JP2840628B2 - Toner cartridge - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a toner cartridge, and more particularly, to a toner cartridge mounted on a developing device such as a copying machine.

[Conventional technology]

2. Description of the Related Art In an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a developing device is used to visualize an electrostatic latent image formed on a photosensitive drum. This developing device is provided with a toner cartridge for storing toner as a developer and replenishing the developing device with toner. The toner cartridge is
It is detachable from the developing device. For example, when a toner empty indication is displayed on the operation panel during a copying operation, the user can replace the toner cartridge with a new toner cartridge.

Usually, a two-fold seal member is adhered to the opening of the toner cartridge. After the user mounts the toner cartridge on the developing device, the seal member can be removed from one end by pulling the seal member from one end. .
In order to improve the workability of removing this seal member,
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-28673, there is a toner cartridge having a trapezoidal seal bonding portion at both ends of an opening of a toner cartridge. In this case, the force required at the start and end of peeling can be reduced.

Furthermore, in order to efficiently wind up the seal member,
As shown in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 61-117170, there is a type provided with a take-up roller for taking up a two-fold seal member.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

In the toner cartridge as described above, in order to facilitate the peeling operation of the seal member and reduce the force at the time of peeling, the toner cartridge is provided with a take-up roller, and the end portions of the seal member on the peeling start side and the peeling side. In the above, it is conceivable to make the seal bonding portion trapezoidal.

However, if the bonding portion on the peeling end side of the sealing member is formed in a trapezoidal shape, the area of the bonding portion gradually becomes smaller and narrower in the final stage of winding, so that the winding force uniformly acts on the sealing member. May not be able to be wound up properly.
In addition, the seal member may float outside the trapezoidal adhesive portion, and the seal member may be pinched between the toner cartridge and the hopper when the toner cartridge is mounted. Thus, the seal member cannot be removed easily.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a toner cartridge in which the peeling operation of a seal member is easy and the seal member can be satisfactorily wound up to the end.

[Means for solving the problem]

The toner cartridge according to the present invention includes a cartridge body having a toner supply opening, a seal member, and a take-up roller.

The seal member has a main adhesive portion and a sub-adhesive portion, the main adhesive portion includes a peeling end side portion that protrudes in a chevron shape forward in the peeling progress direction at one end side, and a cartridge is provided around the opening. Glued to the body. The sub-adhesion portion is adhered to the cartridge body at a position forward of the peeling end portion in the peeling direction and on both sides of the peeling end portion. The other end of the seal member is folded back at the peeling start side, and extends forward beyond the peeling end portion in the peeling progressing direction. The take-up roller is a roller for fixing the other end of the seal member and rotatably supported by the cartridge body to take up the seal member.

[Action]

In the present invention, the peeling end side end of the seal member,
An adhesive portion is formed so as to protrude forward in the peeling direction in the shape of a mountain, and one end of the seal member is fixed to the winding roller. Therefore, by rotating the take-up roller, the seal member can be easily peeled from the cartridge body, and at the end of the peeling, the force required for the peeling gradually decreases, thereby facilitating the winding operation of the seal member.

In addition, since the sub-adhesion portions are provided on both sides of the peeling end portion of the seal member, even at the final stage of the peeling of the seal member, it can be uniformly wound over the width direction of the seal member. In addition, since the floating of the seal member can be prevented by the sub-adhesion portion, it is possible to prevent the seal member from being caught when the toner cartridge is mounted on the hopper.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 shows a toner cartridge 1 as an embodiment of the present invention. The toner cartridge 1 stores toner and replenishes the developing device with toner.

The toner cartridge 1 includes a cartridge body 1a for storing toner, a take-up roller 2, and a cartridge body 1a.
And two folded seal members 3 and 4 attached to the openings.

The cartridge main body 1a is formed in a box shape having an opening (described later) at a lower end, and has an inclined wall whose opening side is tapered. A flange 5 is formed on the outer periphery of the edge on the opening side.

