JP2012173567A - Toner cartridge and image forming apparatus including the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a toner cartridge and an image forming apparatus including the same, capable of preventing a toner supply failure and an abnormal image without providing a device that requires a large space for installation.SOLUTION: A toner cartridge includes: a bottle 50; a blade member 55 provided in the bottle 50, for conveying toner by being rotationally driven from the outside; a cap 51 having a discharge port 59 for discharging the toner to the outside; and a mesh member 61 provided in the cap 51, for allowing only the toner having a certain size or smaller to pass through the discharge port 59 and forming a curved surface using a rotation center of the blade member 55 as an axis. Further, the blade member 55 is provided with an urethane sheet 56 so that the rotation of the blade member 55 removes foreign matters and toner aggregates caught by the mesh member 61. The mesh member 61 can be composed of an insulating material, and the bottle 50 can store the toner and magnetic carriers.

Description

  The present invention relates to a toner cartridge that accommodates toner to be supplied to a developing device, and an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a facsimile, and a printer including the toner cartridge.

  In an image forming apparatus that forms an image by electrophotography, toner stored in a toner cartridge is supplied to a developing device by a toner replenishing device. If the toner cartridge contains foreign matters or toner aggregates in which toner aggregates, the foreign matters or toner aggregates are clogged in the toner transport path of the toner replenishing device, causing toner replenishment failure. Sometimes. In such a case, the image forming apparatus needs to be repaired and cannot be used during the repair. Even if the toner cartridge is not large enough to cause toner replenishment, if the toner cartridge contains foreign matter or toner aggregates, they may be transported to the developing device and cause abnormal images during image formation. There is.

  In order to solve this problem, there has been proposed one that removes foreign matters and toner aggregates and replenishes toner to the developing device. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an image forming apparatus including a cleaning device that collects toner remaining on a photoconductor, and a toner return unit that returns the collected residual toner to a part of a development system such as a development unit or a toner cartridge. In the apparatus, there is described an image forming apparatus including an electric field forming unit that forms an electric field in the middle of returning by the toner returning unit, and a toner selecting unit that selects toner that has passed through the electric field and aggregated.

  However, in the image forming apparatus described in Patent Document 1, aggregates in the toner collected from the photosensitive member are removed and returned to the developing system. The toner targeted for removal of the aggregate is limited to the recycled toner. That is, foreign matters and toner aggregates in the toner stored in the toner cartridge are not excluded, and there is a possibility that abnormal images and toner replenishment defects may occur due to the foreign matters and toner aggregates. Further, since the toner selecting means is provided in the middle of returning the toner, a space for disposing the toner selecting means is required in the image forming apparatus, and there is a problem that the apparatus becomes large.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a toner cartridge and an image forming apparatus that can prevent toner replenishment failure and abnormal images without providing an apparatus that requires a large space for installation. And

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a toner cartridge that is detachably attached to an image forming apparatus, wherein a bottle that stores toner therein, an opening of the bottle, and a toner discharge port are sealed. A cap member provided in the bottle, a blade member that conveys toner stored in the bottle to the toner discharge port, and a blade member that is disposed in contact with the blade member, and has a predetermined size. And a foreign matter removing member that allows only the following toner to pass to the toner discharge port.

  Similarly, the invention of claim 2 is characterized in that, in the toner cartridge of claim 1, the foreign matter removing member is a mesh member.

  Similarly, according to a third aspect of the present invention, in the toner cartridge according to the first or second aspect, the contact surface of the foreign matter removing member with the blade member is a curved surface centered on the rotation axis of the blade member. Features.

  Similarly, according to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the toner cartridge according to any one of the first to third aspects, the foreign matter collected by the foreign matter removing member in contact with the foreign matter removing member is collected on the front blade member. The collected matter removing member to be removed is arranged.

  Similarly, the invention of claim 5 is the toner cartridge according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the foreign matter removing member is made of an insulating material.

  Similarly, the invention of claim 6 is the toner cartridge according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the bottle contains toner and a magnetic carrier.

