JP2021131451A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an image forming apparatus that, when a storage container that can be rotated by drive from an apparatus main body is attached to the apparatus main body, allows meshing between a container drive gear of the apparatus main body and a container gear of the storage container.SOLUTION: A container drive gear 302 of an apparatus main body has a drive transmission tooth 303 that is meshed with a gear tooth of a container gear to transmit a rotational driving force, and a plurality of phasing teeth 304 for adjusting the phases of the gear tooth and the drive transmission tooth 303. The phasing teeth 304 are formed in a substantially semi-conical shape inclined to be lowered toward an upstream side along an insertion direction. During the attachment of a storage container, when the phasing teeth 304 are pressed by the gear tooth in the insertion direction, the container drive gear 302 is rotated relative to the container gear and the phases of the drive transmission tooth 303 and the gear tooth are adjusted. In this way, the storage container rotatable and storing developer can be attached to the apparatus main body in a configuration that facilitates smooth meshing between the container drive gear 302 of the apparatus main body and the container gear of the storage container.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 9

Description

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copier, a printer, a facsimile, and a multifunction device having a plurality of these functions.

In the image forming apparatus, since the developing agent (mainly toner) is consumed by the image forming, a container (called a toner bottle or the like) containing the developing agent for replenishment is detachably attached to the apparatus main body and attached. The structure is such that the developer can be replenished from the storage container to the developing device in the main body of the device. By rotating the storage container mounted on the main body of the apparatus, the developing agent contained in the storage container can be discharged to the outside of the container. In order to rotate the storage container, the storage container is formed in a cylindrical shape, and a container gear (drive receiving gear) is provided over the entire circumference of the storage container. On the other hand, the main body of the device is provided with a drive source that generates a driving force such as a motor, and a container drive gear (drive input gear) that transmits the driving force of the drive source by meshing with the container gear of the container.

However, when the container is mounted on the main body of the device, if the teeth of the container drive gear and the teeth of the container gear do not match, the mounting of the container can be hindered, and in some cases, the container drive gear or the container gear. Can be damaged, causing malfunction during subsequent rotation of the containment vessel. Therefore, if the teeth of the container drive gear and the teeth of the container gear do not match when the container is mounted, the container drive gear and the container gear are relatively rotated by the guiding means, and the container drive gear and the container gear are brought into contact with each other. Conventionally, a container for smooth meshing has been proposed (Patent Document 1).

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2018-119592

However, like the device described in Patent Document 1 described above, a guide means is provided separately from the container drive gear and the container gear, and the structure in which the container drive gear and the container gear are meshed with each other by this guide means is complicated. Therefore, the number of parts is large and the cost is high.

In view of the above points, the present invention smoothly facilitates the container drive gear provided in the apparatus main body and the container gear of the accommodating container when the accommodating container rotationally driven by the drive source provided in the apparatus main body is attached to the apparatus main body. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus having a structure that can be easily meshed with.

The image forming apparatus of the present invention includes a rotatable accommodating container for accommodating a developer, a drive receiving gear provided on the outer peripheral surface of the accommodating container and having a plurality of gear teeth for receiving rotational driving force, and the drive receiving gear. The storage container is in a predetermined mounting position of the drive input gear that transmits the rotational driving force, the drive source that drives the drive input gear, and the storage container that is inserted along the rotation axis of the storage container. A plurality of receiving devices, sometimes including a receiving device that enables rotation by the drive input gear, are provided, and the drive input gear meshes with the gear teeth to transmit a rotational driving force when the accommodating container is in the mounting position. The drive transmission tooth and the drive transmission gear are provided on the upstream side of the drive transmission tooth in the insertion direction in which the storage container is inserted, and come into contact with the gear tooth during the insertion operation of the storage container into the receiving device, and the drive receiving gear is provided. It is characterized by having a plurality of phase matching teeth that match the phase of the gear tooth and the drive transmission tooth by relatively rotating the drive input gear and the drive input gear.

The image forming apparatus of the present invention transmits a rotational driving force to a rotatable accommodating container for accommodating a developer, a drive receiving gear provided on the outer peripheral surface of the accommodating container and receiving a rotational driving force, and the driving receiving gear. A drive input gear having a plurality of drive transmission teeth, a drive source for driving the drive input gear, and the storage container inserted along the rotation axis of the storage container are placed in a predetermined mounting position by the storage container. A receiving device that enables rotation by the drive input gear at a certain time is provided, and the drive receiving gear is a gear tooth that engages with the drive transmitting tooth to receive a rotational driving force when the accommodating container is in the mounting. And, it is provided on the downstream side of the gear tooth in the insertion direction in which the storage container is inserted, and abuts on the drive input gear during the insertion operation of the storage container into the receiving device, and the drive receiving gear and the drive It is characterized by having a plurality of phase matching teeth that match the phase of the gear tooth and the drive transmission tooth by relatively rotating the input gear.

The image forming apparatus of the present invention is an image forming apparatus, which is provided with a predetermined unit which is attached to the image forming apparatus and has a drive receiving gear in which a plurality of gear teeth for receiving a rotational driving force are formed, and the above. Acceptance that allows rotation by the drive input gear to transmit rotational driving force to the drive receiving gear, a drive source that drives the drive input gear, and the drive input gear when the predetermined unit is in a predetermined mounting position. The drive input gear is equipped with a plurality of drive transmission teeth that mesh with the gear teeth to transmit rotational driving force when the predetermined unit is in the mounting position, and the predetermined unit is mounted. It is provided on the upstream side of the drive transmission tooth in the mounting direction, and abuts on the gear tooth during the mounting operation of the predetermined unit to the receiving device to relatively rotate the drive receiving gear and the drive input gear. It is characterized by having a plurality of phase matching teeth for matching the phases of the gear tooth and the drive transmission tooth.

