JP2020067643A - Powder storage container and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a powder storage container that allows a stored powder, such as a developer to be used up, and can smoothly discharge the powder from a powder discharge port even when the container stores a large amount of a powder, and an image forming apparatus.SOLUTION: A powder storage container 10 comprises: a container body 20 that has a horizontally-long cylindrical shape, has a spiral projection 21 projecting to an inside on its inner wall, and is driven to rotate centering on an axis of the cylinder to convey a powder therein to its tip; a discharge member 30 that is attached to the tip of the container body and rotated integrally with the container body, and has an intake port for taking in the powder inside the container body, a discharge port provided closer to the axis than the intake port and on a downstream side of the intake port, and a discharge path connecting the intake port and the discharge port; a blocking member that blocks a part of the powder conveyed by the spiral projection at a front surface on the upstream side of the intake port; and a blade member 50 that serves as a conveying unit conveying the powder reaching between the blocking member and the intake port toward the intake port.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a powder container for storing powder such as toner and sequentially discharging the powder from the front end to the next stage, and an image forming apparatus.

  In an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, or a facsimile which adopts an electrophotographic method, an electrostatic latent image is formed on a photoconductor, the toner is developed with toner, and then the toner image on the photoconductor is recorded on a recording paper or the like. It is equipped with a structure for transferring the image onto the sheet, fixing it, and outputting the image. A developing device that plays a role of developing an electrostatic latent image with toner includes a developer container that contains a developer that is a powder in which toner and a carrier are mixed, and the developer container is sequentially provided with a developer. To supply.

  As shown in FIG. 29, the developer accommodating container 100 has a cylindrical shape with its axis oriented in the lateral direction, and a spiral projection 101 protruding inward is provided on the inner wall surface thereof. The developer container 100 is rotationally driven about its axis. By this rotation, the developer in the container is pushed by the spiral protrusion 101 provided on the inner wall surface and is conveyed toward the tip of the container (see Patent Document 1).

  A discharge member 103 that discharges the developer conveyed by the spiral protrusion 101 toward the developing portion is attached to the tip of the developer container 100. The discharge member 103 rotates integrally with the developer container 100. The discharge member 103 has a tapered hollow conical shape, and has a powder discharge port 104 near the center of rotation at its tip. The developer intake port 105 is provided in the vicinity of the outer periphery on the bottom surface side of the hollow cone shape, and when the intake port 105 moves from the lower portion to the upper portion with rotation, the developer in the developer storage container 101 is removed. It is taken in by partitioning it by picking it up at the intake 105. After that, the developer that has reached the upper portion of the rotation is discharged from the powder discharge port 104 through the inclined path provided inside the discharge member 103. The discharging member 103 has a role of collecting and discharging the developer around the rotation center, and thus the size of the apparatus can be reduced.

JP, 2015-45815, A

  By the way, since a large amount of the developer is contained in the developer container at the beginning of the replacement, the spiral protrusion on the inner wall conveys the entire developer in the container toward the tip by pressure. At this time, the developer in the vicinity of the leading end agglomerates due to the pressure received from the upstream, and the individual developers become immobile. As described above, the uptake of the developer into the intake port is performed by two kinds of actions of rotation and gravitational drop. However, in a dense state where pressure is applied to the intake port, it is accompanied by rotation of the container. As a result, the developer rotates, so that it is not possible to properly divide the developer into the discharge member through the inlet.

  In order to prevent the developer from agglomerating, it may be possible to set the developer carrying force by the spiral projection to be low. However, in order to use up the developer in the container sufficiently, it is necessary to secure a certain level or more of the conveying force by the spiral protrusion even when the remaining amount is small, so that method cannot be adopted. This problem is not limited to the case where the contained powder is a developer.

  DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention is intended to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is possible to exhaust the powder such as the developer contained therein and smoothly discharge the powder from the powder discharge port even in a state where the contained amount is large. An object is to provide a container and an image forming apparatus using the container.

  The gist of the present invention for achieving such an object resides in the inventions of the following items.

[1] A powder having a horizontally long cylindrical shape, an inner wall of which has a spiral projection protruding inward, and which is housed inside by being driven to rotate in a predetermined direction about the axis of the cylinder. A container body in which the spiral protrusion conveys toward the tip of the cylinder,
The inlet is attached to the tip of the container body and rotates integrally with the container body, and an intake port for capturing the powder in the container body, and the intake port in the transport direction, which is closer to the rotation center than the intake port. A discharge member having a discharge port provided on the downstream side of the intake port, and a discharge path connecting the intake port and the discharge port;
A blocking member that blocks a part of the powder carried by the spiral projection on the upstream side front surface of the intake port,
A transport unit that transports the powder that has reached between the blocking member and the intake port without being blocked by the blocking member toward the intake port,
A powder container having

  In the above-mentioned invention, the blocking member blocks the pressure of the powder conveyed by the spiral protrusion toward the intake port, and the conveying section reaches between the blocking member and the intake port without being blocked by the blocking member. Transport the powder toward the inlet.

[2] The blocking member has a width in the radial direction of the container body, which is provided adjacent to the intake port and along the inner wall of the container body, in the same winding direction as the spiral protrusion. The powder container according to [1], which is a hollow spiral member and rotates together with the discharge member or the container body to function as the transport unit.

  In the above-mentioned invention, the hollow spiral member functions as a blocking member by being located on the upstream side front surface of the intake port, and also functions as a conveying unit that conveys the powder by rotating.

[3] A wall member extending in the downstream direction from the rotation center side end of the blocking member is provided.
The powder container according to [1] or [2], characterized in that

  In the above invention, the wall member prevents the pressure of the flow of the powder particles carried by the spiral projection from diffracting around the blocking member from reaching the powder particles between the blocking member and the intake port. Further, the wall member prevents the powder material being conveyed from falling due to its own weight.