As shown in FIG. 2, two openings 6, 7 are formed on the bottom surface of the cartridge main body 1a. In an unused state, the first seal member 3 closes the opening 7, and the second seal member 4 longer than the first seal member 3 closes the opening 6. Both seal members 3 and 4 have folded portions 3a and 4a at the middle part in the longitudinal direction. Between the folded portions 3a, 4a and one end, the two seal members 3, 4 close the openings 7, 6, and the other end is fixed to the winding roller 2. The main bonding portions 9 and 10 of the sealing members 3 and 4 are bonded around the openings. The main bonding portions 9 and 10 are end portions 9a and 10a on the peeling start side.
Protrudes rearward in the peeling direction and ends at the peeling end side
Conversely, 9b and 10b protrude in a chevron shape forward in the peeling direction.
Also, at each end 9a, 9b, 10a, 10b of the main bonding parts 9, 10,
The outermost protruding tops 9c, 9d, 10 corresponding to the vertices of the chevron
c, 10d, the top 9c, 10c of the peeling start end is the top 9d, 10d of the other end.
From the center of the toner cartridge (indicated by e in FIG. 2).

Further, at the outer side of the peeling start side end portions 9a, 10a of the main bonding portions 9, 10 and on both left and right sides of the top portions 9c, 10c, the sealing members 3, 4 are formed by the sub bonding portions 8a.
Adhered to. This sub-adhesion portion 8a has a circular shape. Similarly, outside the peeling end side end portions 9b, 10b, that is, in front of the peeling end side portion in the peeling direction and on both sides of each of the top portions 9d, 10d, a sealing member is formed by a circular sub-adhesion portion 8b. 3, 4 are adhered to the bottom surface of the cartridge body 1a.

As shown exploded in FIG. 3, a lid 11 can be attached to the flange portion 5 of the cartridge main body 1a. The lid 11 has openings 6 and 7 closed by the sealing members 3 and 4, respectively.
Is further covered. At both ends in the width direction of the lid 11,
Slide guides 12a and 12b having a U-shaped cross section are formed. The slide guides 12a and 12b
It can engage with both ends of the flange part 5 of a. Further, stopper portions 13a and 13b for restricting the slide of the lid 11 are formed on one end side of the slide guides 12a and 12b.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the winding mechanism of the seal members 3 and 4 includes a support member 14, the winding roller 2, and a pressing member 15. The support member 14 is formed integrally with the flange 5 at both left and right ends and in the center of the flange 5 at the front side of the copying machine main body. The support member 14 includes
A U-shaped groove 14a is formed, and the winding roller 2 is rotatably supported in the U-shaped groove 14a. One end of the folding seal members 3 and 4 is adhered to the take-up roller 2. One end 2a of the take-up roller 2 has a crank shape (see FIG. 1) so that an operator can easily operate it.

A pressing member 15 is disposed on the flange 9 adjacent to the winding roller 2. The press-contact member 15 is formed of an elastic resin material such as sponge, and is provided below the side portion of the take-up roller 2 over substantially the entire width of the two-fold seal members 3 and 4. Therefore, the pressure contact member 15 can press against the outer peripheral surfaces of the two-fold seal members 3 and 4 wound around the winding roller 2.

Overall Configuration of Copying Machine FIG. 5 is an overall configuration diagram of an electrostatic copying machine in which a toner cartridge according to one embodiment of the present invention is mounted.

The copying machine main body 16 includes a main body upper part 16a and a main body lower part 16b. The main body upper part 16a and the main body lower part 16b can be opened and closed on the right side in the figure with the hinge part on the left side in the figure as a center. A document table 17 is fixed on the upper surface of the copying machine main body 16, and a document holder 18 is mounted on the document table 17 so as to be openable and closable. Paper feed cassettes 19 and 2
0 is detachably mounted. On the left side, a paper discharge tray 21 for discharging copied paper is mounted.

Inside the copier main body 16, on the main body upper part 16a side,
An optical system 22 for reading image information of a document is provided. The optical system 22 includes a light source, a mirror, a lens, and the like. A photosensitive drum 23 on which an electrostatic latent image is formed is disposed at the center of the inside of the lower body 16b. Around the photosensitive drum 23, a charging device 24 for charging the photosensitive drum 23 to a predetermined charge, a developing device 25 for developing an electrostatic latent image, and a copying device for transferring a toner image to paper
26, a sheet separating device 27 for separating the sheet from the photosensitive drum 23, and a cleaning device 28 for removing the toner of the photosensitive drum 23 are sequentially arranged. Paper cassette 19,2
A paper feed path 29 for feeding the sheet is provided between the image forming section constituted by the photosensitive drum 23 and the like. A road 30 is provided. A fixing device 31 and a discharge roller 32 are arranged between the discharge conveyance path 30 and the discharge tray 21.

6 and 7 show a portion of the developing device 25 on the hopper 34 side. The developing device 25 mainly includes a developing device 33 and a developing device.
And a hopper 34 for replenishing the toner with 33.