The image forming apparatus of the present invention is an image forming apparatus, which is provided with a predetermined unit which is attached to the image forming apparatus and has a drive receiving gear in which a plurality of gear teeth for receiving a rotational driving force are formed, and the above. Acceptance that allows rotation by the drive input gear to transmit rotational driving force to the drive receiving gear, a drive source that drives the drive input gear, and the drive input gear when the predetermined unit is in a predetermined mounting position. The drive input gear is equipped with a plurality of drive transmission teeth that mesh with the gear teeth to transmit rotational driving force when the predetermined unit is in the mounting position, and the predetermined unit is mounted. It is provided on the downstream side of the drive transmission tooth in the mounting direction, and abuts on the gear tooth during the mounting operation of the predetermined unit to the receiving device to relatively rotate the drive receiving gear and the drive input gear. It is characterized by having a plurality of phase matching teeth for matching the phases of the gear tooth and the drive transmission tooth.

According to the present invention, when the storage container is rotationally driven by a drive source provided in the device main body, the drive input gear and the storage container provided in the device main body are provided when the storage container is mounted on the device main body. It can be realized with a configuration that makes it easy to mesh with the drive receiving gear of.

The schematic block diagram of the image forming apparatus which concerns on this embodiment. It is sectional drawing which shows the storage container, (a) when the volume of a pump part is increased, (b) when the volume of a pump part is decreased. Explanatory drawing of the mechanism which operates a pump part. The perspective view which shows the structure of the toner supply part. The perspective view which shows the drive composition of the containment container. It is a side view which shows the rotation detection mechanism which detects the rotation of a containment container, (a) the state which the flag shields the sensor, and (b) the state which the flag does not shield the sensor. It is a figure for demonstrating the attachment / detachment mechanism of a storage container, (a) side view which shows the 1st state, (b) side view which shows the 2nd state, (c) side view which shows 3rd state, (D) A side view showing a fourth state. The side view which shows the container drive gear of this embodiment. (A) A perspective view showing the container drive gear of the present embodiment, and (b) an enlarged perspective view showing the phase matching teeth. A side view showing a phase matching tooth and a gear tooth at the start of pulling. It is a side view which shows the insertion state of the containment container, (a) before the gear tooth and the phasing tooth come into contact with each other, (b) the position where pulling is started by the container pull-in lever, (c) the gear tooth and the phasing tooth. The position where the gears abut, and (d) the position where the gear teeth and the drive transmission teeth mesh with each other. The perspective view which shows the other embodiment of the container drive gear. The side view which shows the accommodating container which formed the phase matching tooth.

[Image forming device]
First, the schematic configuration of the image forming apparatus of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The image forming apparatus 200 is a color image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic method, and is a so-called intermediate transfer tandem type image forming apparatus in which image forming units Pa to Pd of four colors are arranged side by side on an intermediate transfer belt 7. .. In the case of the present embodiment, the image forming apparatus 200 forms an image with four colors of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (Bk). Of course, the number of colors is not limited to four, and the order of the colors is not limited to this.

The image forming apparatus 200 receives a toner image (image) according to an image signal from a document reading device (not shown) connected to the apparatus main body 200A or a host device such as a personal computer communicably connected to the apparatus main body 200A. ) Is formed on the recording material S. Examples of the recording material S include sheet materials such as paper, plastic film, and cloth.

The recording material S is stored so as to be loaded in the storage 10 and is fed by the feeding roller 61 adopting the friction separation method at the image formation timing. The recording material S sent out by the feeding roller 61 passes through the conveying path and is conveyed to the registration roller 62. Then, after the registration roller 62 performs skew correction and timing correction of the recording material S, the recording material S is sent to the secondary transfer unit T2. The secondary transfer portion T2 is a transfer nip portion formed by the opposing secondary transfer inner roller 8 and the secondary transfer outer roller 9, and is an intermediate transfer belt 7 by applying a predetermined pressing force and an electrostatic load bias. The upper toner image is secondarily transferred onto the recording material S.

Next, the image forming process of the toner image sent to the secondary transfer unit T2 at the same timing will be described with respect to the transfer process of the recording material S to the secondary transfer unit T2 described above. The image forming units Pa to Pd are mainly photosensitive drums 1a to 1d, charging devices 2a to 2d, exposure devices 3a to 3d, developing devices 100a to 100d, and primary transfer, which are cylindrical photoconductors as an image carrier. It is composed of rollers 5a to 5d, drum cleaners 6a to 6d, and the like.

First, the photosensitive drums 1a to 1d, which are rotationally driven in the direction of the arrow by a driving device (not shown), are preliminarily charged on the surface by the charging devices 2a to 2d. Then, the exposure devices 3a to 3d are driven based on the image information signal (image signal) sent from the document reading device or the like, and the laser light is appropriately passed through a diffractive member such as a mirror to the photosensitive drums 1a to 1d. Irradiate. As a result, electrostatic latent images corresponding to the respective colors are formed on the photosensitive drums 1a to 1d. Next, the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drums 1a to 1d becomes manifest as a toner image after being developed with toner by the developing devices 100a to 100d.

The developing devices 100a to 100d as a developing unit have a developing container 101a to 101d for accommodating a developing agent, a developing sleeve 102a to 102d as a developing agent carrier, a stirring screw 700a to 700d, a developing screw 800a to 800d, and the like, respectively. .. The developing sleeves 102a to 102d carry the developer in the developing containers 101a to 101d and carry them to the developing region facing the photosensitive drums 1a to 1d, and when a predetermined development bias is applied, the photosensitive drums 1a to 1a to Toner is supplied on 1d to develop an electrostatic latent image. In this embodiment, the developer is a two-component developer containing a non-magnetic toner and a magnetic carrier. However, the developer may be a one-component developer having toner.

