JP2012255976A - Image forming apparatus and toner container - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent contamination of clothes of a user by a toner adhering to a toner container when the toner container is dismounted, without increasing a work load of the user.SOLUTION: An image forming apparatus is provided, including a toner container 18 accommodating a toner, and a storage part 25 provided with a guide rail 35 that supports the toner container 18. An auxiliary rail 36 is disposed in a front side of the guide rail 35, and a guiding part 46 inclining downward toward the front side is disposed below the auxiliary rail 36. When the toner container 18 is guided along the guiding part 46 upon mounting the toner container 18, the toner container 18 pushes the auxiliary rail 36 to a position above the guide rail 35; and when the toner container 18 is mounted, push-up of the auxiliary rail 36 by the toner container 18 is released, which descends the auxiliary rail 36 onto an extended line of the guide rail 35.

Description

  The present invention relates to an electrophotographic image forming apparatus and a toner container that is detachably attached to the image forming apparatus.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer, development processing is performed by supplying toner from a developing unit to an electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of a photosensitive drum or the like. The toner used for such development processing is usually supplied to a developing device from a toner container that is detachably attached to the main body of the image forming apparatus.

  When the development processing as described above is repeatedly performed, the toner in the toner container decreases accordingly, and when the toner in the toner container is exhausted, the toner container needs to be replaced. This toner container replacement operation is often performed by the user, but since toner adheres to the vicinity of the outlet of the used toner container, the toner may contaminate the user's clothing. In particular, when the toner container comes into contact with the apparatus main body during the toner container replacement operation, the toner adhering to the vicinity of the discharge port of the toner container is shaken off due to the impact caused by the contact. There is a high risk that the clothing will be soiled.

  In order to solve such problems, a configuration in which the toner container is detached from the apparatus main body in a two-step operation, or an instruction to support the toner container by hand before the toner container falls out of the apparatus main body is displayed. Is known (refer to Patent Document 1 for the former).

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-142915

  However, the configuration in which the toner container is detached from the apparatus main body by a two-step operation or the structure in which the toner container is supported by the hand before the toner container is removed from the apparatus main body imposes special work on the user who replaces the toner container. As a result, the work burden on the user is increased.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to prevent the user's clothing from being soiled by toner adhering to the toner container when the toner container is removed without increasing the user's work load.

  An image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes a toner container that stores toner, and a storage portion provided with a guide rail that supports the toner container, and the toner container is slid along the guide rail to slide the toner container. An image forming apparatus configured such that a toner container is attached to and detached from the storage unit, and an auxiliary rail is provided on the front side of the guide rail in a mounting direction of the toner container with respect to the storage unit. A guide portion that is inclined downward toward the front side in the mounting direction is provided below the auxiliary rail, and when the toner container is attached to the storage portion, the toner container is provided along the guide portion. When guided to the guide rail, the toner container pushes up the auxiliary rail to a position above the guide rail, and the toner container is attached to the storage portion. That when the toner push of the auxiliary rail by the container is released by the auxiliary rail, characterized in that the lowered on an extension line of the guide rail.

  As described above, by guiding the toner container to the guide rail along the guiding portion that is inclined downward toward the front side in the mounting direction, the toner container can be easily mounted in the storage unit. In addition, when the toner container is mounted on the storage portion, the auxiliary rail descends on the extension line of the guide rail. The toner container is guided to the outside. As a result, it is possible to prevent the toner container from coming into contact with the storage unit, and it is possible to prevent the toner from falling due to the impact of the contact between the toner container and the storage unit, thereby preventing the user's clothes from being soiled by the toner. It becomes possible to prevent. In addition, it is possible to remove the toner container from the storage unit without performing a special operation simply by guiding the toner container to the outside along the auxiliary rail, so that it is possible to reduce the work burden on the user. .

  The image forming apparatus of the present invention includes a spring member that suspends the auxiliary rail, and the toner container pushes up the auxiliary rail against the weight of the auxiliary rail when the toner container is attached to the storage unit. When the spring member is compressed and the toner container is attached to the storage portion, the auxiliary rail may be lowered by its own weight to restore the spring member.

