JP2015179177A - Manufacturing method for developing agent storage container, developing agent storage container and process cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a manufacturing method for a developing agent storage container that can reduce a surface pressure upon welding a developing agent container and an encapsulation member, and is more advantageous than a heat welding method by a heat seal relative to a concavity part of the container.SOLUTION: A manufacturing method for a developing agent container of irradiating a developing agent container having a developing agent included and having a discharge part for discharging the developing agent and an encapsulation member covering the discharge part with laser light to thereby weld the developing agent container and the encapsulation member, in which an outer peripheral part of a portion where at least the encapsulation member of the developing agent container covers the discharge part has light permeability and an outer peripheral part of the portion where the encapsulation member covers the discharge part has light permeability, is configured to: cover the discharge part of the developing agent container by the encapsulation member; press the encapsulation member against the developing agent container by a pressure member having light permeability; irradiate a portion having light absorptivity of the developing agent container with laser light through the pressure member and the portion having light permeability of the encapsulation member; and weld the encapsulation member and the developing agent container.

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a developer storage container for welding a developer container and a sealing member for sealing a discharge portion of the developer container, the developer storage container, and a process cartridge having the developer storage container. It is about.

  Here, the developer container is a container in which the discharge portion of the developer container is sealed with a sealing member. The process cartridge is a cartridge in which at least the image carrier, the developer carrier, and the developer storage container are integrally formed, and the cartridge can be attached to and detached from the image forming apparatus.

  In a conventional electrophotographic image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic image forming process, an electrophotographic photosensitive member and process means acting on the electrophotographic photosensitive member are integrally formed into a cartridge, and the cartridge can be attached to and detached from the main body of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus. A cartridge system is adopted.

  In such a process cartridge, the opening provided in the developer containing frame that stores the developer (toner, carrier, etc.) is sealed with a sealing member, and the opening is formed by peeling off the sealing member during use. A system that can be opened and supplied with a developer is widely adopted.

  Here, as an example of the sealing means, there is a system in which a sheet-like sealing member 32 as shown in FIG. 28 is thermally welded around the opening of the developer containing frame 31 by heat sealing or the like (Patent Document 1). . In order to reduce the load on the user when the welded portion 33 formed by thermal welding is peeled off, the free end of the sealing member 32 is folded back and pulled in the direction opposite to the folded portion (arrow direction in FIG. 28). Possible configurations are widely used.

  In recent years, laser welding methods in which containers are welded and bonded using laser light have begun to be used. In the laser welding method, a transmission-side container that transmits laser light and an absorption-side container that receives laser light are fixed at a constant pressure, and laser light is irradiated from the transmission side. Then, the laser beam that has passed through the transmission side is absorbed on the absorption side, converted into heat and generates heat, the resin is melted by the heat, the transmission side is also melted by heat conduction on the absorption side, and then cooled and fixed. (Patent Document 2).

Japanese Patent No. 3486539 JP 2001-71384 A

  The method of heat welding by the above heat seal or the like is usually performed by directly receiving the back surface of the welding surface of the developer container with a jig and adjusting the contact of the sealing member uniformly with the welding surface (for example, inserting a spacer). Or apply tape). However, in recent years, as the developer container is downsized and complicated, there is a case where the back surface of the welding surface of the developer container cannot be directly received by a jig. In this case, it is difficult to perform uniform contact adjustment of the sealing member with respect to the welding surface of the developer container, and in some cases, the sealing member is welded to another part and then the separate part and the developer container are combined. Part costs and work costs required for coalescence.

  In addition, since there is a need to weld and seal even if there are sink marks (recesses due to resin shrinkage) present on the welding surface of the developer container, the surface pressure that presses the sealing member against the welding surface of the developer container is high. It has become. As a result, as described above, it is necessary to directly receive the back surface of the welding surface of the developer container with the jig and to make a uniform contact adjustment of the sealing member with respect to the welding surface.

  Furthermore, as described above, when the surface pressure is high, the shape is not so deformed that it cannot be maintained, but there is a risk of partial deformation of the container, so for the uniform contact adjustment of the sealing member with respect to the welding surface, It is necessary to strictly manage not only the jig but also the thickness tolerance of the flange on the container side.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to reduce the surface pressure during welding between a developer container and a sealing member, and to provide a developer container that is more advantageous than a system in which heat sealing is applied to sink marks in a container. It is to provide a manufacturing method.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention irradiates a developer container including a developer and having a discharge portion for discharging the developer, and a sealing member covering the discharge portion with laser light. A developer storage container manufacturing method for welding, wherein an outer peripheral portion of at least a portion of the developer container where the sealing member covers the discharge portion has light absorption, and among the sealing members At least the outer peripheral portion of the portion covering the discharge portion has light transmission, the discharge portion of the developer container is covered with the sealing member, and the sealing member is covered with the developer container by the light-transmitting pressing member. The sealing member and the developer container are irradiated with laser light through the light-transmitting part of the pressing member and the sealing member to irradiate the light absorbing part of the developer container. It is characterized by welding.

  Further, the present invention provides a developer container that includes a developer and has a discharge container for discharging the developer, and a sealing member that covers the discharge section and is welded by irradiating the laser beam. In the manufacturing method of the agent storage container, at least an outer peripheral part of a part of the developer container where the sealing member covers the discharge part has light transmittance, and at least the discharge part of the sealing member The outer peripheral part of the covering part has light absorptivity, covers the discharge part of the developer container with the sealing member, presses the developer container against the sealing member with a pressing member having light permeability, The sealing member and the developer container are welded by irradiating the light-absorbing part of the sealing member through the pressing member and the light-transmitting part of the developer container. And

  According to the present invention, the pressing force at the time of welding between the developer container and the sealing member can be reduced, and the uniform contact adjustment between the developer container and the sealing member as much as the method of heat welding by heat sealing can be performed. There is no need to do this, and this is more advantageous than a method in which heat sinking is used to heat sink the container.