After the toner image is formed on the photosensitive drums 1a to 1d, predetermined pressing force and electrostatic load bias are applied by the primary transfer rollers 5a to 5d in the primary transfer portions T1a to T1d, and the photosensitive drum 1a is applied. The toner image on ~ 1d is primarily transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 7. The transfer residual toner slightly remaining on the photosensitive drums 1a to 1d is collected by the drum cleaners 6a to 6d and is prepared for the next image forming process again.

By forming the image as described above, the toner in the developing containers 101a to 101d of the developing devices 100a to 100d is consumed. Therefore, when the amount of toner in the developing containers 101a to 101d decreases, toner is replenished from the corresponding storage containers Ta to Td to the developing containers 101a to 101d. For this purpose, transfer pipes 70 for supplying toner are provided between the storage containers Ta to Td and the developing containers 101a to 101d, respectively. Details of such a toner replenishment operation will be described later.

The intermediate transfer belt 7 is an endless belt, which is installed on an intermediate transfer belt frame (not shown) and is stretched by a secondary transfer inner roller 8, a tension roller 17, and a secondary transfer upstream roller 18 that also drive the rotation of the intermediate transfer belt 7. It is hung. When the secondary transfer inner roller 8 is rotationally driven in the direction of arrow R1, the intermediate transfer belt 7 is rotationally driven in the direction of arrow R2.

The above-mentioned image forming process is processed in parallel by the image forming portions Pa to Pd of Y, M, C and Bk, and the toner image on the downstream side is sequentially superimposed on the toner image primaryly transferred on the intermediate transfer belt 7. It is done at the timing. As a result, a full-color toner image is formed on the intermediate transfer belt 7 and conveyed to the secondary transfer unit T2. The transfer residual toner remaining on the intermediate transfer belt 7 after passing through the secondary transfer unit T2 is recovered by the belt cleaner device 11.

By the transfer process and the image formation process described above, the secondary transfer is performed in the secondary transfer unit T2 by matching the transfer timings of the recording material S and the full-color toner image. After that, the recording material S is conveyed to the fixing device 13. The fixing device 13 as a fixing unit includes a fixing roller 14 having a heater inside, and an opposing roller 15 facing the fixing roller 14 to form a fixing nip portion. The recording material S conveyed to the fixing device 13 passes through the fixing nip portion, and a predetermined pressure and heat amount are applied in the fixing nip portion to heat and pressurize the toner image formed on the recording material S. As a result, the toner image is melt-fixed (fixed) on the recording material S. The recording material S on which the toner image is fixed is discharged to the discharge tray 63.

Each process as described above is controlled by the control unit 50. The control unit 50 has a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and a RAM (Random Access Memory). The CPU controls each part while reading a program corresponding to the control procedure stored in the ROM. In addition, work data and input data are stored in the RAM, and the CPU controls by referring to the data stored in the RAM based on the above-mentioned program or the like. Further, the image forming apparatus 200 has an operation unit 60 such as an operation panel, and the user can make various settings of the image forming apparatus 200 by the operation unit 60.

[Container]
Next, the storage containers Ta to Td containing the toner will be described with reference to FIGS. 2A to 3. Since the storage containers Ta to Td have a common configuration in each container, the storage container Ta will be described below as a representative.

As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the storage container Ta has a toner storage portion 20 formed in a hollow cylindrical shape and having an internal space for storing toner inside. Further, the storage container Ta has a flange portion 21 on one end side in the longitudinal direction (toner transport direction) of the toner storage portion 20. The toner accommodating portion 20 is configured to be rotatable relative to the flange portion 21. The flange portion 21 is provided with a discharge portion 21h having a hollow shape for temporarily storing the toner conveyed from the inside of the toner accommodating portion 20. At the bottom of the discharge unit 21h, a discharge port 21a for discharging toner to the outside of the storage container Ta, that is, supplying toner to the developing devices 100a to 100d is formed. Further, inside the flange portion 21, a shutter 4 for opening and closing the discharge port 21a is provided. The shutter 4 is provided inside the storage container Ta so as to be relatively movable with respect to the flange portion 21.

The toner accommodating portion 20 is formed with a container gear 20a, a pump portion 20b, a protrusion 20d, and the like. The container gear 20a as a drive receiving gear is a spur tooth gear, and by meshing with the container drive gear 302 (see FIG. 5 described later) on the device body 200A side, the rotational driving force from the device body 200A side is applied to the toner accommodating portion 20. It works to convey to. The pump unit 20b is a resin-made volume-variable pump whose volume is variable as it reciprocates. The arrows ω and γ in FIGS. 2A and 2B indicate the moving direction of the pump unit 20b.

Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, in the pump portion 20b, a plurality of "mountain fold" portions and "valley fold" portions are periodically and alternately formed on the outer peripheral portion in the longitudinal direction. It is a bellows-shaped pump. The pump unit 20b expands and contracts by reciprocating, and functions as an intake / exhaust mechanism that alternately performs an intake operation and an exhaust operation via the discharge port 21a. A cam-shaped groove portion 21b is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the flange portion 21, and is configured to engage with the protrusion portion 20d provided in the toner accommodating portion 20.

The relationship between the protrusion 20d and the groove 21b will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing a developed portion in which the groove portion 21b is formed. In FIG. 3, the arrow A indicates the rotation direction of the toner accommodating portion 20 (moving direction of the protrusion 20d), and the arrows B and C indicate the expansion / contraction direction of the pump portion 20b. As shown in FIG. 3, the groove portion 21b has a structure in which the first groove 21c and the second groove 21d having different inclination directions are alternately connected. When the toner accommodating portion 20 is rotationally driven, the toner accommodating portion 20 moves relative to the flange portion 21 in the rotation axis direction due to the engagement between the protrusion portion 20d and the groove portion 21b. As a result, the pump unit 20b expands and contracts. That is, when the toner accommodating portion 20 is rotated, the pump portion 20b expands and contracts, whereby the toner is discharged from the discharge port 21a using the intake / exhaust mechanism.

