JP2807265B2 - Rotary developing device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] In the present invention, a plurality of developer chambers accommodating a developer are arranged in parallel, and one of the developer chambers is moved to a development area by rotational movement. The present invention relates to a rotary developing device that is selectively conveyed to an opposing position.

[Prior Art] In general, in various image forming apparatuses such as a copying machine and a printer, an electrostatic latent image corresponding to an image is formed on a latent image carrier such as a photoconductor and provided in a developing device. A two-component or one-component developer is held on the developer carrier, and the developer on the developer carrier is carried into the developing area by the transport action of the developer carrier. In the developing area, the toner in the developer is supplied to the electrostatic latent image to perform a developing operation, so that a toner visible image is obtained.

As a developing device used in such an image forming apparatus, a rotary developing device has been conventionally known. The rotary developing device is provided with a hollow frame-shaped developer container in which a plurality of developer chambers for storing the developer are arranged in parallel, and the developer container is rotated by moving the developer chamber. One of the developer chambers is selectively conveyed to a position facing the development area. The developer container is provided with an opening for toner replenishment,
An opening / closing lid is openably and closably provided so as to open or close this opening. The conventional opening / closing lid is hinged to the developer container, and one end portion is opened such that it can be flipped outward in the radial direction.

When supplying toner, first, the toner supply lid of the main body cover is opened, and the opening / closing lid of the developing device is opened, thereby opening the developer chamber of the developer chamber which is opened toward the outside area of the apparatus. A predetermined toner is poured into the internal space. When the toner supply is completed, the opening / closing lid of the developing device is closed. Such a toner supply operation is similarly performed by rotating the developing container with respect to the other developer chambers.

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] In such a rotary developing device, when each opening / closing lid is positioned at the lower side by the rotation operation, the developer in each developing chamber falls down and the inner surface of the opening / closing lid is opened. However, since the above-described conventional opening / closing lid is opened by flipping up, there is a problem that the developer attached to the inner surface side of the opening / closing lid is easily scattered at the time of opening, Often the operator's hands, clothes or surroundings are soiled.

For this reason, it has been proposed that the opening / closing lid is of a slide type to prevent toner scattering. However, if the opening / closing lid of the slide type is apt to be forgotten to be closed, if the opening for toner replenishment is left exposed due to forgetting to close the opening / closing lid, when the opening for toner replenishment is located on the lower side. In this case, there is a possibility that the developer may flow out of the developer and fall into the machine.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention provides a rotary developing device capable of preventing the user from forgetting to close the opening / closing lid after replenishing toner by opening the opening / closing lid of the developer container, thereby reliably preventing toner contamination. The purpose is to provide.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a rotary developing device including an opening / closing lid for opening or closing an opening of a developer container, wherein the opening / closing lid is opened. In the opened state, there is an engagement piece projecting to an outer region of the frame of the developer container, and in a state where the opening / closing lid is opened, the engagement piece is locked, and rotation of the rotary developing device is stopped. It has a configuration that is inoperative.

[Operation] In a unit having such a configuration, when the opening / closing lid is opened to supply toner, the developing device is inactivated. Then, unless the cover is closed, the subsequent developing operation is not executed.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 3 shows a color copying machine to which the present invention is applied. In FIG. 1, an endless transfer belt 1 is stretched in a substantially horizontal direction over a drive roller 2 and a driven roller 3, and the transfer paper S sent in the direction of the arrow by the paper feed roller 4 is transferred to the transfer belt 1. The paper is conveyed on the belt 1.

The document table 5 is provided in parallel with the direction in which the transfer belt 1 is provided, and is configured to be reciprocally driven in directions indicated by arrows a and b. An original (not shown) is set on the original table 5, and a light image corresponding to the color image of the original is provided as a latent image carrier through a focusing optical transmitter array 6 and a filter 7. An image is formed on the photoreceptor belt 8 and is administered.
An electrostatic latent image is formed thereon. Such an electrostatic latent image is formed for each color separation. On the other hand, corresponding to these electrostatic latent images of respective colors, developing rollers 9A, 9 for the respective colors provided on the rotary type developing device 9 as a developer carrier.
B and 9C are switched and placed in a developing area which is a portion facing the photoreceptor belt 8, and each color electrostatic latent image is formed by each color toner supplied from each of the developing rollers 9A, 9B and 9C. Are respectively developed to obtain toner visible images corresponding to the respective colors.

