JP2011017778A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus enabling toner to be replenished while operating the body of the image forming apparatus, as it is.SOLUTION: The image forming apparatus 1 includes: a paper ejection tray 29 formed on the upper surface of a body; toner cartridge insertion ports 42, formed respectively in positions where they hold the paper ejecting tray, in a direction orthogonal to the paper ejecting direction of the paper ejecting tray 29; and toner cartridges 10 which are inserted from the toner cartridge insertion ports 42, regardless of whether the body of the image forming apparatus 1 is operated, and is attachable to and removable from a developing unit 12 at both longitudinal ends of the developing unit 12. The toner cartridge insertion ports 42 open upward, and the toner cartridges 10 are attached and removed in a vertical direction with respect to the opened parts.

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus capable of supplying toner while a main body apparatus is in operation.

Conventionally, there is an electrophotographic color image forming apparatus that uses toner as a developer for image formation. In such an image forming apparatus, when the toner stored in the developing tank of the developing device is consumed by printing and the remaining amount of toner in the developing tank falls below a certain level, the remaining amount detection device operates to indicate that there is no toner. The user is notified and the operation of the apparatus is stopped.
The user removes the toner cartridge in which the toner is emptied from the developing device, replaces it with a new toner cartridge, and restarts the printing operation. In this toner cartridge replacement, the front door of the image forming apparatus main body is opened, and the toner cartridge is pulled out in the longitudinal direction of the developing device, that is, in the front direction of the opened door, and replaced with a new toner cartridge (for example, Patent Document 1). reference).

JP 2008-309931 A

By the way, the technique of Patent Document 1 is configured so that a trouble such as a paper jam does not occur in the arrangement portion of the kits. Consumables such as kits concentrated on the left side of the apparatus main body, such as a toner cartridge, etc. Since the attachment / detachment operation is simply a replacement operation in the longitudinal direction, the dimensions between the kits have been reduced as much as possible, and the overall size of the main body of the device has been reduced. It can be said that it is along the line of general miniaturization.
However, in recent years, in addition to downsizing of the apparatus, high-speed processing has been required. When this happens, the user is notified that there is no toner, the operation of the apparatus is stopped, and the printing operation is suspended until the user replaces the empty toner cartridge with a new toner cartridge and restarts the printing operation. There is a problem that high speed is hindered.

In order to solve the above-described problems, an image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes a developing unit that has a developing roller that carries a supplied toner and develops a toner image into a latent image on an electrostatic latent image carrier. An image forming apparatus comprising: a paper discharge tray formed on an upper surface of a main body of the image forming apparatus; and a toner cartridge formed at a position sandwiching the paper discharge tray in a direction perpendicular to the paper discharge direction of the paper discharge tray Regardless of whether the insertion port and the image forming apparatus main body are in operation or not, it is inserted from the toner cartridge insertion port and can be attached to and detached from the developing device at both ends in the longitudinal direction of the developing device. And a toner cartridge for containing toner to be supplied to the developing device.
In this image forming apparatus, for example, the toner cartridge insertion opening is opened upward, and the toner cartridge is configured to be attached to and detached from the opening in the vertical direction.

  According to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, since two toner cartridges are mounted for each developing device, the toner cartridge that has been emptied of toner first is replaced with a new one, and the main unit is kept operating. Replenishment is possible, and there is an effect that the high-speed processing can be maintained without interrupting the printing operation in the toner cartridge replacement operation.

1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an internal configuration of a full-color image forming apparatus (printer) according to Embodiment 1 of the invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating an appearance of only one image forming unit of the printer according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 1 is an external perspective view of a printer according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically illustrating a state in which the toner cartridge of the printer according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention is attached to and detached from the developing device. (a) is a side view showing the appearance of the toner cartridge of the printer according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, (b) is a diagram showing the internal configuration thereof, and (c) is a diagram showing the configuration of the bottom surface of the toner cartridge. .

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail.

  FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an internal configuration of a full-color image forming apparatus (hereinafter simply referred to as a printer) according to the first embodiment. A printer 1 shown in FIG. 1 is an electrophotographic secondary transfer tandem color image forming apparatus, and includes an image forming unit 2, an intermediate transfer belt unit 3, a paper feeding unit 4, and a duplex printing conveyance unit 5. It consists of

  The image forming unit 2 has a configuration in which four image forming units 6 (6M, 6C, 6Y, and 6K) are arranged in a multistage manner from right to left in FIG.