[Drive configuration of toner supply unit]
Next, a configuration for supplying the replenishing toner from the storage container Ta to the developing device 100a will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6 (b). The device body 200A has a receiving device 400 that receives the storage container Ta. The receiving device includes a toner replenishing unit that replenishes toner from the storage container Ta to the developing device 100a. Regarding the configuration of the toner replenishment unit that supplies replenishing toner from the storage containers Tb to Td to the developing devices 100b to 100d and the receiving device that receives the storage containers Tb to Td, the toner replenishment unit that supplies toner from the storage container Ta, And, it is the same as the receiving device 400. Therefore, the description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 4, the receiving device 400 of the device main body 200A includes a front side plate 201, a rear side plate 202, a container upper holding guide 401 held by the front side plate 201 and the rear side plate 202, and a container lower side. A holding guide 402 is provided. The storage container Ta is detachable from the receiving device 400 of the device main body 200A, and when attached to the receiving device 400, is rotatably stored and held by the holding guide 401 above the container and the holding guide 402 below the container. ..

In the present embodiment, the storage container Ta is mounted in the receiving device 400 of the device main body 200A by being inserted in a substantially horizontal direction from the front side to the back side (rear side) of the device main body 200A. Further, the storage container Ta is pulled out from the receiving device 400 of the device main body 200A by pulling out in the opposite direction. The insertion direction and the extraction direction of the storage container Ta are the same as the longitudinal direction of the storage container Ta and the expansion / contraction direction of the pump portion 20b. Further, it is the same as the direction of the rotation axis of the storage container Ta. The front side of the apparatus main body 200A is the side on which the user operates the image forming apparatus 200, the front side of the paper surface of FIG. 1, and the back side is the back side of the paper surface of FIG.

A container driving device 300 and a transport pipe 70 are attached to the rear side plate 202. As shown in FIG. 5, the container drive device 300 includes a drive motor 301 as a drive source, a container drive gear 302 as a drive input gear, a pinion gear 311, an idler gear 312, an idler stage gear 308, a drive transmission gear 306, and a container drive. It is composed of a shaft 307. In the container drive device 300, the rotational driving force generated from the drive motor 301 is transmitted to the container drive gear 302 through the pinion gear 311, the idler gear 312, the idler stage gear 308, the drive transmission gear 306, and the container drive shaft 307. Then, this rotational driving force is transmitted from the container drive gear 302 to the container gear 20a of the storage container Ta, so that the storage container Ta is rotationally driven and the toner is discharged from the storage container Ta as described above.

The container drive device 300 is provided with a rotatably supported phase detection flag 309, and is in contact with the toner accommodating portion 20 of the accommodating container Ta and the cam portion 24 that rotates integrally with the container gear 20a. As shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the cam portion 24 is provided with two large-diameter portions 24a and two small-diameter portions 24b alternately around the cam portion 24.

As shown in FIG. 6A, when the phase detection flag 309 is in contact with the large diameter portion 24a, the phase detection flag 309 shields the photosensor 310 arranged in the container drive device 300 from light. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6B, when the phase detection flag 309 is in contact with the small diameter portion 24b, the phase detection flag 309 is out of the transmission range of the photo sensor 310, and the photo sensor 310 is transmitted. The control unit 50 (see FIG. 1) can detect a half rotation of the storage container Ta by detecting a change (light-shielding → transmission → light-shielding) of the photo sensor 310. Further, the rotation of the drive motor 301 is controlled by the control unit 50 so that the photo sensor 310 stops after a predetermined time after detecting the light-shielding → transmission → light-shielding. The pump unit 20b reciprocates once every half rotation of the storage container Ta.

In this way, the control unit 50 controls the discharge of toner from the storage container Ta by reciprocating the storage container Ta once every half rotation and stopping the rotation. The toner discharged from the storage container Ta passes through the transport pipe 70 and is delivered to the developing device 100a (see FIG. 1) on the downstream side.

[About attaching and detaching the storage container]
Next, the attachment / detachment mechanism of the storage container Ta with respect to the device main body 200A will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 (a) to 7 (d). As described above, the receiving device 400 (see FIG. 4) of the device main body 200A receives the storage container Ta inserted along the rotation axis direction of the storage container Ta. As shown in FIGS. 7 (a) to 7 (d), with respect to the insertion direction of the storage container Ta (direction of arrow D in the figure), the container bottom holding guide 402 is retracted to one side end (downstream side end). A container pulling device 410 is provided as a part. The container pulling device 410 has a container pulling lever 403 and a pulling spring 404. The container pull-in lever 403 is rotatably held with respect to the container lower holding guide 402. The pull-in spring 404 is stretched on the container pull-in lever 403 and the container lower holding guide 402.

When mounting the storage container Ta on the receiving device 400 of the device main body 200A, first, as shown in FIG. 7A, the tip of the storage container Ta (downstream end in the insertion direction) and the container pull-in lever 403 come into contact with each other, and the container The pull-in lever 403 is pushed in and starts rotating in the direction of arrow E. At this time, the force generated by the pull-in spring 404 acts as a force for rotating the container pull-in lever 403 in the direction of arrow F1.

Further, when the storage container Ta is pushed into the receiving device 400, as shown in FIG. 7B, the container pulling lever 403 further rotates, and the position of the pulling spring 404 is on the dead point (on a straight line connecting the spring hooks). The point on which the center of rotation of the container pull-in lever 403 rides) is exceeded. Then, as shown in FIG. 7C, the pull-in spring 404 switches the direction of the force for rotating the container pull-in lever 403 to the F2 direction. Then, the container pull-in lever 403 engages with the boss 21k provided on the storage container Ta, and a force for pulling the container T into the back side of the receiving device 400 of the device main body 200A acts.