As described above, when the transfer paper S conveyed by the transfer belt 1 is passed through the transfer section 11, the first color toner visible image on the photoreceptor belt 8 is transferred by the transfer charger 12 to the transfer paper S. Is transferred to At the time of this transfer, the transfer belt 1 is driven in the direction of arrow A, that is, in the direction opposite to the forward movement direction of the document table 5, and the document table 5 is returned after completing the forward movement. The rear end of the transfer paper S is the transfer unit 11
, The transfer belt 1 is reversed, and the upper belt portion is moved in the direction of arrow B opposite to the direction of arrow A to prepare for the next transfer.

Then, by repeating the same transfer process, the second color toner visible motion and the third color toner visible image are transferred so as to be superimposed on one sheet of transfer paper so as not to cause positional displacement. .

After the transfer of the visible image of the final color toner, the transfer paper S passes through a space between the pair of static elimination chargers 13 and is received by a transfer paper fixing system 14 including a pair of heating and pressing rollers. It will be discharged outside.

Next, as shown in FIG. 1, the above-mentioned developing device 9 is provided with a developing container 92 comprising a cylindrical hollow frame member, the developer container 92, the rotary drive around a rotational center O ₁ It is installed to be. The contents space of the developer container 92, the rotational center O ₁ 3 single developer chamber by a partition wall that extends in a radial curved from 92A, 92B, is partitioned into a 92C, respective developers chamber 92A, Yellow (Y), magenta (M), and cyan (C) color developers are contained in 92B and 92C, respectively. Hereinafter, the internal configuration of the developer chamber 92A will be described, and the description of the internal configuration of the developer chambers 92B and 92C having the same configuration will be omitted.

First, a developing roller provided as a developer carrier
9A is arranged so as to be in contact with the photoreceptor belt 8, so that a developing region is formed at a portion where the two are in contact with each other. The toner supply roller 94 is arranged to be in contact with the developing roller 9A, and the yellow toner stored in the developing chamber 92A is supplied to and adhered to the developing roller 9A by the transport action of the toner supply roller 94. It has become so. The toner adhered to the surface of the developing roller 9A is moved by the rotation and transport action of the developing roller 9A, and is uniformly distributed by the toner layer regulating metering blade 95 pressed against the surface of the developing roller 9A. Formed in layers. Further, the thin toner layer is carried into the developing area by the rotation and transport action of the developing roller 9A, where it is subjected to the above-described developing operation. The toner remaining on the developing roller 9A after the development is scraped off by the toner layer peeling roller 93 pressed against the surface of the developing roller 9A, whereby the developing roller 9A is initialized.

By such a developing operation, each developer chamber 92A, 92B, 92C
Each of the yellow (Y), magenta (M), and cyan (C) color developers is sequentially consumed. However, when the amount of the stored developer falls below a certain value, the toner (not shown) is omitted. The end detecting device indicates that toner supply is required on the display unit, and at the same time, the operation of the entire copying machine is stopped.

Here, an opening for supplying toner to the developer chamber 92A is formed in an outer frame portion of the developing container 92, and an opening / closing lid 91 is opened and closed so as to open or close the toner supply opening. It is attached to open and close freely. The lid 91 includes a developing container 92 are slid openably mounted to the outer frame portion of the reciprocating in the circumferential direction about the rotational center O ₂ is positioned substantially at the center portion of the developer chamber 92A It is configured to be moved so as to be opened and closed between a closed state shown in FIG. 1 and an open state shown in FIG. Note that seal members 96 and 97 are interposed between the outer frame of the developing container 92 and the opening / closing lid 91.