[4] The intake port of the discharge member partitions the predetermined amount of powder as the intake port goes from the lower part to the upper part of the rotation and picks up the powder, and the discharge path temporarily stores the captured powder. While having a temporary storage section that is lifted to a high place with the rotation, and a sloped path that guides powder that slides down from the temporary storage section after being lifted to the high location to the discharge port,
The powder container according to any one of [1] to [3], characterized in that

  In the above invention, the powder taken in from the intake port is temporarily stored in the temporary storage unit, carried to a high place, and then discharged from the discharge port down the slope.

[5] The intake port of the discharge member captures the predetermined amount of powder by partitioning and scooping up the powder when the intake port goes from the lower part to the upper part of the rotation, and the discharge path crosses the rotation center. The powder container according to any one of [1] to [3], wherein the powder container goes straight from the intake port to the discharge port and has a downward inclination when the intake port is in an upper part of rotation. .

  In the above invention, the powder taken in through the intake port is discharged straightly to the discharge port without being temporarily stored on the way.

[6] The discharge member includes a recovery port for recovering powder particles that have not been taken into the intake port among the powder particles that have been conveyed toward the intake port by the conveying unit, and a powder substance that has been taken in from the recovery port. It has a return port for returning to the inside of the container body, and a return path communicating from the recovery port to the return port and being inclined downward toward the return port during the rotation [1] to [1] [4] The powder container according to any one of [4].

  In the above invention, among the powders conveyed by the conveyor, the surplus powder not taken into the inlet is taken into the recovery port and is returned from the return port through the return path that is inclined downward at any position during rotation. Returned to the container body.

[7] The height of the spiral projection provided on the tip side of a predetermined location midway in the longitudinal direction of the container body is higher than the height of the spiral projection provided on the rear end side of the predetermined location. The powder container according to any one of [1] to [6].

  In the above-mentioned invention, when the remaining amount is small, the powder is gathered in the region on the front end side where the blocking member and the conveyance section are, so that the appropriate discharge amount can be secured until the powder becomes empty and the powder can be used up.

[8] A separation wall that separates the inside of the container body into a first space on the front end side that includes the blocking member and the transfer unit, and a second space on the rear end side of the first space,
A communication port opened on the separation wall,
The powder container according to any one of [1] to [7], further comprising:

  In the above invention, the pressure of the powder toward the tip of the container body is reduced by the separation wall provided with the communication port.

[9] The powder container according to any one of [1] to [8] as a developer container of a developing device that develops an electrostatic latent image formed on a photoconductor with a powdery developer. Image forming apparatus using.

  According to the powder container according to the present invention and the image forming apparatus using the same, the powder such as the stored developer can be used up, and the powder can be smoothly discharged from the powder discharge port even in a state in which a large amount is stored. You can

It is a figure which shows an example of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus which uses the powder container which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view showing the appearance of a toner bottle as a powder container according to the present invention. It is a perspective view showing an ejection member. It is a perspective view which shows the discharge member which shrunk the cover wall. It is a side view which shows a discharge member. It is a side view which shows an inside member and a blade member. It is a figure explaining composition and a function of an inside member (at the time of taking in). It is a figure explaining composition and a function of an inside member (at the time of temporary storage). It is a figure explaining composition and a function of an inside member (at the time of discharge). It is a perspective view which shows the rear end side of an ejection member, and an inlet. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the function which a blocking member and a conveyance part fulfill. It is a figure which shows the mode which looked at the discharge member which attached the blade member from the upstream, and the state which removed the blade member. FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram showing the toner falling due to its own weight and the toner diffraction due to pressure. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the structure of the interruption | blocking member and the conveyance part which prevent the fall by diffraction and its own weight. It is a side view which shows the discharge member which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is another side view which shows the discharge member which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the discharge member which concerns on 3rd Embodiment. It is a side view which shows the discharge member which concerns on 4th Embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows the discharge member which concerns on 4th Embodiment. It is sectional drawing which shows the internal structure of the discharge member which concerns on 4th Embodiment. It is a side view which shows the container main body (Example 1) which changed the height of the spiral protrusion in the front end vicinity area and the rear end side. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a comparison between a toner bottle in which the height of the spiral protrusion is uniform over the entire length and a toner bottle in which the spiral protrusion in the region near the tip is higher than in other regions. It is a figure which shows the toner bottle which provided the spiral protrusion of reverse winding. It is a figure which shows the toner bottle provided with the isolation wall which partitions the internal space of a container main body back and front. It is a figure showing movement (the first half) of a interception conveyance mechanism. It is a figure which shows the movement (latter half) of a blocking conveyance mechanism. FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing a toner bottle in which a propeller type transport unit and the like are installed. It is a perspective view showing an example of a conventional toner bottle.

  Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

<First Embodiment>
FIG. 1 shows an example of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus 2 using a powder container according to an embodiment of the present invention. The image forming apparatus 2 has a function of forming a toner image on a recording sheet and outputting the image. The image forming apparatus 2 includes a conveying unit 3 for feeding and conveying the recording paper contained in the paper feeding unit, an image forming unit 4 for forming a toner image on the recording paper, and a toner image formed on the recording paper by the image forming unit 4. And a fixing device 5 for fixing the recording paper onto the recording paper.

  The image forming unit 4 has an endlessly looped intermediate transfer belt 4a, and yellow (Y), magenta (M), and cyan (Y) that form toner images of one color component on the intermediate transfer belt 4a. The image forming unit 6 (6Y, 6M, 6C, 6K) for each color of C) and black (K) is provided.

