JP2830017B2 - Toner cartridge for image forming device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a detachable cylindrical toner cartridge used for an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a facsimile, and a printer.

[Conventional technology]

FIG. 9 shows an electronic copying machine as an example of an image forming apparatus, and a platen 10 formed by a light source 11 on a photoreceptor 3 charged by a charge corotron 13.
The optical image to be copied is exposed to light by irradiating it with an optical system 12, developed with toner by a developing roll 2 a of a developing device 2, and then transferred to a paper supply unit 15 by a transfer corotron 14.
The developed image is transferred onto the supplied paper and fixed by the fixing roll 16. The developing device 2 of this electronic copying machine is of the type shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-86382, and a toner cartridge 1a for supplying toner to the developing roll 2a is substantially as shown in FIG. It has a cylindrical shape, and has an opening 8 for supplying toner on a curved surface thereof. A rotating shaft 5 connected to a driving unit 9 for supplying toner to the developing roll from this opening.
The toner agitating / conveying member 6 supported by the U-shaped member 6a rotated by the above is incorporated. The toner agitating / conveying member 6 is slid and moved along the inner wall surface of the toner cartridge to scrape up and convey the toner, and to supply the toner from the opening 8 to the developing device.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, such a toner stirring / conveying member 6 is supported by a linear support member as shown in FIG. Since the rod-shaped member and the blade-shaped member have a large diameter, a large resistance is required to rotate the member due to a large resistance caused by toner. Further, since air usually enters when the toner is filled, the toner cannot be sealed up to 100% of the capacity of the cartridge, and a space is always formed between the filled toner and the inner wall surface of the toner cartridge. In such a space, little force is required for rotation, but a particularly large force is required when sneaking into the charged toner from the space. Therefore, the load on the drive unit 9 becomes uneven when the toner stirring / conveying member 6 rotates, and if the fluctuation is large, it may cause the drive unit to malfunction or generate noise, or may be integrally assembled with a plurality of parts. This has affected the housing of the developing device, and caused vibrations to peel off parts and the like, causing unnecessary toner to leak out and sticking to the photoreceptor, causing stains on the edges of the paper. For this reason, conventionally, the amount of toner to be filled in the toner cartridge 1a is reduced to reduce the resistance when sneaking into the filled toner,
There is a disadvantage that the replacement frequency of the toner cartridge 1a increases. As a means for reducing the rotational load, it is conceivable to reduce the load torque by reducing the sectional area of the toner stirring / conveying member 6 or to reduce the load by reducing the rotation radius. Problems such as a reduction in the amount of stirring / conveyance and a residual toner occur.

Advantageous Effects of Invention The present invention makes it possible to equalize the rotational load on the drive unit and the like due to the rotation of the toner stirring / conveying member in the toner cartridge and increase the amount of toner contained in the toner cartridge without increasing the capacity of the toner cartridge. It is an object of the present invention to provide a toner stirring / transporting member.

[Means for solving the problem]

First of the toner cartridge of the image forming apparatus of the present invention
Is characterized in that it is a detachable and substantially cylindrical toner cartridge for toner replenishment, wherein a rectangular toner supply opening is opened in a longitudinal direction of a curved surface portion of the toner cartridge, and the opening is arranged as a side surface. A toner agitating / transporting member having a tube fitted therein is built in the toner cartridge, and both ends of the toner agitating / transporting member are attached to rotating shafts attached to the center of both sides of the toner cartridge, respectively. In a toner stirring / conveying member which supplies the toner by stirring up the toner supply opening by rotating in the cartridge, the toner stirring / conveying member has a spiral shape which moves while sliding on the inner wall of the toner cartridge. A part of the toner agitating / transporting member includes a charged toner filled in a toner cartridge and a toner cartridge. And it is formed so as to be exposed at all times in the space formed by the ridges in the wall.

