JP2012141443A - Developer conveyance mechanism and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a developer conveyance mechanism that prevents waste toner from clogging in the exit side of the mechanism to ensure smooth conveyance of waste toner.SOLUTION: A developer conveyance mechanism includes: a developer conveyance member provided with a blade that is spirally wound around an extension line of a rotation shaft, formed in an expandable and contractable manner in the rotation shaft direction, and rotationally driven to convey developer in the rotation shaft direction; and a vibration generating member that expands and contracts the developer conveyance member in the rotation shaft direction in association with the rotation of the developer conveyance member to cause vibration to the developer conveyance member.

Description

  The present invention relates to a developer transport mechanism for transporting a developer and an image forming apparatus including the developer transport mechanism.

  In a conventional electrophotographic image forming apparatus, the surface of a rotating photoconductor is uniformly charged by a charging unit, and then the surface of the charged photoconductor is irradiated with light according to print data by an exposure member. An electrostatic latent image is formed, and a toner image is formed on the electrostatic latent image using electrostatic force by a developing unit to form a toner image. Then, the toner image is transferred to a recording medium by a transfer unit, and further fixed. To fix it on the recording medium. In such an image forming apparatus, on the downstream side of the transfer unit in the rotation direction of the photoconductor, a cleaning member that scrapes off the toner remaining on the photoconductor and a spiral blade that transports the toner scraped off by the cleaning member A developer transport mechanism having a toner transport member formed thereon is provided, and the toner transported by the developer transport mechanism is recovered by a recovery means (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2007-94075 A (paragraphs “0009” to “0012”, FIGS. 1 and 2)

However, in the above-described conventional technology, the waste toner is solidified between the spiral blades of the toner transport member that transports the scraped toner, so that the waste toner is clogged on the outlet side of the developer transport mechanism. There is a problem that the toner cannot be transported.
An object of the present invention is to solve such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to prevent waste toner from being clogged to the outlet side of the developer transport mechanism and to smoothly transport the waste toner.

  Therefore, the present invention includes a blade that is spirally wound around an extension line of the rotation shaft, is formed so as to be expandable and contractable in the rotation shaft direction, and is driven to rotate to convey the developer in the rotation shaft direction. And a vibration generating member configured to expand and contract the developer conveying member in the direction of the rotation axis in accordance with the rotation of the developer conveying member.

  According to the present invention as described above, it is possible to prevent the waste toner from being clogged to the outlet side of the developer transport mechanism and to transport the waste toner smoothly.

Explanatory drawing which shows the structure of the developer conveyance mechanism in 1st Example. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment. Sectional explanatory drawing which shows the structure of the cleaning part in 1st Example. CC arrow figure which shows the structure of the block in 1st Example Explanatory drawing which shows arrangement | positioning of the gear in 1st Example. The perspective view of the cam in a 1st Example Explanatory drawing which shows the structure of the developer conveyance mechanism in 2nd Example. The perspective view of the magnet in 2nd Example

  Embodiments of a developer transport mechanism and an image forming apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the image forming apparatus in the first embodiment.
In FIG. 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a color printer as an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic system, and toners as developers of four colors of black (K), yellow (Y), magenta (M), and cyan (C). Is a printer that forms a color image by superimposing the images.

  Each of the printing mechanisms 17K, 17Y, 17M, and 17C is equipped with ID (image drum) units 4K, 4Y, 4M, and 4C as developing devices, and the printing mechanisms 17K, 17Y, 17M, and 17C are black, yellow, magenta, and magenta. It corresponds to toner of four colors of cyan and has the same configuration. The configuration of the printing mechanism 17C will be described below as a representative.

  The printing mechanism 17 includes an ID unit 4, an LED (Light Emitting Diode) head 11 as an exposure unit, and a transfer roller 13 as a transfer unit that transfers a toner image formed by the ID unit 4 to a recording medium 14. Has been.

