JP2014115401A - Powder supply device and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide, to a flexible stirring piece provided on a toner stirring member, with a flipping effect in which the flexible stirring piece is elastically deformed and subsequently returned to the original form in the course of rotation, so as to prevent accumulation of toner to improve toner conveyance efficiency.SOLUTION: A powder supply device includes: a powder stirring member 80 that has a rotation shaft 80a and a flexible blade 80b, and rotates inside a powder storage unit 62 to stir and convey a powder; a powder conveying member 91 that rotates the powder conveyed by the powder stirring member to send out the powder to a developing device; and a delivering unit that delivers the powder from the powder stirring member to the powder conveying member. The powder storage unit is provided with a projection member 67 on an opposite wall face to which the flexible blade comes into close contact, the projection member 67 coming into rubbing contact with at least a part of the flexible blade when the flexible blade rotates, and a part of the projection member is arranged in the proximity of the delivering unit, or located inside the delivering unit.

Description

  The present invention relates to a toner replenishing device that sends toner in a toner accommodating portion into a developer accommodating portion of a developing device by a toner replenishing conveyance member, and an image forming apparatus including the toner replenishing device.

2. Description of the Related Art As an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, an apparatus including a toner replenishing device that conveys toner supplied from a toner bottle to a developing device is known. The greatest purpose of replenishing toner with the toner replenishing device is to replenish and supply the amount of toner consumed by the image output in order to maintain the toner concentration in the developer accommodating portion of the developing device.
Patent Document 1 discloses a toner that temporarily stores toner supplied from a toner bottle in a toner storage portion of a toner replenishing device, and supplies toner in the toner storage portion into a developer storage portion of a developing device by a toner replenishment transport member. A replenishing device is disclosed. In the toner storage unit of the toner replenishing device, a spiral toner transporting member that sends toner toward the developing device, and a flexible stirring member that transports the toner in the storage unit toward the toner transporting member while stirring the toner. , Is arranged.
However, if the toner conveying member and the agitating member are too close to each other, when the two members rotate, there is a risk of causing a toner aggregation by applying a load to the toner due to a sliding load caused by a strong friction with the toner. was there. In order to eliminate this sliding load, a clearance is also provided between the toner conveying member and the agitating member. However, there is a problem that toner stays in the clearance and the toner conveying efficiency is lowered. .

This will be described in further detail.
11 (a), 11 (b), 11 (c) and 11 (d) are a plan view, a top perspective view, a front longitudinal sectional view, and a top view showing a housing structure showing an internal configuration of a conventional toner replenishing device. It is a perspective view.
The toner replenishing device 100 includes a housing 101 having a toner container 102 therein, a toner end detection cleaning member 110 and a toner agitating member 120 which are rotatably disposed in the housing, and toner discharge of the housing 101. A helical toner conveying member 131 that is rotatably arranged in the toner conveying pipe 130 connected to the outlet and that partially extends into the toner accommodating portion 102, and contains toner to detect the remaining amount of toner. It schematically includes a toner end detection unit 140 disposed on the inner wall of the unit and a lid member (not shown) that closes the upper opening of the housing 101.

One corner of the casing 101 forming the toner discharge port 103 is an L-shaped recess in plan view. Therefore, a convex wall surface 105 having an L shape in plan view is formed on the inner wall of the corresponding corner of the toner storage portion 102. The toner discharge port 103 is formed at a lower portion of one wall surface of the convex wall surface 105, and the front end portion of the toner conveying member 131 protrudes into the space S inside the toner discharge port 103.
The toner end detection cleaning member 110 has a configuration in which a flexible blade 110b that cleans the detection surface of the toner end detection unit 140 protrudes from the outer periphery of a rod-shaped rotating shaft member 110a.
The toner stirring member 120 has a configuration in which a flexible blade 120b for stirring is protruded from the outer periphery of a rod-shaped rotating shaft member 120a.
An opening for introducing toner from a toner bottle (not shown) is formed in the lid member immediately above the toner end detection cleaning member 110. The new toner that has fallen from the opening is conveyed to the adjacent toner agitating member 120 by the rotation of the toner end detection cleaning member 110. The toner agitating member 120 conveys the toner toward the toner conveying member 131 by the rotation of the flexible blade 120b.