Second embodiment of the toner cartridge of the image forming apparatus of the present invention
Is characterized in that it is a detachable and substantially cylindrical toner cartridge for toner replenishment, wherein a rectangular toner supply opening is opened in a longitudinal direction of a curved surface portion of the toner cartridge, and the opening is arranged as a side surface. A toner agitating / transporting member having a tube fitted therein is built in the toner cartridge, and both ends of the toner agitating / transporting member are attached to rotating shafts attached to the center of both sides of the toner cartridge, respectively. In a toner stirring / conveying member which supplies toner by rotating the inside of the cartridge to the toner supply opening, the toner stirring / conveying member is a linear member, and both ends of the toner stirring / conveying member are spring Attached by members, formed in a U shape, and a large amount of toner in the toner cartridge The radius of rotation of the toner stirring-conveying member is reduced when that, when the toner level is low is what is arranged so that deformation of the radius of rotation of the toner stirring-conveying member is reduced.

Third toner cartridge of the image forming apparatus of the present invention
Is characterized in that it is a detachable and substantially cylindrical toner cartridge for toner replenishment, wherein a rectangular toner supply opening is opened in a longitudinal direction of a curved surface portion of the toner cartridge, and the opening is arranged as a side surface. A toner agitating / transporting member having a tube fitted therein is built in the toner cartridge, and both ends of the toner agitating / transporting member are attached to rotating shafts attached to the center of both sides of the toner cartridge, respectively. In a toner stirring / conveying member which supplies toner by rotating the inside of the cartridge to a toner supply opening, the toner stirring / conveying member is a linear member and is divided into three or more members in the rotation axis direction. And each divided part is 1 in the rotational direction.
The peripheries are connected by being shifted by an angle obtained by dividing the circumference by the number of divisions, and the respective linear members are arranged so as to rotate while sliding on the inner wall surface of the toner cartridge. , And is always exposed to a space formed by the filled toner sealed in the toner cartridge and the inner wall surface of the toner cartridge.

First, the first toner stirring / conveying member 6 is a spiral member formed integrally with the rotation shaft and moving while sliding on the inner wall of the toner cartridge. The twist angle over the entire length of the toner agitating / conveying member may be such that the toner is sunk into the toner at an angle when sneaking into the filled toner from the space, but the toner agitated in the space formed by the filled toner and the inner wall surface of the toner cartridge. -It is necessary to expose a part of the transport member 6. The twist angle is
It may be around 360 degrees after one rotation. The angle may be 360 degrees or more as long as the toner is not substantially conveyed in the central axis direction.

When used in a side registration type electronic copier in which the position of one side edge of the paper is regulated to be always constant irrespective of the size of the copy paper, the twisting of the toner agitating / transporting member over its entire length is required. The number of times may be increased, and the direction of twist may be such that the toner is conveyed to the paper side edge regulating unit side.

The second toner agitating / conveying member is a linear member. Both ends of the second toner agitating / conveying member are attached to the rotating shaft by spring members, and are formed in a U-shape. The linear member is formed by fitting a plastic tube to a shaft. Formed by inserting
Both ends are attached to the rotating shaft by a spring such as a leaf spring, and are formed in a U-shape.

Further, the third toner agitating / conveying member is a linear member, and is divided into three or more in the direction of the rotation axis, and each divided part is shifted by an angle obtained by dividing one circumference in the rotation direction by the number of divisions. It is connected by a connecting member passing through the center, but, for example, when divided into three parts in the rotation axis direction, as shown in FIG. 8 described later, each divided part is shifted by 120 degrees in the rotation direction. A plastic tube is inserted into each of the divided portions arranged and connected to a connecting member passing through the center of rotation and parallel to the rotation axis to provide a toner stirring / transporting function.

