JP3351289B2 - Toner supply cartridge - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a toner supply cartridge for supplying toner to a developing device of an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying machine or a printer. The present invention relates to a toner supply cartridge capable of supplying toner smoothly and having a small amount of toner in a container.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Various methods have been proposed for supplying toner to a developing device of an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying machine or a printer. A hopper that contains toner is installed in the machine.The toner is removed from the toner supply cartridge after the toner is transferred to the hopper. And use it as a toner hopper. In the above method, the toner hopper and the developing device are designed to be separated from each other, and the toner transport system can be installed in each part, so that the flushing phenomenon at the time of toner supply can be prevented, and the toner concentration control in the developing device is also stable. Although it is advantageous in that it can be implemented, it has the disadvantage that the apparatus is large and complicated, and the number of parts increases and the cost increases. The method described below can be simple and low in cost because the toner replenishing cartridge is a part of the apparatus, but the toner must easily form a bridge in the cartridge and the toner used must have excellent fluidity. There is a disadvantage that the toner used is limited.

In addition, the formation of a toner bridge in the cartridge, which is the above-mentioned drawback when a conventional toner replenishing cartridge is used as a part of the apparatus, is prevented, and the toner is smoothly carried out of the cartridge. Spiral stirring to reduce the amount of residual toner,
A device in which a transport device is provided in a cartridge, and a spiral stirring and transport device is driven to rotate by driving means outside the cartridge when toner is supplied (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-139469).
Or, a swingable spiral member having one end fixed in a cartridge is provided, and the spiral member is brought into contact with a toner conveying screw conveyor which is rotationally driven in the developing device, and the screw conveyor is driven. In order to eliminate the toner bridge by vibrating the helical member (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-137870), these conventional devices have a complicated structure or lack reliability. There were drawbacks such as the case.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a simple construction, a small number of parts, a low cost, and the formation of a toner bridge inside a cartridge irrespective of toner flow characteristics can be surely eliminated. Another object of the present invention is to provide a toner replenishing cartridge that can be mounted on a developing device and that can be used by stably supplying toner to the developing device with a small amount of toner remaining in the cartridge.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a toner supply cartridge according to the first aspect of the present invention includes a container body provided with an opening for supplying toner to a developing device; Lid covering the opening and inside the container body
2 to 20 mm in the longitudinal direction of the main body on the shaft fixed to
The vibrating body has a toner supply cartridge attached to the developing device, and the vibrating body has an opening when the opening is opened. The lower part comes into contact with a screw conveyor extending in parallel with the container main body, and is configured to be vibrated by the rotation of the screw conveyor, so that there is no formation of a toner bridge in the cartridge. Even if vibrations are formed,
<br> <br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br> Can be surely reduced.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the lid covering the opening is formed by a film-shaped sealing member, and the sealing member is adhered to the container body of the cartridge with an adhesive. The toner supply cartridge is peeled off when the toner supply cartridge is mounted on the developing device, and the toner supply opening is opened. The toner supply cartridge can be reliably and easily opened with a simple configuration.

[0007]

[0008]

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the vibrating body is formed of a spiral member, so that the toner bridge can be effectively eliminated.

According to the fourth and fifth aspects of the present invention, the vibrating member or the inner wall of the container body is coated with a resin, and the possibility of forming a toner bridge in the container and the resin on the vibrating member or the container body are provided. And the amount of toner remaining in the cartridge can be reduced.

The toner supply cartridge according to the present invention can be used by being mounted on a developing device of an image recording apparatus. The toner supply cartridge according to the present invention will be described in further detail. The container body may be made of any material conventionally used for manufacturing a toner supply cartridge, such as plastic or paper, and its outer shape can be attached to the developing device such as a polygonal column or a cylindrical shape. Any shape may be used. On the other hand, in addition to the above-mentioned peelable film-shaped sealing member, the lid is attached to the container body, for example, so as to be rotatable or slidable. Any of those that can open the toner supply opening by using the above method may be used.

The vibrating body may have both ends fixed directly or indirectly to inner walls (hereinafter, referred to as "side walls") on both sides in the longitudinal direction of the container body, or a shaft extending from the side walls. It may be movably inserted into the shaped member. Also,
Either one of the two ends of the vibrating body may be fixed, and the other may be movably inserted. Further, the mounting position of the vibrating body is not limited to the side wall, and may be an inner wall portion of the container body other than the side wall as long as the object of the present invention can be achieved. On the other hand, the shape of the vibrating body may be such that the vibrating body comes into contact with a screw conveyor for toner conveyance or the like in the developing device and is vibrated by the rotation of the screw conveyor to release the formation of the toner bridge in the toner container. Any shape may be used, and for example, a spring-shaped member having an arbitrary shape such as a spiral shape or a wavy line shape is used. The vibrating body is not limited to a single wire, and may have a compound spiral structure in which the single wire is spirally movable with a thinner metal wire. These vibrators are mounted on the developing device with the toner replenishing cartridge with the toner replenishing opening facing downward, and in a state where the toner replenishing opening is opened, the toner replenishing cartridge is provided below the opening in parallel with the container body. It must be configured to abut an extending screw conveyor. For this purpose, the vibrating body may be attached to the screw conveyor at the beginning when the toner supply opening is opened, use of the vibrating body due to its own weight, ring shape of the vibrating body may be used. An arbitrary method such as a method in which the inner diameter of the ring-shaped member is set to be slightly larger than the outer diameter of the mounting shaft of the vibrating body, and the vertical movement of the ring-shaped member is used can be adopted.

