JP3462860B2 - Stirring member and toner supply container - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a stirring member provided inside a toner supply container or the like in an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying machine or a laser printer, and a toner supply container provided with the stirring member. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying machine or a laser printer has a toner supply container for supplying toner from a toner supply port to a developing section of the image forming apparatus. An agitating member is provided in the container to convey the toner in the container to the toner supply port. This stirring member is a flexible member such as a synthetic resin sheet rotatably provided in the toner storage space, and the stirring member rotates to rub the inner wall of the storage space to rub the toner in the storage space. Are agitated and the toner is conveyed to the toner supply port.
Further, the toner stirring member has a shape in which the claw portions are arranged side by side in the rotation axis direction with a predetermined gap, and further, a portion in contact with the inner wall of the toner storage portion is inclined toward the center side in the rotation axis direction. Accordingly, there is also proposed a method in which the amount of toner remaining in the container is brought closer to the toner supply port side and is effectively used (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-24401).

[0003]

However, according to the conventional stirring member and toner supply container as described above, when the stirring member rotates to convey the toner, the toner pressure applied to the stirring member is large, so that the stirring member is agitated. The parts had to be rotated with high torque. Further, in the toner conveying member having the above-mentioned claw portion, the rotation torque can be reduced by making the claw portion small, but the strength of the toner conveying member may be lost and the toner pressure may be damaged.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and enables rotation with a low torque while maintaining the strength of the stirring member, and effectively retains the toner remaining at the inner end of the container. An object is to provide a stirring member and a toner supply container that can be used.

[0005]

The invention described gun claim 1 in order to achieve, there is provided a solution for the above objects is made of a flexible member provided rotatably inside such as toner supply container, the toner supply container A stirring member for stirring the toner and the like stored in the flexible member, wherein the flexible member is arranged in a direction orthogonal to its rotation axis.
The edge of the
Multiple slits are formed from the edge of the
The interior of at least one of these areas bounded by slits
By providing a hole in the
Both ends of the toner transporting leading end in the
Supported by a flexible member base edge attached to the rotating shaft
There is something. For example, among the areas divided by the slit, holes are formed at least in the areas at both ends in the rotation axis direction.

[0006] The invention described gun claim 6, a toner accommodating portion for accommodating the toner, and the toner supply port formed in the toner accommodating portion, provided rotatably or rotate the toner storage unit was made flexible member to stir the toner in the toner accommodating portion in the toner supply container and a stirring member for conveying the toner supply opening, wherein the agitating member, that time
The edge in the direction orthogonal to the rolling axis is the tip for toner transport
And the slit from this edge toward the rotary shaft.
Of the area separated by these slits
By having at least one internal hole,
For toner transport in the area partitioned by the slit
Both ends of the tip end are flexible parts attached to the rotary shaft.
It is supported by the base edge of the material.

In these configurations, when the toner or the like is stirred, the slit formed in the flexible member causes the stirring member to flex flexibly according to the toner pressure, and the slit finishes.
Since <br/> Ru toner amount mounting the agitating member by formed inside the hole of cut region is reduced, the torque required for rotation of the stirring member can be reduced.

Further, holes may be formed in each region of the flexible member divided by slits (contract).
Requirement 3) .

With the above arrangement, the amount of toner that mounting the stirring member during agitation, such as toner, to reduce the holes formed in the respective regions, the torque required for rotation of the stirring member is further reduced. Also, by changing the shape of the hole,
The amount of toner conveyed can be controlled to a desired amount.

Further, the shape of the hole formed in the flexible member may be formed so as to increase the rigidity on the end side in the rotation axis direction (claim 4) . For example, it may be orthogonal to the rotation axis. The shape may be widened toward the front end side in the direction of movement (claim
5) .

According to the above construction, when the stirring member receives the toner pressure when stirring the toner or the like, the bending amount on both ends of the rotating shaft is reduced and the rotating member rotates first, and the portion near the central portion has a large bending amount. After that, since the toner is rotated later, the toner at the end portion of the toner storage portion can be moved to the center side.

The invention according to claim 7 of the present application
-Flexible member rotatably installed inside the supply container
It stirs the toner etc. stored in the toner supply container.
A stirring member for rotating the rotating shaft of the flexible member.
A plurality of slits extending in a direction orthogonal to the
At least one of the areas separated by lit
Has a hole formed in the slit and is perpendicular to the rotation axis of the slit.
The tip in the direction of
It is what

The invention according to claim 8 of the present application
-Toner storage section for storing the toner, and formed in this toner storage section
Rotatably installed in the toner supply port and the toner storage part
The toner contained in the toner storage unit
Toner equipped with a stirring member that stirs and conveys the toner to the toner supply port
-In the supply container, the stirring member should be
A plurality of slits extending in the intersecting direction are formed.
At least one of the areas separated by
One in which a hole is formed and is orthogonal to the rotation axis of the slit
The front end in the direction of the
It is something.