[Action]

The first toner stirring / conveying member 6 in the present invention is:
The inner wall sliding portion of the toner cartridge is formed in a spiral shape, and a part of the toner stirring / conveying member 6 is always exposed to the space formed by the filled toner sealed in the toner cartridge 1 and the inner wall surface of the toner cartridge. By doing so, when the toner stirring / conveying member 6 enters the toner filling section from the space, the influence of the fluctuation of the rotational load on the drive section can be eliminated, and the rotational load on the drive source can be reduced. Since the load fluctuation can be kept constant, the toner capacity in the toner cartridge can be increased, and the frequency of replacing the toner cartridge 1 can be reduced.

The second toner stirring / transporting member is formed of a linear member, and both ends thereof are attached to the rotation shaft by spring members, respectively, and formed in a U-shape, so that a large amount of toner is contained in the toner cartridge. Is present, the rotational load applied to the toner stirring / conveying member is large, and as shown in FIG. 4, the spring member is deformed in the toner, and the rotational radius decreases from L to 1. Due to this decrease, the torque required to rotate the toner stirring / conveying member does not change irrespective of the presence of toner.
On the other hand, when the remaining amount of toner is small, the deformation of the spring member becomes small, and 1 approaches L. Thus, even when the toner capacity is increased, the rotational torque does not need to be increased, and fluctuations in the rotational load can be eliminated.

The third toner agitating / conveying member is formed of a linear member, and the linear member is divided into three or more members in the rotation axis direction, and each divided portion has an angle obtained by dividing one circumference in the rotation direction by the number of divisions. The segments are connected by a connecting member passing through the center of rotation, so that even when a large amount of toner is present, at least one segment is located in the toner-free space, and there is almost no rotational load. Since the state can be set, the load can be reduced to 2/3 of the maximum load on the conventional toner stirring / conveying member. In addition, by increasing the number of divisions, the load during one rotation can be made substantially equal, the load variation is small, and the generation of periodic noise can be eliminated.

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

1 is a sectional view of a developing device having a toner cartridge according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway perspective view of the toner cartridge shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is FIG. FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a developing device having a toner cartridge according to a second embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the toner cartridge shown in FIG. 4, and FIG. FIG. 7 is a sectional view of a developing device having a toner cartridge according to a third embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the toner cartridge shown in FIG.
8 is a perspective view of a toner agitating / conveying member in the toner cartridge shown in FIG. 6, wherein 1 is a toner cartridge, 2 is a developing device, 2a is a developing roll, 3 is a photoconductor. 4 is a toner, 5 is a rotating shaft, 5a is a shaft, 6 is a toner stirring / conveying member, 6a is a U-shaped support member, 6b is a support member, 6c is a spring member, 6d is a tube, 6d is a tube, 6e is a flange, 7 Denotes a toner layer forming blade, 8 denotes a toner cartridge opening, and 9 denotes a driving unit.

〔Example〕

As shown in FIG. 1, the toner cartridge 1 of the present invention
Is substantially cylindrical and has a rectangular opening 8 in the longitudinal direction of the curved surface thereof. In order to supply toner to the developing roll 2a, the opening 8 is opposed to the developing roll 2a.
Are arranged side by side, and the toner 4 is scraped up to the position of the opening 8 and supplied to the developing device. Before the toner cartridge 1 is used, the opening 8 is closed by a seal. However, when the toner cartridge 1 is used, the seal is peeled off and the toner cartridge 1 is inserted in the axial direction of the developing device and used.

First, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

In the toner cartridge 1, a toner stirring / conveying member 6 for scraping toner to the opening 8 is disposed. The toner stirring / conveying member 6 is connected to the driving unit 9 as shown in FIG. The rotation shaft 5 is supported by the support member 6b with the toner cartridge internal portion. The rotation shaft 5 and the support member are twisted together with the support member so that the twist angle over the entire length of the toner stirring / conveying member is about 360 degrees. The toner has a spiral shape, and the toner agitating / conveying member is always exposed in a space formed by the filled toner and the inner wall surface of the toner cartridge. The toner agitating / transporting member 6 is a large-diameter tube fitted to the support member 6b, and the outer portion of the spiral portion is brought into sliding contact with the inner wall surface of the toner cartridge. The driving member 9 is a gear attached to the rotating shaft 5 and rotates by meshing with a gear of a developing roll driving system, but can be rotated by another independent driving system.