As a result, as shown in FIG. 7 (d), the storage container Ta is automatically provided with the thrust under the container holding guide 402 by further rotating the container pull-in lever 403 by the urging force of the pull-in spring 404. It is pulled up to the contact portion 402a. When the tip of the storage container Ta abuts against the abutting portion 402a, the mounting operation of the storage container Ta with respect to the receiving device 400 of the device main body 200A is completed, and a predetermined mounting position (first position) that enables toner to be discharged from the storage container Ta. ) Is fitted with the storage container Ta. That is, the container pull-in lever 403 engages with the boss 21k, which is a part of the storage container Ta, during the mounting operation (during the insertion operation) of the device main body 200A of the storage container Ta to the receiving device 400, and the pull-in spring 404 is attached. The storage container Ta is pulled into the first position by force.

Here, the container-side contact 23 as the first contact is at the tip of the storage container Ta, and the main body-side contact as the second contact is at a position facing the tip of the storage container Ta of the receiving device 400 of the apparatus main body 200A. 405 are provided respectively. When the main body side contact 405 comes into contact with the container side contact 23, communication is possible between the storage container Ta and the device main body 200A. The container-side contact 23 is connected to a memory in which information about the storage container Ta is stored. When the container Ta is mounted in the first position, the container-side contact 23 comes into contact with the main body-side contact 405, and this information is sent to the control unit 50 of the apparatus main body 200A.

Then, in a state where the storage container Ta is mounted at the first position (mounting position) of the receiving device 400 of the device main body 200A, as shown in FIG. 5, the container drive gear 302 provided on the device main body 200A side and the container drive gear 302 The container gear 20a provided on the Ta side of the storage container properly meshes with the container gear 20a. That is, the driving force can be transmitted from the container drive gear 302 to the container gear 20a.

[Container drive gear]
Next, the container drive gear 302 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 to 10. As shown in FIG. 8, the container drive gear 302 of the present embodiment has a drive transmission unit 302a on the downstream side with respect to the insertion direction (mounting direction: arrow D direction in the drawing) of the storage container Ta, and the drive transmission unit 302a. The phase matching portion 302b is provided on the upstream side of the above. The drive transmission unit 302a is a flat tooth gear in which a plurality of drive transmission teeth 303 are formed, and when the storage container Ta is in the first position described above, it meshes with the gear teeth 20a1 of the container gear 20a to transmit the rotational driving force. obtain.

A plurality of phase matching teeth 304 are formed in the phase matching portion 302b. In the present embodiment, one phase matching tooth 304 is assigned to one drive transmission tooth 303, and the drive transmission tooth 303 and the phase matching tooth 304 are continuously integrally formed without a gap in the insertion direction. There is. As shown in FIG. 9A, the height of the drive transmission tooth 303 is constant, but the height of the phase matching tooth 304 is lower on the upstream side in the insertion direction than on the downstream side. That is, the phase matching teeth 304 are formed in an inclined shape so that the upstream side is lowered along the insertion direction.

As shown in FIG. 9B, the phase matching tooth 304 slides on the guide surface 304a (first surface) that abuts on the tip surface of the gear tooth 20a1 (see FIG. 8) in the insertion direction and the side surface of the gear tooth 20a1. It has a sliding rubbing surface 304b (second surface) that retracts the phase matching tooth 304 by being moved. As will be described later, in the present embodiment, when the container Ta is inserted, the phase matching teeth 304 are retracted in the rotational direction by the gear teeth 20a1, and the container drive gear 302 is rotated relative to the container gear 20a. The guide surface 304a extends from the upstream end 305 of the phase matching portion 302b in the insertion direction toward the drive transmission teeth 303 assigned to each. The phase matching teeth 304 are inclined so that the upstream end of the guide surface 304a in the insertion direction is closer to the rotation center of the container drive gear 302 than the downstream end, and the upstream side is lower along the insertion direction as described above. It is formed.

Further, the sliding rubbing surface 304b is formed so that the distance on the upstream side in the insertion direction with respect to the rotation direction is wider than the distance on the downstream side between the phase matching teeth 304 and the phase matching teeth 304. The outer peripheral surface of the phase matching tooth 304 formed by the guide surface 304a and the rubbed surface 304b is formed into a chamfered smooth curve. In other words, the phase matching teeth 304 are formed in a substantially semi-conical shape.

Further, in the phase matching portion 302b, the tooth bottom 304d is formed in an inclined shape so that the upstream end in the insertion direction is closer to the center of rotation than the downstream end. In this way, the phase matching portion 302b is formed in a substantially semi-conical shape so as to extend from the upstream end 305 toward each tooth of the drive transmission tooth 303 provided in the drive transmission portion 302a. A plurality of 304 are provided.

Further, in the case of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 10, in the container pull-in lever 403, when viewed from the direction intersecting the insertion direction, the downstream tip 20a2 of the plurality of gear teeth 20a1 in the insertion direction has a plurality of phase matching teeth. The pull-in of the storage container Ta is started in a state where it overlaps with 304. To enable this, in the present embodiment, the phase matching tooth 304 overlaps with the gear tooth 20a1 before the inversion of the pull-in lever 403 starts (see FIGS. 7A and 7B). It is provided.

[About the engagement between the container drive gear and the container gear]
Next, refer to FIGS. 9A to 10 for the engagement between the container drive gear 302 of the apparatus main body 200A and the container gear 20a of the storage container Ta when the container drive gear 302 of the present embodiment is used. However, it will be described with reference to FIGS. 11 (a) to 11 (d). In addition, in FIGS. 11A to 11D, the right figure is the cross-sectional view at the position shown by the alternate long and short dash line in the left figure.

FIG. 11A shows a state in which the storage container Ta is inserted before the gear teeth 20a1 and the phasing teeth 304 come into contact with each other. As described above, the phase-matching tooth 304 has an sliding surface 304b (see FIG. 9B) in the insertion direction (arrow D direction in the drawing) with respect to the rotation direction between the phase-matching tooth 304 and the phase-matching tooth 304. ) Is formed so that the distance on the upstream side is wider than the distance on the downstream side. In this way, a clearance is secured between the container drive gear 302 and the container gear 20a. Therefore, when the container drive gear 302 and the container gear 20a start to overlap in the insertion direction, the gear teeth 20a1 do not come into contact with the phase matching teeth 304 (specifically, the guide surface 304a) and are in phase with the phase matching teeth 304. It becomes easy to penetrate between the mating teeth 304.

FIG. 11B shows a state in which the storage container Ta is inserted to a position where the container pull-in lever 403 (see FIG. 10) starts pulling in. In the case of the present embodiment, the container drive gear 302 and the container gear 20a start to overlap in the insertion direction, and then the storage container Ta is further pushed in so that the gear teeth 20a1 become the phase matching teeth 304 (specifically, the guide surface 304a). Can abut. In the case of the present embodiment, as described above, the container drive gear 302 has a phase matching portion 302b, and the phase matching portion 302b has a substantially semi-conical phase matching tooth whose outer peripheral surface is chamfered to form a smooth curve. 304 is formed. The phase matching tooth 304 is formed in an inclined shape so that the upstream side is lowered along the insertion direction. Therefore, as shown in the right figure of FIG. 11B, the teeth of the phase matching tooth 304 are compared with the case where the container drive gear 302 and the container gear 20a start to overlap in the insertion direction (see FIG. 11A). The tip approaches the container gear 20a.

At the position shown in FIG. 11B, the storage container Ta starts to be pulled in by the container pull-in lever 403. In the case of the present embodiment, as described above, the container drive gear 302 has a phase matching portion 302b, and the phase matching portion 302b has a substantially semi-conical phase matching tooth whose outer peripheral surface is chamfered to form a smooth curve. 304 is formed. However, if the drawing of the container Ta is started before the container driving gear 302 and the container gear 20a start to overlap in the insertion direction, there is a risk of causing a pulling failure. Therefore, in the present embodiment, as described above, the phase matching teeth 304 are provided so as to overlap the gear teeth 20a1 before the inversion of the pull-in lever 403 starts (see FIGS. 7A and 7B). ing. As a result, after the gear teeth 20a1 and the phasing teeth 304 overlap in the insertion direction, the container pulling lever 403 starts pulling in the container Ta.

FIG. 11C shows a state in which the storage container Ta is inserted to a position where the gear teeth 20a1 and the phasing teeth 304 come into contact with each other. Here, when the storage container Ta pulled in by pulling in the pull-in lever 403 reaches the position shown in FIG. 11C, the upstream end surface of the gear teeth 20a1 comes into contact with the guide surface 304a of the phase matching teeth 304. The storage container Ta is pulled further downstream by the pull-in lever 403 in a state where the upstream end face of the gear tooth 20a1 is in contact with the guide surface 304a of the phase matching tooth 304. As the storage container Ta is pulled further downstream, the phase matching teeth 304 are pressed more strongly in the insertion direction by the gear teeth 20a1. Then, the pressed phase matching tooth 304 is retracted in the rotational direction by the gear tooth 20a1 so as to deviate from the traveling path along the insertion direction of the gear tooth 20a1. In response to this, the container drive gear 302 rotates relative to the container gear 20a. As described above, in the case of the present embodiment, even if the gear teeth 20a1 and the phase matching teeth 304 collide with each other due to the insertion of the storage container Ta, the container drive gear 302 rotates relative to the container gear 20a, so that the storage container Inhibition of Ta wearing is suppressed. Further, the phase matching teeth 304 of the container drive gear 302 and thus the drive transmission teeth 303 and the gear teeth 20a1 of the container gear 20a are matched in phase.

FIG. 11D shows a state in which the storage container Ta is inserted to a position where the gear teeth 20a1 and the drive transmission teeth 303 mesh with each other. The storage container Ta is finally pulled in by the pull-in lever 403 to the predetermined mounting position (first position) shown in FIG. 11 (d). When the container Ta is mounted in the first position, the gear teeth 20a1 of the container gear 20a and the drive transmission teeth 303 of the container drive gear 302 are appropriately meshed with each other, and the driving force is transferred from the container drive gear 302 to the container gear 20a. Is ready to be transmitted.

Here, as shown in FIG. 11D, in the case of the present embodiment, each of the drive transmission teeth 303 is in the insertion direction of the gear teeth 20a1 when the storage container Ta is in the first position (arrow D in the drawing). The length is set in the insertion direction so as not to mesh with the downstream tip 20a2 in the direction). This is preferable because even if the downstream tip 20a2 of the gear tooth 20a1 is damaged or chipped for some reason, problems such as abnormal noise and vibration are unlikely to occur when the storage container Ta is rotated.

As described above, the container drive gear 302 of the present embodiment includes the gear teeth 20a1 and the drive transmission teeth 303 in addition to the plurality of drive transmission teeth 303 that mesh with the gear teeth 20a1 of the container gear 20a to transmit the rotational driving force. It has a plurality of phase matching teeth 304 for matching the phases. The phasing teeth 304 are formed in a substantially semi-conical shape that is inclined so that the upstream side is lowered along the insertion direction. When the storage container Ta is attached, the phase matching tooth 304 pressed in the insertion direction by the gear tooth 20a1 deviates from the traveling path of the gear tooth 20a1. That is, the container drive gear 302 rotates relative to the container gear 20a, and the phase matching teeth 304 and thus the drive transmission tooth 303 are aligned with the gear teeth 20a1 of the container gear 20a. As described above, in the present embodiment, when the storage container Ta is attached to the device main body 200A, it is easy to smoothly mesh the container drive gear 302 provided in the device main body 200A with the container gear 20a of the storage container Ta. It can be done with various configurations.