In these structures, when the stirring member receives the toner pressure during stirring of the toner or the like, each region divided by the slit bends while being inclined toward the center side in the rotation axis direction.
The toner at the end of the toner storage portion can be more surely moved toward the center.

[0015]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An agitating member and a toner supply container according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a schematic configuration of a copying machine provided with a stirring member and a toner supply container according to the present invention. Figure 1
As shown in FIG. 1, in this copying machine (an example of an image forming apparatus) 1, the photoconductor drum 103 rotating in the direction A in the figure is uniformly charged by the charging unit 102 in the copying machine main body 101, and the original reading is performed. An electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive drum 103 by a laser beam from a laser scanning unit (LSU) 105 based on the original image read by the unit 104, and toner is attached to the electrostatic latent image by the developing unit 106. A toner image is formed. The toner is supplied to the developing unit 106 from a toner container (toner supply container) 150. Details of the configuration of the toner container 150 will be described later.

A sheet is conveyed from the sheet feeding mechanism 200 through the sheet conveying path 204 toward the photosensitive drum 103 on which the toner image is formed as described above, and the toner on the surface of the photosensitive drum 103 is transferred by the transfer roller 108. The image is transferred to the paper. Then, the sheet on which the toner image is transferred is separated from the photosensitive drum 103 and conveyed to the fixing roller pair 109, and the sheet on which the toner image has been fixed remains as it is (or is inverted by a switchback unit (not shown) to perform double-sided copying). After being discharged), the sheet is discharged to the discharging section 111 by the discharging roller pair 110.

A cleaning unit 112 removes residual toner on the photosensitive drum 103. Further, the paper feeding mechanism 200 is detachably attached to the copying machine main body 101 and holds a paper feeding cassette 20.
1, 202 and a stack bypass (bypass tray) 203 provided thereabove, and these are connected to an image forming section by a paper transport path 204.

Next, the toner container 150 is shown in FIG.
And FIG. 3 will be described. 2 is a perspective view showing the toner container, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing the outline of the inside of the toner container.

The toner container 150 includes a toner supply unit 1.
51, and a plurality of toner storage portions 152, 153, 154 provided to store a large amount of toner. The toner supply unit 151 is provided with a toner supply port 150a for discharging the toner to the developing unit 106 in the vicinity of the central portion, and in order to convey the toner in the toner supply unit 151 to the toner supply port 150a, A central shaft 31 having spiral blades toward the toner supply port 150a is rotatably provided.

The toner storage units 152, 153, and 154 include a toner supply unit 151 or a toner transfer unit 3 that transfers toner to a toner storage unit adjacent to the toner supply unit 151 side.
5 are provided. The toner transport unit 35 has a rotating shaft 36.
And a stirring member 37 fixed to the rotating shaft 36. Gears 38 that transmit a driving force from a drive source (not shown) are provided on the side portions of the toner storage portions. The gears 38 mesh with each other via gears (not shown) so that the gears 38 rotate in the same direction. Has become. As a result, the stirring member 37 is rotatable in each toner storage portion. The gear 33 provided on the side of the toner supply unit 151 meshes with the adjacent gear 38.

The toner conveyance in the toner container 150 will be described. The toner is the toner supply unit 15 described above.
1, toner storage units 152, 153, 154. At the start of printing, the rotary shaft 36 of the toner transport unit 35
The stirring member 37 rotates in the clockwise direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. Along with this, the central shaft 31 of the toner supply unit 151 also rotates in the counterclockwise direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. By these rotations, the toner storage portions 152, 15
The toner in 3, 154 is agitated, and in particular, the toner accumulated at the bottom of the accommodating portion is scraped out by the friction of the inner wall of the agitating member 37, and the toner is conveyed to the toner accommodating portion on the adjacent toner supply portion 151 side. Will be done. In the toner supply unit 151, the toner is conveyed to the toner supply port 150a by the rotation of the central shaft 31. Then, toner is supplied to the developing unit 106 from the toner supply port 150a.

The stirring member 37 will be described. Figure 4
FIG. 4 is a front view showing a stirring member. The stirring member 37 is configured by a flexible member, for example, a synthetic resin sheet or film such as polyethylene terephthalate. A base edge portion 37a of the stirring member 37 is attached to the rotary shaft 36, and a tip portion 37b is rubbed against the inner wall of the toner storage portion to scrape out the toner. A plurality of slits 45 extending in the direction orthogonal to the rotation axis are formed at the tip portion 37b of the stirring member 37, and holes 46a to 46g are formed in each of the regions divided by the slits 45. By providing the slits 45, when the agitating member 37 rotates, the tip portion 3 is separated for each region divided by the slits 45.
Bending can be performed flexibly with a bending amount according to the toner pressure applied to 7b.