2 is a main cross-sectional view of a process cartridge according to Embodiment 1. FIG. 1 is a main cross-sectional view of an image forming apparatus in Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a developer bag and a sealing member in Example 1 from a cross section. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a developer accommodating unit in Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a sealing part in Example 1. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a developer accommodating unit in Embodiment 1. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a developer accommodating unit in Embodiment 1. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a developer accommodating unit in Embodiment 1. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a developer accommodating unit in Embodiment 1. FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the developer accommodating unit difficult to open. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a developer storage unit that is difficult to open. FIG. 3 is a schematic manufacturing diagram of a developer bag in Example 1. FIG. 3 is a schematic manufacturing diagram of a developer bag in Example 1. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a developer storage unit in Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a figure explaining the harmful effect by the conventional heat seal method. It is explanatory drawing of the laser welding method in a present Example. It is a figure explaining the harmful effect by the conventional heat seal method. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a state at the time of laser welding of a toner frame and a toner seal in Example 2. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a process cartridge in Embodiment 2. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of an image forming apparatus in Embodiment 2. FIG. FIG. 10 is a state explanatory diagram of the best condition at the time of laser welding of a toner frame and a toner seal in Example 2. It is state explanatory drawing of the best conditions at the time of laser welding. It is state explanatory drawing at the time of laser welding. FIG. 23 is a cross-sectional photograph of the vicinity of a welded portion laser welded under the welding conditions shown in FIG. 22. FIG. 24 is a cross-sectional photograph of the vicinity of the welded portion laser welded under the welding conditions shown in FIG. 23. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a state where a toner seal is laser-welded to a welding surface of a toner frame in which sink marks are generated. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a toner seal in Embodiment 2. FIG. It is a figure explaining a prior art example

  Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the dimensions, materials, shapes, and relative arrangements of the components described in the following examples should be changed as appropriate according to the configuration of the apparatus to which the present invention is applied and various conditions. Therefore, unless specifically stated otherwise, the scope of the present invention is not intended to be limited thereto.

[Example 1]
FIG. 1 is a main sectional view of a process cartridge having a developer containing unit to which the present invention can be applied, and FIG. 2 is a main sectional view of an image forming apparatus to which the present invention can be applied.

<Outline of process cartridge configuration>
This process cartridge includes an image carrier and process means acting on the image carrier. Here, as the process means, for example, a charging means for charging the surface of the image carrier, a developing device for forming an image on the image carrier, and a developer (including toner, carrier, etc.) remaining on the surface of the image carrier are removed. There are cleaning means for.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the process cartridge A according to this embodiment includes a charging roller 12 as charging means around a photosensitive drum 11 as an image carrier, and a cleaning blade 14 having elasticity as cleaning means. 24 is provided. Further, the image forming apparatus includes a developing roller 13 and a developing blade 15 that are developing means, a developer bag 16 containing developer, a first frame 17 that supports the developing roller 13 and the developing blade 15, and a second frame 18. A developer accommodating unit 25 is provided. The cleaner unit 24 and the developer accommodating unit 25 are integrated into a process cartridge A, and are configured to be detachable from the image forming apparatus B as shown in FIG.

<Outline of configuration of image forming apparatus>
The process cartridge A is mounted on an image forming apparatus B as shown in FIG. 2 and used for image formation. In image formation, a sheet S is conveyed from a sheet cassette 6 mounted at the lower part of the apparatus by a conveying roller 7, and in synchronism with the sheet conveyance, a photosensitive drum 11 is selectively exposed from an exposure device 8 to form a latent image. Form. Thereafter, a thin layer of developer is carried on the surface of the developing roller 13 by the developing blade 15. Then, a developing bias is applied to the developing roller 13 which is a developer carrying member to supply the developer according to the latent image. This image is transferred to the sheet S conveyed by applying a bias voltage to the transfer roller 9, the sheet S is conveyed to the fixing device 10 to fix the image, and discharged by the discharge roller 1 to the discharge unit 3 at the upper part of the apparatus.

<Configuration outline of developer bag>
Next, the configuration and opening of the developer bag 16 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 is a perspective view from the cross section of the developer bag 16, the sealing member 19, and the opening member 20, and FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of the developer containing unit 25.

  The developer bag 16 is a flexible developer container and has a developer discharge portion 16b for discharging the internal developer. The discharge portion 16b has a plurality of the opening portions 16c and a connection portion 16g that defines the plurality of opening portions 16c in a direction F substantially perpendicular to the direction E in which the opening proceeds.

  The plurality of openings 16c are preferably present in the outer peripheral region of the developer bag 16 in consideration of discharging the developer therethrough as will be described later.

  Next, description will be made with reference to FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 which is a view seen from the direction of arrow G in FIG. The sealing member 19 includes a sealing part 19a that covers the discharge part 16b, a fixing part 19b that is held by the opening member 20, and a sealing member connecting part 19c that connects the fixing part 19b that is held by the sealing part 19a. have. Then, the sealing member connecting portion 19c is folded back, and the periphery 16f of the opening portion 16c, which is the outer peripheral portion of the portion where the sealing member 19 covers the discharge portion 16b, is bonded by a method described later to seal the opening portion 16c. ing.

  In this way, the discharge portion of the developer bag 16 is sealed with the sealing member 19 to form a developer storage container. The developer storage container is stored in the frame of the developer storage unit 25 together with the opening member 20 as will be described later.

  As described above, since the opening 16c is in the outer peripheral region of the developer bag 16, the region (16f around the opening 16c) to be bonded is also in the outer peripheral region of the developer bag 16. Therefore, in order to fix the sealing member 19 to the unsealing member 20 as described later, it is necessary to protrude outward from the joint portion that forms the inner region.

  Next, fixing of each part will be described. Examples of means for fixing each fixing part include thermal welding, ultrasonic welding, adhesion, and pseudo-adhesion. As described above, the sealing member 19 is fixed to the unsealing member 20 by the sealing portion 19a and the fixing portion 19b at an end different from the bonded end. As fixing means, in addition to thermal welding, ultrasonic welding, adhesion, and pseudo-adhesion, clamping by a clip shape, hooking by a hole and a convex, and the like can be given.

  The developer bag 16, the sealing member 19, and the opening member 20 produced as described above are accommodated in the first frame 17 of the developer accommodating unit 25. Then, the first frame body 17 and the second frame body 18 are joined by welding, adhesion or the like, and are accommodated in the developer accommodating unit 25. At this time, the developer bag 16 is provided with a fixing portion 16a. The fixing portion 16a is fixed to at least one of the first frame 17 and the second frame 18 by, for example, a double-sided tape, a wedge-shaped member, a hook-shaped member, heat welding, ultrasonic welding, or adhesion.

  Next, details of each member in the developer bag 16 and the mutual relationship will be described with reference to FIGS. 3, 4, and 5. As described above, the developer bag 16 has the discharge portion 16 b and is closed by the sealing member 19. The other side is a folded portion of the bag material, or the bag material is firmly bonded to each other by heat welding, ultrasonic welding, adhesion or the like to form a bag shape.

  In order to realize the opening with the above-described configuration, the discharge portion 16b must be peeled off first, so that the sealing member 19 and the bonding portion of the developer bag 16 at all the bonding portions in the developer bag 16 are required. It is essential that the strength, that is, the peeling force is the weakest. The same can be said for other parts. It is essential that the peeling force is the weakest with respect to the fixing force between the sealing member 19 and the opening member 20, the fixing force between the developer bag 16 and the first frame 17 or the second frame 18, and the like. .