  The image forming units 6 (6Y, 6M, 6C, 6K) have the same structure, although the colors of the toners used are different. The image forming unit 6 has a cylindrical photosensitive drum 6a as an electrostatic latent image carrier on the surface of which an electrostatic latent image is formed, and a charging device, a developing device 6b, a transfer device, and a cleaning device around the photosensitive drum 6a. And so on. The print head 6c includes a laser diode (LD) which is a laser element, a polygon mirror, various lenses, and a mirror.

  A toner bottle 10 as a powder container according to the present invention, which supplies the developing device 6b with the developer in which the toner and the carrier are mixed, corresponding to each image forming unit 6 (6Y, 6M, 6C, 6K). Is provided. Details of the toner bottle 10 will be described later.

  In each of the image forming units 6 (6Y, 6M, 6C, 6K), the photoconductor drum 6a is driven by a drive unit (not shown) to rotate in a fixed direction, and the charging device uniformly charges the photoconductor drum 6a. The print head 6c forms an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photoconductor drum 6a by scanning the photoconductor drum 6a with a laser beam whose on / off is controlled according to a drive signal based on image data of a corresponding color.

  The developing device 6b visualizes (develops) the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 6a with toner. The toner image formed on the surface of the photoconductor drum 6a is transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 4a at a position where it comes into contact with the intermediate transfer belt 4a. The cleaning device rubs and removes the toner remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 4a after the transfer by using a blade or the like.

  The intermediate transfer belt 4a is wound around a plurality of rollers and wound around in the direction of arrow A in the figure. In the course of rotation, the toner images of the respective colors are sequentially superposed on the intermediate transfer belt 4a by the image forming units 6Y, 6M, 6C and 6K, and a full color color image (toner image) is synthesized. The color image by the toner is transferred from the intermediate transfer belt 4a to the recording paper at the secondary transfer position D. The toner remaining on the intermediate transfer belt 4a is removed by a cleaning device 4b provided downstream of the secondary transfer position D. The fixing device 5 is provided at a position downstream of the secondary transfer position D on the recording paper conveyance path. The fixing device 5 pressurizes and heats the toner image on the recording paper to fix it on the recording paper.

  The conveyance unit 3 conveys the recording paper fed from the paper feeding unit, passes the secondary transfer position D and the fixing device 5, and discharges the recording paper to the outside of the apparatus (paper ejection tray or post-processing device in the subsequent stage). The transport unit 3 is composed of a number of transport rollers that configure a transport path, a transport guide, a motor that drives the transport rollers, and the like.

  The control circuit unit 7 is mainly configured by a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like. Each function as the image forming apparatus 2 is realized by the CPU executing processing in accordance with the program stored in the ROM. Further, the image forming apparatus 2 is provided with an operation panel 8 having a function of receiving various operations from an operator and a function of displaying a setting screen / operation screen, a device state, a warning, and the like.

Next, the configuration of the toner bottle 10 will be described.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the outer appearance of the toner bottle 10 as the powder container according to the present invention. The toner bottle 10 has a container body 20 that contains a developer, and a discharge member 30 attached to the tip of the container body 20.

  The container body 20 has a hollow cylindrical shape, and is attached to the image forming apparatus 2 in a horizontally long orientation with its axis being substantially horizontal. The container body 20 has a spiral projection (spiral projection 21) protruding inward on its inner wall. The container main body 20 is rotationally driven in the direction of the arrow B about the axis of the cylinder by a drive mechanism (not shown), so that the developer contained inside the spiral protrusion 21 has a tip end of the container main body 20. The sheet is conveyed toward (the side on which the discharge member 30 is provided). The rear end of the container body 20 is closed, and the front end is largely opened to communicate with the discharge member 30. It should be noted that the transport destination direction in which the container body 20 transports the developer inside is downstream and the opposite direction is upstream.

  A part of the container body 20 near the front end has a smaller diameter than a part on the rear end side thereof. The diameter is smoothly changed in a transition region of a predetermined length provided between the small diameter portion and the large diameter portion. The spiral projection 21 is provided so as to hang from the rear end of the container body 20 to a position slightly before the front end, and the pitch of the spiral is made smaller in the region closer to the front end than the large diameter portion as compared with the large diameter portion.

  The discharge member 30 is attached to the container body 20 so as to cover the opening at the tip of the container body 20, and rotates integrally with the container body 20.

  3 and 4 are perspective views showing the discharging member 30, and FIG. 5 is a side view showing the discharging member 30.

  The discharge member 30 includes an outer member 31 and an inner member 40, and a blade member 50 is attached to the rear end of the inner member 40. FIG. 6 is a side view showing the inner member 40 and the blade member 50.

  The outer member 31 includes a mouth portion 32, a cover wall 33, and a hook portion 34. The mouth portion 32 has a short cylindrical shape with an open rear end, and is externally fitted and coupled to the front end portion of the container body 20 by press fitting. The front end side of the mouth portion 32 is an annular surface (referred to as a lid surface 32a) having a circular opening slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the mouth portion 32.

  The cover wall 33 is a bellows-shaped member that extends from the peripheral edge of the opening of the lid surface 32a so as to form a hollow frustoconical peripheral surface that is convex in the distal direction. The cover wall 33 can be expanded and contracted in the axial direction. An opening at the tip of the cover wall 33 serves as a powder discharge port 35 for discharging the developer.