In the present invention, the toner may be either a two-component developer toner or a one-component toner.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in more detail with reference to the drawings. The drawings are provided for describing the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described in the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing the appearance of a toner supply cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a toner supply cartridge, 2 is a toner container main body, 3 is a toner supply opening, and 4 is a film seal member that can be peeled off at the time of toner supply. The toner container main body 2 is formed of plastic, metal, cardboard, a laminate, or a composite of these, and has sufficient strength so as not to be damaged during handling during distribution and use. The shape of the toner container main body 2 may be any shape that matches the shape of the toner container mounting portion of the developing device to be used. In this embodiment, the shape is a pentagonal prism. The shape may be an appropriate shape such as a cylindrical shape, a square shape, or the like.
The film-shaped sealing member 4 is made of a plastic sheet, paper,
It is formed of a metal foil, a laminate sheet, or the like, and is peelably adhered by an adhesive so as to cover the toner supply opening 3 of the container body.

FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view of the toner supply cartridge shown in FIG. In FIG. 2, 1, 2, 3, 4
1, a toner supply cartridge, a toner container main body, a toner supply opening, and a film-like sealing member, 5 is a vibrator, 6 is a mounting shaft of the vibrator, and 8 is a connection between the vibrator and the mounting shaft. 3 shows a ring-shaped member. In the figure, the vibrating member 5 is compared with a helical metal spring member 51 and a spring member further spirally wound around the spring member 51 because the toner bridge can be effectively eliminated in the drawing. It is composed of a thin hard metal wire 52. The vibrating body 5 is movably mounted on a vibrating body mounting shaft 6 provided on a side wall of the container body 2 via ring-shaped members 8 provided on both ends thereof. The ring-shaped member 8 is 2 to 20 mm on the vibrating body mounting shaft 6 in the longitudinal direction of the cartridge.
Preferably, it is mounted so as to be movable to some extent. The ring-shaped member 8 may be formed integrally with the spring member 51, or may be formed separately and attached to the spring member 51 by bonding, welding, or the like. In the present embodiment, the inner diameter of the ring-shaped member 8 is larger than that of the mounting shaft 6. With such a configuration, the vibrating body 5 can be easily moved in the axial direction of the vibrating body mounting shaft 6. Is done. In addition, by making the inner diameter of the ring-shaped member 8 large, it is possible to positively move the vibrating body mounting shaft 6 also in the direction perpendicular to the axial direction. The ring-shaped member 8 has a circular shape in the figure, but the shape is not limited as long as it can move on the axis vertically and horizontally, such as a polygonal shape. In the present invention, the vibrating body mounting shaft 6 is mounted on both side walls of the toner container main body, and the ring-shaped member 8 can freely move in the axial direction of the mounting shaft 6, but the vibration width of the vibrating body is large. This is preferable from a viewpoint.

The vibrating body mounting shaft 6 fixed to the inner side wall of the toner container main body 2 may be formed integrally with the container main body, or may be separately mounted by bonding, screwing, or the like. On the other hand, at the tip of the vibrating body mounting shaft 6, a detachment preventing portion 7 is formed so that the ring-shaped member does not come off when moved in the axial direction. When the detachment preventing portion 7 is formed integrally with the vibrating body mounting shaft 6, it is necessary to insert a ring-shaped member beyond the detachment preventing portion. It is necessary to make the shape slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the member 8 or a shape such as a T-shape or a triangular shape into which a ring-shaped member can be inserted. Further, for example, after inserting the ring-shaped member 8, if the tip of the mounting shaft is melted, or if a detachment preventing portion is formed by bonding or screwing a separately prepared member, the ring-shaped member 8 is removed from the mounting shaft 6 at the time of use. Any size that does not deviate, its size,
No special consideration is required for the shape. Further, if the length of the mounting shaft 6 is sufficiently longer than the moving range of the ring-shaped member 8 during use, and there is no concern that the ring-shaped member 8 will fall off the mounting shaft 6, it is not necessary to provide the slip-off preventing portion 7. in short,
The detachment preventing portion 7 may have any size and shape so that the ring-shaped member does not detach from the mounting shaft while the toner is being supplied.