The slit 45 has a shape in which the tip portion 37b side is inclined toward the central portion in the rotational axis direction of the stirring member 37, and the amount of bending on the central portion side in each region partitioned by the slit 45 becomes large. Has been As a result, the end side of each area rotates first, and the central side rotates later after this, so that the toner gradually agitates according to the rotation of the agitating member 37 (toner accommodating section or toner supplying section). ) Move to near the center.

Further, holes 46a to 46g are formed in the stirring member 37.
By forming the agitating member 37, the amount of toner contacting the agitating member 37 when the agitating member 37 rotates is reduced, and the tip portion 37b
Only toner Tsu placing in it is conveyed to the next toner accommodating portion or the toner supply unit 151. Therefore, the toner pressure applied to the stirring member 37 is reduced while surely conveying a certain amount of toner.

As shown in FIG. 4, the holes 46a and 46g formed at both ends of the stirring member 37 are in the shape of an inverted triangle which is biased toward the central portion in the rotation axis direction, and the end portions in the rotation axis direction are formed. Is designed to have high rigidity. As a result, when the stirring member 37 rotates, the tip portion 37b on the end portion side with a small proportion of holes and a small amount of bending rotates first,
Since the central portion side having a large proportion of holes and a large amount of flexure is rotated after being delayed, the toner remaining at both end portions of the toner storage portion is gathered to the central portion side. The hole 4 of the stirring member 37
The holes 46b to 46f other than 6a and 46g are configured to be as large as possible in order to reduce the toner pressure applied to the stirring member 37.

A second embodiment of the stirring member will be described. FIG. 5 is a front view showing the stirring member according to the second embodiment. In the first embodiment, the shape of the slit 45 is such that the tip portion 37b side is inclined toward the central portion in the rotation axis direction of the stirring member 37, but the present invention is not limited thereto. Instead, as shown in FIG. 5, the slit 45 may have a shape extending in a direction orthogonal to the rotation axis of the stirring member 37. The shape of the hole 46 formed in each region partitioned by the slit 45 is an inverted triangular shape that is biased toward the central portion side in the rotation axis direction, and the rigidity is high at the end portion side in the rotation axis direction. Even with such a configuration, when the stirring member 37 rotates, the tip end portion 37b on the end portion side rotates first in each region divided by the slit 45, and the central portion side rotates later,
The toner remaining on both ends of the toner storage portion is moved toward the central portion.

A third embodiment of the stirring member will be described. FIG. 6 is a front view showing the stirring member according to the third embodiment. In each of the above embodiments, the slit 45
Holes were formed in all of the areas separated by, but in the present embodiment, only the areas of both ends of the stirring member 37 in the rotation axis direction are inverted triangular holes that are biased toward the center part in the rotation axis direction. 46 is formed. In this configuration, the reduction of the toner pressure in the central region during rotation of the stirring member 37 is limited to that due to the presence of the slit 45, and is not reduced as much as in the above-described embodiments, but the regions at both ends of the stirring member 37 are reduced. By the hole 46 formed in the above, the toner remaining at both ends of the toner storage portion can be moved to the center side to some extent.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7A, the shapes of the holes 46 formed at both ends of the stirring member 37 in the rotation axis direction are biased toward the central portion side in the rotation axis direction. Although it has an inverted triangular shape, it may have a shape that spreads toward the tip portion 37b side so that the rigidity of the end portion side in the rotation axis direction becomes high, and further, the stirring member 37 rotates to cause the tip portion 37b to rotate.
When the roller rubs against the inner wall of the toner storage portion, the end portion side in the rotation axis direction may rotate first, and the central portion side may delay and rotate later. For example, as shown in FIG. 7B, a plurality of inclined holes are formed, and when the stirring member 37 receives the toner pressure, the stirring member 37 is bent along the holes so that the end portion in the rotation axis direction is bent. The side portion may be rotated first.

Further, as shown in FIG. 7 (c), holes at both ends of the stirring member 37 in the rotation axis direction are formed in a circular shape toward the center side, or as shown in FIG. 7 (d), toward the center side. By forming a hole in the base edge portion 37a of the disk, or by forming a trapezoidal or parallelogram-shaped hole as shown in FIGS. 7E and 7F, the end portion side in the rotation axis direction rotates first. You may do it. Further, as shown in FIG. 7 (g), when the slit 45 is inclined, the end portion side in the rotation axis direction rotates first due to the influence of the shape of the slit 45, and therefore the shape along the outer shape of the region is formed. The hole 46 may be formed in the hole.

The present invention is not limited to the configuration of the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the stirring member 37 has a hole formed at both ends in the rotation axis direction of the region partitioned by the slit 45, but the present invention is not limited to this. The holes may not be formed in the regions at both ends in the rotation axis direction, and the holes may be formed in regions other than the both ends. Further, in the above embodiment, the stirring member 37 is attached to the toner supply container 150.
However, it is also possible to use it for the developing unit 106, the cleaning unit 112 and the like.