  The ID unit 4 is detachably disposed on the color printer 1 and includes a photosensitive drum 3 as an electrostatic latent image carrier on which an electrostatic latent image and a toner image are formed. The photosensitive drum 3 is exposed at a lower portion of the ID unit 4, and the exposed portion is disposed to face the transfer roller 13, and forms a conveyance path through which the recording medium 14 is conveyed. ing.

  Further, inside the ID unit 4, a charging roller 7 as a charger for uniformly charging the surface of the photosensitive drum 3 around the photosensitive drum 3, and a toner image is formed by supplying toner to the photosensitive drum 3. A developing roller 5 serving as a developer carrying member and a drum cleaning blade 12 serving as a cleaning unit that scrapes off toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 3 are in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 3, respectively. The charging roller 7, the developing roller 5, and the drum cleaning blade 12 are arranged in this order from upstream to downstream.

Further, inside the ID unit 4, a toner supply roller 6 as a developer supply member that supplies toner 19 to the developing roller 5, and a toner 19 supplied from the toner supply roller 6 in contact with the surface of the developing roller 5. A layer regulating blade 8 for thinning the layer is disposed.
A toner cartridge 18 as a toner container is detachably mounted on the ID unit 4 so that toner 19 can be supplied from the toner cartridge 18 into the ID unit 4.

  A transfer belt 16 for transferring the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 3 to the recording medium 14 is disposed between the ID unit 4 and the transfer roller 13. The transfer belt 16 includes a belt driving roller 23 and a driven roller. 24, and can be rotated by driving of the belt driving roller 23.

Further, below the transfer belt 16, a belt cleaning blade 15 as a cleaning device for scraping and cleaning the toner attached to the transfer belt 16 is disposed in contact with the surface of the transfer belt 16.
A fixing device 20 for fixing the toner image transferred onto the recording medium 14 is disposed on the downstream side of the belt driving roller 23 that rotates the transfer belt 16. The fixing device 20 includes a pressure roller 21 and a heating roller 22. It has.

  The color printer 1 configured as described above includes a storage unit as a storage unit configured by a memory or the like, and a control unit as a calculation unit and a control unit, and is based on a control program (software) stored in the storage unit. The control unit controls the operation of the entire color printer 1.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional explanatory view showing the configuration of the cleaning unit in the first embodiment.
In FIG. 3, the cleaning unit for cleaning the photosensitive drum 3 is rotatable in the direction indicated by the arrow in the figure above the drum cleaning blade 12, the housing 35 disposed below the drum cleaning blade 12, and the housing 35. And a waste toner transport guide film 36 disposed so as to contact the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 3 upstream in the rotation direction indicated by the arrow in the drawing. Has been.

  Next, the developer transport mechanism will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 4, 5, and 6. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the developer transport mechanism in the first embodiment, FIG. 4 is a CC arrow view showing the configuration of the block in the first embodiment, and FIG. 5 is in the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the cam in the first embodiment.

  In FIG. 1, the developer transport mechanism includes a waste toner transport spiral gear 25, a waste toner transport spiral 26 as a developer transport member, and a rotation direction of the waste toner transport spiral 26 in accordance with the rotation of the waste toner transport spiral 26. It is comprised by the block 27 and the cam 31 as a vibration generation member which is expanded and contracted to vibrate.

  The waste toner conveying spiral 26 is formed of a blade wound in a spiral shape (a spring shape in which the extension line of the shaft 34 is hollow) around the extension line of the shaft 34 of the waste toner conveyance spiral gear 25 as a rotating shaft. Then, by rotating in the direction indicated by the arrow E in the figure, the waste toner scraped by the drum cleaning blade 12 is conveyed in the direction of the rotation axis indicated by the arrow D in the figure. The waste toner conveying spiral 26 is formed to be extendable and contractible in the direction of the rotation axis by forming the blades in a spiral shape, and has elasticity in the direction indicated by an arrow D in the drawing for conveying the waste toner.

