JP2014126586A - Developer storage container and process cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To stabilize welding between frame bodies being objects to be processed, by suppressing artificial welding.SOLUTION: A developer container 45 has a developer storage chamber allowing a developer to be stored therein and is formed by welding between a first frame body 21 and a second frame body 26 due to melting of a welding rib 24 of the first frame body 21 in a state of contact with the second frame body 26. The developer container 45 includes: a stirring member 31 provided in the developer storage chamber; a temporarily supporting part 22 which is provided on one frame body, and temporarily supports the stirring member 31 until the other frame body is assembled to the one frame body; a control member 30 which is provided on the other frame body and is brought into contact with the stirring member 31 to control the position of the stirring member 31 during welding between the first frame body 21 and the second frame body 26; and a drive transmission member 35 which transmits a driving force to the stirring member 31 and is coupled to the stirring member 31 to set the stirring member 31 to a state of non-contact with the control member 30.

Description

  The present invention relates to a developer storage container and a process cartridge including the developer storage container.

Conventionally, a developer storage container for storing a developer (toner) is formed of a thermoplastic resin, and is formed by using vibration welding or ultrasonic welding technology as a joining technology between workpieces (processing objects). It has been known.
Here, the ultrasonic welding technique is a processing technique that induces heat generation by ultrasonic vibration, instantaneously melts a thermoplastic resin by fine ultrasonic vibration and pressure, and welds and joins the workpieces. In this processing technology, the amplitude transmitted from the ultrasonic vibrator is amplified and transmitted to the horn via a booster connected to the ultrasonic vibrator, and the ultrasonic vibration unit is brought into pressure contact with the workpiece to be welded. Strong frictional heat is generated on the joint surface of the object, and the resin is melted and welded. When the workpieces are welded and joined using such an ultrasonic technique, a convex portion (welding rib) is provided at one of the workpiece interfaces. By having such a rib structure, it has been proposed to concentrate ultrasonic vibration energy at the tip of the convex portion and stabilize the welding location (see Patent Document 1).

JP 2011-218583 A

Here, the developer storage container adopting the above processing technique may have another member that is not fixed in the space formed by the workpieces. For example, when employed in a process cartridge that can be attached to and detached from the image forming apparatus, another member that is not fixed in the space formed by the workpieces to be welded is a stirring member provided in the developer storage chamber of the developer storage container. The stirring member includes a stirring shaft and a stirring sheet attached to the stirring shaft, and stirs the developer (toner) stored in the developer storage chamber of the developer storage container.
The stirrer is temporarily positioned in the developer storage chamber when the resin frame is assembled. And in the state which the stirring member was positioned, there exists a possibility of pressing and contacting to a part of the workpiece | work welded with a certain predetermined force with some external force, for example, the elastic restoring force of the stirring sheet which it has. Moreover, there exists a possibility that it may be in the state engage | inserted in the location which a stirring member does not contact originally by the assembly | attachment defect.
If processing using ultrasonic welding technology is performed in this state, ultrasonic vibration energy will be concentrated locally at locations where welding is not intended, and as a result, unintentional locations will be mistakenly welded. there is a possibility. This welding is called pseudo welding.

  Therefore, in view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to suppress pseudo welding and to stabilize the welding of frames to be processed.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides:
A developer containing chamber capable of containing a developer formed by the first frame and the second frame;
The first frame and the second frame are obtained by melting the melted portion provided in the first frame and melted when vibration energy is applied in contact with the second frame. And a developer storage container formed by welding,
A movable member provided in the developer accommodating chamber;
Until the frame is provided on one of the first frame and the second frame, and the other frame of the first frame or the second frame is assembled to the one frame A temporary support for temporarily supporting the movable member;
An abutting member provided on the other frame, wherein the abutting member abuts on the movable member and regulates the position of the movable member when welding the first frame and the second frame. Members,
A drive transmission member for transmitting a driving force to the movable member, wherein the drive transmission member is connected to the movable member to bring the movable member into a non-contact state with respect to the contact member;
It is characterized by having.

  A process cartridge that can be attached to and detached from the image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes the developer storage container.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, pseudo welding can be suppressed and stabilization of the welding of the frames which are process objects can be aimed at.

Schematic sectional view showing an image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment Schematic sectional view showing a process cartridge according to the present embodiment 1 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view of a developing unit according to Embodiment 1. FIG. Short schematic sectional view of the developing unit according to Embodiment 1. Schematic sectional view showing a state in which the molding die is clamped to the second frame Enlarged view showing the joint between frames Longitudinal schematic cross-sectional view of a developing unit according to Embodiment 2 Schematic explanatory drawing at the time of molding of a regulating member and a seal member according to Example 2

(Overall configuration of image forming apparatus)
The outline of the overall configuration of the image forming apparatus according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating an image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view showing the process cartridge according to the present embodiment. In this embodiment, a monocolor laser beam will be described as an example of an image forming apparatus. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and other image forming apparatuses such as a full-color laser beam printer, a copying machine, and a facsimile may be used.

  The image forming apparatus according to this embodiment includes an exposure device 8, a transfer roller 9, a fixing device 10, a cleaning unit 19, and a developing unit 20 as main components.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the cleaning unit 19 includes a photosensitive drum 11 as an image carrier, a charging roller 12, a cleaning blade 14, and a cleaning container 60. The cleaning blade 14 has elasticity and removes the developer remaining on the photosensitive drum 11. The cleaning container 60 collects and stores the developer removed by the cleaning blade 14.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the developing unit 20 includes a developing roller 13 as a developer carrying member, a developing blade 15, a developer supplying roller 16, a first frame body 21 that stores the developer, and a second frame. And a developer container 45 as a developer container made of a frame 26. The developing roller 13 and the developing blade 15 are supported by the first frame 21.

  The cleaning unit 19 and the developing unit 20 are integrally formed as a cartridge, and are provided as a process cartridge 18 in a detachable manner on the image forming apparatus main body 1. The process cartridge 18 includes a photosensitive drum 11 and process means that acts on the photosensitive drum 11. The process means includes a charging roller 12 for charging the photosensitive drum 11 and a cleaning means for removing the developer (including developer and carrier) remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 11.

  An outline of an image forming operation of the image forming apparatus according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. First, the sheet S is conveyed by the conveyance roller 7 from the sheet cassette 6 mounted at the lower part of the image forming apparatus main body 1. In synchronization with the sheet conveyance, the photosensitive drum 11 is selectively exposed from the exposure device 8, and a latent image is formed on the photosensitive drum 11.

  Further, the developer is supplied to the developing roller 13 by a sponge-like developer supply roller 16 and is carried on the surface of the developing roller 13 by a developing blade 15. A developing bias is applied to the developing roller 13 and a developer is supplied onto the photosensitive drum 11 in accordance with the latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 11 to form a developer image. This developer image is transferred onto the conveyed sheet S by the transfer roller 9. At this time, a bias voltage is applied to the transfer roller 9. The sheet S to which the developer image has been transferred is conveyed to the fixing device 10 and heated and pressed to fix the developer image on the sheet S. Further, the sheet S is discharged by the paper discharge roller 2 to the paper discharge unit 3 at the top of the apparatus.

Example 1
A developer container 45 as a developer container according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. 3 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view of the developing unit according to the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a short schematic cross-sectional view of the developing unit according to the first embodiment.

  First, the configuration of the developer container 45 as the developer container according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. The developing container 45 is configured by joining the first frame body 21 and the second frame body 26 by ultrasonic welding, and has a developer storage chamber in which the developer can be stored. In the developer accommodating chamber, a stirring member 31 is provided as a movable member (rotating body) for stirring the developer in the container. The stirring member 31 includes a stirring shaft 32 and a stirring sheet 33. The stirring sheet 33 is provided to rotate while contacting the inner walls of the first frame body 21 and the second frame body 26 as the stirring shaft 32 rotates.

  Prior to assembling the frames, the stirring shaft 32 is temporarily positioned with a positioning boss 32 a at one end in the longitudinal direction provided in the vicinity of one end of the first frame 21. On the other hand, at the other end, the temporary receiving portion 32b is temporarily positioned by being engaged with a temporary determination portion 22 as a temporary support portion provided in the vicinity of the other end of the first frame body 21 (temporary support state). It has become.

  On the other hand, a drive transmission member 35 for transmitting a driving force from the outside is inserted into the second frame body 26 assembled to the first frame body 21, and an opening 27 as a shaft hole for supporting the drive transmission member 35. Is provided. The second frame 26 is provided with a seal member 29 for preventing the developer stored in the developing container 45 from leaking outside through an annular gap between the opening 27 and the drive transmission member 35. .

And the inner wall of the second frame 26 is in contact with a regulating rib 32c provided to the stirring shaft 32 at the time of welding, thereby restricting the movable range of the temporary receiving portion 32b of the stirring shaft 32 in the axial radial direction. A regulating member 30 as a contact member having viscoelasticity is formed. The restriction member 30 is integrally formed with the second frame 26 by being directly injection-molded on the inner wall of the second frame 26. The height of the restriction member 30 is in contact with the upper surface of the restriction rib 32c when the first frame body 21 and the second frame body 26 are welded. When the welding is completed, the position of the provisional receiving portion 32b is changed to the drive transmission member 35. The height is set so as to be within a range that can be engaged. Further, the height is set to a height at which the provisional receiving portion 32b and the regulating member 30 do not come into contact with each other when the stirring shaft 32 is rotated by receiving a driving force from the drive transmission member 35.

  Here, the injection molding method of the regulating member 30 with respect to the second frame will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a state in which a molding die is clamped with respect to the second frame.

  First, as shown in FIG. 5, the second frame 26 is clamped with a molding die 41 and a backup die 42 that form the shape of the regulating member 30. Then, the injection nozzle 43 of the resin molding apparatus (not shown) is brought into contact with the injection port 40 provided outside the second frame body 26. Then, molten resin is poured into the space formed between the mold 41 and the second frame body 26. At this time, the molding state is stabilized by injecting the resin at a constant pressure. Then, after the resin is injected, the mold clamping is released and the mold is released. The restricting member 30 is integrally formed on the inner wall of the second frame body 26 by such a process.

  In this embodiment, a thermoplastic elastomer is used as the material for the regulating member 30. The material of the regulating member 30 is preferably a material having a hardness of type A of 30 or more. Further, when the material of the process cartridge is recycled, a material having a specific gravity different from that of the resin used for the frame is adopted as the material of the regulating member 30 so that it can be easily separated by specific gravity sorting. Alternatively, by adopting the same resin and base material used for the frame as the material of the regulating member 30, the regulating member 30 can be recycled together with the frame without being separated from the frame. Become. For example, when a styrene-based resin such as polystyrene is used for the frame, by using a styrene-based elastomer for the regulating member 30, it can be recycled without being separated from the frame during recycling.

  Next, the ultrasonic welding method will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is an enlarged view showing a joint portion between the frames. Fig.6 (a) is a figure which shows the state before welding frames, and FIG.6 (b) is a figure which shows the state which welded frames. The developing container 45 is configured by joining the first frame body 21 and the second frame body by ultrasonic welding. As shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the first frame 21 is provided with welding ribs 24 as melting portions on the rails along the welding locations.

  Moreover, as shown to Fig.6 (a), the cross-sectional shape of the welding rib 24 becomes a shape which became thin from the base part to the front-end | tip part. This is because the ultrasonic vibration energy is concentrated on the tip by narrowing the tip. Here, although the illustrated shape has a triangular cross section, it may be semicircular, semielliptical, or trapezoidal.

  By applying ultrasonic energy in a state in which the welding rib 24 is in pressure contact with the joint portion of the other frame (second frame), as shown in FIG. The Further, as shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, escape grooves 25 are provided on both sides of the welding rib 24, and the welding rib 24 melted at the time of welding is prevented from protruding from the joint portion. doing. In the present embodiment, the welding rib 24 and the escape groove 25 are provided in the first frame body 21, but may be provided in the second frame body 26.

<Regarding suppression of pseudo welding in Example 1>
Before the second frame body 26 is assembled to the first frame body 21, the agitating member 31 is temporarily supported by the temporary determination portion 22 in the first frame body 21. When the second frame 26 is assembled to the first frame with the stirring member 31 temporarily positioned and the drive transmission member 35 is assembled, the stirring member 31 is positioned (supported). In this positioning state (supported state), the stirring sheet 33 having elasticity attached to the stirring shaft 32 may be held in a bent state in contact with the inner wall of the first frame body 21. At that time, the stirring shaft 32 is pressed in the direction of arrow G in FIG. 4 by the elastic restoring force F of the stirring sheet 33. Therefore, the temporary receiving portion 32b of the stirring shaft 32 may be locally pressed near the entrance (point P in the drawing) of the temporary determination portion 22 of the first frame 21. In this state, if ultrasonic energy is applied to weld and bond the first frame body 21 and the second frame body 26, the provisional receiving portion 32b and the provisionally determined portion 22 may be welded (pseudo welded). is there.

  In the first embodiment, as described above, the restriction member 30 is formed on the second frame body 26. Therefore, in the state where the second frame 26 is disposed at the welding start position where the welding rib 24 of the first frame 21 contacts the joint portion of the second frame 26, the regulation of the stirring shaft 32 pressed in the arrow G direction is restricted. The rib 32c is pushed back to the regulating member 30 of the second frame body 26. As a result, in a state where the second frame is assembled to the first frame 21 and the stirring member 31 is positioned (supported state), the provisional receiving portion 32b and the provisional determination portion 22 are not in contact with each other.

  Here, when the horn unit is brought into contact with the welding location and ultrasonic energy is applied, the welding rib 24 is melted, and the first frame body 21 and the second frame body 26 are welded. During welding, the distance between the first frame body 21 and the second frame body 26 is reduced by melting the welding rib 24, and finally the position where the contact pressure between the provisional receiving portion 32b and the provisional determination portion 22 is released. Moving. In this welding process, if a contact pressure is locally applied to a portion other than the welding rib 24, pseudo welding may occur. However, in this embodiment, the pseudo-welding can be suppressed by reducing the contact pressure by the regulating member 30 or eliminating an unnecessary contact portion and maintaining a supporting state in which the contact member is not in contact.

  In this embodiment, at the time of welding, the regulating rib 32c of the stirring shaft 32 contacts the regulating member 30 with a constant contact pressure. However, since the regulating member 30 is a viscoelastic body, it absorbs ultrasonic vibration. Therefore, the regulation rib 32 c of the stirring shaft 32 is not pseudo welded to the regulation member 30.

  By welding the first frame body 21 to the second frame body 26, the positioning boss 32 a is positioned between the positioning portion 23 and the pressing portion 36 of the second frame body 26 and comes to an appropriate position. The other end engages with the engaging portion 35 a of the drive transmission member 35 inserted from the outside of the second frame body 26 through the opening 27 by the engaged portion 32 d of the stirring shaft 32 after welding. As described above, the stirring member 31 is connected to the drive transmission member 35 and is rotatably supported in the developer storage chamber of the developing container 45.

  As described above, in the first embodiment, by adopting a configuration in which the regulating member 30 is integrally formed on the second frame, by suppressing pseudo welding, it is possible to weld the frames as processing objects. It can be stabilized.

  In the present embodiment, the example in which the position of the stirring shaft 32 has shifted due to the elastic restoring force of the stirring sheet 33 has been described, but even when the position of the stirring shaft 32 has shifted due to poor assembly or the like. Similarly, the stirring shaft 32 can be returned to an appropriate position by the regulating member 30.

(Example 2)
Next, Example 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 7 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view of the developing unit according to the second embodiment. FIG. 8 is a schematic explanatory diagram when molding the regulating member and the seal member. In Example 1, it was set as the structure which shape | molds only a control member directly in a 2nd frame. On the other hand, the second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that the seal member provided on the inner wall of the opening into which the drive transmission member is inserted is also integrally formed on the second frame at the same time as the regulating member. . Since other configurations and operations are the same as those of the first embodiment, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

  In the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, the seal member 50 that seals the gap between the opening 27 of the second frame 26 and the drive transmission member 35 is directly injection-molded on the second frame 26. . The seal member 50 and the restriction member 51 are formed of a single member and are formed integrally with the second frame body 26.

  Next, a process of forming the seal member 50 and the regulating member 51 in the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. First, as shown in FIG. 8, the first frame 52 provided outside the second frame body 26 and the second mold 53 provided inside the second frame body 26 are used to form a cylinder of the second frame body 26. Clamping is performed with a predetermined force while the portion 28 is sandwiched. The second frame body 26 is positioned on the first mold 52 outside the cylindrical portion 28.

  The first mold 52 and the second mold 53 are positioned by the fitting part 52a and the fitted part 53d. At this time, the first molding die 52 is in circumferential contact with the end face of the cylindrical portion 28, and the second molding die 53 is circumferential except for the flow path to the regulating member 51 on the inner wall of the second frame body 26. In contact.

  Next, the injection nozzle 54 of the resin molding apparatus is brought into contact with the injection port 52b provided in the first mold 52 in the clamped state. Then, when the thermoplastic elastomer resin that becomes the seal member 50 is injected from the injection nozzle 54, the resin is poured into the seal forming portion 53 a formed by the second frame 26, the first mold 52, and the second mold 53. Thereafter, the injected resin reaches the restriction member forming portion 53 c through the injection path 53 b and forms the restriction member 51.

  Here, the space formed by the second frame body 26 and the regulating member forming portion 53c is not a closed space in order to absorb the variation in the resin injection amount and reliably form the regulating member 51. A buffer portion 26a, which is a variation absorbing portion, is provided in the vicinity of the downstream of the 26 restricting member forming portions 53c. Thereby, since resin flows into the buffer part 26 after the regulating member 51 is sufficiently formed, stable molding becomes possible.

  As described above, also in the second embodiment, similarly to the first embodiment, by adopting a configuration in which the regulating member 30 is integrally formed on the second frame body, by suppressing pseudo welding, It is possible to stabilize the welding between the frames. Furthermore, in Example 2, the number of parts and the number of processes during production can be reduced by integrally molding two parts, so that the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

  In the first and second embodiments, the developer container 45 provided in the developing unit as the developer container has been described. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and other containers such as the cleaning container 60 that can store the developer are used. There may be.

First frame body 21, provisional determination part (temporary support part) 22, welding ribs 24, second frame body 26, regulation member (contact member) 30, stirring member (movable member) 31, drive Transmission member ... 35, developer container (developer storage container) ... 45

Claims (7)

A developer containing chamber capable of containing a developer formed by the first frame and the second frame;
The first frame and the second frame are obtained by melting the melted portion provided in the first frame and melted when vibration energy is applied in contact with the second frame. And a developer storage container formed by welding,
A movable member provided in the developer accommodating chamber;
Until the frame is provided on one of the first frame and the second frame, and the other frame of the first frame or the second frame is assembled to the one frame A temporary support for temporarily supporting the movable member;
An abutting member provided on the other frame, wherein the abutting member abuts on the movable member and regulates the position of the movable member when welding the first frame and the second frame. Members,
A drive transmission member for transmitting a driving force to the movable member, wherein the drive transmission member is connected to the movable member to bring the movable member into a non-contact state with the contact member;
A developer storage container characterized by comprising:   The developer storage container according to claim 1, wherein the movable member is a rotating body.   The contact member restricts the position of the movable member so that the movable member is not in contact with the temporary support portion when the other frame is assembled to the one frame. The developer storage container according to claim 1 or 2. The movable member is
A stirring member for stirring the developer accommodated in the developer accommodating chamber;
A stirring shaft that rotates by a driving force transmitted from the drive transmission member, and a stirring portion that rotates while contacting the inner wall of the first frame and the second frame as the stirring shaft rotates. The developer storage container according to claim 1, wherein the developer storage container is a member. The other frame has a shaft hole for supporting the stirring shaft or the drive transmission member,
The seal member that seals an annular gap between the stirring shaft or the drive transmission member inserted into the shaft hole and the other frame body, and the contact member are formed of one member. Item 5. The developer storage container according to any one of Items 1 to 4.   The developer container according to claim 1, wherein the contact member is made of a thermoplastic elastomer and is integrally formed with the other frame. A process cartridge that can be attached to and detached from an image forming apparatus,
A process cartridge comprising the developer storage container according to claim 1.

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