  The hook portion 34 has a disk shape perpendicular to the axis of the container body 20. When the toner bottle 10 is not attached to the image forming apparatus 2, the tip of the covering wall 33 having the bellows extended is hooked on the hook portion 34 to close the powder discharge port 35. When the toner bottle 10 is attached to the image forming apparatus 2, the cover wall 33 is disengaged from the hook portion and contracted, so that the powder discharge port 35 is opened. The hook portion 34 is fixed to the mouth portion 32 via a support member 36 that passes inside the cover wall 33. The support member 36 forms a part of the developer discharge path.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the inner member 40 is inserted and attached inside the outer member 31, and is integrated with the outer member 31. 7, 8 and 9 are diagrams for explaining the configuration and function of the inner member 40. FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the discharge member 30 as viewed from the rear end side.

  The inner member 40 has a partition wall 41 for partitioning a fixed amount of developer (hereinafter also referred to as toner) in the container body 20 and a storage space 45 for temporarily storing the captured toner as an outer member 31. The storage member 42 formed between the outer member 31 and the outer member 31 that guides the toner stored in the storage space 45 toward the powder discharge port 35 at the position closer to the tip than the intake port 44 and near the center of rotation. And an inclined portion 43 formed between the and.

  As shown in FIG. 10, in the discharge member 30, the space inside the opening 32 and in front of the partition wall 41 in the rotation direction serves as an intake port 44 for taking in the toner in the container body 20. . The intake port 44 is located near the outer periphery of the inside of the mouth portion 32.

  FIG. 7 shows a state in which the toner flowing from the container body 20 to the intake port 44 of the discharge member 30 is divided into a certain amount by the partition wall 41 and is taken in by the discharge member 30. The toner pressed by the spiral projection 21 toward the intake port 44 is covered by the partition wall 41 when the partition wall 41 moves from the lower part to the upper part of the rotation as the toner bottle 10 rotates. The part reaching the surface 32 a side is partitioned by the partition wall 41 and taken into the discharge member 30.

  After that, when the rotation of the toner bottle 10 advances by about 45 degrees, the taken-in toner is temporarily stored in the storage space 45 formed between the storage section 42 and the outer member 31, as shown in FIG. . When the toner bottle 10 further rotates, as shown in FIG. 9, the toner stored in the storage space 45 forms the wall portion 42a of the inner member 40 that forms the side wall of the storage portion 42 in the state of FIG. Then, it is slid down from the storage part 42 to the slant part 43, goes down the slope of the slant part 43, and is discharged from the powder discharge port 35 to the outside.

  As described above, the discharging member 30 has the toner discharge path from the intake port 44 to the powder discharge port 35 through the storage portion 42 (storage space 45) and the inclined portion 43, and the discharge member 30 receives the toner from the intake port 44. The toner is discharged from the powder discharge port 35 provided closer to the center of rotation than the intake port 44 and on the front end (downstream in the transport direction) side. The above-described movement is repeated every time the toner bottle 10 makes one rotation, and the toner in the container body 20 is sequentially discharged from the powder discharge port 35.

  The blade member 50 is a blocking member that blocks the toner, which is directed toward the intake port 44 by the spiral protrusion 21 of the container body 20 toward the leading end of the container body 20, at the front of the intake port 44 at a predetermined distance upstream. And a function as a transport unit that bypasses the blocking member and transports the toner reaching between the blocking member and the loading port 44 toward the loading port 44.

  FIG. 11 is a conceptual diagram of the functions performed by the blocking member W and the transport section Q. When a large amount of toner is stored in the toner bottle 10, the toner carrying force of the spiral protrusion 21 becomes excessive, and the toner near the tip of the container body 20 aggregates due to the pressure received from the upstream. If this pressure is not blocked by the blocking member W, the toner in the vicinity of the intake port 44 receives an excessive pressure to be in a dense state and rotates together with the toner bottle 10 and the discharging member 30. The toner cannot be taken into the discharge member 30 from the inlet 44 by being partitioned by the partition wall 41 of the discharge member 30. The blocking member W blocks the pressure from being directly applied to the intake port 44 by blocking the pressure on the upstream side front surface of the intake port 44.

  On the other hand, if the blocking member W blocks the pressure of toner conveyance, the toner cannot be properly conveyed to the intake port 44 downstream of the blocking member W. Therefore, the toner, which bypasses the blocking member W and reaches between the blocking member and the intake port 44, is transported toward the intake port 44 by the transport unit Q.

  As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the blade member 50 is provided along the inner wall of the container body 20 adjacent to the intake port 44, in the same winding direction as the spiral protrusion 21, and in the container body. A hollow spiral member having a width of 20 in the radial direction. Here, the blade member 50 is arranged along the inner wall of the container body 20 from a predetermined position on the upstream side of the intake port 44 so that the terminal end is close to the intake port 44 and covers the intake port 44. It extends to a place beyond the entrance 44.

  FIG. 12 shows a state in which the discharge member 30 with the blade member 50 is viewed from the upstream side (FIG. 12B) and a state in which the discharge member 30 with the blade member 50 removed is viewed from the upstream side (see FIG. )) Is shown. As shown in the figure, the blade member 50 covers the intake port 44 and terminates at a position beyond the intake port 44. The blade member 50 may extend further beyond the intake port 44 and then terminate.

  The blade member 50 has a shape in which a strip-shaped plate member having a width substantially equal to the radial width of the intake port 44 is wound along the inner wall surface of the container body 20 in a half spiral or one round. ing. Although it may be a half turn, it is preferably one turn (or preferably one turn or more). The blade member 50 is attached to the inner member 40 of the discharge member 30 and rotates integrally with the inner member 40.