<Other embodiments>
In the above-described embodiment, one phase matching tooth 304 is assigned to one drive transmission tooth 303, and the drive transmission tooth 303 and the phase matching tooth 304 are continuously integrally formed as an example. Although shown (see FIG. 9 (a)), the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 12, the plurality of phase matching teeth 304 may be provided in a discrete manner for each drive transmission tooth 303 in which one or a plurality of drive transmission teeth 303 are skipped.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the phase matching tooth 304 is formed on the container drive gear 302 has been described as an example (see FIG. 9A), but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 13, the phase matching tooth 304 may be formed in the storage container Ta. In this case, the plurality of phase matching teeth 304 are formed on the downstream side of the container gear 20a with respect to the insertion direction of the storage container Ta (direction of arrow D in the drawing). The phasing teeth 304 come into contact with the container drive gear (not shown) during the insertion operation of the container Ta into the receiving device 400 (see FIG. 4), and the container gear 20a and the container drive gear are relatively rotated to rotate the container. The phases of the gear teeth 20a1 of the gear 20a and the drive transmission teeth of the container drive gear are matched. Since the configuration of the phase matching tooth 304 may be the same as that formed in the container drive gear 302 described above, the description thereof will be omitted here. Further, the phase matching teeth 304 are not limited to be formed only in one of the container drive gear 302 and the accommodating container Ta, and both of them may form the phase matching teeth 304.

In the above-described embodiment, an example of a storage container Ta that stores toner as a detachable unit is shown, but the present invention is not limited to this. The present invention can be similarly implemented even with a predetermined unit on the driven side that can be attached to and detached from the main body of the device having the drive source. For example, a developing unit (developing devices 100a to 100d) for developing an electrostatic latent image formed on an image carrier using a developing agent, or an image formed on a recording material is fixed by heating and pressurizing. It can also be applied to a fixing unit (fixing device 13) for the purpose. The developing devices 100a to 100d can be attached to the device body 200A, and the developing sleeves 102a to 102d, the stirring screws 700a to 700d, the developing screws 800a to 800d, and the like can be applied to a configuration in which the developing devices 200a to 800d are driven by a rotational driving force from the device body 200A side. .. Further, the fixing device 13 can be mounted on the device main body 200A, and the fixing roller 14 and the opposing roller 15 can be applied to a configuration in which the fixing roller 14 and the opposing roller 15 are driven by a rotational driving force from the device main body 200A side.

13 ... Fixing unit (fixing device), 20a ... Drive receiving gear (container gear), 20a1 ... Gear teeth, 100a to 100d ... Developing unit (developing device), 301 ... Drive source (drive motor), 302 ... Drive input gear ( Container drive gear), 303 ... drive transmission tooth, 304 ... phase matching tooth, 304a ... first surface (guide surface), 304b ... second surface (rubbing surface), 304d ... tooth bottom, 400 ... receiving device, 410 … Retracting part (container retracting device), Ta (Tb to Td)… Containing container

Claims (22)