  By adopting such a configuration, it is possible to realize the lifting and lowering operation of the auxiliary rail with a simple configuration by simply suspending the auxiliary rail on the spring member, which simplifies the configuration of the device and reduces the manufacturing cost. It becomes possible to plan.

  The image forming apparatus of the present invention includes an urging member that urges the auxiliary rail downward, and a locking member that can press-contact the auxiliary rail, and when the toner container is attached to the storage unit, When the toner container pushes up the auxiliary rail against the urging force of the urging member, the auxiliary rail is separated from the locking member, and the toner container is attached to the storage portion, the urging member The auxiliary rail may be lowered by an urging force so that the auxiliary rail is pressed against the locking member.

  By adopting such a configuration, when the toner container is mounted in the storage unit, the auxiliary rail can be surely lowered onto the extension line of the guide rail by the urging force of the urging member. At the time of removal from the section, the toner container can be reliably guided to the outside along the auxiliary rail.

  In the image forming apparatus of the present invention, a flange portion is provided on the outer periphery of the upper end of the toner container, and the guide portion is an inclined surface provided on a peripheral wall covering both sides of the storage portion, and the storage of the toner container When the flange portion is guided to the guide rail along the inclined surface at the time of mounting to the portion, the flange portion may push up the auxiliary rail.

  In this way, by providing inclined sections on the peripheral wall covering both sides of the storage section to provide the guide section, it is possible to reduce the number of parts compared to the case where the members forming the guide section are separately provided, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced. It is possible to further reduce the cost.

  The toner container of the present invention is a toner container that contains toner and is supported by a guide rail provided in a storage portion of the image forming apparatus, and the toner container is mounted on the storage portion in the image forming apparatus. An auxiliary rail is provided on the front side of the guide rail in a direction so as to be movable up and down, and a guide portion that is inclined downward toward the front side in the mounting direction is provided below the auxiliary rail, and the storage of the toner container When the toner container is guided to the guide rail along the guide portion when mounted on the portion, the toner container pushes up the auxiliary rail to a position above the guide rail, and the toner container is moved to the storage portion. The auxiliary rail is lifted by the toner container, and the auxiliary rail is lowered onto the extended line of the guide rail. Toner container to be. It is characterized by that.

  As described above, by guiding the toner container to the guide rail along the guiding portion that is inclined downward toward the front side in the mounting direction, the toner container can be easily mounted in the storage unit. In addition, when the toner container is attached to the storage portion, the auxiliary rail descends on the extension line of the guide rail. Therefore, when the toner container is removed from the storage portion, along the auxiliary rail arranged on the extension line of the guide rail. The toner container is guided to the outside. As a result, it is possible to prevent the toner container from coming into contact with the storage unit, and it is possible to prevent the toner from falling due to the impact of the contact between the toner container and the storage unit, thereby preventing the user's clothes from being soiled by the toner. It becomes possible to prevent. In addition, it is possible to remove the toner container from the storage unit without performing a special operation simply by guiding the toner container to the outside along the auxiliary rail, so that it is possible to reduce the work burden on the user. .

  The present invention makes it possible to prevent the user's clothing from being soiled by toner adhering to the toner container when the toner container is removed without increasing the user's work burden.

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an outline of a configuration of a color printer according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view from the front side showing a storage unit and a toner container in the color printer according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a toner container in the color printer according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In the color printer according to the first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. It is AA sectional drawing of FIG. In the color printer according to the first embodiment of the present invention, (a) is a cross section showing a state in which the flange portion is guided to the guide rail along the inclined surface in the mounting process of the toner container in the storage portion. FIG. 6B is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state in which the flange portion pushes up the auxiliary rail in the process of mounting the toner container in the storage portion. In the color printer according to the first embodiment of the present invention, (a) is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state in which the toner container is attached to the storage unit, and (b) is a process of removing the toner container from the storage unit. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the flange portion is guided to the outside along the auxiliary rail. In the color printer according to the first embodiment of the present invention, (a) is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the flange portion pushes up the auxiliary rail in the process of mounting the toner container in the storage portion, and (b) is a cross-sectional view. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the flange portion is guided to the outside along the auxiliary rail in the process of removing the toner container from the storage portion. In the color printer which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention, (a) is sectional drawing which shows the state in which the auxiliary rail is not pushed up, (b) is sectional drawing which shows the state in which the auxiliary rail was pushed up It is.