  In the above configuration, when the flexible blades 120b of the toner conveying member 131 are arranged close enough to come into contact with the toner conveying member 131, the toner is sandwiched between the two members and slid by strong rubbing. There is a risk of causing toner aggregation due to a dynamic load. In order to eliminate this sliding load, a clearance C is provided between the toner conveying member 131 and the flexible blade 120b of the stirring member 120.

However, since the flexible blade 120b and the toner conveying member 131 do not reach the clearance C, the toner is not stirred and the toner stays in the wall shape in the clearance C, and the toner conveying efficiency is lowered. There was a problem.
In particular, the toner is likely to aggregate due to the high temperature environment, and the toner stays in the clearance C between the toner agitating member and the toner conveying member under the condition that the toner replenishing device is not driven for a long time. Since the toner easily aggregates, the toner transportability is greatly reduced.

Patent Document 2 discloses a powder supply port and a powder conveyance path when supplying toner toward a developing device via a powder supply port and a powder conveyance path provided in a toner container of a toner replenishing device. This eliminates the inconvenience of passing toner due to the agglomeration of toner. A flexible blade member protrudes from the circumferential surface of a rotating member that is rotatably provided in the toner containing portion, and the leading end of the flexible blade member is brought into sliding contact with the inner wall surface of the toner containing portion, thereby preventing poor conveyance due to toner agglomeration. doing.
However, this conventional technique cannot solve the problem of causing toner aggregation by applying a load to the toner due to a sliding load when the stirring member or the like rotates in the toner container.

  According to the present invention, the protrusion member is provided on the inner wall of the toner container in the toner replenishing device, so that the flexible stirring piece provided on the toner stirring member is in contact with the protrusion member when passing through the protrusion member in the process of rotation. An object is to impart a repelling effect that is deformed and returns to its original shape after passing, prevents toner retention, and improves toner conveyance efficiency.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a powder replenishing device that conveys powder contained in a powder container to a developing device, and a powder container that accepts powder from the powder container; A powder agitating member that has a rotating shaft and flexible blades projecting from the rotating shaft in the outer diameter direction and that stirs and conveys powder by rotating in the powder container, and the powder A powder transporting member that rotates the powder transported by the stirring member to be sent to the developing device, and a delivery unit that delivers the powder from the powder stirring member to the powder transporting member, A projecting member that slides in contact with at least a part of the flexible blade when the flexible blade rotates is provided on the opposing wall surface in the powder container where the leading edge of the flexible blade is close. A part of the projecting member is disposed close to the delivery part or the receiving part. And it is located in the passing unit.

  According to the present invention, since the flexible stirring piece disposed in the toner storage portion rotates and deforms in contact with the protruding member provided on the inner wall of the toner storage portion, the effect of repelling the toner is obtained. Occur. For example, toner tends to agglomerate in a high-temperature environment, and even when the toner replenishing device is hardly driven, the toner can no longer stay in the space between the toner agitating member and the toner conveying member, thereby improving the toner conveying property. be able to.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is an enlarged explanatory view near the process cartridge. The perspective view of a toner bottle. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a toner bottle, an intermediate transfer unit, and a toner supply device. FIG. 3 is a side view of a toner supply device and a toner bottle. FIGS. 4A and 4B are a plan view and a top perspective view showing an internal configuration in which an upper part of a sub hopper of the toner supply device of the present invention is opened. (A) And (b) is a front longitudinal cross-sectional view of the sub hopper of FIG. 6, and a top perspective view showing a housing structure. (A) And (b) is a structure explanatory drawing of a toner stirring member, and a structure explanatory drawing of a toner conveyance member. (A) And (b) is explanatory drawing about the structure of the protrusion member provided in the toner accommodating part, and the top view explaining the structure of a protrusion member. The front longitudinal cross-sectional view for demonstrating the suitable shape of a projection member. (A), (b), (c), and (d) are a plan view, a top perspective view, a front vertical sectional view, and a top perspective view showing a housing structure, showing an internal configuration of a conventional toner replenishing device. .

Hereinafter, an electrophotographic printer (hereinafter referred to as “printer”) will be described as an embodiment of an image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied.
First, the basic configuration of the printer will be described. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a printer. In the figure, the printer includes four process cartridges 6Y, 6M, 6C, and 6K for generating yellow, magenta, cyan, and black (hereinafter referred to as Y, M, C, and K) toner images. . These use Y, M, C, and K toners of different colors as the image forming material, but the other configurations are the same and are replaced when the lifetime is reached. Taking a process cartridge 6M for generating an M toner image as an example, as shown in FIG. 2, a drum-shaped photosensitive member 1M, a drum cleaning device 2M, a charge eliminating device (not shown), a charging device 4M, a developing device 5M, and the like. It has. The process cartridge 6M can be attached to and detached from the printer body, so that consumable parts can be replaced at a time.