  The blade member 50 blocks the pressure of the toner toward the downstream by the spiral protrusion 21. The predetermined amount of toner on the downstream side of the blade surface of the blade member 50, the pressure of which is received from the upstream by the blade member 50, is removed from the blade surface of the rotating spiral blade member 50 by a conveying force (as the conveying portion Q). Action) to move downstream. On the other hand, the surrounding toner receives the conveying pressure from the upstream due to the spiral projection 21 and adheres and aggregates. The two toner aggregates receive different forces to form a boundary layer, and the layers slide and continue to collapse, so that the toner around the blade member 50 receives the transportation force from the blade member 50 and maintains the transportability. .

<Second Embodiment>
As the toner bottle 10 rotates, the toner inside moves agitating to some extent. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 13, the pressure with which the spiral protrusion 21 conveys the toner also acts on the toner that the conveying unit Q tries to convey, by wrapping around (blocking) the blocking member W. Further, in the case where the transport portion Q has a shape like the blade member 50 shown in the first embodiment, when the transported toner reaches the upper part of the rotation, a part of the toner falls due to its own weight, and the transport amount is reduced. Will fall.

  Therefore, in the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 14, the wall member Ws is extended in the downstream direction from the rotation center side (inner side) end of the blocking member W to prevent the pressure from wrapping around due to diffraction. At the same time, when the toner conveyed by the conveying section Q reaches the upper portion of the rotation, it is prevented from dropping by its own weight.

  15 and 16 show a discharge member 30B according to the second embodiment. The blade member 50B of the discharge member 30B is obtained by adding a wall member 52 to the blade member 50 of the first embodiment. The blade member 50B is continuously provided with a wall member 52 having a predetermined length in the downstream direction from the radially inner end of the hollow spiral blade member 50 along the inside of the spiral.

  By providing the wall member 52, the toner conveyed by the blade member 50B is surrounded by the blade surface of the blade member 50B, the inner wall of the container body 20 and the wall member 52, and therefore diffracts and tries to go around from the side. No pressure. Further, at the upper portion of the rotation, the wall member 52 prevents the conveyed toner from falling. As described above, the blade member 50B according to the second embodiment can stably convey a certain amount of toner to the intake port 44.

  Note that, unlike the conceptual diagram shown in FIG. 14, in the configuration shown in FIG. 15, as shown in FIG. 16, the conveyance force given to the toner by the blade surface of the blade member 50B may be in the oblique downstream direction facing the blade surface. In many cases, it is not only the direction that goes straight to the intake port 44. However, since the intake port 44 can regulate the inflow amount of toner, if a toner exceeding the regulated amount is conveyed to the intake port 44 by the blade member 50B, a stable amount of toner is discharged into the discharge member 30. Can be supplied.

<Third Embodiment>
The third embodiment is different from the first embodiment in the structure of the discharge member 30, particularly the structure of the inner member 40, and is otherwise the same in configuration.

  FIG. 17 shows a discharge member 30C according to the third embodiment. In the same figure (a), the outer side member 31 is shown with a broken line, and the same figure (b) has shown the inner side member 40C and the blade member 50B except the outer side member 31. The blade member 50B may not have the wall member 52 like the blade member 50 of the first embodiment. Note that the wall member 52 of the blade member 50B shown in FIG. 17 extends from the inner end of the blade surface in the downstream direction until it reaches the inner member 40 of the discharge member 30, and has a tubular shape as a whole.

  The discharging member 30 according to the first embodiment has a configuration in which the toner taken in from the taking-in port 44 is temporarily stored in the storing unit 42 and conveyed to the upper portion, and then, goes down the inclined portion 43 and is discharged to the powder discharging port 35. However, in the discharge member 30C according to the third exemplary embodiment, the storage unit 42 is not provided, and the toner taken in from the intake port 44 is sequentially discharged from the powder discharge port 35 without being temporarily stored. The inner member 40C of the discharge member 30C crosses the first inclined surface 47 that conveys the toner in the downstream direction along the inside of the covering wall 33 that forms the outer peripheral portion of the outer member 31, and the toner that crosses the rotation center of the discharge member 30. It has a second inclined surface 48 that is discharged to the outside (conveyed toward the powder discharge port 35). In the discharge member 30C, the discharge path from the intake port 44 to the powder discharge port 35 is a passage formed by the first inclined surface 47, the second inclined surface 48 and the inner surface of the cover wall 33, and traverses the rotation center. Straight from the intake port 44 to the powder discharge port 35, and when the intake port 44 is in the upper part of the rotation, the inclination is downward.

  The toner conveyed by the blade member 50 is taken into the intake port 44 by being partitioned and scooped up by a predetermined amount when the intake port 44 goes from the lower part to the upper part of the rotation, and is indicated by an arrow F in FIG. It moves as shown and is discharged from the powder discharge port 35. In this way, the toner taken in from the intake port 44 is transported in the downstream direction along the first inclined surface 47 (the inner peripheral surface of the cover wall 33), and then moves to the second inclined surface 48 and its inclination. Since the powder is discharged from the powder discharge port 35 along the line, it is possible to shorten the time for temporary storage on the way. Since the discharge member 30C according to the third embodiment has a larger discharge amount per rotation than the discharge member 30 according to the first embodiment, the toner bottle 10 can be secured within a range in which the required discharge amount can be secured. The rotation speed of can be reduced. The reduction in the number of revolutions contributes to the noise reduction, power saving, and durability improvement of the device.

<Fourth Embodiment>
In order to stabilize the amount of discharged toner, it is necessary to supply the toner more than the toner inflow amount regulated by the intake port 44 to the intake port 44, so that excess toner that is not taken into the intake port 44 is generated. To do. On the other hand, since the blade member 50 (or 50B) successively conveys the toner toward the intake port 44, if there is no escape place for the excess toner, the excess toner continues to collect and aggregate. If the agglomerated toner is conveyed to the image forming unit 6 and placed on the photoconductor drum 6a, the image quality is deteriorated.

