JP3388064B2 - 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 replenishing cartridge for replenishing a developing unit of an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a laser printer with a toner or a developer (hereinafter collectively referred to as "toner").

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIG. 1, for example, a known developing unit 80 includes a developing roller 82 which is close to a photosensitive drum 81 and faces a photosensitive drum 81, and which has a built-in magnet, and a stirring member 83 which stirs stored toner. And the replenishment cartridge 1 is attached via a toner replenishing portion 84 that is opened in a casing that accommodates these.

It is preferable that such a replenishing cartridge is as large as possible in terms of the replenishing function, but if it is too large, the size of the entire apparatus is increased and space is easily restricted. There is a practical upper limit to this.

Therefore, if the filling rate of the toner accommodated in the cartridge is increased, a larger amount of toner can be accommodated even in the cartridge having the same capacity. However, since the toner is a powder material,
If the toner is forcibly filled, the filled toner hardens into a block shape, which makes it difficult to smoothly supply the toner to the developing unit.

[0005]

Therefore, some techniques for loosening the filled toner have been conventionally proposed.
For example, a method is known in which a scraping plate 5 is attached to the rotary shaft 4 of the cartridge 1 in FIG. 1 to prevent blocking of the stored toner. The toner cartridge provided with such a scraping plate 5 has, for example, the structure shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. That is,
A raking plate 5 extending in a radial direction is formed in a central region of a shaft 4 rotatably arranged inside the cartridge 1, and a raking plate 6 extending spirally is integrally formed in the vicinity of both ends. And the scraping plate 6 transfers the toner to the central region of the cartridge as the shaft 4 rotates, and the scraping plate 5
However, the toner is sent out to the developing unit from the toner discharge port 2 provided in the longitudinal direction of the peripheral surface of the cartridge 1.

When the scraping plate and the scraping plate are rotated, the toner is not pressed against the inner wall of the cartridge container so that the blocking phenomenon does not occur near the inner wall.
Generally, as shown in FIG. 4, a flexible member 8 such as Mylar (trade name, DuPont) is bonded to the free ends of the scraping plate 5 and the scraping plate 6 which rotate around the rotary shaft 4. The inner wall of the container is rubbed to scrape off the toner. In FIG. 3, the flexible member 8 is indicated by a dotted line. A cartridge having such a structure is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-39.
It is also disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 55.

However, when the flexible member is attached to the tip of the scraping member or the like as described above, a troublesome sticking operation is required, which causes a cost increase. In addition, when the scraping plate extends only in one direction from the rotation axis and is asymmetric with respect to the axis, the force is applied only from one direction from the inner surface of the cartridge from the scraping plate to the rotation axis. The contact pressure on the inner surface of the flexible member is likely to vary.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a loosening member for preventing blocking of toner from a simple structure, but to provide sufficient smoothness and to integrally mold the toner. An object of the present invention is to provide a cartridge that can be easily manufactured and can be manufactured at low cost.

[0009]

In order to solve this problem, according to the present invention, a plate-like ladder-shaped central piece, a scraping thin piece located on a longitudinal side edge of the central piece, and a central piece A flat flexible loosening member consisting of a plurality of scraping flakes located on either side edge in the vicinity of both ends is internally provided in the cartridge, and the side of the scraping flakes close to the scraping flakes is higher than the distant side. The leading edge of the scraping flakes is inclined with respect to the axis of the loosening member, and the base of the leg portion on the high side of the scraping flakes is finely formed.

[0010]

[0011]

The flexible loosening member is 18
It is suitable if it has a 0 ° symmetrical shape. It is further preferable that the length in the longitudinal direction of the scraping thin piece that rubs the inner surface of the cartridge is shorter than the width of the supply opening formed in the cartridge housing.

[0013]

The details of the present invention will be described based on the embodiments shown in the drawings. FIG. 5 shows a developing unit in which the cartridge according to the present invention is mounted and a unit related to image formation such as a photoconductor. However, the transfer unit and the fixing unit are omitted. As shown in the drawing, a cleaning unit is arranged above the photoconductor 10, and the charging roller 11 is arranged in contact with the photoconductor 10 so as to be covered by the unit. The cleaning unit is provided with a cleaning blade 12 for scraping off the residual toner on the surface of the photoconductor 10 and a collecting roller 13 for collecting the scraped residual toner. The developing unit is provided with an agitator 14 for stirring the stored toner, a developing roller 15 for frictionally charging the toner and sending the toner to the photoconductor 10, and an intermediate roller 16 for reducing the amount of the stored toner. The shutter 17 serving as a replenishing port is opened, and toner is replenished from the toner cartridge 1 via the replenishing roller 18. Inside the cartridge 1, a loosening member 20 which is formed symmetrically with respect to the axis of rotation by 180 ° and whose tip contacts the inner wall of the cartridge is supported by the cartridge body bearing 22 at its both end bearing portions.