  The charging device 4M uniformly charges the surface of the photosensitive member (latent image carrier) 1M that rotates clockwise in the drawing by a driving unit (not shown). The surface of the uniformly charged photoreceptor 1M is exposed and scanned by the laser beam L and carries an electrostatic latent image for M. The M electrostatic latent image is developed into an M toner image by the developing device 5M using M toner. Then, intermediate transfer is performed on the intermediate transfer belt 8. The drum cleaning device 2M removes the toner remaining on the surface of the photoreceptor 1M after the intermediate transfer process. The static eliminator neutralizes residual charges on the photoreceptor 1M after cleaning. By this charge removal, the surface of the photoreceptor 1M is initialized and prepared for the next image formation. In the other process cartridges 6Y, 6C, and 6K, Y, C, and K toner images are similarly formed on the photoreceptors 1Y, 1C, and 1K, and are intermediately transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 8.

In FIG. 1, an exposure device 7 is disposed below the process cartridges 6Y, 6M, 6C, and 6K in the drawing. The exposure device 7 serving as a latent image forming unit irradiates each of the photoconductors in the process cartridges 6Y, 6M, 6C, and 6K with a laser beam L emitted based on the image information. By this exposure, electrostatic latent images for Y, M, C, and K are formed on the photoreceptors 1Y, 1M, 1C, and 1K.
On the lower side of the exposure apparatus 7 in the figure, paper supply means including a paper storage cassette 26, a paper supply roller 27 incorporated therein, a registration roller pair 28, and the like are disposed. The paper storage cassette 26 stores a plurality of transfer papers P as recording bodies, and a paper feed roller 27 is in contact with the uppermost transfer paper P. When the paper feeding roller 27 is rotated counterclockwise in the drawing by a driving means (not shown), the uppermost transfer paper P is fed toward the rollers of the registration roller pair 28. The registration roller pair 28 sends the transfer paper P toward a secondary transfer nip described later at an appropriate timing.

  Above the process cartridges 6Y, 6M, 6C, and 6K, an intermediate transfer unit 15 that moves the intermediate transfer belt 8 serving as an intermediate transfer member endlessly while stretching is disposed. In addition to the intermediate transfer belt 8, the intermediate transfer unit 15 includes four primary transfer bias rollers 9Y, M, C, and K, a cleaning device 10, a secondary transfer backup roller 12, and the like. The intermediate transfer belt 8 is endlessly moved counterclockwise in the drawing while being stretched by three rollers. The primary transfer bias rollers 9Y, 9M, 9C, and 9K apply a transfer bias having a reverse polarity (for example, plus) to the toner to the back surface of the intermediate transfer belt 8. The intermediate transfer belt 8 sequentially passes through the primary transfer nips for Y, M, C, and K along with the endless movement thereof, and Y, M, and C on the photoreceptors 1Y, M, C, and K , K toner images are superimposed and primarily transferred. As a result, a four-color superimposed toner image (hereinafter referred to as “four-color toner image”) is formed on the intermediate transfer belt 8.

The secondary transfer backup roller 12 sandwiches the intermediate transfer belt 8 between the secondary transfer roller 19 and forms a secondary transfer nip. The four-color toner image formed on the intermediate transfer belt 8 is transferred to the transfer paper P at the secondary transfer nip.
When the transfer paper P sent out from the secondary transfer nip passes between the rollers of the fixing device 20, the four-color toner image transferred to the surface is fixed by heat and pressure. A stack unit 30 is formed on the upper surface of the printer main body, and the transfer sheets P discharged to the outside by the discharge roller pair 29 are sequentially stacked on the stack unit 30.

  Next, the configuration of the developing device 5M in the process cartridge 6M will be described with reference to FIG. The developing device 5M includes a magnetic field generating means inside, and a developing sleeve 51M as a developer carrying member that carries and conveys a two-component developer containing magnetic particles and toner on the surface, and is carried on the developing sleeve 51M. And a doctor 52M as a developer regulating member that regulates the layer thickness of the developer conveyed. Adjacent to the developing sleeve accommodating portion 53M, the developer accommodating portion 54M for accommodating the developer includes a developer conveying screw 55M for agitating and conveying the developer. Further, the developing device 5M includes a toner supply port (not shown) for taking the toner supplied from the toner supply device based on the detection result of the density detection sensor 56M into the developer storage portion 54M.