  Of the four image forming units 6, three image forming units 6M, 6C and 6Y on the upstream side (the right side in the figure) are magenta (M), cyan (C) and yellow (subtractive three primary colors, respectively). A mono-color image is formed with the color toner of Y), and the image forming unit 6K forms a monochrome image with black (K) toner mainly used for dark portions of characters and images.

  Each of the image forming units 6 has the same configuration except for the color of the toner contained in the toner container (toner cartridge) 10. Accordingly, the configuration of the black (K) image forming unit 6K will be described below as an example.

  The image forming unit 6 includes a photosensitive drum 7 at the bottom. The peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 7 is made of, for example, an organic photoconductive material. A cleaner 8, a charging roller 9, an optical writing head 11, and a developing roller 13 of the developing device 12 are arranged around the periphery of the photosensitive drum 7.

  In the developing device 12, the toner cartridges 10 are detachably attached to both ends in the longitudinal direction of the upper portion. The toner cartridge 10 contains toner of magenta (M), cyan (C), yellow (Y), or black (K) as indicated by M, C, Y, and K in FIG.

  Further, the developing roller 13 is provided at the lower side of the developing device 12 in the side opening, and a toner stirring member, a toner supply roller 19 for supplying toner to the developing roller 13, and a toner layer on the developing roller 13 are fixed. A doctor blade that regulates the layer thickness is provided.

  The intermediate transfer belt unit 3 has an endless transfer belt 14 extending in a flat loop shape from substantially the left and right sides of the figure at the approximate center of the main unit, and the transfer belt 14 is stretched over the transfer belt 14. A driving roller 15 and a driven roller 16 are provided to circulate and move the belt 14 counterclockwise in the drawing.

  The transfer belt 14 transfers the toner image directly onto the belt surface (primary transfer) and conveys the toner image to the transfer position to the paper for further transfer (secondary transfer). The whole is called an intermediate transfer belt unit.

  The intermediate transfer belt unit 3 includes a belt position control mechanism 17 in the loop of the flat loop-shaped transfer belt 14. The belt position control mechanism 17 includes a primary transfer roller 18 made of a conductive foam sponge that presses against the lower peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 7 via the transfer belt 14.

  The belt position control mechanism 17 has three primary transfer rollers 18 corresponding to the three image forming units 6M, 6C, and 6Y of magenta (M), cyan (C), and yellow (Y) as vertical support shafts. Rotate to the center with the same period.

  Then, the belt position control mechanism 17 rotates and moves one primary transfer roller 18 corresponding to the black (K) image forming unit 6K at a rotational movement cycle different from the cycle of the three primary transfer rollers 18. The belt 14 is moved away from the photosensitive drum 7.

  That is, the belt position control mechanism 17 moves the position of the transfer belt 14 of the intermediate transfer belt unit 3 to full color mode (all four primary transfer rollers 18 are in contact with the transfer belt 14), monochrome mode (to the image forming unit 6K). Only the corresponding primary transfer roller 18 is in contact with the transfer belt 14) and all non-transfer modes (all four primary transfer rollers 18 are separated from the transfer belt 14).

  In the intermediate transfer belt unit 3, a belt cleaner unit is disposed further upstream of the uppermost image forming unit 6M on the upstream side in the belt movement direction, and is flat and thin so as to be substantially along the entire lower surface. The waste toner collecting container 20 is detachably disposed.

  The paper feed unit 4 includes two paper feed cassettes 21 arranged in two upper and lower stages, and in the vicinity of the paper feed opening (right side in the figure) of the two paper feed cassettes 21, respectively, A feeding roller 23, a separating roller 24, and a standby conveying roller pair 25 are disposed.

  In the paper conveyance direction (vertical upward direction in the figure) of the standby conveyance roller pair 25, a secondary transfer roller 26 that is in pressure contact with the driven roller 16 via the transfer belt 14 is disposed, and the secondary transfer portion to the paper is arranged. Forming.

  A belt-type heat fixing unit 27 is disposed downstream (upward in the drawing) of the secondary transfer portion, and a sheet after fixing is fixed to the belt-type heat fixing unit 27 further downstream of the belt-type heat fixing unit 27. A pair of carry-out rollers 28 for carrying out the paper and a pair of paper discharge rollers 31 for discharging the carried paper to a paper discharge tray 29 formed on the upper surface of the apparatus are disposed.

  The transport unit 5 for duplex printing also serves as an opening / closing member whose outer surface (right outer surface in the drawing) opens or shields the inside of the printer 1 from the side surface to the outside.