  On the other hand, since the developer accommodating unit 25 encloses toner in terms of its function, it is advantageous that the peeling force is as large as possible from the viewpoint of sealing performance. If the peeling force is large, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the bag is opened except for an intended state (a state set in the image forming apparatus B) when an unexpected force (for example, an impact force at the time of dropping) is applied. This is because the possibility is high. From the above, it is necessary to set the peeling force to a desired value.

  Next, a method for setting the peeling force to a desired value will be described. In this embodiment, two methods are mainly used in order to set the peeling force to a desired value (here, a force as small as possible within a range in which the toner sealing property can be maintained).

  First, a laminate material having a special sealant layer that exhibits easy peel properties (peeling strength is about 3 N / 15 mm in a sealed soft packaging bag test of JIS-Z0238) is applied to the sealing member 19. And it is the method of exhibiting easy peel property in this peeling part by applying the flexible sheet material (for example, polyethylene and polypropylene) which can be welded with the said special sealant layer to the bag member 16h. It is possible to reduce the peeling force by changing the combination of the special sealant layer formulation and the material to be bonded.

  Second, as shown in FIGS. 4, 5, and 6, the discharge portion 16b of the developer bag 16 is folded back in the opening direction (arrow E in the figure). For example, the developer bag 16 and the sealing member 19 are rotated by rotating the opening member 20 in the state of FIG. 4 (arrow C in the drawing) and pulling the sealing member 19 in the direction (arrow D in the drawing) pulled by the opening member 20. Is a positional relationship of inclined peeling (90 ° to 180 ° peeling) as shown in FIG. Conventionally, it is known that the peeling force required for the peeling of both can be reduced by the inclined peeling. Therefore, the peeling force can be reduced by setting the folded state in the direction in which the opening proceeds (arrow E in the figure).

  Next, effects obtained by taking this embodiment will be described. As described above, less force is required to use a laminate material having a special sealant layer that exhibits easy peel properties and shape of the bonded portion between the developer bag 16 and the sealing member 19 (the peel strength of the opened portion is about 3 N / 15 mm) ) To open the developer bag 16.

  In addition, the following characteristics are further required for the material used in this embodiment.

  First, the sealing member 19 needs to have light transmittance and high light transmittance. As will be described later, when bonding the interface between the sealing member 19 and the bag member 16h, the laser light irradiated through the sealing member side is absorbed at the interface between the two members, thereby achieving good bonding. Usually, when no dye or pigment is added, the light transmittance can be 80% or more.

  Note that it is not necessary to increase the light transmittance in the entire region of the sealing member 19, and at least only a portion where laser welding described later is performed. Here, the portion where laser welding is performed is an outer peripheral portion (welding portion described later) of a portion of the sealing member 19 that covers at least the discharge portion 16b of the developer bag 16.

  On the other hand, the bag member 16h needs to have a light absorption property and a high light absorption rate. As a method for increasing the light absorption rate, there is a method of kneading a dye or an organic pigment into a material resin, but it is preferable to use a material obtained by kneading a small amount of a material having high light absorption such as carbon powder. This is because carbon is less likely to be vaporized by laser irradiation than dyes and organic pigments, and therefore poor bonding due to generated gas is less likely to occur. By kneading a small amount of carbon, it is possible to increase the light absorption rate to 80% or more without impairing the weldability.

  Note that it is not necessary to increase the light absorption rate in the entire region of the bag member 16h, and at least only the portion to be subjected to laser welding described later may be used. Here, the portion of the developer bag 16 to be laser welded is an outer peripheral portion (a welding portion described later) of the portion of the developer bag 16 where at least the sealing member 19 covers the discharge portion 16b of the developer bag 16.

  In both the sealing member 19 and the bag member 16h, the high light transmittance and the low light absorption rate mean light transmittance and light absorption rate at the wavelength of the laser light to be used. The wavelength of the laser light varies depending on the substance used. For example, a carbon dioxide laser can be used with a wavelength of 10.6 μm, a YAG laser with 1064 nm, and a semiconductor laser with a wavelength of about 300 nm to 3000 nm depending on the formulation. is there.

  As for the resin, the YAG laser having a wavelength of 1064 nm used in this example can be used favorably.

<Manufacturing outline of developer bag>
12 and 13 show the manufacturing process of the developer bag 16 and the sealing member 19 shown in FIG. 3, FIG. 4, FIG. Hereinafter, formation of a sealed state in one direction will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 12A shows a sheet cross section before the developer bag 16 is formed into a bag shape. The bag member 16h, which is a constituent material of the developer bag 16, uses a long sheet material wound in a roll shape. Then, while being fed in the longitudinal direction (perpendicular to the paper surface in the figure) by the feed roller, it is bent into a predetermined shape by a position regulating member (not shown), or joined / joined with other parts, continuously. Can be processed. Of course, it is also possible to perform the same processing using a rectangular cut sheet. At this time, the bag member 16h is punched to form an opening 16c.

  In FIG. 12B, the position regulating member (not shown) is arranged in the feeding direction as described in FIG. 12A, and the bag member 16h is folded using the feeding operation, and the one end folded. The cross section 16i of the portion is arranged so as to face in the same direction as the cross section 16p of the other end portion corresponding thereto.

  In FIG. 12C, heat welding is performed by sandwiching the overlapped end portion of the bag member 16h as described above between the cradle 26c and the heat welding head 26d at a predetermined temperature and a predetermined pressure for a predetermined time. A junction 16j is formed.

  In FIG. 12D, first, the sealing member 19 is supplied so as to close the opening 16c of the bag member 16h that has been heat-welded as described above.

  Next, a receiving base 26e is arranged on one side of a certain region including the periphery of the opening 16c of the bag member 16h, and a light transmitting member 26f (for example, quartz glass) as a pressing member having light transmitting properties on the opposite side. And pressurizing at a predetermined pressure. That is, the sealing member 19 is pressed against the developer bag 16 with a predetermined pressure by the light transmissive member 26f.

  Then, the surface of the bag member 16h having high light absorption is irradiated with the laser light 26g through the light transmissive member 26f and the sealing member 19 having high light transmission. As the laser light source, a YAG laser (not shown) is used here as described above. Since the welded portions 16d and 16e need to be formed in a linear shape, the laser beam 27 needs to be irradiated in a state of moving at high speed, not in a stopped state. A method of moving the laser light source itself by driving means (not shown) or a method of moving the irradiation position by changing the angle of a mirror that changes the direction of the laser light while fixing the light source itself can be used effectively.

  As described above, the surface of the bag member 16h having high light absorption can be heated to melt only the vicinity of the interface between the two materials. Thereafter, the irradiation is completed, and both members are rapidly cooled to complete the welding (joining) between the sealing member 19 and the bag member 16h.