  In FIG. 1, a toner bottle base 31 as a toner bottle storage unit is disposed between the intermediate transfer unit 15 and the stack unit 30 located above the intermediate transfer unit 15. The toner bottle base 31 accommodates toner bottles (powder containers) 32Y, M, C, and K containing Y, M, C, and K toners. Each toner bottle is placed on the toner bottle base 31 so as to be placed from above for each color of toner (powder). The Y, M, C, and K toners in each toner bottle are appropriately replenished to the developing devices of the process cartridges 6Y, 6M, 6C, and 6K, respectively, by a toner replenishing device (powder replenishing device) described later. Each of these toner bottles can be attached to and detached from the printer main body independently of each process cartridge.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the toner bottle 32M. As shown in FIG. 3, the toner bottle 32M is provided with a resin case 34M at the tip of the bottle body 33M. A bottle rotation gear 37M that rotates integrally with the bottle body 33 is provided on the resin case 34M side of the bottle body 33.
When attaching the toner bottle 32M to the printer main body, if the toner bottle 32M is inserted into the printer main body, the shutter 36M moves and opens to open the discharge port (not shown), and at the same time, the resin case 34M and the toner bottle base 31 Are connected and fixed.

Next, a toner replenishing device (powder replenishing device) will be described.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the toner bottles 32Y, 32M, 32C, 32K, the toner replenishing devices 40Y, 40M, 40C, the K, the intermediate transfer unit 15, and the process cartridges 6Y, 6M, 6C, 6K.
The toner replenishing devices 40Y, M, C, and K are provided in the printer main body on the back side of the intermediate transfer unit 15 shown in FIG.

Hereinafter, since the toner replenishing devices 40Y, 40M, 40C, and 40K have the same configuration, the toner replenishing device 40M for conveying M toner will be described.
FIG. 5 is a right side view of the toner supply device 40M and the toner bottle 32M in which the toner bottle base 31 is omitted. The other toner replenishing devices 40Y, 40C, and 40K and the toner bottles 32Y, 32C, and 32K are also arranged in the same manner, but are not shown. Further, the description of the members constituting the toner replenishing device 40M will be made by omitting “M”.
The toner replenishing device 40M is a drive motor 41 as a toner replenishment operation drive source, a gear mechanism 42 including a plurality of gears for transmitting a driving force from the drive motor to each movable member, and a toner container (powder container). It is mainly composed of a sub hopper 48 and a toner transport pipe (powder transport pipe) 43 as a toner transport path provided with a toner transport coil.
When the drive motor 41 is rotated, the bottle main body 33 is rotated by the driving force transmitted from the gear mechanism 42.

  Further, on the side of the sub hopper 48, a transmission gear provided on a rotation shaft of a toner stirring member, which will be described later, and a transmission gear provided on a rotation shaft of a toner end detection cleaning member are provided, and the driving force of the drive motor 41 is a gear. It is transmitted to each transmission gear via a mechanism. For this reason, the toner stirring member and the toner end detection cleaning member are driven to rotate. Further, one end of the toner conveying coil enters the sub hopper 48, and its tip is integrated with a transmission gear provided on the outer wall of the sub hopper casing. The transmission gear is rotationally driven by the drive motor 41 via the gear mechanism 42, so that the toner transport coil is also rotationally driven.

  When the density detection sensor 56 of the developing device 5 shown in FIG. 2 detects the lack of toner density in the developer container 54, the drive motor 41 is rotated by a replenishment signal from the control unit 57. Due to the rotation of the bottle body 33, the internal toner is conveyed from the back side of the bottle body 33 to the resin case 34 at the front end. Then, the toner in the bottle body 33 falls into the sub hopper 48 of the toner replenishing device 40 from the discharge port (not shown) of the resin case 34. The inside of the sub hopper 48 communicates with the toner transport pipe 43 through a communication portion (toner discharge port) provided below. When the drive motor 41 is rotated, the bottle body 33 is rotated, and at the same time, the toner agitating member in the sub hopper 48, the toner end detection cleaning member, and the toner conveying coil in the toner conveying pipe 43 are simultaneously rotated. Due to the rotation of the toner transport coil, the toner that has reached the lower side of the sub hopper 48 is transported through the toner transport pipe 43 and supplied to a toner supply port (not shown) of the developer container 54M of the developing device 5M. In this way, the toner density in the developing device 5M is adjusted.