  Similarly, the invention of claim 7 comprises the toner cartridge according to any one of claims 1 to 6 and an image forming means for forming an image on a recording medium with the toner conveyed from the toner cartridge. The image forming apparatus.

  Similarly, the invention according to claim 8 is the image forming apparatus according to claim 7, wherein at least two toner cartridges are provided to perform color image formation.

  According to the present invention, the foreign matter and the toner aggregate are removed by the foreign matter removing member disposed in the toner cartridge, and an abnormal image and a toner replenishment defect due to the foreign matter and the toner aggregate are less likely to occur. Further, it is possible to remove foreign matters for the toner stored in the toe cartridge and use a foreign matter removing member having a simple configuration. A space for adding a special means for removing foreign matter or the like in the image forming apparatus can be eliminated, and the apparatus can be miniaturized.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating an internal configuration of an image forming apparatus according to Embodiment 1. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the appearance of the toner cartridge. FIG. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the main part of the toner cartridge. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the axis of the toner cartridge, showing the main part of the toner cartridge. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the main part of the toner cartridge. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along a plane perpendicular to the axis showing the main part of the toner cartridge. 6 is a graph showing mesh size of a mesh member, toner aggregate collection efficiency, and discharge ratio in a toner cartridge according to Example 1;

  A toner cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a bottle that is detachably attached to an image forming apparatus and stores toner, a cap member that seals an opening of the bottle and includes a toner discharge port, And a blade member that conveys the toner stored in the bottle to the toner discharge port. Further, the bottle is provided with a foreign substance removing member arranged so that the blade member is in contact with it and allowing only a toner having a predetermined size or less to pass therethrough. Capture in the bottle.

  Hereinafter, an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention (hereinafter simply referred to as an embodiment) will be described. Several examples will be described below, but the present invention is not limited to these examples, and many improvements, modifications, variations, substitutions and application examples are possible without departing from the true spirit and scope of the present invention. It will be possible for those skilled in the art to conceive.

<Example 1>
Hereinafter, a tandem type color copying machine (hereinafter referred to as a printer 100) as an image forming apparatus according to Embodiment 1 will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating an internal configuration of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment. The printer 100 includes a plurality of photoreceptor units 3Y, 3M, 3C, and 3K for forming yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K) toner images.

  The photoreceptor units 3Y, 3M, 3C, and 3K use toners of different colors and have the same structure. Each of the photoreceptor units 3Y, 3M, 3C, and 3K includes drum-shaped photoreceptors 10Y, 10M, 10C, and 10K that are image carriers, and charging devices 11Y and 11M that charge the photoreceptors 10Y, 10M, 10C, and 10K. , 11C, 11K, and developing devices 12Y, 12M, 12C, 12K for developing latent images formed on the photoconductors 10Y, 10M, 10C, 10K.

  Further, each of the photoreceptor units 3Y, 3M, 3C, and 3K includes cleaning devices 13Y, 13M, 13C, and 13K that clean residual toner on the photoreceptors 10Y, 10M, 10C, and 10K. The photoreceptor units 3Y, 3M, 3C, and 3K are respectively photoreceptors 10Y, 10M, 10C, and 10K, charging devices 11Y, 11M, 11C, and 11K, developing devices 12Y, 12M, 12C, and 12K, cleaning devices 13Y, 13M, and the like. 13C and 13K are integrally supported and configured as a process cartridge that can be attached to and detached from the apparatus main body.

  Below each of the photoreceptor units 3Y, 3M, 3C, and 3K, an optical unit 40 that includes light emitting elements 4Y, 4M, 4C, and 4K that form electrostatic latent images on the photoreceptors 10Y, 10M, 10C, and 10K by exposure. Is provided. Further, an intermediate transfer belt 20 to which toner images formed by the photoreceptor units 3Y, 3M, 3C, and 3K are secondarily transferred is provided above the photoreceptor units 3Y, 3M, 3C, and 3K.