  As described above, between the developer bag 16 and the sealing member 19, the first welded portion 16d, which is the first joint portion that is first opened at the time of opening, and the first welded portion are opened after the first welded portion. The second welded portion 16e, which is the second joint portion to be formed, is formed.

  As described above, the hollow tube 16k is completed by forming the welded portion 16d and the welded portion 16e as shown in FIG. Since the tube 16k can be freely deformed by using the flexibility of the bag member 16h to have an internal space, the developer can be contained therein.

  In the formation of the tube 16k, the reason why the laser irradiation is used instead of the thermal welding used in FIG. 12C is as follows (1) to (3).

  (1) The surface which should not be welded by the method by heat welding is welded. This situation is shown in FIG. 15, 26i and 26p are bag members shown in FIG. 12, 19 is a sealing member, 26a is a welding cradle, and 26b is a welding head.

  Heat welding uses a heat transfer phenomenon and heating is slow. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 15, when the welding portion 16d, which is a portion to be welded between the sealing member 19 and the bag member 26p, is heated up to a temperature at which welding can be performed, the space between the bag member 26p and the bag member 26i (see FIG. 15). In the middle 16 m), the temperature is raised to the same level, so that it is welded. Accordingly, the welded portion 16d, which is a portion to be welded between the sealing member 19 and the bag member 26p, cannot be formed in a tube shape as intended.

  FIG. 16 shows a case where laser welding is used for this thermal welding. In FIG. 16, the same members as those shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 16, if a laser beam having a sufficient output is used, the interface between the bag member 26p and the sealing member 19 can be raised to a required temperature with a heating time of about several tens of milliseconds to several hundreds of milliseconds. In this case, since the heating is completed before the transition from the transient state to the steady state, the temperature distribution in the thickness direction in the member becomes steep. Thereby, before the interface between the bag member 26i and the bag member 26p is heated, the welding of the welding portion 16d, which is a portion to be welded between the sealing member 19 and the bag member 26p, is completed. Therefore, according to laser welding, it becomes possible to weld only a required part.

  (2) For the reason (1) above, when the order of laser welding in FIG. 12D and thermal welding in FIG. 12C is changed, workability and productivity are significantly hindered.

  That is, when it is necessary to form the welding part 16j between the bag members 16h on the lower side of the sealing member 19, when the sealing member 19 is first laser welded, the sealing member 19 is turned over to form the bag member. This is because it is necessary to thermally weld 16h.

  This is shown in FIG. In FIG. 17, 26i and 26p are bag members, 19 is a sealing member, 26c is a welding cradle, and 26d is a welding head.

  As can be seen from FIG. 17, in order to form the welded portion 16j, the sealing member 19 in the vicinity of the welded portion 16j must be turned as shown in FIG. The heat welding head 26d is heated to such an extent that the bag members 26p and 26i can be melted and welded, so that a heat shield plate is added and heated so as not to thermally damage the sealing member 19. Measures such as shortening the time are necessary.

  (3) The sealing property and peeling force of the welded part formed by heat welding are not stable. This is because, in the thermal welding, since the heating part and the pressure part are the same part, the molten resin sinks due to the pressure of the welding head.

  As shown in FIG. 15, in the state where the resin is submerged, the immediate vicinity of the welded portion becomes thin, and problems such as elongation and breakage of the sealing member 19 are likely to occur. Here, the sealing member 19 includes the special sealant layer 19f and the base material 19e. However, the special sealant layer 19f is likely to be thinned by heat welding. In that case, the base material 19e is directly heat welded to the bag member 26p, and the force required for opening is extremely increased.

  In contrast to this thermal welding, in laser welding, as shown in FIG. 16, a bag member 26i, a bag member 26p, and a sealing member 19 that are sheet materials are sandwiched between a receiving base 26e and a light transmitting member 26f. Press. However, the pressurizing region can be set so as to pressurize a much wider region than the welded portion 16d. In this case, since the pressurization region by the light transmissive member 26f is large and the heating region by laser light irradiation can be small, the member does not deform as shown in FIG. That is, the load on the sheet material (here, the sealing member and the bag member) is reduced and stable welding is possible.

  In the above-described embodiment, a configuration in which the entire area of the bag member 26 is light-absorbing and the entire area of the sealing member 19 is light-transmitting is illustrated. However, it is sufficient that only the outer peripheral portion covering the discharge portion 16b of the bag member 16h is.

  Moreover, in the said Example, although the light absorption property was provided to the bag member 26 and the light transmittance was provided to the sealing member 19, it is not limited to this. That is, the same effect can be obtained by imparting light permeability to the bag member 26 and light absorbing property to the sealing member 19 and irradiating the sealing member 19 through the bag member 26 with the irradiation direction of the laser light reversed. Can be obtained.

  FIG. 13 shows the sealing formation in the short direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the developer bag 16 and the sealing member 19 described in FIG.

  FIG. 13A shows a tube 16k that is the developer bag 16 sealed with the sealing member 19 created in FIGS. 12A to 12E.

  In FIG. 13 (b), one end in the longitudinal direction of the tube 16k is thermally welded in the same manner as described in FIG. 12 (c) to form the joint 16m. The joint portion 16m is disposed so as to cross the first weld portion 16d, the second weld portion 16e, and the joint portion 16j. This is to maintain the continuity of heat welding and to securely seal the contents.

  In FIG. 13C, the other end in the longitudinal direction of the tube 16k is widened, and the inside is filled with a developer. The filling is performed using a known auger type filling device, but other methods having the same function may be used.

  In FIG. 13D, after filling with the developer as described above, the other end in the longitudinal direction opposite to the one end in the longitudinal direction thermally welded in FIG. Then, the internal developer is sealed inside the tube 16k. For the same reason as the joint portion 16m, the joint portion 16n is disposed so as to cross the first weld portion 16d, the second weld portion 16e, and the joint portion 16j.

  The developer storage container in which the discharge portion of the developer bag 16 is sealed with the sealing member 19 and filled with the developer is stored in the frame of the developer storage unit 25 together with the opening member 20 as described above.

<Outline of opening developer bag>
Next, the opening of the developer bag 16 will be described. First, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the unsealing member 20 rotates in the direction of arrow C. With this rotation, the sealing member 19 fixed to the opening member 20 is pulled in the arrow D direction. Here, since the developer bag fixing portion 16a is fixed to one of the frames 17 and 18b, a force is applied to the first welded portion 16d in the direction indicated by the arrow H (see FIG. 4). 5), opening of the discharge part 16b begins (FIG. 6). As the rotation of the unsealing member 20 progresses, the unsealing proceeds in the direction of arrow E, the opening 16c is exposed (FIG. 7A), and finally the second welded portion 16e on the downstream side in the unsealing direction is peeled off. Complete. The developer inside the developer bag 16 is discharged in the direction of arrow I through the opening 16c of the discharge portion 16b (FIG. 7B).