  Therefore, the discharge member 30D according to the fourth embodiment is provided with a path through which excess toner is released and returned to the inside of the container body 20. 18 is a side view of the discharging member 30D according to the fourth embodiment, FIG. 19 is a perspective view of the discharging member 30D, and FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of the discharging member 30D. The blade member 50B shown in FIG. 18 has a cylindrical wall member 52 as in the third embodiment.

  The discharge member 30D communicates with the recovery port 61 for recovering the excess toner, the return port 62 for returning the toner taken in from the recovery port 61 into the container body 20, and the recovery port 61 through the return port 62, and during the rotation. And a return path 63 that slopes downward toward the return port 62. The recovery port 61 is provided in front of the intake port 44 in the rotation direction. The return port 62 is opened inside the tubular wall member 52 of the blade member 50B.

  As shown in FIG. 18, a part of the toner conveyed by the blade member 50B goes to the intake port 44, a part of the toner enters the recovery port 61 as excess toner, and the remaining toner also enters the recovery port 61. Instead, it falls into the container body 20.

  The return path 63 is a path in which the back space of the inner member 40D, that is, the back surface side of the wall forming the discharge path leading to the powder discharge port 35 is used as the passage wall. The recovery port 61 takes in excess toner as it goes to the upper part of the rotation. The taken-in excess toner enters the return path 63 which is the back space of the inner member 40D and is temporarily stored (FIG. 20A). After that, when the rotation progresses and the recovery port 61 comes to the lower part of the rotation, the upside down of the back space (return path 63) of the inner member 40D is inverted and the return path 63 is inclined downward (FIG. 20 (b)). As a result, the temporarily stored toner travels along the downwardly inclined return path 63 toward the return port 62, and is discharged into the container body 20 from the return port 62.

  In the example shown in FIG. 20, the back side of the inclined surface forming the discharge path for guiding the toner taken in from the intake port 44 toward the powder discharge port 35 is used as the return path 63 which becomes a downward slope when vertically inverted. There is.

<Fifth Embodiment>
An example of lowering the toner pressure in the region near the tip of the container body 20 due to the shape of the spiral protrusion 21 provided on the container body 20 will be described below.

(Example 1)
In FIG. 21, the height of the spiral protrusion 21 in the tip vicinity region 67 including the small diameter portion on the tip side and the transition region from the large diameter to the small diameter in the container body 20 is formed in the region 68 on the rear end side of these. It is lower than the height of the spiral protrusion 21. As a result, the toner carrying force by the spiral protrusion 21 in the tip end vicinity region 67 becomes small, and the toner pressure in the tip end vicinity region 67 becomes small.

(Example 2)
In order to reduce the pressure of the toner flowing downstream in the entire container body 20, it is preferable to lower the height of the spiral protrusion 21 that generates the conveying force. However, if the toner amount is lowered over the entire area, when the remaining amount of toner becomes small, the amount of toner around the blade member 50 becomes insufficient, and the blade member 50 cannot properly convey the toner to the intake port 44. As a result, there is a possibility that the toner bottle 10 will be replaced even though there is toner remaining. Therefore, the conveying ability of the spiral protrusion 21 in the region near the tip of the container body 20 (the region on the tip side including the blade member 50) is increased, and the conveying force of the spiral protrusion 21 is decreased upstream of this region.

  FIG. 22 shows a toner bottle 10a in which the height of the spiral protrusion 21 is uniform over the entire length, and the height of the spiral protrusion 21 in the region near the tip is higher than the height of the spiral protrusion 21 in the region on the rear end side. The appearance of the toner bottle 10b and the transition characteristic of the measured toner discharge amount are shown. The graph shows the toner discharge amount at each time point when the discharging operation is continuously performed after the bottle is replaced. The horizontal axis represents the duration of the discharge operation, and the vertical axis represents the toner discharge amount per unit time.

  As shown in the graph, the discharge amount in the steady state is almost constant due to the effect of restricting the inflow amount at the intake port 44, and is the same for both toner bottles 10a and 10b. However, the transition of the discharge amount from when the remaining amount becomes small to when it becomes empty differs between the bottles 10a and 10b. In the case of the toner bottle 10a in which the height of the spiral protrusion 21 is uniform over the entire length, the discharge amount gradually decreases just before it becomes empty.

  On the other hand, in the toner bottle 10b, the discharge amount sharply decreases immediately before it becomes empty. In the toner bottle 10b, since the toner can be collected around the blade member 50 even when the remaining amount of toner is small, a substantially constant toner discharge amount can be secured until just before it becomes empty. Therefore, in the toner bottle 10b, the remaining amount of toner becomes smaller than that of the toner bottle 10a at the time when the discharged amount is reduced to the lower limit value requiring replacement of the bottle, and the toner can be used up sufficiently. In order to enhance the toner carrying force in the region near the tip, the height of the spiral protrusions 21 may be increased, and the pitch may be finer, or the height and the pitch may be used together.

(Example 3)
In the toner bottle 10E shown in FIG. 23, the container main body 20 is provided with a reversely wound spiral projection (reverse projection 22) so as to sew a gap of the spiral projection 21 that generates a conveying force toward the tip. The reverse protrusion 22 is interrupted at a portion intersecting with the spiral protrusion 21. The carrying force of the reverse projection 22 is smaller than that of the spiral projection 21.

  When the toner bottle 10E has a sufficient amount of toner, the spiral protrusion 21 weakens the pressure of the toner toward the front end side of the bottle by the reverse protrusion 22. On the other hand, when the remaining amount of toner decreases by a certain amount or more, as shown in the sectional view of FIG. 7B, there is toner immediately before the spiral protrusion 21 but no toner around the reverse protrusion 22. become. Therefore, the reverse protrusion 22 does not exert a reverse conveying force on the toner, and the spiral protrusion 21 continues to convey a constant amount of toner toward the tip, so that the toner gathers around the blade member 50 and the required discharge amount. Can be secured.