  The end of the waste toner conveying spiral 26 on the gear side indicated by the arrow A in the drawing (the direction opposite to the waste toner conveying direction) is attached to the shaft 34 of the waste toner conveying spiral gear 25 to which the rotational drive source is connected. The waste toner conveyance spiral 26 is configured to be rotatable together with the waste toner conveyance spiral gear 25.

The position of the waste toner conveying spiral gear 25 in the rotational axis direction indicated by an arrow D in the figure is fixed by a stopper 28 provided in the ID unit 4 shown in FIG.
Further, a block 27 as a rotating member formed in a ring shape with a hollow member is attached to the tip of the waste toner conveying spiral 26 on the side indicated by an arrow B in the drawing (the direction in which the waste toner is conveyed).

  The block 27 is attached to the end of the waste toner conveyance spiral 26 so that the rotation axis thereof is substantially coaxial with the rotation axis of the waste toner conveyance spiral 26, and rotates together with the rotation of the waste toner conveyance spiral 26. Accordingly, when the waste toner transport spiral gear 25 is rotated by a driving source such as a motor (not shown), the waste toner transport spiral 26 and the block 27 are rotated together.

Further, the block 27 is formed with a base surface 27a and a projecting surface 27b as a projecting portion projecting in a convex shape with respect to the base surface 27a in the waste toner conveyance direction indicated by an arrow D in the figure. A step is formed between the base surface 27a and the protruding surface 27b. The block 27 is formed in an annular shape as shown in FIG. 4 which is a CC arrow view in FIG. 1, and the base surface 27a and the protruding surface 27b are provided so as to form a semicircle.
In this embodiment, the block 27 is described as having a semicircular base surface 27a and a protruding surface 27b. However, the waste toner is directed toward the transport direction of the waste toner indicated by the arrow D in the drawing with respect to the base surface 27a. You may make it form the rod-shaped protrusion part which one part protruded convexly.

  The cam (cam member) 31 is disposed so as to oppose a base surface 27a and a projecting surface 27b formed on the block 27, and an inclined surface that abuts the projecting surface 27b of the block 27 and an inclined surface of the inclined surface. An annular member having a step formed at the end. The cam 31 is fixed to the ID unit 4 shown in FIG. 2 and its rotation is restricted, and the block 27 is pressed by the biasing force of the waste toner conveying spiral 26 in the direction indicated by the arrow D in the figure.

  In FIG. 5, the waste toner transport spiral gear 25 that rotates the waste toner transport spiral 26 is configured to rotate via the idle gear 30 in accordance with the rotation of the photosensitive drum driving gear 29 that rotates the photosensitive drum 3. This gear can be rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow in the figure.

  In FIG. 6, the cam 31 is formed in a ring shape by, for example, a hollow member, and an annular inclined surface is formed on a surface facing the base surface 27a and the protruding surface 27b of the block 27 shown in FIG. A step 31c is formed between the one end 31a and the other end 31b. One end 31a of the annular inclined surface projects from the other end 31b to form a step 31c.

  Accordingly, the projecting surface 27b of the block 27 that rotates together with the waste toner conveying spiral 26 shown in FIG. 1 is pressed against the inclined surface formed from the end portion 31b of the cam 31 toward the end portion 31a. The spiral 26 gradually contracts, and when the projecting surface 27b of the block 27 exceeds the step 31c of the cam 31, the waste toner conveying spiral 26 is extended by its own elastic force.

The operation of the above configuration will be described.
First, the operation of the color printer will be described with reference to FIG.
In FIG. 2, the color printer 1 that has received a print command from a host device (not shown) or the like transmits a command for forming an image to each of the printing mechanisms 17K, 17Y, 17M, and 17C. The photosensitive drum 3 rotates at a predetermined peripheral speed in the direction indicated by the arrow in the drawing, and at the same time, a predetermined bias voltage is applied to the charging roller 7 so that the surface of the photosensitive drum 3 is uniformly and uniformly charged.