  Here, an outline of the connecting portion 16g that defines the opening 16c that plays a major role in the opening operation of the developer bag 16 will be described.

  FIG. 9 is a view when the opening 16c is exposed after the peeling of the first welded portion 16d to be opened first, and the second welded portion 16e is not yet peeled off. .

  As described above, the discharge portion 16b has a plurality of openings 16c in a direction F substantially perpendicular to the direction E in which the opening proceeds. Therefore, the connection part 16g which defines several opening parts other than the opening part 16c of the discharge part 16b is also distribute | arranged to the arrow F direction. Thus, the plurality of connecting portions 16g connect the first welded portion 16d and the second welded portion 16e in the direction of arrow E in which the opening of the discharge portion 16b proceeds. Therefore, when the first welded portion 16d is unsealed, the force for peeling the unsealing member 20 from the developer bag 16 can be transmitted to the second welded portion 16e. Therefore, the second welded portion 16e can be opened.

  Here, a case will be described in which the present embodiment is not applied and the connecting portion 16g does not exist and the opening is difficult as shown in FIGS. In this case, as shown in FIG. 11, the sealing member 19 is pulled in the pulling direction (arrow D) of the unsealing member 20 after the peeling of the first welded portion 16d, and the second welded portion is in the direction of arrow D. Power is applied. In this case, the second welded portion 16e does not have the positional relationship of inclined peeling (90 ° to 180 ° peeling) as shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 6, but as shown in FIG. Detachment becomes difficult. For this reason, the opening 16c in the vicinity of the longitudinal center of the second welded portion 16e is largely opened as shown in FIG. 10, and is caught in the opening member 20 and cannot be opened.

<Outline of opening material>
Next, the opening member 20 has a shaft shape that is rotatably supported by the first frame body 17.

  In this embodiment, the opening member 20 has a square shaft shape, and the fixing portion 19b of the sealing member 19 is fixed to one surface of the square shaft, and the pressing means 21 for pressing the developer bag 16 is fixed. The pressing unit 21 also serves as a stirring unit for the developer discharged from the developer bag 16 and a conveying unit to the developing roller 13 side.

<Outline of developer discharge from developer bag>
When the opening member 20 further rotates after the opening, the pressing means 21 for pushing the developer bag 16 fixed to the opening member 20 also rotates, and the opening member is opened by the developer bag 16 as shown in FIG. Wind around 20. Here, since the pressing means 21 has elasticity, it tries to recover to the original shape. Therefore, when the developer bag 16 is pushed in the direction of arrow J by the pressing means 21, the internal volume is reduced, and the internal developer is pushed out and discharged from the opening 16c (FIG. 8A, arrow I). .

  Then, as shown in FIG. 8B, the rotation of the unsealing member 20 further proceeds, and the pressing means 21 is separated from the developer bag 16. At this time, since the developer bag 16 has elasticity, it swells to recover the state before being pressed (FIG. 8B, arrow K). Then, the pressing means 21 also rotates to push the developer bag 16 as shown in FIG. 8A, and the developer is discharged from the opening 16c. By repeating such a cycle, the developer inside the developer bag 16 is discharged from the opening 16c.

  As described above, it is possible to open the developer bag 16 by simply pulling the sealing member 19 in one direction (arrow D in the figure), and the developer bag 16 can be opened reliably and stably. In addition, since the process cartridge A can be opened by pulling in the short direction, the separation distance that is about twice as long as the conventional process cartridge can be greatly reduced. Since the sealing member 19 after opening is fixed to the opening member 20, the opening can be performed without taking out the waste material from the process cartridge.

  Furthermore, the developer is reliably discharged from the inside of the developer bag 16 by the pressing means 21. Further, since the sealing member 19 can move together with the opening member 20, a toner stirring effect can be expected in the process cartridge. Furthermore, since the developer bag 16 takes the form of a bag, the developer can be handled as a unit, so that the developer filling process can be separated from the process cartridge assembly process.

  Further, according to this embodiment, the pressing force at the time of welding the developer bag 16 and the sealing member 19 can be reduced. Thereby, the deformation of the member due to the pressing force at the time of welding can be suppressed, stable welding can be performed, and the sealing property and peelability of the welded portion formed by welding can be stabilized.

  In addition, although the structure which opens the developer bag 16 by rotation of the opening member 20 was illustrated in the Example mentioned above, it is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 14, the opening member 20 may be configured to move in a direction away from the developer bag 16 (in the direction of arrow L). Also with this configuration, as in the first embodiment, the sealing member 19 fixed to the opening member 20 is pulled, and the developer bag 16 can be opened.

  In the above-described embodiment, the pressing means fixed to the opening member is exemplified as the developer agitating means for the developer discharged from the developer bag 16 and the conveying means to the developing roller 13 side. However, the present invention is not limited to this. It is not something. For example, the agitation means for the developer discharged from the developer bag 16 and the conveying means to the developing roller 13 side may be provided separately from the aforementioned pressing means (not shown).

[Example 2]
Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings, a process cartridge including a developer storage container according to Example 2 and a method for manufacturing the developer storage container will be described in detail.

  In the following description, the longitudinal direction of the image carrier and the longitudinal direction of a cartridge (hereinafter referred to as process cartridge) provided with process means acting on the image carrier refer to the width direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the recording medium.

[Description of process cartridge and main unit]
FIG. 19 is a main sectional view of a process cartridge according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 20 is a main sectional view of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus (hereinafter referred to as an image forming apparatus) according to the present embodiment. This process cartridge includes an image carrier and process means acting on the image carrier. Examples of the process means include a charging means for charging the surface of the image carrier, a developing means for forming a toner image on the image carrier, and a cleaning means for removing toner remaining on the surface of the image carrier.

  As shown in FIG. 19, the process cartridge A includes a developing frame 64, a cleaning frame 63, and a developer storage frame (hereinafter referred to as a toner frame) 61 that stores toner. The developing frame 64 includes an electrophotographic photosensitive drum (hereinafter referred to as a photosensitive drum) 57 that is an image carrier, a charging roller 58 that is a charging unit, a developing roller 59c that is a developing unit, a developing blade 59d, and a balloon. A prevention sheet 65 is provided. The cleaning frame 63 is provided with a cleaning blade 60a and a squeeze sheet 60c as cleaning means.