Next, the sub hopper 48 will be described in detail.
6A and 6B are a plan view and a top perspective view showing an internal configuration in which the upper portion of the sub hopper 48 of the toner replenishing device of the present invention is opened, and FIGS. 7A and 7B are views. FIG. 6 is a front longitudinal sectional view of a sub hopper 6 and a top perspective view showing a housing structure.
The toner replenishing device 40 includes a housing 61 (sub hopper 48) having a toner storage portion (powder storage portion) 62 therein, a toner end detection cleaning member 70 that is rotatably and parallelly disposed in the housing, and A toner agitating member (powder agitating member) 80 and a toner conveying pipe 43 connected to a toner discharge port (powder discharge port) 63 of the housing 61 are rotatably disposed, and a part of the toner agitating member is disposed in the toner accommodating portion 62. A spiral toner conveying member (powder conveying member) 91 extended in the toner, a toner end detecting portion 95 disposed on the inner wall of the toner containing portion for detecting the remaining amount of toner, and an upper opening of the housing 61 And a lid member (not shown) for closing.

The space that accommodates the toner stirring member 80 in the toner storage chamber 62 constitutes a toner stirring chamber 62a. A bottom surface 62b of the toner agitating chamber 62a located immediately below the toner agitating member 80 is curved so as to follow the rotation locus of the outer peripheral portion (flexible blade 80b) of the toner agitating member. Similarly, the bottom surface of the toner stirring chamber corresponding to the position immediately below the toner end detection cleaning member 70 is also curved.
One outer corner wall of the casing 61 having the toner discharge port (powder discharge port) 63 is an L-shaped recess 61a in plan view. For this reason, an L-shaped convex wall surface 65 in plan view is formed on the inner wall of the toner accommodating portion 62 corresponding to the recess 61a. The convex wall surface 65 is composed of a wall surface 65a on the void S side where the toner discharge port 63 is formed, and an opposing wall surface 65b facing the toner stirring member 80.

  The toner discharge port 63 is formed under one wall surface (front wall) 65 a of the convex wall surface 65, and the tip of the toner transport member 91 extending from the toner transport pipe 43 into the toner storage portion is located inside the toner discharge port 63. It protrudes into the void S. The toner in the toner container that has been agitated and conveyed by the toner agitating member (powder agitating member) 80 is supplied to the toner conveying member 91 via the space S.

The void S is a region having a narrow front-rear width formed between one wall surface 65a of the convex wall surface 65 and the front wall 62A of the toner containing portion 62.
That is, the void S is a space where the end portion of the toner conveying member 91 protruding from the toner discharge port 63 extends, and the bottom of the void S has a curved surface (concave) according to the outer peripheral shape of the toner conveying member. It has become.

The void S has a short dimension along the axial direction of the toner conveying member 91 (toner agitating member 80), communicates with the toner agitating chamber 62a, and is perpendicular to the axial direction from the toner agitating chamber (toner conveying member direction). ) Is a projecting space. Further, the void S is provided at a position that is biased to one side (forward) in the axial direction of the toner stirring member with respect to the toner stirring chamber 62a.
Further, a protrusion 62c extending in the axial direction and protruding upward is formed at a boundary portion where the bottom surface 62b of the toner stirring chamber 62a and the bottom surface of the space S are connected.

The toner end detection cleaning member 70 has a configuration in which a flexible blade 70b that cleans the detection surface of the toner end detection unit 95 protrudes from the outer periphery of the rod-shaped rotating shaft member 70a in the outer diameter direction. The flexible blade 70b is configured using a flexible plate material such as resin or metal.
As shown in FIG. 8A, the toner stirring member (powder stirring member) 80 has a configuration in which a flexible blade 80b for stirring is protruded in the outer diameter direction from the outer periphery of a resin rod-shaped rotary shaft member 80a. Have The flexible blade 80b is configured using a flexible plate material such as resin or metal. In this example, it is assumed that a flexible PET material having a thickness of 0.1 mm is used as the flexible blade.
Both the toner end detection cleaning member 70 and the toner stirring member 80 are rotatably supported in the toner storage space having a wide front-rear width of the toner storage portion 62 in a state of extending in the front-rear direction.
As shown in FIG. 8B, the toner conveying member (powder conveying member) 91 is a member in which a resin-made spiral blade 91b protrudes from the outer periphery of a resin-made rotating shaft 91a, and is flexible as a whole. It has sex.
In the present specification, the front-rear direction corresponds to the axial direction of the toner stirring member.