The LED head 11 emits light according to the print data of the print command, whereby an electrostatic latent image is formed on the charged photosensitive drum 3.
The toner 19 accommodated in the ID unit 4 is supplied to the developing roller 5 by the rotation of the toner supply roller 6 to which a bias voltage is applied in the direction indicated by the arrow in the drawing, and the developing roller 5 is supplied with the supplied toner 19. Is conveyed in the direction indicated by the arrow in the figure.

  A toner layer having a uniform thickness is formed on the developing roller 5 by the layer regulating blade 8 disposed in contact with the developing roller 5 on the downstream side of the toner supply roller 6 in the rotation direction of the developing roller 5. The toner 19 that has passed through the layer regulating blade 8 is further conveyed by the rotational movement of the developing roller 5 in the direction indicated by the arrow in the drawing, and a static image formed on the photosensitive drum 3 is interposed between the photosensitive drum 3 and the developing roller 5. Electric force lines corresponding to the electrostatic latent image are generated, and the toner 19 on the developing roller 5 adheres to the photosensitive drum 3 by electrostatic force, and a developed toner image is formed on the photosensitive drum 3.

  By the rotation of the belt driving roller 23 and the driven roller 24, the transfer belt 16 rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow in the figure, and the recording medium 14 is transferred by the transfer belt 16 to the transfer portion formed by the photosensitive drum 3 and the transfer roller 13. Sent.

  A predetermined bias voltage is applied to the transfer roller 13 disposed facing the photosensitive drum 3, and the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 3 is transferred to the conveyed recording medium 14. The recording medium 14 to which the toner image has been transferred is further conveyed to the fixing device 20 by the transfer belt 16, and the toner 19 transferred to the recording medium 14 by the heating roller 22 and the pressure roller 21 is melted. Fixing is performed. The recording medium 14 on which the toner 19 is fixed is sent out of the color printer 1.

On the other hand, some toner 19 may remain on the photosensitive drum 3 after the toner image is transferred to the recording medium 14, but the remaining toner 19 is removed by the drum cleaning blade 12, and the photosensitive drum 3 is repeated. Used.
The toner 19 remaining on the transfer belt 16 is removed by the belt cleaning blade 15, and the transfer belt 16 is used repeatedly.
In this way, the color printer 1 performs a printing operation.

Next, a waste toner transport operation performed by the developer transport mechanism will be described with reference to FIGS.
In FIG. 1 and FIG. 3, the waste toner scraped from the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 3 by the drum cleaning blade 12 is guided by the waste toner transport guide film 36 and moves toward the waste toner transport spiral 26.

  The waste toner conveying spiral 26 rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow E in FIG. 1, so that the scraped waste toner is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow D in FIG. 1 by the action of the spiral blades of the waste toner conveying spiral 26. The toner is pushed and conveyed, passes through the block 27 and the hollow portion of the cam 31 in order, is conveyed to a toner collecting mechanism (not shown), and is collected by the toner collecting mechanism. The reason why the block 27 and the cam 31 are formed in an annular shape is to smoothly convey the waste toner to a toner collecting mechanism (not shown).

Next, the operation of the waste toner carrying spiral 26 oscillating in the waste toner carrying direction in accordance with the rotational drive will be described with reference to FIG.
When the photosensitive drum driving gear 29 shown in FIG. 5 rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. 5 by a driving source (not shown), the rotational force of the photosensitive drum driving gear 29 is applied to the waste toner conveying spiral gear 25 via the idle gear 30. It is transmitted.

Since the waste toner transport spiral gear 25, the waste toner transport spiral 26, and the block 27 are configured to rotate together, when the waste toner transport spiral gear 25 rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow E in FIG. The waste toner conveying spiral 26 and the block 27 also rotate in the direction indicated by the arrow E in FIG.
At this time, the projecting surface 27b of the block 27 is in contact with the inclined surface of the cam 31 disposed oppositely, and as the block 27 rotates, the projecting surface 27b contacts the inclined surface of the cam 31 while facing the end portion 31b. The waste toner conveying spiral 26 is gradually contracted in the direction opposite to the direction indicated by the arrow D in FIG.