When the container body is made of paper, it is preferable to coat the inner surface of the container body with a resin, and it is preferable that the surface of the vibrating body is also coated with a resin. Preferred examples of the coating resin include silicone resin, fluororesin, and the like, which have good sliding properties and non-adhesive properties with respect to the toner.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the toner replenishing cartridge in use when it is mounted on the developing device. In the figure, 1
8 are the same as those shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and 9 is a screw conveyor for conveying toner. When the toner replenishing cartridge is mounted on the developing device, the toner supply opening 3 is set to the lower side as shown in the figure. At this time, the vibrating body 5 in the toner replenishing cartridge protrudes from its opening to a position in contact with the screw conveyor 9 by its own weight. When the toner concentration of the developer in the developing device decreases as the development proceeds, the screw conveyor 9 is driven,
The toner is supplied to the developing device. When the screw conveyor 9 is driven to supply toner, the screw blades of the screw conveyor contact the vibrator 5 and the spring member 51
After the pressure is pressed and compressed, the vibrating body vibrates when the vibrating body comes off the screw blade or is lifted off. In particular, by configuring the vibrating body 5 to be movable on the mounting shaft 5 by about 2 to 20 mm in the longitudinal direction of the cartridge, the entire vibrating body 5 moves in the pressing direction by the screw blade, and Body 5
As a result, the toner bridge is also vibrated and moved in the vertical and horizontal directions, so that the formation of the toner bridge can be eliminated satisfactorily, and the amount of toner remaining in the cartridge can be extremely reduced.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged schematic view of the vibrating body and the vibrating body mounting shaft portion. Reference numeral 21 denotes a side wall of the toner container main body. In this example, the ring-shaped member 8 is formed by forming the final end of the spring member 51 into an annular shape. With such a structure, the ring-shaped member 8 can freely move on the mounting shaft 5, and the effect of the present invention can be sufficiently exhibited despite its simple structure.

When the toner replenishing cartridge shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 in which the container body was formed of ABS resin was used and its effect was specifically confirmed, the following results were obtained.

That is, first, 350 g of a two-component toner having a static bulk density of 0.3 was filled without covering the vibrator with resin, and an experiment of replenishing the developing device was carried out. 7 g was good.

A vibrator coated with a silicone resin is used.
An experiment for replenishing the developing device with 50 g of toner was carried out. As a result, the final remaining amount of toner in the cartridge was 5 g, and the adhesion of the toner to the vibrating body was small and good.

Further, the toner supply cartridge was made of paper and the inner wall was covered with a silicone resin. In addition, the resin coating of the vibrating body was not performed. After filling 350 g of a two-component toner having a static bulk density of 0.3 and leaving it to stand at 30 ° C. and 85% RH for one week, a replenishment experiment to the developing device was performed. The remaining amount of toner in the final cartridge was 12 g, which was good.

A two-component toner having a static bulk density of 0.3 is the same as the toner replenishing cartridge described in the above embodiment except that the vibrator is omitted. Was refilled in a similar manner, and the final remaining amount of toner in the cartridge was 79 g, which was an unsatisfactory result.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention, the structure is simple, the number of parts is small, the price is low, the toner bridge does not occur in the cartridge without selecting the toner flow performance, and the developing device is stable. Thus, a toner supply cartridge that can supply toner can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an embodiment of a toner supply cartridge according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the toner supply cartridge of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view when the toner supply cartridge of the present invention is mounted on a developing device.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of one embodiment of a ring-shaped member.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Toner replenishment cartridge 2 Toner container main body 21 Side wall 3 Toner supply opening 4 Film-shaped sealing member 5 Vibrating member 51 Spring member 52 Metal wire 6 Vibrating member mounting shaft 7 Pull-out prevention part 8 Ring-shaped member 9 Toner conveying screw of developing device Conveyor

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Akira Akiyama 2-3-13 Kyobashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo Toyo Ink Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-2-120770 (JP, A) JP-A Heisei 5-181362 (JP, A) JP-A 4-89968 (JP, U) JP-A 64-55953 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G03G 15/08

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. A toner replenishment cartridge used for replenishing toner to a developing device, comprising: a container body having an opening for supplying toner to the developing device; and a lid covering the opening. , Fixed inside the container body
To the installed shaft within the range of 2 to 20 mm in the longitudinal direction of the main body.
A vibrating body having both ends attached so as to be movable, the vibrating body having a container main body below the opening when the toner supply cartridge is attached to the developing device and the opening is opened. A toner replenishing cartridge which comes into contact with a screw conveyor extending in parallel and is vibrated by rotation of the screw conveyor. 2. The toner replenishing cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the lid covering the opening is formed of a film-shaped sealing member and is adhered so as to be peelable when replenishing the toner. 3. The toner replenishing cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the vibrator is formed of a spiral member. 4. The toner replenishing cartridge according to claim 1, wherein said vibrating body is covered with a resin. 5. The toner supply cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the inner wall of the container body is coated with a resin. 6. An end portion of said vibrating body having a ring shape.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein
Refill cartridge.