FIG. 6 shows a schematic and perspective view of the entire cartridge. Support pins 2 are provided on both ends of the cartridge 1 for accurate and stable mounting on the developing unit.
8 is projected. Loosening member 20 in the cartridge
The replenishing roller 18 extending in parallel therewith is rotationally driven by gears 32 and 33 engaging with each other.

Next, the loosening member 20 will be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 7 (a), the flat loosening member 20 is attached to a plate-like ladder-shaped central piece 35, a reinforcing shaft 36 attached so as to penetrate the center thereof, and a side edge of the central piece. Scraping flakes 37 and multiple scraping flakes 3
It consists of 8. Both ends in the longitudinal direction of the reinforcing shaft 36 have slightly larger diameters to form bearing portions 39. In the scraping thin piece 38, the lengths of the legs are different so that the side closer to the scraping thin piece 37 is higher, so that the toner is attracted to the scraping thin piece 37 side when loosening and rotating. Become. The inclination is, for example, 15 with respect to the rotation axis.
The angle is about 35 °. Further, the number of scraping thin pieces 38 differs on both sides of the loosening member (in the example of the figure, the right side 3,
The left side 1) exists, but this is premised on that the bearing 39 on the left side of the drawing is rotationally driven, and in such a case, a large number of scraping flakes should be present on the side far from the driving side bearing. Thus, the frictional resistance between the scraping thin piece and the inner wall of the cartridge is made larger than that on the side closer to the rotational drive, and as a result, the twisting action is surely caused. The number of the scraping thin pieces 38 on each side of the disentangling member may be any number on the side farther from the driving side bearing portion so that a twisting action may occur, and the specific number is arbitrary. Also, as shown in the figure, if it is provided on both sides of the one side edge of the ladder-shaped center, the deviation of the reaction force from the toner at the time of loosening is eliminated, and axial deformation is avoided, but in some cases it is only provided on one side. However, it may be (Fig. 8).

The loosening member 20, which can be integrally formed by injection molding a flexible material such as polypropylene, has a bending elastic modulus of about 42 to 457 kg / mm ² as a whole, and the material also has a rotary motion. 7B, the thin piece 38 (38) is formed to be much thinner than the central piece 35 and is more easily bent, as will be understood from FIG. 7B. With such ease of bending and the entire loosening member having a skeleton shape and a porosity of, for example, 85% or more, a sufficient loosening action is given to the toner.

As shown in FIG. 9A, the reinforcing shaft is omitted except the bearing portions 39 at both ends so that the bearing portion 39 is supported by the main body bearing 22 and is rotated more easily. May be Its side shape is shown in FIG.
It is the same as the one having a reinforcing shaft as shown in (b), but the degree of twist during rotation is considerably large (the same applies to FIG. 10).

The cross-sectional shapes of the scraping thin piece 38 and the scraping thin piece 37 at each position of the leg portions having different lengths are shown in FIG.
It is shown in (a), (b) and (c) of 1, respectively. The thickness t ₁ of the thinnest tip of each thin piece is, for example, 0.2 to 0.3 mm.
Therefore, it is extremely thin and easily deformed, and the thickness t ₂ of the relay portion 40 connecting the distal end portion and the central piece is thicker than that, but as compared with the thickness of the central piece, as shown in FIG. As can be easily recognized from FIG. 9B, it is quite thin. The heights a and e of the ultrathin tip of each thin piece and the heights b and (c + f + d) of the relay portion are determined in relation to the inner diameter of the cartridge and the size of the central piece. Scraping flakes 38
In the relay part on the side of the longer leg of the
_When the loosening member is rotated in the cartridge due to the constriction formed by ₁ , the scraping thin piece 38 is largely bent on the longer leg side as shown in FIG. 12, and is delayed with respect to the rotation direction. As a result, the leg portion side is closer to the scraping thin piece 37, so that the toner can be transported to the scraping thin piece side. Further, since the central piece 35 also has considerable flexibility, it is in a twisted state. Such a twisting phenomenon serves to loosen the bulk density of the toner and prevent damage to members inside the toner cartridge 1.

FIG. 13 shows the state along the axis of rotation. When a driving force is applied to the bearing portion 39 on the left side of the drawing, and the tip portions of the thin pieces 37 and 38 rub against the inner wall of the cartridge 1, the loosening member 20 is twisted as a whole and the tip portions of the scraping thin piece 38 on the long leg side. Is further delayed, and a force for scraping up the toner to the side of the thin piece 37 is generated. The replenishment toner loosened by the loosening member is supplied to the developing unit from the discharge port formed in the central region of the side surface of the cartridge as recognized in FIG. 2, for example.

Further, as shown in FIG. 14A, the loosening member 2
When 0 rotates in the cartridge 1, the scraped thin piece 37
Is rubbed against the inner surface of the cartridge and greatly curved.
As shown in FIG. 4B, each time the thin piece 37 reaches the supply opening 42 of the cartridge 1, the scraping-up thin piece 37 is formed to be shorter than the longitudinal opening width of the supply opening 42. A restoring operation of the thin piece occurs, and the operation causes vibration. Due to the vibration, the toner attached to the flexible loosening member is shaken off, and the vibration is also transmitted to the toner in the cartridge to loosen the toner. Even if the scraping thin pieces 37 are provided on both sides of the central piece 35 as shown in the figure, a sufficient action occurs in terms of vibration even if they are provided on only one side.

[0021]

According to the cartridge of the first aspect, the flat plate-like central piece, the scraping thin piece located at the longitudinal side edge of the central piece, and either side near both ends of the central piece. A flat flexible loosening member composed of a plurality of scraping flakes located on the edge is provided inside the cartridge, and the side of the scraping flakes close to the scraping flakes is higher than the far side, and the scraping flakes tip edge Is slanted with respect to the axis of the loosening member, the root of the high-side leg of the scraping thin piece is formed finely, and when the thin piece comes into contact with the inner wall of the cartridge body, the scraping thin piece Since it takes a large angle, while it has a simple structure, it elastically twists and gradually loosens the toner,
The toner loosened by the scraping flakes is surely scraped up and transferred to the flakes side. Moreover, since the toner replenishing member is integrally molded, it is not necessary to attach the Mylar as in the past, and the manufacturing is simple and the cost can be reduced.

[0022]

[0023]

[0024]

According to the cartridge of the second aspect,
Since the flexible loosening member has a shape that is 180 ° symmetric with respect to the rotation axis, a symmetrical force is applied to the rotation axis and deformation of the axis is prevented.

According to the cartridge of claim 3,
Since the longitudinal length of the scraping thin piece that rubs against the inner surface of the cartridge is formed to be shorter than the width of the supply opening formed in the cartridge housing, the scraping thin piece is restored each time the scraping thin piece passes through the opening. Vibration is generated by the operation,
Due to the vibration, the toner adhering to the flexible loosening member such as a thin piece can be shaken off, and the vibration can be transmitted to the toner in the cartridge to loosen the toner.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view illustrating a known developing unit.

FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway perspective view of a known cartridge used in a developing unit.

FIG. 3 is a schematic vertical sectional view of the cartridge of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing toner scraping by the scraping plate shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a schematic sectional view of a developing unit in which a replenishment cartridge according to the present invention is mounted.

FIG. 6 is a partially cutaway schematic perspective view of a supply cartridge according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an example of a loosening member, (a) shows a schematic overall view, and (b) shows an end view.

FIG. 8 is an example of a loosening member in which a scraping thin piece is provided on one side of a central one side edge, and (a) is a schematic overall view,
(B) shows an end view.

9A and 9B are another example of a loosening member in which a scraping thin piece is provided on both sides of a central side edge, FIG. 9A is a schematic overall view, and FIG. 9B is an end view.

FIG. 10 is another example of the loosening member in which the scraping thin piece is provided on one side of the central one side edge, (a) shows a schematic overall view, and (b) shows an end view.

FIG. 11 is a schematic sectional view of a thin piece portion of a loosening member.

FIG. 12 is an end view illustrating a deformed state of the loosening member when the loosening member is rotationally driven in the cartridge.

13 is a schematic diagram illustrating a deformed state of the loosening member corresponding to FIG.

14A and 14B are views showing a state where the scraped flakes are restored at the position of the supply opening formed in the cartridge housing, where FIG. 14A shows before restoration and FIG. 14B shows after restoration.

[Explanation of symbols]

20 loosening member 35 Ladder center piece 36 Reinforcement shaft 37 Raised flakes 38 scraped flakes 39 Bearing

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ───Continued from the front page (56) References JP-A-4-191768 (JP, A) Actually opened 61-190554 (JP, U) Actually opened 5-47956 (JP, U) (58) Field (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G03G 15/08 110 G03G 15/08 112 G03G 15/08 507

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A plate-like ladder-shaped central piece, a scraping thin piece located on a longitudinal side edge of the central piece, and a plurality of scraping thin pieces located on either side edge near both ends of the central piece. In a replenishing cartridge having a flat flexible loosening member provided therein, the side of the scraping flakes closer to the scraping flakes is higher than the far side, and the leading edge of the scraping flakes is relative to the axis of the loosening member. A replenishing cartridge, which is inclined and in which the base of the leg portion on the high side of the scraping thin piece is finely formed. 2. The replenishing cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the flexible loosening member has a shape symmetrical by 180 ° with respect to the rotation axis. 3. The cartridge according to claim 1, wherein a length of the scraping-up thin piece that slides on the inner surface of the cartridge is shorter than a replenishing opening width formed in the cartridge housing. Supply cartridge as described.