  Further, when the block 27 rotates, the projecting surface 27b passes through the end portion 31a while being in contact with the inclined surface of the cam 31, and contacts the end portion 31b through the step 31c. At the time of the contact, the waste toner conveying spiral 26 extends by its own restoring force in the direction indicated by the arrow D in FIG. 1, and vibrates due to the impact caused by the contact.

  As the waste toner transport spiral gear 25 continuously rotates, the waste toner transport spiral 26 continuously rotates, transports toner in the direction of the rotation axis, and repeats vibration while expanding and contracting in the direction of transporting toner. .

As described above, the waste toner conveying spiral 26 repeatedly vibrates while expanding and contracting in the direction in which the waste toner is conveyed, so that solidification of the waste toner between the spiral blades of the waste toner conveying spiral 26 can be prevented.
Further, since a vibration source that vibrates the waste toner conveyance spiral 26 in the waste toner conveyance direction is provided on the waste toner outlet side, more vibration can be applied to the waste toner on the outlet side. Nearby toner clogging can be eliminated.

  Further, since the waste toner transport spiral gear 25 that is a driving source of the rotation of the waste toner transport spiral 26 is fixed in the waste toner transport direction, even when the waste toner transport spiral 26 vibrates in the waste toner transport direction. The waste toner conveyance spiral 26 can always rotate without changing the position of meshing of the teeth of the waste toner conveyance spiral gear 25 and the idle gear 30 shown in FIG.

  As described above, in the first embodiment, the waste toner conveyance spiral is repeatedly vibrated while expanding and contracting in the waste toner conveyance direction, so that the waste toner is disposed between the spiral blades of the waste toner conveyance spiral. The effect that solidification of can be prevented is obtained.

Further, by providing a vibration source for vibrating the waste toner conveying spiral on the outlet side of the waste toner, an effect of eliminating toner clogging in the vicinity of the waste toner outlet can be obtained.
Furthermore, since the movement of the waste toner transport spiral gear, which is the driving source for the rotation of the waste toner transport spiral, is regulated in the waste toner transport direction, the waste toner transport spiral is always discarded even when the waste toner transport spiral vibrates in the waste toner transport direction. The effect that the toner conveying spiral can rotate is obtained.

  The configuration of the second embodiment is different from the configuration of the first embodiment in the configuration of the vibration generating member that vibrates the waste toner transport spiral of the developer transport mechanism. The configuration of the second embodiment will be described based on the explanatory view showing the configuration of the developer transport mechanism in the second embodiment of FIG. 7, and the perspective view of the magnet in the second embodiment of FIG. The configurations of the image forming apparatus and the cleaning unit of the second embodiment are the same as the configurations of the image forming apparatus and the cleaning unit of the first embodiment shown in FIGS. The description is omitted, and the same parts as those in the first embodiment other than the image forming apparatus and the cleaning unit are denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof is omitted.

In FIG. 7, the developer transport mechanism includes a waste toner transport spiral gear 25 as a rotation drive source, a waste toner transport spiral 26 as a developer transport member, and a waste toner transport spiral as the waste toner transport spiral 26 rotates. It is comprised with the magnet A32 and the magnet B33 as a vibration generation member which expands and contracts 26 to a rotating shaft direction, and vibrates.
The magnet A32 is an annular magnet having a hole formed in the center, and the magnet B33 is also an annular magnet having a hole formed in the center.

  A magnet A32 as a magnetic rotating member is attached to the end of the waste toner transport spiral 26 in the transport direction of the waste toner indicated by an arrow D in the drawing so that the rotation shaft is substantially coaxial with the rotation shaft of the waste toner transport spiral 26. The waste toner conveying spiral 26 rotates.