  The double-sided printing transport unit 5 includes a start return path 32a branched from the intermediate transport path between the carry-out roller pair 28 and the discharge roller pair 31 to the right lateral direction in the figure, and then an intermediate return path bent downward. 32b, a terminal return path 32c that bends in the left lateral direction opposite to the above and eventually reverses the return sheet, and four return roller pairs 33a, 33b, 33c arranged in the middle of these return paths, 33d.

  The exit of the end return path 32 c communicates with a conveyance path to the pair of standby conveyance rollers 25 corresponding to the sheet feeding cassette 21 below the sheet feeding unit 4. In this example, a cleaning unit 35 is disposed on the upper surface of the intermediate transfer belt unit 3.

  The cleaning unit 35 comes into contact with the upper surface of the transfer belt 14 to scrape and remove the waste toner, and stores the toner in a temporary storage unit of a belt cleaner unit (not shown). The inside is conveyed to the upper part, and sent to the waste toner collecting container 20 through a dropping cylinder.

  FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the appearance of only one image forming unit 6 taken out. As shown in FIG. 2, the image forming unit 6 includes a developing device 12 held by the exterior frame 36 and a drum unit 37 integrated with the developing device 12 and held by the exterior frame 36.

  As described above, the toner cartridge 10 is detachably mounted on the developing device 12 at both ends in the longitudinal direction of the upper portion. The other drum unit 37 is formed with an elongated groove-like long hole 38, and the upper surface of the photosensitive drum 7 is positioned below the long hole 38. When the image forming unit 6 is attached to the printer main body, the light emitting portion at the tip of the optical writing head 11 is positioned in the long hole 38, and preparation for image formation is completed.

  FIG. 3 is an external perspective view of the printer 1. In FIG. 3, the same components as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the printer 1 is provided with a front door 39 on the front side, a double-sided printing transport unit 5 that also serves as an opening / closing member on the right side, and an outer surface of the double-sided printing transport unit 5. A handle 41 is disposed at the top.

  On the upper surface of the printer 1, there is formed a paper discharge tray 29 shown in FIG. Four pairs of toner cartridge insertion ports 42 each having an upward opening at a position sandwiching the paper discharge tray 29 in a direction orthogonal to the paper discharge direction (right to left) of the paper discharge tray 29, that is, before and after the printer 1. Is formed.

  At the toner cartridge insertion openings 42, the upper surfaces of the two toner cartridges 10 (10K, 10Y, 10C, 10M) mounted for each developing device 12 shown in FIG. 2 are exposed. These toner cartridges 10 are individually attached and detached in the vertical direction.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing a state in which the toner cartridge 10 is attached to and detached from the developing device 12. FIG. 4 is a view of the inside of the printer 1 as viewed from the right or left direction in FIG. 1, and simply shows the intermediate transfer belt unit 3 and the developing device 12.

  The developing device 12, that is, the image forming unit 6 is fixed to the inside of the main body frame of the printer 1, or the image forming unit 6 is attached and detached up and down with the upper surface serving as an open / close lid integrated with the discharge tray 29. As a result, the housing 43 of the printer 1 can be widened back and forth by an amount corresponding to the disposition surface that is wide enough not to replace the developing device 12 in the longitudinal direction.

  FIG. 4 shows a configuration in which the housing 43 of the printer 1 is expanded in the front-rear direction, and the toner cartridge 10 is increased in the front-rear direction by the expanded amount. The toner cartridge shown on the left side of the drawing shows a state where it is mounted on the developing device 12 as indicated by an arrow a.

  In addition, the toner cartridge 10 shown on the right side of the drawing is a new toner cartridge, and is about to be attached to the developing device 12 as indicated by an arrow b in place of the toner cartridge in which the toner has been emptied first. Is shown.

  If any one of the two toner cartridges 10 is mounted, the toner is distributed over the entire surface of the supply roller 19 by the toner transport mechanism 44 built in the developing device 12.

  Therefore, while the printer 1 is in an operating state, that is, without stopping the printing operation, the toner cartridge that has been emptied and the new toner cartridge are replaced as described above, and the toner is replenished. Can do. As described above, since the toner cartridge can be replaced without interrupting the printing operation, the high-speed processing can be maintained.

  FIG. 5A is a side view showing the external appearance of the toner cartridge 10, FIG. 5B is a diagram showing the internal configuration, and FIG. 5C is a diagram showing the configuration of the bottom surface of the toner cartridge 10. is there. As shown in FIG. 5A, the toner cartridge 10 has positioning portions 44 formed on the four lateral sides of the housing 43. When the toner cartridge 10 is inserted into the toner cartridge insertion slot 42, the positioning section 44 is positioned by engaging with a positioning section formed on the toner cartridge insertion slot mounting portion side.