<First Embodiment>
First, the overall configuration of the color printer 1 as an image forming apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an outline of a configuration of a color printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  The color printer 1 includes a box-shaped printer main body 2. A paper feed cassette 3 storing transfer paper (not shown) is provided in the lower portion of the printer main body 2, and a discharge cassette is disposed in the upper portion of the printer main body 2. A paper tray 4 is provided.

  An intermediate transfer belt 5 serving as an image carrier is installed between a plurality of rollers on the upper part of the printer main body 2, and an exposure unit 10 composed of a laser scanning unit (LSU) is provided below the intermediate transfer belt 5. Are arranged, and four image forming portions 6 are provided for each toner color along the lower portion of the intermediate transfer belt 5.

  Each image forming unit 6 is rotatably provided with a photosensitive drum 7, and around the photosensitive drum 7, a charger 8, a developing unit 11, a primary transfer unit 12, and a cleaning device 13 are provided. The static eliminator 14 is arranged in the order of the primary transfer process.

  A pair of stirring rollers 15 is provided below the developing device 11, a magnetic roller 16 is provided obliquely above the stirring roller 15, and a developing roller 17 is provided obliquely above the magnetic roller 16. Above the developing unit 11, toner containers 18 as four toner containers corresponding to the image forming units 6 are provided for each toner color. Details of the toner container 18 will be described later.

  A transfer paper conveyance path 20 is provided on one side (right side in the drawing) of the printer body 2. A paper feeding unit 21 is provided at the upstream end of the conveyance path 20, and a secondary transfer unit 22 is provided at one end (the right end in the drawing) of the intermediate transfer belt 5 at a middle portion of the conveyance path 20. A fixing unit 23 is provided at the part, and a paper discharge port 24 is provided at the downstream end of the transport path 20.

  Next, an image forming operation of the color printer 1 having such a configuration will be described. When the color printer 1 is turned on, various parameters are initialized, and initial settings such as temperature setting of the fixing unit 23 are executed. When image data is input from a computer or the like connected to the color printer 1 and an instruction to start printing is given, an image forming operation is executed as follows.

  First, after the surface of the photosensitive drum 7 is charged by the charger 8, the photosensitive drum 7 is exposed according to the image data by the laser light (see arrow P) from the exposure device 10, and the photosensitive member is exposed. An electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the drum 7. Next, the developing device 11 develops the electrostatic latent image into a toner image of a corresponding color with toner. This toner image is primarily transferred to the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 5 at the primary transfer portion 12. Each image forming unit 6 sequentially repeats the above operation, whereby a full-color toner image is formed on the intermediate transfer belt 5. The toner and electric charge remaining on the photosensitive drum 7 are removed by the cleaning device 13 and the static eliminator 14.

  On the other hand, the transfer paper taken out from the paper feed cassette 3 or the hand tray (not shown) by the paper feed unit 21 is conveyed to the secondary transfer unit 22 in synchronism with the image forming operation described above, and the secondary transfer unit 22 In the transfer unit 22, the full color toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 5 is secondarily transferred to the transfer paper. The transfer sheet on which the toner image is secondarily transferred is conveyed downstream in the conveyance path 20 and enters the fixing unit 23 where the toner image is fixed on the transfer sheet. The transfer paper on which the toner image is fixed is discharged from the paper discharge port 24 onto the paper discharge tray 4.

  Next, the toner container 18 and its peripheral part will be described with reference to FIGS. Hereinafter, for convenience, the front side in FIG. 2 will be described as the front side of each member. FIG. 2 is a perspective view from the front side showing the storage unit and the toner container in the color printer according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a toner container in the color printer according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a side cross-sectional view showing the storage portion in the color printer according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. In FIG. 3, the left side is the front side, whereas in FIG. 4, the right side is the front side.

