1Y Yellow image forming unit 1BK Black image forming unit 2a to 2d Photosensitive drum 3a to 3d Charger 4a to 4d Developing device 5a to 5d Transfer roller 6a to 6d Drum cleaning device 7 Intermediate transfer belt 8 Secondary transfer counter roller 9 Tension roller 10 Secondary transfer roller 11 Belt cleaning device 12a to 12d Toner container 13 Laser scanner unit (LSU)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 14 Paper feed cassette 15 Pickup roller 16 Feed roller 17 Retard roller 18 Conveyance roller pair 19 Registration roller pair 20 Conveyance roller pair 21 Paper discharge tray 22 Fixing device 23 Paper discharge roller pair 24 Paper discharge device 25 Coupling 26a-26d Container guide 27 Container guide guide groove 28 Container guide rectangular hole 29 Container guide concave part 30 Container guide convex part 31 Container guide grip part 32, 33 Container guide engagement claw 34 Container guide rib 34a Engagement protrusion 35 Rib 35a Guide rib 36 Container guide seat 37 Coupling 38 Hole 100A Body frame 100a Body frame positioning groove 100b Body frame engagement claw 100c Body frame rectangular hole δ Gap

Claims (3)

In a toner replenishing device configured to attach and detach a toner container along a container guide provided on a main body frame of an image forming apparatus,
A toner replenishing device comprising: a container guide detachably attached to a main body frame; and a concave grip portion for gripping the container guide when the container guide is attached or detached.   The toner replenishing device according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the container guides are provided, and a hole portion closed by a grip portion of an adjacent container guide is formed.   An image forming apparatus comprising the toner replenishing device according to claim 1.

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