  A rotation knob 45 is attached to the upper surface of the toner cartridge 10 together with the knob base 46. The tip of the rotary knob shaft 47 is exposed on the lower surface of the toner cartridge, and a rotary flange 48 is fixed to the tip of the rotary cartridge so as to be rotatable together with the rotary knob shaft 47.

  As shown in FIG. 5B, the inside of the housing 43 is a toner filling portion 49, which is filled with toner. The rotary knob shaft 47 integrally formed with the rotary knob 45 and the knob base 46 penetrates the toner filling portion 49, the tip of the lower end thereof is exposed to the outside as described above, and the rotary flange 48 is formed at the tip of the rotary knob 48 as described above. Is fixed.

  After the user installs the toner cartridge 10 in the developing device 12 through the toner cartridge insertion port 42 as shown on the left in FIG. 4, the rotary knob 45 is indicated by an arrow c as shown in FIG. When the knob is rotated clockwise as viewed from the upper surface side, the rotary knob shaft 47 also rotates clockwise as viewed from the upper surface side as indicated by an arrow d.

  The rotary flange 48 fixed to the tip of the rotary knob shaft 47 rotates counterclockwise as shown by an arrow e when viewed from the bottom surface 51 as shown in FIG. 5 (c). . By this rotation, the toner supply port 52 formed on the lower surface 51 of the toner cartridge 10 and sealed until then by the rotation flange 48 is opened. As a result, the toner in the toner filling portion 49 of the toner cartridge 10 can be supplied to the developing device 12.

  Although not particularly illustrated, the rotation knob shaft 47 and the rotation flange 48 can be rotated only when the toner cartridge 10 is accurately mounted on the developing device 12 via the toner cartridge insertion port 42. It is configured.

  The toner receiving port on the developing device 12 side is configured to open and close in conjunction with the rotation of the rotary knob shaft 47 and the rotary flange 48. As a result, when the user replaces the toner cartridge 10, the rotation knob 45 is rotated counterclockwise when the user takes out the toner cartridge 10 to close the toner supply port 52, and the rotation is performed when the user installs the toner cartridge 10. When the knob 45 is rotated in the clockwise direction, the toner receiving port on the developing device 12 side is opened and closed as the toner supply port 52 is opened and closed. As a result, there is no possibility that the toner scatters around and contaminates the peripheral members.

  The present invention can be used in an image forming apparatus that can supply toner while the main body apparatus is in operation.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printer 2 Image formation part 3 Intermediate transfer belt unit 4 Paper feed part 5 Duplex printing conveyance unit (opening / closing member)
6 (6M, 6C, 6Y, 6K) Image forming unit 7 (7m, 7c, 7y, 7k) Photosensitive drum 8 Cleaner 9 Charging roller 10 (10K, 10Y, 10C, 10M) Toner cartridge 11 Optical writing head 12 Development Device 13 Developing roller 14 Transfer belt 15 Drive roller 16 Driven roller 17 Belt position control mechanism 18 Primary transfer roller 19 Supply roller 20 Waste toner collection container 21 Paper feed cassette 22 Paper take-out roller 23 Feeding roller 24 Rolling roller 25 Standby transport roller pair 26 Secondary transfer roller 27 Belt type heat fixing unit (fixing unit)
28 Unloading roller pair 29 Discharge tray 31 Discharge roller pair 32a Start return path 32b Intermediate return path 32c End return path 33a, 33b, 33c, 33d Return roller pair 35 Cleaning section 36 Exterior frame 37 Drum unit 38 Long hole 39 Front door 41 Handle 42 Toner cartridge insertion port 43 Housing 44 Positioning portion 45 Rotating knob 46 Knob base 47 Rotating knob shaft 48 Rotating flange 49 Toner filling portion 51 Cartridge bottom surface 52 Toner supply port

Claims (2)

An image forming apparatus comprising a developing unit having a developing roller for carrying a supplied toner and developing a toner image on a latent image on an electrostatic latent image carrier,
A paper discharge tray formed on the upper surface of the main body of the image forming apparatus;
A toner cartridge insertion opening formed at a position sandwiching the paper discharge tray in a direction perpendicular to the paper discharge direction of the paper discharge tray;
Regardless of whether the main body of the image forming apparatus is in operation or not, it is inserted from the toner cartridge insertion port and can be attached to and detached from the developer at both ends in the longitudinal direction of the developer. A toner cartridge containing toner to be supplied to
An image forming apparatus comprising:   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an upward opening is formed in the toner cartridge insertion opening, and the toner cartridge is attached to and detached from the opening in the vertical direction.