By forming the toner cartridge 1 in this manner, the toner 4 can be transported from the opening 8 to the side of the developing roll 2a by the movement of the toner stirring / transporting member 6 as shown in FIG. In the case of the conventional toner stirring / conveying member, when the toner stirs / conveys into the filled toner from the space, the force required when the toner stirring / conveying member moves in the space is about twice as much. As a result, the driving system becomes overloaded, and in the case of the conventional toner stirring / conveying member, the amount of toner that can be stored in the toner cartridge can normally be only 60% of the total volume of the toner cartridge. Further, when the toner amount was increased by 80% of the total volume of the toner cartridge, it required about three times the force required to move in the space when sneaking into the filled toner, causing troubles such as noise and vibration. Toner stirring / conveying member 6 of the present invention
In the case of, the toner stirring / conveying member is formed in a spiral shape, and a part of the scraping portion is always exposed,
When sneaking into the toner filling portion from the space, the resistance between the toner stirring / conveying member 6 and the filled toner is always small, and the moving force is small, that is, the force when moving in the space and the force when sneaking in are substantially reduced. Things that can be the same.
Also, when the helix angle over the entire length of the spiral toner scraping portion is set to around 360 degrees, the force required for movement is uniform,
Even when the amount of the charged toner in the toner cartridge was increased to 80% of the total volume of the toner cartridge, the force when moving through the space and the force when sneaking in were substantially the same. Further, it is necessary to set the torsion angle to an angle that prevents large toner conveyance in the direction of the central axis in the toner cartridge 1a. However, a torsion angle near 360 degrees has an effect on actual use. There was not enough conveyance amount.

As shown by the T line in FIG. 3, in the case of a side registration type electronic copying machine in which one side edge of the copy paper is regulated regardless of the size of the paper,
Although the toner consumption has the property of being biased toward the T-line side, it is preferable to positively use the toner conveying action toward the T-line side by the spiral shape of the toner stirring / conveying member 6. In this case, the toner stirring / conveying member 6 may be formed in a spiral shape so as to increase the number of twists over its entire length. It is good to twist in the direction in which

Second Embodiment Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

First, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a shaft 5a is formed integrally with the rotating shaft 5 in the toner cartridge 1, and a spring member such as a leaf spring is provided near both ends of the shaft 5a in the toner cartridge. 6c is fixed respectively. Next, a linear support member 6b is fixed between the other end portions of the two spring members 6c.
To increase the transfer capacity, a tube is attached to the support member 6b.
6d is inserted. The toner cartridge 1 is inserted into the developing device 2, and a driving unit 9 such as a gear attached to an end of the shaft 5 a is engaged with a driving unit (not shown) such as a gear attached to the developing device 2. .

In the toner cartridge assembled as described above, power is first transmitted to the shaft from the driving unit, and the toner stirring / transporting member integrated with the shaft can be rotated in the toner cartridge. When a large amount of toner is present in the toner cartridge 1, the rotation load applied to the toner stirring / conveying member 6 is large, and the spring member 6c is deformed in the toner, and the rotation radius is L.
From 1 to l, and the deformation of the spring member decreases as the remaining amount of toner decreases, and l approaches L. As described above, it is possible to prevent the rotational load from fluctuating without being affected by the toner capacity to some extent.

Third Embodiment Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 8, the toner agitating / conveying member 6 is divided into three segments along the entire length in the axial direction, and the segments are arranged at positions shifted by 120 degrees in the rotational direction. Tube 6d is inserted into each segment,
The amount of toner agitation / conveyance accompanying rotation of the toner agitation / conveyance member is increased. Each segment is connected by a connecting member passing through the center of rotation. Both ends of the toner stirring / conveying member thus formed are connected to the rotating shaft 5 and the flange.
The toner cartridge can be formed by being engaged with the center hole 6e.