  The process cartridge A is detachably mounted on an image forming apparatus B as shown in FIG. 20 and used for image formation. The recording medium 52 is sent out from the feeding cassette 53a mounted at the lower part of the apparatus by the pickup roller 53b, and then the recording medium 52 is conveyed by the conveying rollers 53c and 53d, and the recording medium 52 is put on standby by the registration roller 53e. On the other hand, the photosensitive drum 57 is selectively exposed from the exposure device 51 to form a latent image. Thereafter, the toner stored in the toner frame 61 is thinly supported on the surface of the developing roller 59c by the developing blade 59d, and a developing bias is applied to the developing roller 59c to supply the toner to the photosensitive drum 57 according to the latent image. A toner image is formed.

  The recording medium 2 is sent out from the registration roller 53e to the facing portion between the transfer roller 54 and the photosensitive drum 57 in synchronism with the formation of the toner image on the photosensitive drum 57. This toner image is transferred onto the transported recording medium 52 by applying a bias voltage to the transfer roller 54. After the transfer, residual toner on the photosensitive drum 57 is removed by a cleaning unit. The recording medium 52 onto which the toner image has been transferred is conveyed to the fixing device 55 where the image is fixed, and is discharged to a discharge tray 56 at the top of the device by discharge rollers 53g and 53h.

[Explanation of development unit]
The developing unit 70 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The developing frame 64 that supports the developing roller 59c of the process cartridge A is welded to and integrated with a toner frame 61 that is a developer storage container to form a developing unit (developing device) 70. The toner frame 61 includes a toner storage portion 61a that is a developer storage portion (developer container) that stores toner, and a toner supply opening (discharge portion) 61b for supplying toner in the toner storage portion 61a to the developing chamber 64a. Is forming. Further, the toner frame 61 supports a toner feeding member 59b in the toner storage portion 61a so as to be rotatable.

  The toner supply opening 61b is sealed with a toner seal 71 as a sealing member until the process cartridge A is used. The toner supply opening 61b can supply toner when the user removes the toner seal 71 when the process cartridge A is first used. The developing frame 64 supports the developing roller 59c and the developing blade 59d that constitute developing means together with the toner frame 61.

[Toner seal]
Next, the toner seal 71 which is a part of the configuration of the developing unit 70 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 27 is a cross-sectional view of the toner seal 71 according to the present embodiment. The toner seal 71 has a multilayer structure including a first base material 71a, a second base material 71b, a cushion layer 71c, and a sealant layer 71d.

  As the first base material 71a, a biaxially stretched polyester film having a thickness of about 10 μm to 30 μm, a uniaxially stretched polypropylene film, a stretched polyamide film, or the like is used. However, a biaxially stretched polyester film or a uniaxially stretched polypropylene film is preferably used since the toner seal 71 is likely to curl if the film has hygroscopicity, and the workability during welding is reduced. From the viewpoint of film strength, a biaxially stretched polyester film is most preferably used.

  As the second base material 71b, a stretched polyamide layer having a thickness of about 10 μm to 30 μm is used or a biaxially stretched polyester film having a similar thickness is used in order to give the toner seal 71 elongation strength (high toughness). It is preferable.

  Furthermore, when it is not necessary to perform printing, one of the first base material 71a and the second base material 71b may be omitted.

  As the cushion layer 71c, a polyethylene layer having a thickness of about 20 μm to 40 μm is used, but a layer having a low molecular weight of about 10,000 is preferably used in order to increase the cushioning effect during welding.

  The sealant layer 71d includes, for example, an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (hereinafter referred to as “EVA”), and is based on a mixture of EVA with 3 wt% to 20 wt% of polyethylene.

  Further, the toner seal 71 needs to be transparent to near-infrared rays in any of the above formulas.

  The toner seal 71 of this example has a biaxially stretched polyester film having a thickness of 16 μm as the first substrate 71a, a stretched polyamide layer having a thickness of 25 μm as the second substrate 71b, and a molecular weight of 30 μm as the cushion layer 71c. A 10,000 low molecular weight polyethylene layer and a sealant layer 71d in which EVA is mixed with polyethylene at a ratio of 8% by weight are used.

[Attaching the toner frame]
Next, a method for attaching (welding) the toner seal 71 to the toner frame 61 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 18 is an explanatory diagram of a state at the time of laser welding in this embodiment. FIG. 21 is an explanatory view of the best conditions during laser welding. FIG. 22 is an explanatory diagram (details) of the best conditions during laser welding. FIG. 23 is an explanatory diagram of a state during laser welding. FIG. 24 is a cross-sectional photograph of the vicinity of the welded portion laser welded under the best conditions. FIG. 25 is a cross-sectional photograph of the vicinity of the welded portion where laser welding has been performed.

  In this embodiment, a laser welding method using a laser beam e is used for welding the toner seal 71 and the toner frame 61. Here, the toner seal 71 is illustrated as a light-transmitting member (hereinafter referred to as a transmitting member) that transmits the laser light e, and the toner frame 61 is illustrated as a light-absorbing member (hereinafter referred to as an absorbing member) that receives the laser light e. To explain.

  The laser welding method will be briefly explained. The transmitting member that transmits the laser beam e and the absorbing member that receives the laser beam e are brought into close contact with each other at a constant pressure, and the laser beam that has passed through the transmitting member is absorbed on the absorbing member side by irradiating the transmitting member with the laser beam Is done. The absorbed laser beam e is converted into heat to generate heat, and the heat melts the vicinity of the surface of the absorbing member (61c portion of the toner frame 61). As a result, the transmission member side is also melted by heat conduction from the absorption member side, and then cooled and fixed.

  The welding procedure (procedures 1 to 3) will be described below with reference to FIGS. 18 and 21 to 25 with respect to the method of welding the toner seal 71 and the toner frame 61 of this embodiment.

  The material of the laser beam e and the toner frame 61 will be described later.

(Procedure 1)
The welding surface 61d of the toner frame 61 and the sealant layer 71d side of the toner seal 71 are overlapped, and the toner frame 61 is welded from the first base material 71a side of the toner seal 71 by a pressing member (hereinafter, pressing jig 90). Press toward the surface 61d side (arrow in FIG. 21).

(Procedure 2)
Laser light e is irradiated from the laser irradiation head 80 toward the welding surface 61d of the toner frame 61 through the toner seal 71 from the pressing jig 90 side.

  The irradiated laser beam e passes through the permeable pressing jig 90 and the toner seal 71, and is absorbed by the welding surface 61d of the toner frame 61 on the absorption side. The absorbed laser light is converted into heat, and the vicinity 61c of the surface of the toner frame 61 generates heat. The heat is transmitted to the sealant layer 71d of the toner seal 71 and melts, and the toner frame 61 and the toner seal 71 are connected. It becomes possible to weld.

(Procedure 3)
As shown in FIG. 18, while continuously irradiating the laser beam e from the laser irradiation head 80, the laser irradiation head 80 is moved as indicated by an arrow 80a to form a welding pattern (hereinafter referred to as a seal pattern) 61e. . The welding pattern 61 e formed by the movement of the laser irradiation head 80 is an outer peripheral portion of a portion where the toner seal 71 covers the toner supply opening 61 b of the toner frame 61.