The opening / closing lid 91 has a knob 91a as an engagement piece.
Are integrally formed so as to protrude outward by a predetermined amount in the radial direction. The knob 91a is formed so as to be accommodated in the inner portion of the outer frame of the developing container 92 when the cover 91 is closed (the state shown in FIG. 1).
Is released (the state shown in FIG. 2), the knob 91a
Are projected toward the outer portion of the outer frame of the developing container 92.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG.
The body cover 101 is arranged in the upper region of the drawing,
An upper flip-up type toner supply lid 102 is hinged to the main body cover 101. FIG. 2 shows a state in which the toner supply lid 102 is opened upward and the above-mentioned opening / closing lid 91 is slid open. In the state shown in FIG. The internal space of the 92A is opened toward the outside area. The inner surface of the toner replenishing lid 102 has a projection 102 as an engagement piece.
a is formed. As shown by a dashed line in FIG. 2, the convex portion 102a is provided with a knob
Even when the toner supply lid 102 is to be closed while the open / close lid 91 is open, the convex portion 102a of the toner supply lid 102 is
1 is brought into contact with the knob portion 91a (the state shown by the chain line in FIG. 2),
Thus, the toner supply lid 102 cannot be completely closed.

Further, the main body cover 101 has an abutment plate 1 as a locking piece.
01a is provided. The contact plate 101a is arranged at a position for receiving the knob 91a of the opening / closing lid 91 in the open / closed state. Knob part 91
a is received and locked by the contact plate 101a (the state shown in FIG. 2), so that the developer container 2 cannot be rotated further.

With the opening / closing lid 91 thus kept open, the developing device 9 is brought into an inoperative state.

When toner is supplied in the developing device of the above-described embodiment, first, the toner supply cover 102 of the main body cover 101 is opened so as to be flipped upward as shown by the solid line in FIG. The opening / closing lid 91 of the device 9 is slid open from the closed state shown in FIG. 1 to the open state shown in FIG. As a result, the developer chamber 92A is opened toward the outside area of the apparatus, and the developer chamber 92A is opened.
A predetermined yellow toner is poured into the internal space of A. When the toner supply operation is completed, the opening / closing lid 91 of the developing device 9 is moved from the open state shown in FIG.
It is closed by sliding movement to the closed state shown in the figure. This toner replenishment operation is similarly performed after the developer container 92 is rotated for the other developer chambers 92B and 92C.

At this time, at each point in time when the toner supply operation to each of the developer chambers 92A, 92B, and 92C is completed,
It is assumed that the opening / closing lid 91 is left in the open state shown in FIG. First, in that case, the toner supply lid 10
2 to close the projection 102a of the toner supply lid 102.
Is the knob of the opening / closing lid 91 as shown by the dashed line in FIG.
As a result, the toner supply lid 102 cannot be completely closed. When the developer container 92 is to be rotated while the opening / closing lid 91 is open, the knob 91a of the opening / closing lid 91 is received and locked by the contact plate 101a (the state shown in FIG. 2). Thus, the developer container 2 cannot rotate any more. Therefore, as long as the opening / closing lid 91 is not closed, the subsequent developing operation is not executed, and it is checked whether the worker has forgotten to close.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, in the present invention, when the opening / closing lid is opened to supply toner, the rotary developing device is placed in an inoperative state, and unless the opening / closing lid is closed, development is performed. Since the rotation of the rotary developing device is disabled due to the opening operation of the opening / closing lid so that the operation is not performed, it is possible to prevent forgetting to close the opening / closing lid after opening and closing the lid and supplying toner. Further, it is possible to reliably prevent the toner from scattering due to forgetting to close the opening / closing lid, and to prevent the worker's hands, clothes, or the surroundings from being stained.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a sectional explanatory view showing a schematic structure of a rotary developing device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a cover opening of the rotary developing device shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is an explanatory side view showing a color copier as an example of an image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied. 8 photoreceptor belt, 9 developing device, 9A, 9B, 9C developing roller, 91 opening / closing lid, 91a knob portion, 92
Developer container, 92A, 92B, 92C ... developer chamber, 101 ... body cover, 101a ... contact plate, 102 ... toner supply lid, 102a
...... Protrusions.

Continuation of the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G03G 13/01 G03G 15/01-15/01 117 G03G 15/00 550-556 G03G 15/00 G03G 13/08 G03G 15 / 08-15/08 507

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] An opening / closing lid for opening or closing an opening of the developer container, wherein the opening / closing lid is provided outside the frame of the developer container when the opening / closing lid is opened. A rotary developing device having an engaging piece projecting into a region, wherein the engaging piece is locked when the opening / closing lid is opened, and the rotation of the rotary developing device is inoperative. .