In this toner cartridge, even when there is a large amount of toner, at least one segment is located in the toner-free space and can be kept in a state where there is almost no rotational load. The load can be reduced to 2/3 of that. Further, in the conventional toner cartridge, the load peaks once during one rotation. However, the load of the toner cartridge of the present invention is almost even during one rotation, the load fluctuation is small, and no periodic noise is generated. Further, the unused toner does not remain in the toner cartridge.

〔The invention's effect〕

The first toner stirring / transporting member 6 in the present invention is:
In the detachable and substantially cylindrical toner cartridge 1 for toner replenishment, the toner stirring / conveying member is formed in a spiral shape, and a part of the toner stirring / conveying member 6 is filled toner filled in the toner cartridge 1. By always exposing the toner agitating / transporting member 6 from the space inside the toner cartridge to the toner filling portion by always exposing the space formed by the toner cartridge and the inner wall surface of the toner cartridge, the resistance due to toner Can be reduced, and the force for moving the toner agitating / transporting member 6 does not fluctuate, so that noise generation, failure of the driving unit, and vibration can be eliminated. In addition, the amount of toner that can be stored in the toner cartridge can be increased, the frequency of replacing the toner cartridge can be reduced, and the twist angle over the entire length of the spiral toner scraping portion can be reduced by 36.
When the angle is set to around 0 degrees, there is an operational effect that the force required for movement can be made more uniform.

Further, in the case of the above-described side registration type electronic copying machine, if the number of twists is increased, the toner is conveyed to the developing device at the same time as the toner is conveyed to the paper-side end regulating side in the center axis direction of the toner cartridge. Therefore, it is possible to adjust the bias of the toner consumption.

Further, the second toner stirring / transporting member is formed of a linear member, and both ends thereof are attached to the rotation shaft by spring members, respectively, and formed in a U shape, so that the capacity of the toner is increased. Even in this case, it is not necessary to increase the rotational torque, and it is possible to eliminate the fluctuation of the rotational load, and to eliminate the generation of noise, the failure of the drive unit, and the vibration. Further, the amount of toner that can be accommodated in the toner cartridge can be increased, and the frequency of replacing the toner cartridge can be reduced.

The third toner agitating / conveying member is formed of a linear member, and the linear member is divided into three or more members in the rotation axis direction, and each divided portion has an angle obtained by dividing one circumference in the rotation direction by the number of divisions. The segments are connected by a connecting member passing through the center of rotation and are formed in a link shape, so that the load can be reduced to 2/3 of the maximum load of the conventional toner stirring and conveying member. Can be. Also, by increasing the number of divisions, the load during one rotation can be made substantially equal, the load fluctuation can be reduced, and noise generation, failure of the drive unit and vibration can be eliminated. Further, the amount of toner that can be accommodated in the toner cartridge can be increased, and the frequency of replacing the toner cartridge can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 is a sectional view of a developing device having a toner cartridge according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway perspective view of the toner cartridge shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is FIG. FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a developing device having a toner cartridge according to a second embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the toner cartridge shown in FIG. 4, and FIG. FIG. 7 is a sectional view of a developing device having a toner cartridge according to a third embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along line II of the toner cartridge shown in FIG. 6, FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a toner stirring / conveying member in the toner cartridge shown in FIG. 6, and FIG. FIG. 10 is an overall explanatory view of an electronic copying machine to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. 10 is a longitudinal sectional view of a conventional toner cartridge. 1 is a toner cartridge, 1a is a conventional toner cartridge, 2 is a developing device, 2a is a developing roll, 3 is a photoreceptor, 4 is toner, 5 is a rotating shaft, 5a is a shaft, and 6 is a toner agitator.
A conveying member, 6a is a U-shaped support member, 6b is a support member, 6c is a spring member, 6d is a tube, 6e is a flange, 7 is a toner layer forming blade, 8 is a toner cartridge opening,
9 is a drive unit, 10 is a platen, 11 is a light source, 12 is an optical system, 13
Is a charge corotron, 14 is a transfer corotron, 15 is a paper supply unit, and 16 is a fixing roll.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Shiro Suzuki 2274 Hongo, Ebina-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. Ebina Works (56) References JP-A-63-281178 (JP, A) JP-A-60- 220372 (JP, A) JP-A-62-86382 (JP, A) JP-A-61-158356 (JP, A) JP-A-61-116372 (JP, A) JP-A-58-1227961 (JP, A) JP-A-58-127960 (JP, A) JP-A-56-130775 (JP, A) JP-A-53-46040 (JP, A) Fully open Showa 64-30561 (JP, U) Really open show 64-23054 (JP, U) Fully open 1987-6-149055 (JP, U) Fully open 1987-71648 (JP, U) Fully open 1987-60-176444 (JP, U) Fully open 1979-40972 (JP, U) Sho 55-130353 (JP, U) Shokai 55-71353 (JP, U) Shoko 7-50759 (J , Y2) (58) investigated the field (Int.Cl. ^6, DB name) G03G 15/08

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A removable toner cartridge having a substantially cylindrical shape for replenishing toner, wherein a rectangular toner supply opening is opened in a longitudinal direction of a curved surface portion of the toner cartridge, and the opening is disposed as a side surface. And a toner agitator with a tube fitted inside the toner cartridge.
A conveying member is built in, and both ends of the toner stirring / conveying member are respectively attached to rotating shafts mounted at the centers of both sides of the toner cartridge, and the toner is scraped into the toner supply opening by rotating inside the toner cartridge. In the toner agitating / transporting member to be raised and supplied, the toner agitating / transporting member has a spiral shape which moves while sliding on the inner wall of the toner cartridge, and a part of the toner agitating / transporting member is sealed in the toner cartridge. A toner cartridge for an image forming apparatus, wherein the toner cartridge is formed so as to be constantly exposed to a space formed between the filled toner and an inner wall surface of the toner cartridge. 2. A detachable and substantially cylindrical toner cartridge for toner replenishment, wherein a rectangular toner supply opening is opened in a longitudinal direction of a curved surface portion of the toner cartridge, and the opening is disposed as a side surface. And a toner agitator with a tube fitted inside the toner cartridge.
A conveying member is built in, and both ends of the toner stirring / conveying member are respectively attached to rotating shafts mounted at the centers of both sides of the toner cartridge, and the toner is scraped into the toner supply opening by rotating inside the toner cartridge. In the toner agitating / transporting member to be raised and supplied, the toner agitating / transporting member is a linear member, and both ends of the toner agitating / transporting member are formed in a U-shape attached to the rotation shaft by a spring member, respectively. When a large amount of toner is present, the rotation radius of the toner stirring / conveying member is reduced, and when the remaining amount of toner is small, deformation of the rotation radius of the toner stirring / conveying member is reduced. A toner cartridge for an image forming apparatus. 3. A detachable and substantially cylindrical toner cartridge for toner replenishment, wherein a rectangular toner supply opening is opened in a longitudinal direction of a curved surface portion of the toner cartridge, and the opening is disposed as a side surface. And a toner agitator with a tube fitted inside the toner cartridge.
A conveying member is built in, and both ends of the toner stirring / conveying member are respectively attached to rotating shafts mounted at the centers of both sides of the toner cartridge, and the toner is scraped into the toner supply opening by rotating inside the toner cartridge. In the toner agitating / transporting member to be raised and supplied, the toner agitating / transporting member is a linear member, and is divided into three or more in the rotation axis direction, and each divided portion divides one rotation in the rotation direction by the number of divisions. And the linear members are arranged so as to rotate while sliding on the inner wall surface of the toner cartridge, and a part of the toner stirring / conveying member is sealed in the toner cartridge. An image forming apparatus formed so as to be always exposed to a space formed by filled toner and an inner wall surface of the toner cartridge. Of the toner cartridge.