  The laser beam e, the pressing jig 90, and the receiving jig 91 will be further described with reference to FIG.

  The pressing jig 90 is provided with a convex portion 90a having a width f2. The width f2 of the convex portion 90a is substantially the same as the welding width required for the product function. Here, the width f2 of the convex portion 90a is 0.7 mm, and the height f3 of the convex portion 90a is 1.0 mm.

  The spot diameter of the laser beam e by the laser irradiation head 80 is set larger than the welding width (≈the width f2 of the convex portion 90a), and unnecessary laser beam e is cut by masking 90b on the pressing jig 90, It becomes possible to make the welding width uniform. Here, the opening width f1 of the masking 90b is 1.1 mm while the width f2 of the convex portion 90a is 0.7 mm. Further, the irradiation width e1 of the laser beam e corresponding to the welding surface 61d at that time is 0.9 mm.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 23, when the width f2 of the convex portion 90a and the opening width f1 of the masking 90b are made the same, or the spot diameter of the laser beam e is made the same as the width f2, the diameter is reduced to about 0.7 mm The irradiation width e2 of the laser beam e which hits the welding surface 61d is 0.5 mm.

  Even when the spot diameter of the laser beam is the same as the width f2 of the convex portion 90a, the toner seal 71 and the toner frame 61 can be welded, but the spot diameter of the laser beam is smaller than the width f2 of the convex portion 90a. Compared to the case where it is set large, the welding state is different.

  A specific difference in the welded state will be described with reference to cross-sectional photographs of the welded state shown in FIGS.

  24 is welded under the welding conditions shown in FIG. 22, and FIG. 25 is welded under the welding conditions shown in FIG.

  A range 92 in FIG. 24 is a seal edge (a liquid pool portion between the sealant layer 71 d and the welding surface 61 d of the toner frame 61) similar to the heat seal method which is a conventional method. This seal edge 92 is necessary to ensure the welding strength necessary for the product function without increasing the welding width.

  The mechanism for forming such a seal edge heats the welding surface 61d of the toner frame 61 and its opposite surface of the toner seal 71 with an irradiation width e1 larger than the width f2 of the convex portion 90a of the pressing jig 90. Melt. Then, due to the pressurization of the convex portion 90a, the melted toner frame 61 and the sealant layer 71d of the toner seal 71 are melted right next to the pressure surface of the convex portion 90a, so that the seal edge 92 is formed as shown in FIG. It is formed.

  On the other hand, in FIG. 25, the above-mentioned seal edge is hardly recognized. However, if the welding width itself is increased, the welding strength can be ensured. Therefore, the sink on the welding surface 61d of the toner frame 61, which will be described later, is effective (has a margin) for the heat sealing method.

[Pressing jig]
The pressing jig 90 is transmissive to the laser beam e and needs to be rigid enough to pressurize the entire welding surface 61d of the toner seal 71 and the toner frame 61. Therefore, acrylic (PMMA), Polycarbonate (PC), glass and the like are preferable.

  Further, since the toner frame 61 having the welding surface 61d is made of a resin material, sink marks, warpage, thickness change, and the like during molding occur. Therefore, a transparent elastic body is attached to the tip of the convex portion 90a of the pressing jig 90. As a result, the adhesion between the toner seal 71 and the welding surface 61 d of the toner frame 61 can be improved. Specifically, for example, the configuration of the pressing jig 90 may be made by attaching silicone rubber having a hardness of 50 ° (JIS K6301A) and a thickness of 0.5 mm as an elastic body to acrylic resin with a permeable double-sided tape. It is done.

  The welding surface 61d of the toner frame 61 is preferably flat. However, it is necessary to weld and seal even if there is a sink (a concave portion due to resin shrinkage) on the welding surface 61d. It was a major factor in determining surface pressure. However, in this laser welding method, as will be described with reference to FIG. 26, the welding surface 61 d of the toner frame 61 is heated and melted to thermally expand, and the gap K with the toner seal 71 can be filled.

  In the material of the toner frame 61 to be described later, it was possible to fill the gap (sink amount) K up to 0.3 mm by thermal expansion. In the conventional heat sealing method, the gap (sink amount) that could be filled was about 0.06 mm.

  Further, as described above, in the laser welding method, the total pressure applied to the toner frame 61 is about 1/3 of that in the heat seal method, so that the receiving jig 91 has a convex portion 90a of the pressing jig 90. It is not necessary to receive the back side directly. That is, the receiving jig 91 may be received at a position separated from the true back surface of the convex portion 90a of the pressing jig 90 by a distance g (see FIG. 21). Specifically, even if the distance g between the receiving jig 91 and the pressing jig 90 shown in FIG.

[Laser energy density]
Regarding the present embodiment, the laser beam used for welding the toner seal and the toner frame is not particularly limited as long as it is near infrared (750 to 3000 nm), but this time, FD200 (wavelength: 960 nm) manufactured by Fine Devices is used. Using. In welding, the energy density of the welded portion is preferably 0.05 to 1.2 J / mm2, and this time, the speed is 100 mm / sec, the output is 20 W, the spot diameter is φ1.2 mm (the irradiation width is 0.9 mm). ).

  Of course, a batch irradiation type laser may be used instead of a scanning type laser.

[Toner frame]
Examples of the styrene resin composition that can be suitably used as the material of the toner frame include HIPS (high impact polystyrene) that is a rubber-modified styrene material. This material is a mixture of a rubber-like polymer or a rubber-like copolymer in order to improve impact resistance to PS (polystyrene) that is inexpensive and has good fluidity.

  The rubbery polymer or rubbery copolymer is selected from the group consisting of polybutadiene, styrene-butadiene copolymer, polyisoprene, butadiene-isoprene copolymer, natural rubber, and ethylene-propylene copolymer. Is preferably used.

  The frame (container) material is required to have flame retardancy of UL-94 V2 rank as safety against fire. Therefore, in the styrene-based resin composition, a brominated flame retardant (for example, ethylene bispentabromobenzene, tetrabromobisphenol A derivative, polybrominated aliphatic ether derivative, etc.) or phosphate ester type is used as the first flame retardant. A flame retardant (for example, resorcinol bis (diphenyl phosphate), bisphenol A bis (diphenyl phosphate), etc.) is added.

  Furthermore, the amount of the first flame retardant added can be reduced by adding the second flame retardant, and the heat resistance of the styrene-based resin composition serving as the base polymer can be prevented from being lowered. When a brominated flame retardant is used as the first flame retardant, antimony trioxide is usually preferably used as the second flame retardant because it is most effective.

  In this embodiment, the toner frame is used as a laser light absorber. Therefore, 0.7 parts by mass of carbon black having a number average particle diameter of 16 nm as a coloring material and 8 parts by mass of rubber having a number average particle diameter of 1.8 μm per 100 parts by mass of a styrene resin having a weight average molecular weight of 220,000 are difficult. The thing containing the phosphate ester type | system | group was used as a flame retardant. This material had a plate thickness of 2 mm and a transmittance of 0.5%.

  According to this embodiment, it is possible to reduce the pressing force when the toner frame 61 and the toner seal 71 are welded. Therefore, it is not necessary to make uniform contact adjustment between the toner frame and the toner seal as much as the method of heat welding by heat sealing, which is more advantageous than the method of heat welding by heat sealing against sink marks on the welding surface of the toner frame. It is.

  In the first and second embodiments described above, the developer storage container in the process cartridge that can be attached to and detached from the image forming apparatus main body has been described as an example. The same effect can be obtained even when the developer container and the sealing member are welded and applied to a developer storage container such as a toner cartridge filled with the developer.

  In the first and second embodiments, the printer is exemplified as the image forming apparatus, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the image forming apparatus may be another image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a facsimile machine, or another image forming apparatus such as a multi-function machine combining these functions. The same effect can be obtained by applying the present invention to a process cartridge or a developer container used in these image forming apparatuses.

A ... Process cartridge B ... Image forming apparatus e ... Laser beam 13 ... Developing roller 16 ... Developer bag 16b ... Discharge part 16c ... Opening part 16d, 16e ... Welding part 16g ... Connection part 16h ... Bag member 16i ... Cross section 16j ... Joining Part 16k ... Tube 16p ... Cross section 19 ... Sealing member 20 ... Opening member 21 ... Pressing means 21d ... Sealant layer 25 ... Developer containing unit 26c ... Receiving base 26d ... Thermal head 26e ... Receiving base 26f ... Light transmitting member 61 ... Toner frame 61a ... toner storage 61b ... toner supply opening 61d ... welding surface 61e ... welding pattern 63 ... cleaning frame 64 ... developing frame 64a ... developing chamber 70 ... developing unit 71 ... toner seal 80 ... laser irradiation head 90 ... Pressing jig 90a ... convex part 90b ... masking 91 ... receiving jig 92 ... seal air Di

Claims (16)

A method for producing a developer storage container, wherein a developer container containing a developer and having a discharge part for discharging the developer and a sealing member covering the discharge part are welded by irradiating laser light. Because
The outer peripheral part of the part where at least the sealing member covers the discharge part in the developer container has light absorption,
The outer peripheral part of the part which covers the said discharge part at least among the said sealing members has light transmittance,
Cover the discharge part of the developer container with the sealing member, press the sealing member against the developer container with a light-transmitting pressing member,
Irradiate a laser beam to the light-absorbing portion of the developer container through the light-transmitting portion of the pressing member and the sealing member,
A method for producing a developer container, wherein the sealing member and the developer container are welded together. A method for producing a developer storage container, wherein a developer container containing a developer and having a discharge part for discharging the developer and a sealing member covering the discharge part are welded by irradiating laser light. Because
The outer peripheral part of the part where at least the sealing member covers the discharge part in the developer container has light transmittance,
The outer peripheral part of the part which covers the said discharge part at least among the said sealing members has light absorption,
Cover the discharge part of the developer container with the sealing member, press the developer container against the sealing member with a pressing member having light permeability,
Irradiate the laser light to the sealing member through the portion having light permeability of the pressing member and the developer container,
A method for producing a developer container, wherein the sealing member and the developer container are welded together.   The method for manufacturing a developer container according to claim 1, wherein carbon is contained in at least the light absorbing portion of the developer container or the sealing member.   4. The developer container according to claim 1, wherein the light-transmitting developer container or the sealing member has a multilayer structure including a sealant layer. 5. Production method. The pressing member has a convex portion for pressing the sealing member or the developer container,
5. The developer container according to claim 1, wherein a width of the convex portion is the same as a width for welding the sealing member and the developer container. 6. Production method.   The laser light irradiation width is made larger than the width of the convex portion, and the irradiation width of the laser light irradiated to the light-absorbing portion through the light-transmitting portion is masked on the pressing member. The method of manufacturing a developer container according to claim 5, wherein the developer storage container is determined by performing the determination.   The method for manufacturing a developer container according to claim 5 or 6, wherein a transparent elastic body is attached to a tip of the convex portion of the pressing member.   8. The developer storage according to claim 1, wherein the pressing member is a member that transmits laser light, and is made of acrylic (PMMA), polycarbonate (PC), or glass. 9. Container manufacturing method.   The method for manufacturing a developer container according to claim 1, wherein the developer container is flexible. A developer container containing a developer and having a discharge part for discharging the developer; and a sealing member covering the discharge part, wherein the developer container and the sealing member are laser beams. A developer storage container welded by irradiation of
The outer peripheral part of the part where at least the sealing member covers the discharge part in the developer container has light absorption,
The outer peripheral part of the part which covers the said discharge part at least among the said sealing members has light transmittance,
A developer characterized in that the discharge portion of the developer container is covered with the sealing member, and the portion having the light absorption property of the developer container is melted to weld the sealing member and the developer container. Agent storage container. A developer container containing a developer and having a discharge part for discharging the developer; and a sealing member having a sealing part covering the discharge part; and the developer container and the seal A developer storage container to which the member is welded by laser light irradiation,
The outer peripheral part of the part where at least the sealing member covers the discharge part in the developer container has light transmittance,
The outer peripheral part of the part which covers the said discharge part at least among the said sealing members has light absorption,
The developing unit is characterized in that the discharge part of the developer container is covered with the sealing member, and the sealing member and the developer container are welded by melting a portion having the light absorption property of the sealing member. Agent storage container.   The developer container according to claim 10 or 11, wherein carbon is contained in at least a portion of the developer container or the sealing member having the light absorptivity.   The developer container according to any one of claims 10 to 12, wherein the light-transmitting developer container or the sealing member has a multilayer structure including a sealant layer.   The developer container is a container in which the developer container is flexible and the discharge container is sealed by the sealing member and the developer container containing the developer is stored in a frame. The developer container according to claim 10, wherein the developer container is a container. An opening member provided inside the frame body for moving the sealing member to open the discharge portion of the developer container;
The developer container according to claim 14, wherein the sealing member protrudes outward from a joint portion that forms an inner region of the developer container.   11. A process cartridge that can be attached to and detached from an image forming apparatus, comprising: an image carrier; and a developer carrier for developing the latent image formed on the image carrier using a developer. 15. A process cartridge comprising the developer storage container according to any one of 15 above.