(Example 4)
In the toner bottle 10F shown in FIG. 24, the internal space of the container body 20 is separated into a first space 71 near the tip including the region where the blade member 50 exists and a second space 72 on the rear end (upstream) side thereof. The separating wall 73 is provided, and a communication port 74 for communicating the first space 71 and the second space 72 is provided in a part of the separating wall 73. The pressure at which the spiral projection 21 in the second space 72 conveys the toner downstream is blocked by the separation wall 73 except the communication port 74, and hardly propagates to the first space 71.

  At the portion of the communication port 74, the toner receiving the pressure from the second space 72 side flows into the first space 71. In the first space 71, the blade member 50 conveys the toner that has flowed in through the communication port 74 toward the intake port 44 of the discharge member 30, and is discharged from the powder discharge port 35 of the discharge member 30. In this way, the excessive pressure can be cut off and a certain amount of toner can be stably discharged.

<Sixth Embodiment>
In the sixth embodiment, instead of the blade member 50, the interrupting conveyance mechanism 80 shown in FIGS. 25 and 26 is attached to the inner member 40 of the discharge member 30.

  The blocking / conveying mechanism 80 includes a circular plate-shaped blocking plate 81 having a concentric circular opening slightly smaller than the circular plate, and an inner cylinder having the same diameter and the same diameter as the opening of the blocking plate 81 and standing from the edge of the opening. A portion 82, a base end portion extending in the radial direction of the shield plate 81 at the center of the shield plate 81, a distal end portion connected to the shield plate 81 and the inner cylinder portion 83, and an inner cylinder. A plurality of extruding plates 84 are provided upright from the outer peripheral surface of the portion 82 toward the outside and arranged in a predetermined angle range of the outer peripheral surface at constant angular intervals.

  In the drawing, the leading end of the container body 20 surrounding the shutoff conveyance mechanism 80 and the intake port 44 on the discharge member 30 side are drawn. A portion of the discharging member 30 that faces the blocking plate 81 of the blocking / conveying mechanism 80 forms a flat surface having no opening other than the intake port 44.

  In the cutoff conveyance mechanism 80, the rotation center K of the connection weight portion 83 is rotatably supported by the inner member 40 of the discharge member 30. On the inner wall surface of the tip portion of the container body 20, there is provided a turning protrusion 23 that abuts on the connecting weight portion 83 and rotates the connecting weight portion 83 together with the container body 20 when the container body 20 rotates. The turning protrusion 23 is located at a position ahead of the intake port 44 by about 90 degrees in the rotation direction of the toner bottle 10. Hereafter, the lowest point of rotation will be the 0 ° position.

  When the push-out plate 84 reaches a substantially intermediate position (a position of about 90 degrees to 120 degrees) on the way from the lower part of the rotation to the upper part, the push-out plate 84 is moved from the blocking plate 81 side (the back side in the drawing) to the discharge member 30 side (the inside of the drawing) It is formed to have a downward slope toward the front.

  Next, the operation and action of the blocking / conveying mechanism 80 will be described.

  The blocking plate 81 functions as a blocking member W that covers the intake port 44 of the discharge member 30 with its upstream front surface. When the container body 20 rotates to move the turning protrusion 23 from the lower part to the upper part of the rotation, the connecting weight part 83 is pushed by the turning protrusion 23 and rotates together with the turning protrusion 23 toward the upper part, and at the same time, the connecting weight part. The blocking plate 81 and the inner cylinder part 82 connected to 83 also rotate (FIGS. 25A and 25B).

  When the tip of the connecting weight portion 83 exceeds the upper vertex of the rotation (the position of 180 degrees) (FIG. 25 (c)), the connecting weight portion 83 falls ahead of the container body 20 due to its own weight and rotates (see FIG. 26 ( a-c)). Each push plate 84 scoops toner as it travels from the bottom to the top of rotation. During the period in which the connecting weight portion 83 rotates in advance of the container body 20, the intake port 44 on the discharge member 30 side rotates from the position of about 90 degrees to the position of about 120 degrees, and the pushing plate 84 successively in the meantime. And passes in front of the intake port 44. When the extrusion plate 84 passes in front of the intake port 44, the toner held on the extrusion plate 84 falls along the downward inclination of the extrusion plate 84 and is captured in the intake port 44.

  When the tip of the connecting weight portion 83 passes the lowest point of the rotation, the connecting weight portion 83 decelerates the rotation and stops due to the resistance of its own weight and the surrounding toner. Since the container body 20 continues to rotate, the operation from FIG. 25A is repeated. In this way, the interrupting conveyance mechanism 80 functions as the conveyance section Q.

  The amount of toner that the blocking / conveying mechanism 80 conveys to the intake port 44 can be adjusted by the shape and number of the push-out plates 84, the phase of the push-out plate 84 with respect to the intake port 44 in the preceding rotation, and the weight balance.

  In the example shown in FIG. 25 and FIG. 26, the push-out plate 84 does not exist in front of the intake port 44 during the period in which the turning protrusion 23 pushes the connecting weight portion 83, but the turning protrusion 23 causes the connecting weight portion to move. An extruding plate 84 may be provided in front of the intake port 44 when pushing 83 around. By providing the push-out plate 84, the toner can be always sent toward the intake port 44 during the period in which the guide protrusion 23 pushes the connecting weight portion 83.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the drawings, the specific configurations are not limited to those shown in the embodiments, and changes and additions can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. Even if it exists, it is included in the present invention.

  For example, the functions of the blocking member W and the transport unit Q may be realized by a configuration other than the blade members 50 and 50B and the blocking transport mechanism 80. The propeller type transfer unit 91 and the reciprocating type transfer unit 95 may be installed at the position of the transfer force shown in FIG. In the propeller-type transport unit 91, the motor (or the box that houses the motor) functions as the blocking member W by disposing the motor on the upstream side front surface of the intake port 44. The propeller functions as the transport unit Q. Similarly, also in the reciprocating transfer unit 95, by arranging a motor and a solenoid on the front surface of the intake port 44 on the upstream side, these (or a box accommodating them) function as a blocking member W.

  Although these require power, the amount of toner conveyed to the intake port 44 can be accurately adjusted. A drive unit such as a motor may be provided outside the container body 20, and power may be transmitted to the propeller and piston by a transmission mechanism such as a belt and a gear. In this case, a wall that functions as the blocking member W may be separately installed on the upstream side of the propeller and the piston. As described above, the member that functions as the blocking member W and the member that functions as the transport unit Q may be different from each other.

  In the embodiment, an example is shown in which the powder to be stored is toner (developer), but the type of powder is not limited to this. Further, although an example of the image forming apparatus 2 using the toner bottle 10 according to the present invention is shown in FIG. 1, the present invention is not limited to this and may be, for example, a single color image forming apparatus not using the intermediate transfer belt. .

2 ... Image forming device 3 ... Conveying part 4 ... Image forming part 4a ... Intermediate transfer belt 4b ... Cleaning device 5 ... Fixing device 6 ... Image forming unit 6a ... Photosensitive drum 6b ... Developing device 6c ... Print head 7 ... Control circuit part 8 ... Operation panel 10 ... Toner bottle 20 ... Container body 21 ... Spiral protrusion 22 ... Reverse protrusion 23 ... Rotating protrusion 30 ... Ejecting member 31 ... Outer member 32 ... Inner member 32 ... Mouth 32a ... Lid surface 33 ... Cover Wall 34 ... Hooking part 35 ... Powder discharge port 36 ... Support member 40 ... Inner member 41 ... Partition wall 42 ... Storage part 43 ... Inclined part 44 ... Intake port 45 ... Storage space 47 ... First inclined surface 48 ... Second Inclined surface 50, 50B ... Blade member 52 ... Wall member 61 ... Collection port 62 ... Return port 63 ... Return path 71 ... First space 72 ... Second space 73 ... Separation wall 74 ... Communication port 80 ... Shut off conveyance Mechanism 81 ... Blocking plate 82 ... Inner cylinder part 83 ... Connection weight part 84 ... Extrusion plate 91 ... Propeller type transfer part 95 ... Reciprocating transfer part Q ... Transfer part W ... Blocking member Ws ... Wall member

Claims (9)

It has a horizontally long cylindrical shape and has a spiral protrusion protruding inward on its inner wall, and the powder contained inside is spirally driven by being rotationally driven in a predetermined direction around the axis of the cylinder as a rotation center. A container body in which the protrusion of the container conveys toward the tip of the cylinder,
The inlet is attached to the tip of the container body and rotates integrally with the container body, and an intake port for capturing the powder in the container body, and the intake port in the transport direction, which is closer to the rotation center than the intake port. A discharge member having a discharge port provided on the downstream side of the intake port, and a discharge path connecting the intake port and the discharge port;
A blocking member that blocks a part of the powder carried by the spiral projection on the upstream side front surface of the intake port,
A transport unit that transports the powder that has reached between the blocking member and the intake port without being blocked by the blocking member toward the intake port,
A powder container having The blocking member is provided along the inner wall of the container body adjacent to the intake port and has a hollow spiral shape having the same winding direction as the spiral protrusion and a width in the radial direction of the container body. The powder storage container according to claim 1, wherein the powder storage container functions as the transport unit by rotating together with the discharge member or the container body. A wall member extending in the downstream direction from the rotation center side end of the blocking member is provided,
The powder container according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that. The intake port of the discharging member partitions the predetermined amount of powder when the intake port goes from the lower part to the upper part of the rotation and picks up the powder, and the discharge path temporarily stores the captured powder. A temporary storage part that is lifted to a high place with rotation, and a sloped path that guides powder that slides down from the temporary storage part after being lifted to the high position to the discharge port,
The powder container according to any one of claims 1 to 3, which is characterized in that. The intake port of the discharging member partitions the predetermined amount of powder as the intake port goes from the lower part to the upper part of the rotation and scoops it up, and the discharge path crosses the rotation center to capture the powder. The powder container according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the powder container goes straight from the mouth to the discharge port and has a downward slope when the intake port is in the upper part of the rotation. The discharge member includes a recovery port for recovering powder particles that have not been taken into the intake port among the powder particles that have been conveyed toward the intake port by the conveying unit, and a powder substance that has been taken in from the recovery port in the container body. 5. A return port for returning to the return port, and a return path communicating from the recovery port to the return port and being inclined downward toward the return port during the rotation. The powder container according to item 1. The height of the spiral projection provided on the tip side of a predetermined location midway in the longitudinal direction of the container body is set to be higher than the height of the spiral projection provided on the rear end side of the predetermined location. Item 7. The powder container according to any one of Items 1 to 6. A separation wall that separates the inside of the container body into a first space that includes the blocking member and the transport unit, and a second space that is on the rear end side of the first space;
A communication port opened on the separation wall,
The powder container according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising:   An image forming method using the powder container according to any one of claims 1 to 8 as a developer container of a developing device for developing an electrostatic latent image formed on a photoreceptor with a powdery developer. apparatus.