  The intermediate transfer belt 20 includes primary transfer rollers 24 </ b> Y, 24 </ b> M, 24 </ b> C, and 24 </ b> K that are stretched by a plurality of rollers and transfer the toner image formed on the photoconductor 10 to the intermediate transfer belt 20. In addition, a belt cleaning device 26 for cleaning the transfer residual toner on the intermediate transfer belt 20 that has not been transferred onto the transfer paper P is provided around the intermediate transfer belt 20. Further, a secondary transfer roller 25 for transferring the toner image transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 20 onto the transfer paper P, a paper transfer belt 27, and a fixing unit 6 for fixing the toner image on the transfer paper are provided. In addition, above the photosensitive unit 3, toner cartridges 7Y, 7M, 7C, and 7K for supplying toner of each color to the developing device are provided.

  Next, the process of obtaining a color image in the printer 100 will be described. First, in the photoreceptor units 3Y, 3M, 3C, and 3K, the photoreceptors 10Y, 10M, 10C, and 10K are uniformly charged by the charging devices 11Y, 11M, 11C, and 11K. Thereafter, the light emitting elements 4Y, 4M, 4C, and 4K are scanned and exposed based on the image information to form electrostatic latent images on the surfaces of the photoreceptors 10Y, 10M, 10C, and 10K.

  The latent images on the photoreceptors 10Y, 10M, 10C, and 10K are developed with toners of the respective colors carried on the developing rollers 15Y, 15M, 15C, and 15K of the developing devices 12Y, 12M, 12C, and 12K, and are visible as toner images. Imaged. The toner images on the photoreceptors 10Y, 10M, 10C, and 10K are sequentially superimposed and transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 20 that is rotated counterclockwise by the action of the primary transfer rollers 24Y, 24M, 24C, and 24K. The image forming operation of each color at this time is shifted in timing from the upstream side in the moving direction of the intermediate transfer belt 20 toward the downstream side so that the toner image is transferred to the same position on the intermediate transfer belt 20. Executed.

  The surfaces of the photoreceptors 10Y, 10M, 10C, and 10K after the completion of the primary transfer are cleaned by the cleaning devices 13Y, 13M, 13C, and 13K, and are prepared for the next image formation. On the other hand, the transfer paper P is conveyed to the secondary transfer portion between the intermediate transfer belt 20 and the secondary transfer roller 25 by the registration roller pair 28 at a predetermined timing. Then, the toner image formed on the intermediate transfer belt 20 is transferred to the transfer paper P in the secondary transfer portion. The transfer paper P onto which the toner image has been transferred passes through the fixing unit 6 to be fixed, and is discharged outside the apparatus. Similar to the photoconductor 10, the transfer residual toner remaining on the intermediate transfer belt 20 is cleaned by a belt cleaning device 26 that contacts the intermediate transfer belt 20.

  The toner filled in the toner cartridges 7Y, 7M, 7C, and 7K is replenished when it is determined by the toner density detection means in the developing devices 12Y, 12M, 12C, and 12K that the toner density in the developing device is low. The developer in the developing devices 12Y, 12M, 12C, and 12K is supplied by the devices 8Y, 8M, 8C, and 8K.

  Next, a toner cartridge according to Embodiment 1 will be described. Hereinafter, since the toner cartridges 7Y, 7M, 7C, and 7K have the same structure except for the color of the toner to be used, the toner cartridges 7 will be described. 2 is a plan view showing the appearance of the toner cartridge according to the first embodiment, FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the main part of the toner cartridge, and FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view along the axis of the toner cartridge showing the main part of the toner cartridge. 5 is a perspective view showing a main part of the toner cartridge, and FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along a plane perpendicular to the axis showing the main part of the toner cartridge.

  The toner cartridge 7 includes a bottle 50 that stores toner and a cap 51 that seals the bottle 50. As shown in FIG. 2, the bottle 50 is a cylindrical synthetic resin member in which a bottom wall is formed at one end and an opening is formed at the other end. A spiral projection 57 is formed. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a rib 52 is formed around the opening on the other end of the bottle 50, and a claw 53 provided on the cap 51 is hooked on the rib 52, so that the cap 51 is It can be fixed to the bottle 50. In addition, a sponge sheet 54 is disposed on the cap 51 so as to contact the tip of the bottle 50, and the bottle 50 can be sealed with the cap 51.

  Further, a blade member 55 for toner conveyance is fixedly disposed on the other end side of the bottle 50, that is, on the tip end on the cap 51 side. In addition to the protrusion 57, the bottle 50 is provided with gear teeth 58 for rotating the bottle 50 and the blade member 55 by the toner cartridge driving device of the printer 100. The cap 51 has a discharge port 59 for discharging toner to the toner replenishing device 8 (not shown). The discharge port 59 includes a shutter 60 that opens and closes when the printer 100 is attached to and detached from the cap 51. Further, a urethane sheet 56 is attached to the tip of the blade member 55 as a collected material removing member.

  Further, the cap 51 is provided with a mesh member 61 as a foreign matter removing member that removes foreign matters and toner aggregates in the toner adjacent to the discharge port 59. The mesh member 61 has a predetermined mesh opening size so as to prevent passage of particles having a predetermined particle diameter or more, and collects foreign matters and toner aggregates in the toner. Further, the surface of the mesh member 61 on the blade member 55 side is configured to have a curved surface centering on the rotation axis of the blade member 55 so that the rotating urethane sheet 56 together with the blade member 55 contacts the entire surface.

  In the toner cartridge 7 having the above configuration, the bottle 50 and the blade member 55 are rotated together by the toner cartridge driving device of the printer 100 when it is determined that the toner concentration in the developing device 12 is low. The toner in the bottle 50 is sent to the cap 51 side by the protrusion 57, and the toner near the cap 51 is conveyed to the discharge port 59 of the cap 51 by the blade member 55. At that time, the toner passes through the mesh member 61, is conveyed from the discharge port 59 to the replenishment path of the toner replenishing device 8, and is supplied to the developing device 12. At this time, if the toner cartridge 7 contains foreign matter or toner aggregates, they cannot pass through the mesh member 61 and are collected and are not conveyed to the toner replenishing device 8.

  In the toner cartridge 7 according to the first exemplary embodiment, all of the toner stored in the toner cartridge 7 passes through the mesh member 61 and is conveyed to the toner replenishing device 8. Is not conveyed to the toner replenishing device 8 in the printer 100, and it is possible to prevent the occurrence of defective replenishment and abnormal images.

  Further, since the mesh member 61 is provided in the vicinity of the blade member 55 that is a toner conveyance force source, the mesh member 61 does not prevent the normal toner from being conveyed and is discharged from the toner cartridge 7 per unit time. The toner amount does not decrease. Furthermore, even if foreign matter or toner aggregates are caught on the mesh member 61, the urethane sheet 56 attached to the tip of the blade member 55 contacts the mesh member 61, so that foreign matter or toner aggregates can be removed from the mesh member 61. Further, it is possible to prevent a decrease in toner discharge amount.

  Further, since the surface of the mesh member 61 on the blade member 55 side is a curved surface with the rotation axis of the blade member 55 as the center, the urethane sheet 56 contacts uniformly over the entire area of the mesh member 61, and foreign matter / toner aggregates. Can be removed from the mesh member 61. In the toner cartridge 7 according to the first embodiment, the toner aggregate can be pulverized by the mesh member 61 to obtain a normal toner having a small diameter, which can be used for development.

  FIG. 7 is a graph showing the opening size of the mesh member, the collection efficiency of the toner aggregate, and the discharge ratio in the toner cartridge according to Example 1. In this graph, the horizontal axis represents the mesh size of the mesh member 61 (D μm), and the vertical axis represents the toner aggregate collection efficiency and the toner discharge amount ratio with and without the mesh member. As can be seen from FIG. 7, when the mesh member 61 has an opening of 5D to 20D μm, the toner aggregate collection efficiency is high, and the toner discharge amount by the mesh member 61 is hardly reduced.

  As described above, according to the toner cartridge and the image forming apparatus according to the first exemplary embodiment, the mesh member is provided in the toner cartridge, so that foreign matters and toner aggregates are removed from the conveyed toner, and an abnormal image is obtained. And no toner supply failure occurs. Further, since the mesh member is provided in the toner cartridge, there is no need for a space for providing a foreign matter removing means in the image forming apparatus, and the image forming apparatus can be miniaturized. In addition, since the foreign matter is removed only for the toner originally contained in the toner cartridge in which the foreign matter and the toner aggregate are hardly mixed, it is only necessary to provide a simple mesh member, and the structure can be simplified. it can. Furthermore, since the urethane sheet is brought into contact with the mesh member as a collecting member removing member to remove foreign matters and toner aggregates remaining on the mesh member, it is possible to prevent a decrease in toner replenishment amount over time.

  Further, according to the toner cartridge according to the first embodiment, since the mesh member is used as the foreign matter removing member, there is no need for special power or power for removing the foreign matter, and a simple configuration such as attaching the mesh member with a double-sided tape. It's okay.

  In addition, since the urethane sheet contacts the entire surface of the mesh member, foreign substances and toner aggregates can be efficiently removed from the entire surface of the foreign material removal member, and a reduction in the amount of toner replenishment can be prevented. There is no load.

<Example 2>
Next, Example 2 will be described. In the toner cartridge according to the second exemplary embodiment, a mesh member as a foreign matter removing member is formed of an insulating material. According to the toner cartridge 7 according to the second embodiment, it is possible to prevent the toner from adhering to the mesh member 61, and it is possible to prevent a more normal decrease in the discharged amount of toner.

<Example 3>
Next, Example 3 will be described. The toner cartridge according to Embodiment 3 stores toner and a magnetic carrier. The toner cartridge according to the third exemplary embodiment can be used in a printer in which a developer amount adjusting mechanism is provided in the developing device.

3Y, 3M, 3C, 3K: photoreceptor units 4Y, 4M, 4C, 4K: light emitting element 6: fixing units 7Y, 7M, 7C, 7K: toner cartridges 8Y, 8M, 8C, 8K: toner replenishing devices 10Y, 10M, 10C, 10K: photoreceptors 11Y, 11M, 11C, 11K: charging devices 12Y, 12M, 12C, 12K: developing devices 13Y, 13M, 13C, 13K: cleaning devices 15Y, 15M, 15C, 15K: developing rollers 20: intermediate transfer Belts 24Y, 24M, 24C, 24K: primary transfer roller 25: secondary transfer roller 26: belt cleaning device 27: paper transfer belt 28: registration roller pair 40: optical unit 50: bottle 51: cap 52: rib 53: claw portion 54: Sponge sheet 55: Blade member 56: Urethane sheet (collected material removing member)
57: Protrusion 58: Gear tooth 59: Discharge port 60: Shutter 61: Mesh member (foreign matter removing member)
100: Printer (image forming apparatus)

JP-A-8-114984

Claims (8)

In a toner cartridge that is detachably attached to an image forming apparatus,
A bottle for storing toner inside,
A cap member having a toner discharge port, and sealing the opening of the bottle;
A blade member disposed in the bottle and configured to convey the toner stored in the bottle to the toner discharge port;
A foreign matter removing member that is disposed so that the blade member is in contact, and allows only toner of a predetermined size or less to pass to the toner discharge port;
A toner cartridge comprising: The toner cartridge according to claim 1.
A toner cartridge, wherein the foreign matter removing member is a mesh member. The toner cartridge according to claim 1 or 2,
The toner cartridge according to claim 1, wherein a contact surface of the foreign matter removing member with the blade member is formed as a curved surface having a rotation axis of the blade member as a center. The toner cartridge according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
A toner cartridge, wherein the front blade member is provided with a collected matter removing member that contacts the foreign matter removing member and removes the foreign matter collected by the foreign matter removing member. The toner cartridge according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
A toner cartridge, wherein the foreign matter removing member is made of an insulating material. The toner cartridge according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
A toner cartridge comprising toner and a magnetic carrier stored in the bottle.   An image forming apparatus comprising: the toner cartridge according to claim 1; and an image forming unit that forms an image on a recording medium with toner conveyed from the toner cartridge. 8. The image forming apparatus according to claim 7, wherein at least two toner cartridges are provided to perform color image formation.