A spiral 37 for transporting the toner supplied from the hopper 34 in the width direction of the developing device 33 (the left-right direction in FIG. 7) is provided in a replenishing section 38 disposed above the developing device 33.
Are rotatably provided. In addition, spiral 37
Above, on the front (left side in FIG. 7) side wall of the replenishing section 38,
An opening 38a for communication with the hopper 34 is formed.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the hopper 34 is disposed on the front side of the developing device 33.

The hopper 34 has a toner container 41 that stores toner. As shown in FIG. 7, the toner container 41 has both inner side walls in the width direction inclined, and has a V-shaped cross section when viewed from the side. Similarly, the inner wall (only one is shown in FIG. 6) in the direction orthogonal to the width direction is formed to be similarly inclined. The upper part of the toner container 41 is open. As shown in FIG. 6, locking portions 42, 43 having a U-shaped cross section are provided at the upper ends of the left and right sides of the toner container 41.
Are formed respectively. And these locking parts 42,43
Further, a flange portion 5 formed at the opening end of the toner cartridge 1 can be locked. As shown in FIG. 7, a locking portion 44 is also formed on a part of the rear side (right side in FIG. 7) of the toner container 34, and the locking portion 44 The flange portion 5 can be locked. Further, a lock claw 41b for locking the toner cartridge 1 is formed at the upper end of the left side portion of FIG. 7 of the toner container 41.

At the bottom of the toner container 41, as shown in FIG.
A toner supply port 41a for dropping the toner downward is formed. At the bottom of the toner container 41, a transport spiral 45 for transporting the toner in the container to the toner supply port 41a is rotatably disposed.

A cylindrical casing is provided below the toner container 41 in a direction perpendicular to the conveying spiral 45 inside the toner container 41.
46 are provided. In the cylindrical casing 46, a toner conveying mechanism including a toner supply pipe 47 and a spiral 48 disposed therein is provided. In addition, the sixth
As is clear from the figure, the right end of the hopper 34 starts rotating with a drive motor (not shown),
A series of gear groups 49 for rotating 8 are provided.

Operation When the lid 11 is attached to the unused toner cartridge 1, the slide guides 12a and 12b of the lid 11 are
The flange 11 is engaged with the flange a, and the lid 11 is slid and pushed until the stoppers 13a and 13b come into contact with the flange 5. At this time, as shown in FIG.
The lid 11 is slid from the opposite side to be mounted. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the second seal member 4 having a particularly large slack from being caught between the lid 11 and the flange portion 5. Therefore, after the toner cartridge 1 is mounted on the hopper body on the copier body side, when the seal members 3 and 4 are peeled off, they can be smoothly peeled off.

When using a new toner cartridge 1,
After sliding and removing 11, the toner cartridge 1 is slid horizontally so that the flange portion 5 is locked by the locking portions 42 and 43 of the toner container 41. As a result, the locking claw 41b (see FIG. 7) on the toner container 41 side is
And the toner cartridge 1 is locked. At this time, since the four corners of the seal members 3 and 4 are adhered to the cartridge body 1a by the sub-adhesion portions 8a and 8b, it is possible to prevent the seal members 3 and 4 from being lifted up. Biting can be prevented.

Next, the take-up roller 2 is rotated clockwise in FIG. 4, and the two-fold seal members 3, 4 are taken up as shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B. At this time, since the lengths of the seal members 3 and 4 from the folded portions 3a and 4a to the other ends fixed to the take-up roller 2 are different, peeling is started first from the seal member 3 having the shorter length. You.

The peeling of the seal member 3 will be described in detail. First, the sub-adhesion portion 8a at the end on the peeling start side is peeled from the bottom surface of the cartridge body 1a. Next, the peeling gradually proceeds from the top 9c of the peeling start side end 9a. Further, in the peeling start side end 9a, since the top 9c is offset to the center side of the cartridge body 1a, the steeply inclined central portion is more easily peeled, and compared with the case where the left and right are uniformly peeled. And easy to peel off. FIG. 9 shows a state in the middle of peeling, in which the sealing member 3 for sealing the opening 7 is gradually peeled off, and the toner in the cartridge main body 1a is gradually spilled down and supplied into the hopper 34.