Further, the magnet B33 as a magnetic member is disposed to face the magnet A32 and is attached to the ID unit 4 shown in FIG.
Further, as shown in FIG. 8, the magnet A32 and the magnet B33 are arranged on the respective circumferences of a semicircular N-pole magnetic part having N-pole magnetism and a semi-circular S-pole magnet having S-pole magnetism. The part is formed.

The operation of the above configuration will be described. Since the operation of the color printer is the same as that of the first embodiment, the description thereof is omitted.
First, the waste toner transport operation performed by the developer transport mechanism will be described with reference to FIGS.
3 and 7, the waste toner scraped off from the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 3 by the drum cleaning blade 12 is guided by the waste toner transport guide film 36 and moves toward the waste toner transport spiral 26.

  The waste toner transport spiral 26 rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow E in FIG. 7, so that the scraped waste toner is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow D in FIG. 7 by the action of the spiral blade of the waste toner transport spiral 26. It is conveyed, passes through the hollow portions of the magnet A32 and the magnet B33 in order, is conveyed to a toner collecting mechanism (not shown), and is collected by the toner collecting mechanism.

Next, the operation of the waste toner conveyance spiral 26 oscillating in the waste toner conveyance direction in accordance with the rotational drive will be described with reference to FIG.
When the photosensitive drum driving gear 29 shown in FIG. 5 rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow in the drawing by a driving source (not shown), the rotational force of the photosensitive drum driving gear 29 is transmitted to the waste toner conveying spiral gear 25 via the idle gear 30. .

Since the waste toner transport spiral gear 25, the waste toner transport spiral 26 and the magnet A32 are configured to rotate together, when the waste toner transport spiral gear 25 rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow E in FIG. The waste toner conveying spiral 26 and the magnet A32 also rotate in the direction indicated by the arrow E in FIG.
At this time, since the magnet B33 is fixed to the ID unit and does not rotate but only the magnet A32 rotates, the magnetic pole of the magnet A32 facing the magnetic pole of the magnet B33 is switched as the magnet A32 rotates.

  When the same magnetic poles face each other, such as the N pole of the magnet A32 and the N pole of the magnet B33, and the S pole of the magnet A32 and the S pole of the magnet B33, the magnet A32 shows the arrow F in the figure due to the repulsive force received from the magnet B33. The waste toner conveying spiral 26 is contracted in the direction opposite to the direction indicated by the arrow D in the drawing.

  Furthermore, when the magnet A32 rotates and different magnetic poles such as the N pole of the magnet A32 and the S pole of the magnet B33, and the S pole of the magnet A32 and the N pole of the magnet B33 face each other, the magnet A32 receives the attractive force received from the magnet B33. The waste toner conveying spiral 26 extends in the direction indicated by the arrow D and vibrates in the direction indicated by the arrow G in the drawing. At this time, the magnet A32 is not in contact with the magnet B33 by a locking member (not shown) provided in the ID unit.

As the waste toner transport spiral gear 25 rotates in this manner, the waste toner transport spiral 26 repeats vibration while expanding and contracting in the direction of transporting the waste toner.
As described above, the waste toner conveying spiral 26 repeatedly vibrates while expanding and contracting in the direction in which the waste toner is conveyed, so that solidification of the waste toner between the spiral blades of the waste toner conveying spiral 26 can be prevented.

Further, since a vibration source that vibrates the waste toner conveyance spiral 26 in the waste toner conveyance direction is provided on the waste toner outlet side, more vibration can be applied to the waste toner on the outlet side. Nearby toner clogging can be eliminated.
Further, since the waste toner transport spiral gear 25 which is a driving source for the rotation of the waste toner transport spiral 26 is fixed in the transport direction of the waste toner, the waste toner transport spiral 26 is always in the same manner as in the first embodiment. Can rotate.