  As shown in FIG. 2, in the upper part of the printer main body 2, four storage units 25 (removed only in the center in the left-right direction in FIG. 2) are detachably stored. In FIG. 2, only two in the center in the left-right direction are displayed.

  Each toner container 18 contains toner of different colors. This toner is a two-component developer composed of, for example, a magnetic toner and a carrier. As shown in FIG. 3, each toner container 18 includes a container main body 26 whose upper surface is opened, and a lid member 27 that closes the opening of the container main body 26.

  The container body 26 has an elongated shape along the front-rear direction, and a handle 28 is provided at the front end of the container body 26. A discharge port 30 is provided at the rear lower portion of the container body 26, and the discharge port 30 is closed by a sliding shutter (not shown) in a state where the toner container 18 is not mounted in the storage unit 25. When the toner container 18 is mounted in the storage unit 25, the shutter slides and the discharge port 30 is opened, so that the internal space of the toner container 18 and the internal space of the developing device 11 communicate with each other. ing. In this embodiment, the sliding shutter is used as described above. However, in another different embodiment, after the toner container 18 is attached to the storage unit 25 and the lever is unlocked, the user's A rotary shutter in which the shutter is rotated in conjunction with the lever operation and the discharge port 30 is opened may be used.

  In the container body 26, a conveying screw (not shown) is rotatably provided above the discharge port 30, and a stirring paddle (not shown) is rotatably provided on the left side of the conveying screw. In conjunction with the mounting of the toner container 18 in the storage unit 25, the transport screw and the stirring paddle are connected to a drive unit (not shown) provided behind the storage unit 25, and the transport screw and the stirring paddle are connected. Can be rotated. A flange portion 31 is provided on the outer periphery of the upper end of the container body 26. The flange portion 31 has a rectangular frame shape that is long in the front-rear direction.

  A flange portion 32 is provided on the outer periphery of the lid member 27. Then, the flange portion 32 is ultrasonically welded to the flange portion 31 of the container body 26, so that the opening on the upper surface of the container body 26 is closed. Hereinafter, the flange portion 31 of the container body 26 and the flange portion 32 of the lid member 27 are collectively referred to as flange portions 31 and 32 of the toner container 18.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the storage units 25 are provided in the upper part of the printer body 2 so as to be arranged in the left-right direction. Each storage unit 25 is provided for each toner color corresponding to each image forming unit 6. The upper portion of each storage unit 25 is covered with a paper discharge tray 4. The bottom wall of each storage portion 25 is constituted by a main body frame 39 that is a sheet metal member. The main body frame 39 is provided with a communication port (not shown) at a position corresponding to the discharge port 30 of each toner container 18, and discharged from the discharge port 30 of the toner container 18 through this communication port. Toner is supplied to the developing device 11.

  At the front end of each storage unit 25, an outlet 33 for attaching and detaching the toner container 18 to and from the storage unit 25 is formed. Each storage portion 25 is covered on both sides by a peripheral wall 34 provided in the front-rear direction so as to partition each storage portion 25. As shown in FIG. 4, a laterally U-shaped guide rail 35 is provided along the front-rear direction on the upper portion of the opposing surface of each peripheral wall 34, and the toner container 18 is disposed on the bottom surface 29 of the guide rail 35. Both side portions of the flange portions 31 and 32 are supported.

  In each storage section 25, the front side of the guide rail 35 (this embodiment) in the mounting direction of the toner container 18 with respect to the storage section 25 (in this embodiment, the direction from the front side toward the rear side, see the two-dot chain line arrow X in FIG. 4). An auxiliary rail 36 is provided on the front side in the form. The auxiliary rail 36 is provided in parallel with the guide rail 35 on an extension line of the guide rail 35. As shown in FIG. 5, the auxiliary rail 36 is inserted into a through hole 42 of a partition plate 41 provided above the peripheral wall 34 and below the paper discharge tray 4. In addition, description of the partition plate 41 is abbreviate | omitted in FIG.4, FIG.6, FIG.7.