At the lower peripheral edge of the toner discharge port 63, an arc-shaped protruding portion 63a protruding toward the space S from the wall surface 65a is provided. The protruding portion 63a covers the lower portion of the toner conveying member 91 within a predetermined range. By providing the overhanging portion 63a, there is no gap between the bottom surface of the void S and the lower surface of the toner conveying member 91, and there is no room for the toner to move into the toner discharge port 63 to escape downward. When there is a gap between the bottom surface of the void S and the lower surface of the toner conveying member 91, the toner stays in the gap and does not discharge, but the stagnation is achieved by filling the gap with the overhanging portion 63a. Can be eliminated. For this reason, it is possible to increase the efficiency of conveying the toner in the vicinity of the toner discharge port into the toner discharge port.
However, if the axial length of the overhanging portion 63a is extended until it reaches the opposing wall of the void S, the toner accommodation amount (toner conveyance amount per unit time by the toner conveyance member 91) in the void S decreases. It is preferable to shorten the length as shown.

An opening for introducing toner from the toner bottle is formed in the lid member located immediately above the toner end detection cleaning member 70. The new toner that has fallen from the opening is conveyed to the toner agitating member 80 disposed adjacent thereto by the rotation of the toner end detection cleaning member 70. The toner is sent to the void S by the rotation of the flexible blade 80b integrated with the toner stirring member 80, and the toner conveying member 91 conveys the toner in the void to the developing device. The toner is conveyed to the developing device by the toner conveying member. A toner transfer portion A is formed between the toner stirring member 80 (toner stirring chamber 62a) and the space S. The delivery part A is an area corresponding to a boundary between a toner containing space having a wide front and rear width where the toner stirring member 80 and the like are disposed and a space S having a narrow front and rear width.
A protrusion 62c is located on the bottom surface of the toner delivery portion A, and the bottom surface of the delivery portion A is convex due to the presence of the protrusion 62c. That is, the bottom of the toner delivery part A is also configured by the protrusion 62c.
The delivery part A includes a space corresponding to a region in which the opposing wall surface 65 b extends toward the front in the axial direction of the toner stirring member 80.
Toner is transported into the void S via the transfer portion A by rotation of the toner stirring member 80. To prevent aggregation due to toner rubbing, the tip of the flexible blade 80b of the toner stirring member and the toner transport A clearance C of about 2 mm is provided between the member 91 (inside the delivery part A). Since the toner in the clearance C is not agitated by either the flexible blade 80b or the toner conveying member 91, there is a problem that the toner stays in the clearance C (delivery part A) and the toner conveying efficiency is lowered. .

Also, if the toner replenishment device is not operating for a long time in a high-temperature environment where the toner is likely to aggregate, the toner in the clearance will slowly aggregate to form a wall, and the toner will be transported when the toner replenishment device operates. It becomes difficult to be done. For this reason, there is a concern that the toner amount required by the developing device is insufficient and the print density is lowered.
In order to deal with such a problem, in the present invention, a protruding member 67 extending in the front-rear direction is provided on the inner wall (opposing wall surface 65 b) of the powder container located in the vicinity of the delivery part A. The protruding member 67 is configured to be slidable in contact with at least a part of the flexible blade 80b when the flexible blade 80b of the toner stirring member 80 rotates. In other words, the protruding member 67 is formed to extend in the front-rear direction at an appropriate position (lower part in this example) of the opposing wall surface 65b, and in the movement path of the leading edge of the flexible blade 80b of the toner stirring member At least a part is protruding. The moving direction of the flexible blade 80b relative to the protruding member 67 is a direction from the bottom to the top.

Moreover, although the protrusion member 67 may be provided in the front-back direction long full length of the opposing wall surface 65b, in this example, it is provided only in the position biased to the space S side. As a result, the protruding member 67 comes into sliding contact with only the central portion avoiding both axial end portions of the flexible blade 80b.
The tip of the flexible blade 80b is in contact with the lower side of the protruding member 67 (for example, a contact width of about 0.5 mm) in the process of rotating the toner agitating member 80, and elastically downward in the process of passing the protruding member upward. When it is deformed and passes, it tries to return to its original shape vigorously. For this reason, a flexible blade | wing becomes an operation | movement to flip upward. When the flexible blade 80b performs an upward flipping operation, the toner in the vicinity of the protruding member 67, particularly above the height level of the protruding member is accelerated and sent to the toner conveying member, so that the staying toner is broken. And the toner conveyance efficiency can be improved. In particular, the toner wall that is easily formed in the clearance C in the transfer section A is efficiently broken by the upward flipping action of the flexible blades and is pushed into the space S.

Further, since the toner conveying force is temporarily improved at the moment when the flexible blade performs the repelling operation, more toner can be conveyed to the toner conveying member side as compared with the case where the protruding member 67 is not provided.
As described above, the protruding member 67 has its position so that when the flexible blade 80b of the toner stirring member passes from the bottom to the top, the flexible blade is elastically deformed and repels upward. What is necessary is just to select a shape, protrusion length, etc. As an example of an appropriate arrangement of the protruding members, the toner agitating member 80 and the toner conveying member 91 are arranged in a region that is connected by a substantially straight line.

It is preferable that the protruding member 67 does not extend over the entire length in the front-rear direction of the wall surface (opposing wall surface) 65 b of the convex wall surface 65. That is, it is preferable that the protruding member is configured to be in contact with an intermediate portion that avoids both axial end portions of the flexible blade. The reason is that when the protruding member exists over the entire length of the opposing wall surface 65b, a force is always applied over the entire length of the flexible blade when passing while contacting the protruding member, and the rotating shaft 80a and the flexible blade 80b are applied. This is because the load is biased at the connecting portion to lead to deformation of the flexible blade. In particular, the linear connecting portion between the rotating shaft and the flexible blade has a weaker connecting force at both ends than in the center, which causes peeling and dropping of the flexible blade at both ends. .
A part of the projecting member is disposed close to the delivery part or located in the delivery part.

  Further, the projecting member 67 is configured such that at least a part (the front end portion 67a) thereof is disposed close to the delivery portion A or located in the delivery portion A. For this reason, when the flexible blade flips up (bounces up) the toner, the toner in the vicinity of the delivery portion, particularly in the clearance C, is broken and fed into the space S. In particular, in this embodiment, the front end portion 67a of the protruding member 67 is not at the same level as the wall surface 65a, but protrudes to the front position at the same level as the overhang portion 63a formed along the lower edge of the toner discharge port 63. For this reason, the protrusion member 67 is in a state of entering the transfer portion A (clearance), and the effect of breaking the toner in the region and the effect of transporting it into the void can be enhanced. Since the protruding action of the flexible blade by the protruding member is periodically performed every time the toner stirring member rotates once, there is no room for the toner to stay.

Next, the protruding length of the protruding member 67 from the wall surface 65a in the lateral direction is not constant in the front-rear direction of the wall surface 65a, and the protruding length gradually decreases in a tapered shape toward the rear.
That is, as shown in FIG. 7B, the protruding length of the protruding member 67 gradually decreases in a taper shape as the protruding member 67 moves backward from the transfer portion A. As shown in FIGS. 9 (a) and 9 (b), the protruding length of the protruding member is made constant, and the protruding member 67 is perpendicular to the intermediate position in the longitudinal direction (front-rear direction) (on a plane orthogonal to the opposing wall surface 65b). ) If it is terminated in a cut state, a dead space DS is formed behind the cut surface, that is, the end surface 67c, and there is a possibility that toner may stay in the dead space. On the other hand, in the present invention, since the protruding member 67 is set to have a protruding length so as to incline toward the rear, the possibility that the flexible blade 80b contacts the tapered rear portion is increased. Therefore, toner retention can be suppressed.

Next, FIG. 10 is a front longitudinal sectional view for explaining a preferable shape of the protruding member.
In the present embodiment, the side wall (side surface of the toner stirring member) 67b of the protruding member 67 is substantially vertical, or the inclined surface is such that the lower part of the side wall 67b enters the space S as indicated by the broken line 67b ′. It is preferable. By configuring in this way, it is possible to enhance the effect of causing the flexible blade 80b moving from the bottom to the top to bounce upward (bounce up) when passing through the protruding member. As a result of the flexible blades being able to be flipped up large and strongly, the toner that tends to stay in the transfer portion due to the momentum during the jumping up can be efficiently fed into the void S.

On the other hand, when the side wall 67b is an inclined surface that enters the toner stirring member side as indicated by a broken line 67b ″, the tip of the flexible blade 80b gradually rises due to elastic deformation along the gently inclined surface. When the upper end of the inclined surface is exceeded, it is only possible to jump up small and weakly, that is, it becomes difficult to jump up the flexible blade large and strongly upward, The effect of destroying the toner that is present or sending it to the void S is reduced.
As described above, according to the present invention, since the flexible stirring piece disposed in the toner containing portion rotates in contact with the projecting member provided on the inner wall of the toner containing portion and rotates, the toner is released. The effect of playing is generated. For example, toner tends to agglomerate in a high-temperature environment, and even when the toner replenishing device is hardly driven, the toner can no longer stay in the space between the toner agitating member and the toner conveying member, thereby improving the toner conveying property. be able to.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Photoconductor, 4 ... Charging apparatus, 5 ... Developing apparatus, 7 ... Exposure apparatus, 8 ... Intermediate transfer belt,
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Cleaning device, 12 ... Next transfer backup roller, 15 ... Intermediate transfer unit, 19 ... Next transfer roller, 20 ... Fixing device, 26 ... Paper storage cassette, 27 ... Paper feed roller, 28 ... Registration roller pair, 29 ... Exhaust Paper roller pair, 30 ... Stack unit, 31 ... Toner bottle base, 32 ... Toner bottle, 33 ... Bottle body, 34 ... Resin case, 40 ... Toner supply device, 41 ... Drive motor, 42 ... Gear mechanism, 43 ... Toner transport Pipe ... 48 ... Sub hopper, 51 ... Developing sleeve, 52 ... Doctor, 53 ... Developing sleeve housing, 54 ... Developer housing, 54 ... Developer housing, 54 ... Developer housing, 55 ... Developer conveying screw, 56: Density detection sensor 57: Control unit 61: Housing 61a ... Recess 62: Toner container 62A: Front wall 63 ... Toner outlet 63 ... Overhang part, 65 ... Convex wall surface, 65a ... Wall surface, 65b ... Opposing wall surface, 67 ... Projection member, 67a ... Front end part, 67b ... Side wall, 67c ... Termination surface, 70 ... Toner end detection cleaning member, 70a ... Rotating shaft member 70b ... flexible blades, 80 ... toner stirring member, 80a ... rotating shaft member, 80b ... flexible blade, 91 ... toner conveying member, 91a ... rotating shaft,
91b ... blade, 95 ... toner end detector.

JP 2011-215588 A JP 2010-069991 A

Claims (5)

A powder replenishing device for conveying powder contained in a powder container to a developing device,
A powder container that receives powder from the powder container; a rotating shaft; and a flexible blade that protrudes from the rotating shaft in an outer diameter direction, and rotates in the powder container. A powder agitating member for agitating and conveying the powder by the powder, a powder conveying member for conveying the powder conveyed by the powder agitating member to the developing device by rotating, and the powder agitating member from the powder agitating member A delivery section for delivering powder to the body conveying member,
A projecting member that slides into contact with at least a part of the flexible blade when the flexible blade rotates is provided on the opposing wall surface in the powder container where the tip of the flexible blade is close. A powder replenishing apparatus, wherein a part of the projecting member is disposed close to or in the delivery part. The powder conveying member has an end located in the powder container from a powder discharge port formed in the powder container,
The powder replenishing device according to claim 1, wherein an overhanging portion that is close to a lower surface of the powder conveying member is formed at a lower edge of the powder discharge port.   The powder replenishing device according to claim 1, wherein the protruding member is configured to contact an intermediate portion that avoids both axial end portions of the flexible blade. The protruding member extends in parallel with the axial direction of the powder stirring member,
4. The protruding length of the protruding member from the opposing wall surface is configured to gradually decrease in a tapered shape as the distance from the transfer portion increases. 5. Powder supply device. A latent image carrier;
The developing device for developing a latent image on the latent image carrier;
An image forming apparatus comprising a powder supply device for supplying toner as powder to the developing device,
An image forming apparatus using the powder replenishing apparatus according to claim 1 as the powder replenishing apparatus.

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