A rotatable container for accommodating the developer and
A drive receiving gear provided on the outer peripheral surface of the container and having a plurality of gear teeth for receiving a rotational driving force, and a drive receiving gear.
A drive input gear that transmits rotational driving force to the drive receiving gear,
The drive source that drives the drive input gear and
The storage container inserted along the rotation axis of the storage container is provided with a receiving device that allows the storage container to be rotated by the drive input gear when the storage container is in a predetermined mounting position.
The drive input gear includes a plurality of drive transmission teeth that mesh with the gear teeth to transmit rotational driving force when the storage container is in the mounting position, and the drive transmission teeth in the insertion direction in which the storage container is inserted. It is provided on the upstream side of the container and abuts on the gear teeth during the insertion operation of the accommodating container into the receiving device, and the drive receiving gear and the drive input gear are relatively rotated to rotate the gear teeth and the drive transmission. It has a plurality of phase-matching teeth that match the phase with the teeth,
An image forming apparatus characterized in that. The phase matching tooth has a first surface that comes into contact with the tip surface of the gear tooth in the insertion direction and a second surface that comes into contact with the side surface of the gear tooth and relatively rotates the drive input gear.
The first surface is formed in an inclined shape so that the upstream end in the insertion direction is closer to the center of rotation than the downstream end.
The second surface is formed between the phasing teeth and the phasing teeth so that the distance between the upstream ends in the insertion direction in the rotation direction is wider than the distance between the downstream ends.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1. The drive input gear has a tooth bottom formed in an inclined shape between the phasing teeth and the phasing teeth so that the upstream end in the insertion direction is closer to the center of rotation than the downstream end.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 or 2. The receiving device has a pull-in portion that engages with a part of the containing container during the insertion operation of the containing container into the receiving device and pulls the containing container into the mounting position.
The retracting portion starts retracting the storage container in a state where the downstream tips of the plurality of gear teeth in the insertion direction overlap the plurality of phase matching teeth when viewed from a direction intersecting the insertion direction.
The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3. When the storage container is in the mounting position, the plurality of gear teeth have tips on the downstream side in the insertion direction that do not overlap with the plurality of drive transmission teeth when viewed from a direction intersecting the insertion direction.
The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4. The plurality of phase matching teeth are provided in a discrete manner with respect to the plurality of drive transmission teeth.
The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5. A rotatable container for accommodating the developer and
A drive receiving gear provided on the outer peripheral surface of the container and receiving a rotational driving force,
A drive input gear having a plurality of drive transmission teeth that transmit rotational driving force to the drive receiving gear, and
The drive source that drives the drive input gear and
The storage container inserted along the rotation axis of the storage container is provided with a receiving device that allows the storage container to be rotated by the drive input gear when the storage container is in a predetermined mounting position.
The drive receiving gear is provided on the downstream side of the gear tooth in the insertion direction in which the accommodating container is inserted and the gear tooth that meshes with the drive transmission tooth to receive the rotational driving force when the accommodating container is in the mounting. Then, during the insertion operation of the accommodating container into the receiving device, the drive input gear is brought into contact with the drive input gear, and the drive receiving gear and the drive input gear are relatively rotated to phase the gear teeth and the drive transmission teeth. Has multiple phase-matching teeth to match,
An image forming apparatus characterized in that. The phase matching tooth has a first surface that comes into contact with the tip surface of the drive transmission tooth in the insertion direction and a second surface that comes into contact with the side surface of the drive transmission tooth and relatively rotates the drive input gear. ,
The first surface is formed in an inclined shape so that the downstream end in the insertion direction is closer to the center of rotation than the upstream end.
The second surface is formed between the phasing teeth and the phasing teeth so that the distance between the downstream ends in the insertion direction in the rotation direction is wider than the distance between the upstream ends.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 7. The drive receiving gear has a tooth bottom formed in an inclined shape between the phasing teeth and the phasing teeth so that the downstream end in the insertion direction is closer to the center of rotation than the upstream end.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 7 or 8. It is an image forming device
A predetermined unit having a drive receiving gear which is provided so as to be mounted on the image forming apparatus and has a plurality of gear teeth formed to receive a rotational driving force.
A drive input gear that transmits rotational driving force to the drive receiving gear,
The drive source that drives the drive input gear and
A receiving device that allows rotation by the drive input gear when the predetermined unit is in a predetermined mounting position.
The drive input gear includes a plurality of drive transmission teeth that mesh with the gear teeth to transmit rotational driving force when the predetermined unit is in the mounting position, and the drive in the mounting direction in which the predetermined unit is mounted. It is provided on the upstream side of the transmission tooth, abuts on the gear tooth during the mounting operation of the predetermined unit on the receiving device, and the drive receiving gear and the drive input gear are relatively rotated to and the gear tooth. It has a plurality of phase matching teeth that match the phase with the drive transmission tooth.
An image forming apparatus characterized in that. The phase matching tooth has a first surface that comes into contact with the tip surface of the gear tooth in the mounting direction and a second surface that comes into contact with the side surface of the gear tooth and relatively rotates the drive input gear.
The first surface is formed in an inclined shape so that the upstream end in the mounting direction is closer to the center of rotation than the downstream end.
The second surface is formed between the phasing teeth and the phasing teeth so that the distance between the upstream ends in the mounting direction in the rotation direction is wider than the distance between the downstream ends.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 10. The drive input gear has a tooth bottom formed in an inclined shape between the phasing teeth and the phasing teeth so that the upstream end in the mounting direction is closer to the center of rotation than the downstream end.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 10 or 11. The receiving device has a pull-in portion that engages with a part of the predetermined unit during the mounting operation of the predetermined unit to the receiving device and pulls the predetermined unit into the mounting position.
The retracting portion starts retracting the predetermined unit in a state where the downstream tips of the plurality of gear teeth in the mounting direction overlap with the plurality of phasing teeth when viewed from a direction intersecting the mounting direction.
The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 10 to 12, wherein the image forming apparatus is characterized in that. When the predetermined unit is in the mounting position, the plurality of gear teeth do not overlap with the plurality of drive transmission teeth at the downstream tip in the mounting direction when viewed from a direction intersecting the mounting direction.
The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 10 to 13. The plurality of phase matching teeth are provided in a discrete manner with respect to the plurality of drive transmission teeth.
The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 10 to 14. The predetermined unit is a developing unit for developing an electrostatic latent image formed on an image carrier using a developing agent.
The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 10 to 15. The predetermined unit is a fixing unit for fixing an image formed on a recording material by heating and pressurizing it.
The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 10 to 15. It is an image forming device
A predetermined unit having a drive receiving gear which is provided so as to be mounted on the image forming apparatus and has a plurality of gear teeth formed to receive a rotational driving force.
A drive input gear that transmits rotational driving force to the drive receiving gear,
The drive source that drives the drive input gear and
A receiving device that allows rotation by the drive input gear when the predetermined unit is in a predetermined mounting position.
The drive input gear includes a plurality of drive transmission teeth that mesh with the gear teeth to transmit rotational driving force when the predetermined unit is in the mounting position, and the drive in the mounting direction in which the predetermined unit is mounted. It is provided on the downstream side of the transmission tooth, abuts on the gear tooth during the mounting operation of the predetermined unit on the receiving device, and the drive receiving gear and the drive input gear are relatively rotated to and the gear tooth. It has a plurality of phase matching teeth that match the phase with the drive transmission tooth.
An image forming apparatus characterized in that. The phase matching tooth has a first surface that comes into contact with the tip surface of the drive transmission tooth in the mounting direction and a second surface that comes into contact with the side surface of the drive transmission tooth and relatively rotates the drive input gear. ,
The first surface is formed in an inclined shape so that the downstream end in the mounting direction is closer to the center of rotation than the upstream end.
The second surface is formed between the phasing teeth and the phasing teeth so that the distance between the downstream ends in the mounting direction in the rotation direction is wider than the distance between the upstream ends.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 18. The drive receiving gear has a tooth bottom formed in an inclined shape between the phasing teeth and the phasing teeth so that the downstream end in the mounting direction is closer to the center of rotation than the upstream end.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 18 or 19. The predetermined unit is a developing unit for developing an electrostatic latent image formed on an image carrier using a developing agent.
The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 18 to 20, wherein the image forming apparatus is characterized. The predetermined unit is a fixing unit for fixing an image formed on a recording material by heating and pressurizing it.
The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 18 to 20, wherein the image forming apparatus is characterized.

Images