[0031]

As described above, according to the present invention, the agitating member flexibly flexes according to the pressure of toner or the like under the influence of the slit without losing the strength, and the holes formed at both ends in the rotation axis direction. since the amount of toner that mounting the agitating member is reduced for, it is possible to rotate the stirring member in low torque.

Further, if such holes in each region partitioned by the slit in the flexible member is formed, at the time of toner agitation, toner amount that mounting the agitating member by the formed in each region holes Since it is further reduced, the torque required to rotate the stirring member can be further reduced.

Further, the shape of the hole formed in the flexible member is such that the rigidity on the end side in the rotation axis direction is high,
For example, in the case of a shape that spreads toward the tip side in the direction orthogonal to the rotation axis, when the stirring member receives toner pressure during toner conveyance, the amount of flexure on both ends in the rotation axis decreases and it rotates first. Since the portion on the side of the central portion has a large amount of deflection and rotates with a delay, the toner remaining at the end portion of the toner storage portion can be centered.

When the tip end side of the slit of the flexible member in the direction orthogonal to the rotation axis is inclined toward the center side in the rotation axis direction, the stirring member receives the pressure of the toner or the like when the toner is stirred. At this time, since the respective areas divided by the slits are inclined and bent toward the center side in the rotation axis direction, the toner at the end portion of the toner storage section can be more surely centered.
Further, the amount of toner conveyed by the agitating member can be made larger than that in the case where the slit without the inclination is provided.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a schematic configuration of a copying machine including a stirring member and a toner supply container according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a toner supply container according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing the inside of the toner supply container according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing a stirring member according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing a stirring member according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a front view showing a stirring member according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a view showing another form of holes formed in the regions at both ends of the stirring member in the rotation axis direction.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Image forming device 35 Toner Transport Unit 37 Stirring member 45 slits 46 holes 150 toner container 150a toner supply port 151 Toner Supply Unit 152, 153, 154 Toner storage section

Claims (8)

(57) [Claims] 1. A stirring member, which comprises a flexible member rotatably provided inside a toner supply container or the like, and stirs the toner or the like housed in the toner supply container, wherein the flexible member comprises: In the direction orthogonal to its axis of rotation
The edge is used as the leading edge for toner transport, and
Slits are formed from the
There is a hole in at least one of the lit compartments
By being provided, the area separated by the slit
Both ends of the toner transport tip in the area are
An agitating member, characterized in that the agitating member is supported by a flexible member base edge portion attached to the . 2. Among the areas divided by the slit,
The stirring member according to claim 1, wherein holes are formed in at least regions of both ends in the rotation axis direction. 3. The stirring member according to claim 1, wherein a hole is formed in each region of the flexible member which is divided by a slit. 4. The shape of the hole formed in the flexible member is formed so as to have high rigidity on the end side in the rotation axis direction. The stirring member according to any one of claims. 5. The stirring according to claim 4, wherein the shape of the hole formed in the flexible member is a shape that widens toward the tip side in the direction orthogonal to the rotation axis. Element. 6. A toner storage unit comprising a toner storage unit for storing toner, a toner supply port formed in the toner storage unit, and a flexible member rotatably or rotatably provided in the toner storage unit. In a toner supply container provided with a stirring member that stirs toner and conveys the toner to a toner supply port, the stirring member has an edge in a direction orthogonal to a rotation axis thereof.
Part is used as the leading edge for toner transfer, and
Multiple slits are formed from the
There is a hole in at least one of the
Therefore the vignetting is, it was partitioned by the slit region
Both ends of the tip for toner transfer in
A toner supply container, which is supported by a base edge portion of an attached flexible member . 7. A stirring member , which is a flexible member rotatably provided inside a toner supply container or the like, and which stirs the toner or the like stored in the toner supply container, wherein the flexible member comprises : the slit extending in a direction perpendicular to the rotation shaft is formed with a plurality, in the region delimited by the slit, a hole is formed at least one region, the
Tip of the slit in the direction orthogonal to the rotation axis
Is inclined toward the center side in the direction of the rotation axis.
A stirring member. 8. A toner storage unit for storing toner, and
Toner supply port formed in the toner storage section and toner storage
It consists of a flexible member rotatably mounted on the
Agitating the toner in the storage unit and transporting it to the toner supply port
In a toner supply container including a member, The agitating member has a screw extending in a direction orthogonal to its rotation axis.
A plurality of lits are formed, and in the area separated by the slit
A hole is formed in at least one of the
The tip in the direction orthogonal to the rotation axis of the rit,
It is characterized by being inclined toward the center side in the direction of the rotation axis.
Ner supply container.