  The auxiliary rail 36 is bent inward from the lower end of the connecting plate 38, a connecting plate 37 provided in parallel with the partition plate 41, a connecting plate 38 extending downward from the center of the lower surface of the connecting plate 37 in the left-right direction. The bent plate 40 is configured such that both sides of the flange portions 31 and 32 of the toner container 18 are supported by the bent plate 40.

  The auxiliary rail 36 can be lifted and lowered by being suspended by a coil spring 44 as a spring member. The upper end of the coil spring 44 is connected to the lower surface of the paper discharge tray 4, and the lower end of the coil spring 44 is connected to the upper surface of the connection plate 37 of the auxiliary rail 36. The coil spring 44 is provided around a cylindrical spring receiver 45 that projects downward from the lower surface of the paper discharge tray 4.

  Below the auxiliary rail 36, an inclined surface 46 is provided as a guide portion. The inclined surface 46 is provided at the front end portion of each peripheral wall 34, and is formed so as to be inclined downward toward the front side in the mounting direction and to have a lateral width narrowed toward the front. In the present embodiment, the inclined surface 46 of each peripheral wall 34 is configured to be shared by adjacent storage units 25. Between the inclined surface 46 and the auxiliary rail 36, a guide path 47 whose vertical width increases toward the near side in the mounting direction is formed.

  A method of attaching and detaching the toner container 18 to and from the storage unit 25 in the configuration as described above will be described mainly with reference to FIGS. FIG. 6 shows the color printer according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6A shows a state in which the flange portion is guided to the guide rail along the inclined surface in the mounting process of the toner container in the storage portion. FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state in which the flange portion pushes up the auxiliary rail in the process of mounting the toner container to the storage unit. FIG. 7A is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state in which the toner container is mounted in the storage unit in the color printer according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the state by which the flange part is guide | induced to the exterior along an auxiliary rail in the removal process of these. FIG. 8A is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state where the flange portion pushes up the auxiliary rail in the mounting process of the toner container to the storage portion in the color printer according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7B is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state in which the flange portion is guided to the outside along the auxiliary rail in the process of removing the toner container from the storage portion. 6 to 8, the toner container 18 is indicated by a two-dot chain line.

  In the state before the toner container 18 is mounted, the auxiliary rail 36 is positioned on the extended line of the guide rail 35 as shown in FIG. From this state, the flange portions 31 and 32 of the toner container 18 are inserted into the guide path 47 from the rear end side, and the rear ends of both side portions of the flange portions 31 and 32 as shown in FIG. Is brought into contact with the inclined surface 46. When the toner container 18 is pushed backward in this state, the toner container 18 is guided to the guide rail 35 along the inclined surface 46. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 6B, the toner container 18 pushes up the auxiliary rail 36 to a position above the guide rail 35 against the dead weight of the auxiliary rail 36, and the coil spring 44 is compressed.

  When the toner container 18 is pushed further rearward, the toner container 18 slides rearward along the guide rail 35, and the toner container 18 is attached to the storage unit 25 as shown in FIG. Is done. Along with this, the push-up of the auxiliary rail 36 by the toner container 18 is released, and the auxiliary rail 36 descends on the extension line of the guide rail 35 by its own weight, and the coil spring 44 is restored. As a result, the toner container 18 can be guided to the outside along the auxiliary rail 36. Further, as the auxiliary rail 36 is lowered, the auxiliary rail 36 approaches the inclined surface 46, and the guide path 47 is closed. Thereby, the guidance to the outside of the toner container 18 along the inclined surface 46 is suppressed.

  In this embodiment, as described above, the toner container 18 can be guided to the guide rail 35 along the inclined surface 46 when the toner container 18 is attached to the storage unit 25. Even when the flange portions 31 and 32 come into contact with each other, the toner container 18 is naturally guided to the guide rail 35 by a force pushing in the mounting direction. Therefore, the toner container 18 can be easily attached to the storage unit 25.

  On the other hand, when the toner container 18 attached to the storage unit 25 is removed from the storage unit 25 as described above, if the toner container 18 is guided to the outside along the inclined surface 46, the position restriction is opposite to that at the time of insertion. Therefore, there is a possibility that the toner container 18 tilts forward and a part of the toner container 18 comes into contact with the vicinity of the outlet 33 of the storage unit 25. Then, due to the impact caused by this contact, the toner adhering to the periphery of the discharge port 30 of the toner container 18 may fall, and there is a risk that the user's clothing for the replacement operation of the toner container 18 will be soiled by the toner.

  However, in the present embodiment, the guidance of the toner container 18 along the inclined surface 46 to the outside is suppressed as the toner container 18 is attached to the storage unit 25. Therefore, when the toner container 18 is removed from the storage unit 25, the toner container 18 is guided along the auxiliary rail 36 and is drawn straight forward from the guide rail 35 (see FIG. 7B). Therefore, the forward tilt of the toner container 18 can be suppressed, and the toner container 18 can be prevented from contacting the storage unit 25. Along with this, it is possible to suppress the fall of the toner due to the impact of the contact between the toner container 18 and the storage unit 25 and prevent the user's clothes from being soiled by the toner.

  As described above, the color printer 1 of the present embodiment has a path (guide path 47) through which the toner container 18 can be easily guided to the guide rail 35 when the toner container 18 is mounted in the storage unit 25, and the removal of the toner container 18. Sometimes there is also a path (path on the auxiliary rail 36 side) that can suppress the fall of the toner. When the toner container 18 is attached to or detached from the storage unit 25, the toner container 18 passes through different paths, so that it is possible to easily attach the toner container 18 and prevent the toner from falling when the toner container 18 is removed. It is said.

  Further, since the toner container 18 can be detached from the storage unit 25 without performing any special work simply by pulling the toner container 18 along the auxiliary rail 36 to the near side, the work load on the user can be reduced. It becomes possible.

  Further, the lifting and lowering operation of the auxiliary rail 36 can be realized with a simple configuration in which the auxiliary rail 36 is simply suspended from the coil spring 44, so that the configuration of the apparatus can be simplified and the manufacturing cost can be reduced. Is possible.

  In addition, by providing inclined portions 46 on the peripheral wall 34 that covers both sides of the storage portion 25 to serve as guide portions, it is possible to reduce the number of parts compared to the case where members that form the guide portions are separately provided, and the manufacturing cost. It is possible to further reduce the cost.

  In this embodiment, the case where the toner container 18 is guided to the guide rail 35 along the inclined surface 46 when the toner container 18 is mounted in the storage unit 25 has been described. However, in other different embodiments, the toner container 18 is guided. The toner container 18 may be guided to the guide rail 35 along the auxiliary rail 36 when the toner container 18 is attached to the storage portion 25. Also in this case, the toner container 18 can be attached to an accurate position of the storage unit 25.

  In the present embodiment, the case where the toner container 18 is directly connected to the developing device 11 has been described. However, in another different embodiment, the toner container 18 is connected to the developing device 11 via another toner container such as an intermediate hopper. May be. In this case, the configuration of the present invention may be applied to other toner containers such as an intermediate hopper.

  In the present embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to the tandem color printer 1 has been described. However, in other different embodiments, other than a rotary color printer, a monochrome printer, a copier, a digital multifunction peripheral, a facsimile, and the like. The present invention can also be applied to other image forming apparatuses.

<Second Embodiment>
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9A is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the auxiliary rail is not pushed up, and FIG. 9B is a state where the auxiliary rail is pushed up, in the color printer according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG.

  In the first embodiment, the auxiliary rail 36 is connected to the lower end of the coil spring 44 as a spring member. However, in this embodiment, the auxiliary rail 36 is connected to the lower end of the coil spring 48 as an urging member. . That is, in the first embodiment, the auxiliary rail 36 is suspended from the lower end of the coil spring 44. However, in this embodiment, the auxiliary rail 36 is urged downward by the coil spring 48 to connect the auxiliary rail 36 to the connection plate. The lower surface of 37 is brought into pressure contact with the upper surface of the partition plate 41 as a locking member (see FIG. 9A).

  When the toner container 18 is guided to the guide rail 35 along the inclined surface 46 when the toner container 18 is attached to the storage unit 25, the coil spring 48 is attached as shown in FIG. The toner container 18 pushes up the auxiliary rail 36 against the force, and the auxiliary rail 36 is separated from the partition plate 41. When the toner container 18 is attached to the storage unit 25, as shown in FIG. 9A, the auxiliary rail 36 is lowered by the urging force of the coil spring 48, and the lower surface of the connection plate 37 of the auxiliary rail 36 is partitioned. Press contact with the upper surface of the plate 41.

  In this embodiment, as described above, when the toner container 18 is attached to the storage unit 25, the auxiliary rail 36 is lowered by the urging force of the coil spring 48, so that the auxiliary rail 36 is securely on the extension line of the guide rail 35. Can be lowered. Accordingly, when the toner container 18 is detached from the storage unit 25, the toner container 18 can be reliably guided to the outside along the auxiliary rail 36.

1 Color printer (image forming device)
18 Toner container (toner container)
25 Storage part 31, 32 Flange part 34 Peripheral wall 35 Guide rail 36 Auxiliary rail 41 Partition plate (locking member)
44 Coil spring (spring member)
46 Inclined surface (guide part)
48 Coil spring (biasing member)

Claims (5)

A toner container that contains toner, and a storage portion provided with a guide rail that supports the toner container, and the toner container is slid along the guide rail so that the toner container moves relative to the storage portion. An image forming apparatus configured to be attached and detached at once,
In the mounting direction of the toner container with respect to the storage unit, an auxiliary rail is provided on the front side of the guide rail so as to be movable up and down, and below the auxiliary rail, a guide unit that is inclined downward toward the front side in the mounting direction. Is provided,
When the toner container is guided to the guide rail along the guide portion when the toner container is attached to the storage portion, the toner container pushes the auxiliary rail up to a position above the guide rail,
2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the toner container is mounted in the storage portion, the push-up of the auxiliary rail by the toner container is released, and the auxiliary rail descends on an extension line of the guide rail. A spring member for suspending the auxiliary rail;
When the toner container is attached to the storage portion, the toner container pushes up the auxiliary rail against the weight of the auxiliary rail and the spring member is compressed,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the toner container is attached to the storage unit, the auxiliary rail is lowered by its own weight and the spring member is restored. A biasing member that biases the auxiliary rail downward;
A locking member capable of press-contacting the auxiliary rail,
The toner container pushes up the auxiliary rail against the urging force of the urging member when the toner container is attached to the storage portion, and the auxiliary rail is separated from the locking member;
2. The auxiliary rail according to claim 1, wherein when the toner container is attached to the storage portion, the auxiliary rail is lowered by the urging force of the urging member and the auxiliary rail is pressed against the locking member. Image forming apparatus. A flange portion is provided on the outer periphery of the upper end of the toner container,
The guide part is an inclined surface provided on a peripheral wall covering both sides of the storage part,
The flange portion pushes up the auxiliary rail when the flange portion is guided to the guide rail along the inclined surface when the toner container is attached to the storage portion. 4. The image forming apparatus according to any one of items 3. A toner container that contains toner and is supported by a guide rail provided in a storage portion of the image forming apparatus,
The image forming apparatus is provided with an auxiliary rail that can be moved up and down on the front side of the guide rail in the mounting direction of the toner container with respect to the storage portion, and below the auxiliary rail toward the front side in the mounting direction. A guiding portion that slopes downward is provided;
When the toner container is guided to the guide rail along the guide portion when the toner container is attached to the storage portion, the toner container pushes the auxiliary rail up to a position above the guide rail,
When the toner container is attached to the storage portion, the push-up of the auxiliary rail by the toner container is released, and the auxiliary rail descends on an extension line of the guide rail.