  Further, since the magnet A32 and the magnet B33 which are vibration generating members are not brought into contact with each other, the deterioration of the magnets A32 and B33 as the members can be delayed, and the waste toner is rubbed by the magnets A32 and B33. Therefore, clogging of waste toner due to waste toner fusion can be prevented.

  As described above, in the second embodiment, in addition to the effects of the first embodiment, the two magnets that are the vibration generating members are not brought into contact with each other, thereby suppressing the deterioration of the two magnets. In addition, an effect of preventing clogging of waste toner due to waste toner fusion can be obtained.

In the first and second embodiments, the present invention has been described as an example in which the present invention is applied to a developer transport mechanism that transports waste toner. However, the present invention is applied to a developer transport mechanism that supplies toner from a toner cartridge. It is also possible to do.
In the first embodiment and the second embodiment, the image forming apparatus is described as a color printer. However, the image forming apparatus is not limited thereto, and the image forming apparatus may be a monochrome printer, a copying machine, a laser beam printer, a facsimile machine, or a multifunction machine. (MFP) or the like may be used.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Color printer 3 Photosensitive drum 4 ID unit 5 Developing roller 6 Toner supply roller 7 Charging roller 8 Layer control blade 11 LED head 12 Drum cleaning blade 13 Transfer roller 14 Recording medium 15 Belt cleaning blade 16 Transfer belt 17 Printing mechanism 18 Toner cartridge 19 Toner 20 Fixing device 21 Pressure roller 22 Heating roller 23 Belt drive roller 24 Driven roller 25 Waste toner transport spiral gear 26 Waste toner transport spiral 27 Block 28 Stopper 29 Photosensitive drum drive gear 30 Idle gear 31 Cam 32 Magnet A
33 Magnet B
34 shaft 35 housing 36 waste toner transport guide film

Claims (7)

A developer conveying member that includes a blade wound spirally around an extension line of the rotation axis, is formed to be extendable and contractible in the rotation axis direction, and is driven to rotate and conveys the developer in the rotation axis direction;
A developer transport mechanism comprising: a vibration generating member that vibrates by expanding and contracting the developer transport member in the direction of the rotation axis along with the rotation of the developer transport member. In the developer conveyance mechanism according to claim 1,
The vibration generating member is
An annular portion in which a rotation shaft is attached to an end of the developer conveyance member in the developer conveyance direction so as to be substantially coaxial with the rotation axis of the developer conveyance member, and a protrusion that protrudes toward the developer conveyance direction is formed. A rotating member of
A circular inclined surface that faces the rotating member, is disposed so as to be restricted in rotation, abuts against a protruding portion of the rotating member, and an annular cam member having a step formed at the end of the inclined surface; A developer transport mechanism. The developer transport mechanism according to claim 2,
The rotating developer transport member is
The developer conveying mechanism, wherein the protruding portion of the rotating member that rotates together with the developer conveying member is pressed against the inclined surface of the cam member and contracts, and extends when the cam member exceeds a step. In the developer conveyance mechanism according to claim 1,
The vibration generating member is
A semicircular N-pole magnetic part and S-pole each having an N-pole magnetism and having a rotation axis attached to an end of the developer carrying member in the developer carrying direction so as to be substantially coaxial with the rotation axis of the developer carrying member. An annular magnetic rotating member formed with a semicircular S-pole magnetic part having the following magnetic properties:
Opposite to the rotating member, the rotation is restricted, and the annular member is formed with a semicircular N-pole magnetic part having N-pole magnetism and a semi-circular S-pole magnetic part having S-pole magnetism. A developer transport mechanism comprising a magnetic member. In the developer conveyance mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The developer transport mechanism, wherein the developer transport member has elasticity in the developer transport direction. In the developer conveyance mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The developer transport mechanism, wherein the developer transport member has a rotational drive source connected to an end portion in a direction opposite to the developer transport direction. An image forming apparatus comprising the developer transport mechanism according to claim 1.

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