In the final stage of the stripping operation, the stripping end side end 9b
Is formed in a mountain shape, so that the bonding area is gradually reduced, and the distance in the width direction is reduced. For this reason, the force required for peeling gradually decreases. At this time, since the auxiliary bonding portions 8b are provided on both sides of the bonding portion 9b, the sealing member 3
Is uniformly joined to the bottom surface of the cartridge body 1a to the end, and can be evenly wound by the winding roller 2. The sub-adhesion 8b is located at the top of the end 9b on the peeling end side.
Since it is located further forward in the peeling direction than 9d, it is possible to prevent the force at the time of final peeling from increasing.

The peeling of the seal member 4 is started at a timing delayed with respect to the seal member 3, and thereafter, the peeling is performed by the same operation.

The toner replenished to the hopper by the sealing member winding operation is transported by the transport spiral 45 and falls downward from the toner supply hole 41a. In addition, the toner
It is conveyed by the spiral 48 in the right direction in FIG. Thereafter, the toner is supplied into the supply unit 38 of the developing device 38 through the lower opening 47a of the toner supply pipe 47, and is further conveyed by the spiral 37 in the width direction of the supply unit 38.

When the used toner cartridge 1 is to be removed from the toner container 41 of the copier body 16, the slide guides 12a and 12b of the lid 11 are inserted into the flange 5 from the take-up roller 2 side as shown in FIG. The guides 12a and 12b are pushed in until the tips of the guides 12a and 12b come into contact with the ends 42a and 43a of the locking portions 42 and 43 of the toner container 41. FIG. 11 is a vertical sectional side view in this state. When the tip of the lid 11 is inserted into the flange portion 5, the lid 11 pushes the lock claw 41b (see FIG. 7) on the toner container 41 side downward, so that the toner cartridge 1 can be pulled out in the horizontal direction. . In this state, the toner cartridge 1 is pulled out horizontally along the slide guides 12a and 12b of the lid 11.

[Other embodiments]

(A) In the above embodiment, both the sub-adhesion portions 8a and 8b are circular, but the shape is not particularly limited. For example, it may be a triangle.

(B) In the above embodiment, two seal members are used, but one or three or more seal members may be used.

(C) In the above embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to a toner cartridge of a copying machine has been described. However, the present invention can be applied to other toner cartridges of an image forming apparatus such as a printer or a facsimile machine.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, in the present invention, in the case where the cartridge body is provided with the take-up roller for winding the seal member, the seal member is adhered to the cartridge body by the main adhesive portion and the sub-adhesive portion. As a result, the peeling force of the seal member can be reduced, the floating of the seal member can be prevented by the auxiliary bonding portion, and the seal member can be evenly wound in the final stage of winding.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 is an external perspective view of a toner cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a bottom view thereof, FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the toner cartridge, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV of FIG. FIG. 5 is a schematic sectional view of a copying machine to which the toner cartridge according to one embodiment of the present invention is applied, FIG. 6 is a partially cutaway side view of a developing device of the copying machine, and FIG. Fig. 6 is a partial sectional view taken along the line VII-VII, Figs. 8A and 8B are views corresponding to Fig. 4 for explaining the operation of the winding mechanism, and Fig. 9 is a bottom view showing a state during the winding operation. FIGS. 10 and 10 are perspective views for explaining the operation of removing the toner cartridge, and FIG. 11 is a partial vertical sectional side view thereof. 1 ... toner cartridge, 1a ... cartridge body,
2, winding roller 3, 4, sealing member 6, 7, toner supply opening 8a, 8b sub-adhesion, 9, 10 main adhesion.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued from the front page (56) References JP-A-2-28673 (JP, A) JP-A-59-53868 (JP, A) JP-A-2-62567 (JP, U) JP-A 61-53 117170 (JP, U) Real opening 58-77347 (JP, U) Real opening 64-4450 (JP, U) Real opening 64-13063 (JP, U) Real opening 2-128161 (JP, U) Hikaru 2-128163 (JP, U) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G03G 15/08

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A cartridge main body having an opening and containing toner, and a peeling end portion protruding in a chevron shape forward in a peeling progress direction at one end side, and is adhered to the cartridge body around the opening. A main bonding portion, and a sub-bonding portion bonded to the cartridge body on both sides of the peeling end side portion in front of the peeling end portion in the peeling direction, and the other end is folded back on the peeling start side. A sealing member extending forward in the peeling progression direction beyond the peeling end side portion, and a winding roller for fixing the other end of the sealing member and rotatably supported by the cartridge body to wind up the sealing member And a toner cartridge comprising: