JP3468514B2 - Developer supply device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a developer replenishing device for replenishing developer to a developing device of an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a facsimile, a printer and the like, and a developer accommodating container used in the apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An electrophotographic method in which an electrostatic latent image is formed on a photoconductive photoreceptor, the latent image is developed by charged colored particles, and the resulting image of the developer is transferred onto a transfer paper. Copiers, facsimiles, printers, etc. that utilize the are widely used. In the image forming apparatus utilizing the electrophotographic method, when the developer is consumed from the developer tank, the developer is replenished and continuously used. Conventionally, as a mechanism for replenishing a developer, Ikematsu et al.
In JP-A-188678 and JP-A-60-146265, a cylindrical container that stores a developer powder and opens the front surface at one end side to serve as a discharge port is rotated, and the developer powder is discharged from the discharge port with rotation. A device for supplying the body to the developer tank of the image forming apparatus has been proposed. In the developer replenishing device of Ikesue et al., The mechanism for installing the cylindrical container in the image forming apparatus main body is as follows. That is, at the time of the developer replenishing operation, the container mounting holder horizontally provided on the image forming apparatus main body is swung downward with one end as an axis so as to be in a vertical state. Remove the empty container after using it at that position, replace it with a new container filled with the developer, and then swing the container mounting holder to the horizontal position, which is the operating position. Complete. The operation of attaching this new container to the container mounting holder in the vertical state will be described. First, with the opening of the new container facing upward, remove the cap provided at the opening and develop the contents. In order to prevent the agent powder from spilling, it is attached to the placement holder with the opening facing upward.

[0003]

However, in the system in which the mounting holder is oscillated between the horizontal position and the vertical position about one of the axes as described above, the length of the mounting holder is shorter than the height of the image forming apparatus. There is a need to. A general image forming apparatus has a low height, and therefore the length of the cylindrical container for replenishing the developer is short and the filling amount is small, so that the container needs to be replaced frequently. Also,
In the Ikematsu replenishment mechanism, the internal structure of the image forming apparatus has a design restriction, and it is difficult to downsize the apparatus.

In order to solve such a problem, the present inventors have examined a mechanism for exchanging the cylindrical developer container while keeping the container mounting holder horizontal. However, as used in the device of Ikesue et al., A container whose entire one bottom surface is opened cannot be used because the developer powder, which is the content, spills from the opening when it is set on the mounting holder. For this purpose, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-2881 proposes a method in which both bottom surfaces are sealed, an outlet is provided on the side wall at one end, and the outlet is placed on the mounting holder with the outlet facing upward. Has been done. However, since the image forming apparatus is used by a general office worker, there is a possibility that the opening provided on the side wall of the container may be erroneously faced down when the developer supply container is replaced. In that case, the developer powder is spilled from the mouth portion and stains the floor. In addition, there is a problem that a dead space is created between an end provided on a side wall near one end of the container and the end thereof, and the length of the container must be increased by that amount.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a new developer replenishing device.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, an opening for discharging the stored developer which is attachable to and detachable from the apparatus main body is sealed by a stopper removable from the container. A developer storage container to be stopped, and container holding means for communicating with the developer introduction part to the developing part and for holding the storage container with its opening facing the developer introduction part. In the developer replenishing device of the image forming apparatus, the stopper of the container held by the container holding means in a state where the opening is sealed to the outside of the container by the removable container is used as the container. the plug removal means removing moved from opening away from provided, the plug
Hold the protrusion formed on the plug with the removing means.
Collet chuck for holding the stopper, and the collet
Move the chuck and / or the container above
A moving means for moving back and forth, the collet chuck and the above
When the distance between the chambers is a predetermined distance, the collet chuck
When the holding part is kept open so that the protrusion can enter
In both cases, the distance is increased by the moving means.
Along with this, the holding part of the collet chuck is narrowed and the stopper is closed.
The holding control means for holding the protruding part of the
It is a feature . According to the invention of claim 2 ,
Development that can be attached to and removed from the storage and stored
A stopper whose opening for discharging the agent is removable from the container
And a developer container that is sealed by the
The storage container communicates with the agent introduction part, and the storage container is opened through the opening part.
A container holding means for holding toward the image agent introducing section is provided.
In the developer replenishing device of the image forming apparatus,
Sealing the mouth portion by taking out and can plug out of the container
Of the container held by the container holding means in a stopped state.
Move the stopper away from the storage container to open the opening.
To remove the plug from the container and the container holding means
The opening of the held container is sealed to the opening.
And a plug mounting means for mounting a plug for
Holding the projection formed on the stopper,
A collet chuck for holding the stopper and the collet chuck
Back and forth between the backpack and at least one of the above containers
And a collet for moving back and forth by the moving means.
The distance between the chuck and the container is reduced to reduce the collet ch
Sealing of the opening with the plug held by the jack is complete
At the same time as or before and after
A gripping release hand that opens the gripping part and releases the gripping of the protrusion.
It is characterized in that it is composed of steps .

[0007]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an electrophotographic copying machine (hereinafter referred to as a copying machine) which is an image forming apparatus will be described below. FIG. 1A is a front view showing a schematic configuration of a copying machine according to this embodiment. A contact glass 1 for placing an original is provided on the upper part of the copying machine, and an optical unit including an original irradiation lamp 2a, a reflection mirror 2b, a lens and the like is provided below the contact glass 1. A drum-shaped photosensitive member 3 is rotatably provided below the optical unit, and a charging device 4, a developing device 5, a transfer device 6 (transfer charger), a cleaning device 7, a charge eliminating device 8 and the like are arranged around the photosensitive member 3. ing. A fixing device 9 for fixing the toner image on the transfer paper on which the toner image has been transferred by the transfer device is arranged on the left side of the photoconductor, and the transfer paper is stocked under the copying machine. A paper feed unit 10 is provided to feed the paper toward the body. Since the operation of the entire copying machine is well known, its explanation is omitted.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing a schematic structure of the developing device. This developing device is a general dry developing device using a two-component developer, and the developing roller 1 is installed inside the developing device.
1, stirring impeller 12, mixing roller 13, separator 1
4, a horizontal stirring screw 15 and the like are provided. Then, a hopper 16 as a toner introducing portion for replenishing the toner in the developing device is attached to the upper portion of the hopper 16.
The hopper 16 is provided with a toner carrying screw 18 for carrying in and agitating toner from a toner replenishing unit 17 as a developer replenishing device, which will be described later. Further, a toner replenishing roller 19 is provided which is rotated by an output signal of a toner concentration sensor (not shown) for replenishing toner.

The toner replenishing unit 17 is shown in FIG.
As shown in the front view of (a), a bottle holder 2 provided as an upper portion on the front side of the copying machine and serving as a container holding means for holding a toner bottle 20 serving as a developer storage container.
Have one. This bottle holder 21 is shown in FIG.
As shown in the plan view of (b), it is configured to be rotatable about the rotation center Z of the rotary shaft portion 22 at the right end of the unit in a range of approximately 90 degrees in a substantially horizontal plane. A bottle mounting position A on the left end side of the unit for mounting the toner bottle 20 pulled out in front of the copying machine, and B in the figure.
The entire unit can take a toner replenishment position B which is parallel to the front surface of the copying machine, as shown in FIG. At least at the toner replenishment position B, the toner dropping opening formed in the lower wall of the bottle holder 21 extends to the front side of the copying machine and the toner receiving portion 16 of the hopper 16 is provided.
It is located above a. The toner replenishing unit 17 is provided inside a front cover (not shown) that covers the front surface of the copying machine, and the toner replenishing unit 17 can be pulled out to the bottle mounting position A with the front cover open. desirable.

FIG. 3A is a vertical sectional view of the toner bottle 20 that can be used in this embodiment, and FIG. 3B is an enlarged view of the opening 23 thereof. Toner bottle 2 in this example
0 has a substantially cylindrical shape, and an opening 23 having a diameter smaller than that of the cylindrical portion is formed substantially at the center of one end surface thereof. In the illustrated example, the opening 23 is formed at the tip of the collar 24 protruding outward, and the stopper 2 is formed so as to seal the opening 23.
5 are provided. A knob 26 is provided at the center of the stopper 25.
Are formed. And, on the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion,
As in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-188678, a guide groove 27 for guiding the stored toner inside to the opening 23 side by the rotation of the toner bottle 20 is formed in a spiral shape. The protruding portion (hereinafter referred to as a rib of the collar portion) 28 (see FIG. 3B) formed on the peripheral surface of the opening collar 24 of the toner bottle 20 has the toner bottle 2
This is for configuring an engaging portion for attaching a cap 29 (see FIG. 12) for covering the entire opening collar 24 during transportation, and engaging the engaging portion with the inner peripheral surface of the cap. Protrusions or grooves are formed.

4 (a), (b), and (c) are shown in FIG.
FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a schematic configuration and an operation of a mechanism for removing the stopper 25 from the toner bottle 20 in a state in which the opening 23 is sealed by the stopper 25 as shown in (a). The stopper 25 stopper removing mechanism 32a includes a collet chuck 30 as a stopper 25 holding means, and the collet chuck 30 for the toner bottle 20.
A forward / backward moving means (not shown) for moving forward / backward is provided. In the illustrated example, the collet chuck 30 is supported by the hole 32 of the support wall 31 formed in a part of the bottle holder 21, and in the free state shown in FIG.
The gripping portion 33 formed at the tip is urged to expand. FIG. 4B shows a state in which the toner bottle 20 is placed at the set position of the bottle holder 21.
The collet chuck 3 is moved when it is moved to a position farther from the toner bottle 20 by the advancing / retreating means.
The large-diameter portion of the outer periphery of 0 is pushed by the inner peripheral surface of the hole portion 32 to narrow the holding portion 33, thereby holding the gripping portion 26 of the plug 25. Collet chuck 3
0 holds the tab 25 of the stopper 25 and holds the stopper 25, and moves the stopper 25 to a position where the opening 23 can be completely opened as shown in FIG. 4 (c). By providing such a cap removing mechanism 32a in the toner replenishing unit 17, the toner bottle 20 can be placed on the bottle holder 21 in a state where the opening 23 is still sealed by the plug 25. Even when the toner bottle 20 is placed on the bottle holder 21 in a substantially horizontal state as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, it is possible to prevent toner leakage from the opening 23. Further, when the toner in the toner bottle 20 is consumed and emptied, when the toner bottle 20 is taken out from the bottle holder 21, the collet chuck 30 is moved in the reverse direction by the advancing / retracting moving means, and the empty toner is removed. The stopper 25 may be attached to the opening 23 of the bottle 20. According to this, when the toner bottle 20 is taken out from the bottle holder 21, since the opening 23 is in the state of being sealed with the stopper 25, the opening 23
The toner that adheres to the bottle will not drop and stain the hands and clothes of the bottle changer.

FIG. 5A shows the opening 2 of the toner bottle 20.
3 shows a modified example of the cap 2 attached to the opening collar 24 of the toner bottle 20.
An opening 23 is formed in the end wall of 9 (for example, a screw cap), and a removable plug 25 is attached to the opening 23. 5 (b) and 5 (c) are shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 5 (a).
This is a modified example of the stopper shown in FIG. 2, in which the toner bottle exchanger uses the gripping portion 2 of the stopper 25 from the opening 23.
In order to prevent the stored toner from being spilled by picking and removing 6 with a finger, the baffle member 2 is provided around the pick portion 26.
6a and 226b are formed so that the picking portion 26 cannot be picked by a finger.

Next, a more detailed embodiment of the toner replenishing unit 17 of the present invention will be described. FIG. 6 is a front view showing a schematic configuration of the toner replenishing unit 17 at the toner replenishing position B, and FIGS. 7 and 8 are exploded perspective views of the toner replenishing unit 17 including partially deformed parts. The toner replenishing unit 17 of this example holds the toner bottle 20 and rotates it in synchronization with the toner replenishing roller 19,
The toner contained therein is sequentially supplied from the opening 23 to the toner receiving portion 16a of the hopper 16. Explaining the details with reference to the drawings, the toner receiving portion 16a of the hopper 16 has a gutter shape in which an upper portion is opened at a portion protruding from a side plate (not shown) on the operating side of the hopper 16 to the front side, and the center of Is penetrated by a shaft 34 extending from the inside of the hopper 16 extending to the inner side of the side plate. The shaft 34 is for transferring the toner dropped from the opening 23 of the toner bottle 20 into the hopper 16. A spiral toner feed plate 35 is attached (see FIG. 2), whereby the toner conveying screw 18 is formed.

Then, the toner supply unit 17 of this example
Is a bottle holder 2 which is rotatably supported by the front plate of the copying machine and can hold the toner bottle 20 substantially horizontally.
1. A bottle locking mechanism 36 for axially positioning the toner bottle 20 on the bottle holder 21, a bottle rotation drive motor 37 for rotationally driving the toner bottle 20 held by the bottle holder 21, A cylindrical gear link 38 for transmitting the drive from the bottle rotation drive motor 37 to the toner bottle 20, a collet chuck 30 for holding the stopper 25 of the toner bottle 20 on the bottle holder 21, and a collet chuck 30. It has a core 39 slidably mounted, a cam device 40 for moving the collet chuck 30 forward and backward, and the like.

The bottle holder 21 is shown in FIGS.
, The movable bracket 41 is rotatably supported by the lower pin 43 of the fixed bracket 42 fixed to the front plate of the copying machine, and the upper portion of the bottle holder 21 is Fixed bracket 4
It is rotatably locked by the upper pin 44 of the second pin 2, so that it can be freely rotated around a substantially vertical straight line connecting the upper and lower pins 43. The fixing bracket 42 shown in FIG. 8 is rotatably supported by a stay 45 screwed to the front side plate and fixed to the front side plate by a fixing screw 46.

The bottle holder 21 has a lid-shaped receiving portion 4 that covers the head of the toner bottle 20 on the side of the opening 23.
7, a cylindrical stopper cover 48 that hermetically covers the head of the toner bottle 20 is accommodated in the receiving portion 47. The stopper cover 48 includes a link accommodating portion that rotatably accommodates the gear link 38,
Toner bottle 2 which is slightly smaller than the ring accommodating portion
The core 39 having an inner diameter slightly larger than the opening 23 of 0.
And a core accommodating portion for accommodating the core. A toner dropping opening 49 is formed on the lower wall of the core housing portion, and a hole portion and a boss portion 50 for slidably supporting the collet chuck 30 are formed on the end wall. In addition, a bamboo core-shaped core spring 51 that constantly biases the core 39 toward the toner bottle 20 is also accommodated in the core accommodating portion. In addition,
The core 39 shown in FIG. 7 relates to a modified example, and its advantage will be described later. Reference numeral 48a in FIG. 7 denotes a link stopper for locking the cylindrical link 33, which is formed at the edge of the open end of the toner bottle 20.

The bottle locking mechanism 36 is for positioning the toner bottle 20 in the axial direction, and its base end is a member on the bottle holder 21 side, for example, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. A locking member 52 rotatably supported by the stopper cover 48 and having a tip end formed on the outer peripheral surface of the toner bottle 20 and having a shape capable of engaging with a concave or convex engaging portion; The locking member 52 is composed of a biasing spring 53 that constantly biases the tip of the locking member 52 toward the peripheral surface of the toner bottle. The engaging portion 54 of the toner bottle 20 in the illustrated example is formed in a protruding ring shape having a right-angled triangular cross section, which has a vertical engaging surface 54a standing substantially vertically from the outer peripheral surface of the cylinder and an inclined surface 54b on the opening 23 side. (Hereinafter, referred to as a protruding ring-shaped portion). This engaging surface 54a
May have an overhanging shape so as to incline toward the rear end side of the toner bottle 20.

The bottle rotation drive motor 37 shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 8 and FIG. 8, it may be mounted on the movable bracket 41 together with the drive transmission gear 55, and when the bottle holder 21 is located at the toner replenishment position B, it engages with the gear link 38. It may be fixed to a place on the main body side of the copying machine which can be used.

The gear link 38 has gear teeth 56 on its outer peripheral surface that mesh with a gear 55 on the bottle rotation drive motor 37 side.
And the inner diameter is set larger than the outer diameter of the toner bottle 20. Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the inner surface of the end wall of the toner bottle 20 in which a hole through which the opening collar 24 can be formed is formed, and the protrusion formed on the end wall on the opening 23 side of the toner bottle 20 ( Hereinafter referred to as bottle ribs) 5
A plurality of projecting portions (hereinafter, referred to as link ribs) 58 that engage with 7 are radially formed, for example (see FIG. 34D). In the example of FIG. 6, the link 38 is mounted so that the gear 55 on the bottle rotation drive motor 37 side mounted on the movable bracket 41 can engage with the gear teeth 56 on the outer circumference of the circular gear link 38. An opening for gear engagement is formed in the lower portion of the peripheral wall of the stopper cover 48 accommodated therein. The edge of the hole of the end wall is sealed with the outer peripheral surface of the opening collar 24 of the toner bottle 20,
A ring-shaped ring that prevents toner from the opening 23 from adhering to the outer peripheral surface of the toner bottle 20 and also has a blade function of cleaning the outer peripheral surface of the opening collar 24 when the toner bottle 20 is replaced, which will be described later. Color part seal 5
9 is attached. Illustrated collar seal member 5
Since 9 is bent so that the tip edge side faces the collet chuck 30, the toner bottle 20 described later can be easily set. In FIG. 7, reference numeral 60 is a flexible member adhered to the end surface of the gear link 38, for example, a sponge seal, and reference numeral 61 is a flexible thin plate seal adhered to the end surface while covering the seal ( For example, thickness 0.18
8 mm). Further, reference numeral 107 is a shutter for closing the toner dropping opening formed in the receiving portion 47 of the bottle holder 21, and normally, the opening formed in this shutter is located at a rotation position corresponding to the toner dropping opening. At the time of maintenance by a service person, the knob 108 is rotated using the knob 108 to close the toner dropping opening.

As shown in FIG. 7, the collet chuck 30 has a plurality of cutting cracks 62 for allowing the holding portion 33 at the tip to be narrowed by an external force. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. As shown, the opening D1 of the holding portion 33 is formed to be larger than the maximum diameter d1 of the tip of the pinching portion 26 of the stopper 25 when no external force is applied.
Similarly, in the state where no external force is applied, the holding portion 33
The outer diameter of the large diameter front end portion 63 in the vicinity is larger than the outer diameter D2 of the small diameter rear end portion 64 from the rear end.

The core 39 has a flange portion 66 which can come into contact with the flange portion 65 of the stopper 25, and a cylindrical slider portion 67 on which the collet chuck 30 slides. The inner diameter D3 of the slider portion 67 is larger than the outer diameter D2 of the small-diameter rear end portion 64 of the collet chuck 30 and smaller than the outer diameter of the large-diameter tip portion 63 when no external force is applied. Is set to. As a result, FIG.
As shown by the phantom line (two-dot chain line) in (b), when the collet chuck 30 is positioned on the large-diameter tip portion 63, it rides on the large-diameter tip portion 63 to reduce the opening of the holding portion 33. . The opening D1 'of the holding portion 33 at this time is set to be at least smaller than the maximum diameter d1 of the knob 26, and preferably set to be approximately the same as the outer shape d2 of the root.

In the cam device 40 shown in FIG. 6, the collet chuck 3 is interlocked with the movement of the bottle holder 21 from the toner replenishment position B to the bottle mounting position A.
0 is retracted away from the toner bottle 20, while the bottle holder 21 is moved from the bottle mounting position A to the toner supply position B so that the collet chuck 30 approaches the toner bottle 20. It is for making progress. In this embodiment, a plate cam member 68 attached to the front plate of the copying machine via the fixing bracket 42 and a chuck shaft 69 fixed to the rear end of the collet chuck 30 are rotatably attached. It is composed of rollers 70 (FIG. 7). As shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B, the plate cam member 68 is mounted on the roller 7 from the rotation center Z side of the bottle holder 21.
It has a first cam surface portion 71 that guides 0 and a second cam surface portion 72 that guides the roller 70 from the side opposite to the rotation center Z. The first cam surface portion 71 allows the bottle holder 21 to move from the toner supplying position B to the bottle mounting position A.
10B, the core spring 51 urges the toner bottle 20 side through the core 39 engaged with the large diameter tip 63 of the collet chuck 30 as shown in FIG. 10B. While the collet chuck 30 thus guided guides the roller 70 away from the toner bottle 20,
In association with the movement of the bottle holder 21 from the bottle mounting position A to the toner replenishing position B, the collet chuck 30 similarly biased toward the toner bottle 20 by the core spring 51 gradually moves. The roller 70 is guided so as to approach the toner bottle 20. Further, the second cam surface portion 72, as shown in FIG. 11B, for example, immediately before the completion of the movement of the bottle holder 21 from the bottle mounting position A to the toner replenishing position B, the core 39.
Collides with the edge of the opening collar 24 of the toner bottle 20 positioned by the bottle locking mechanism 36 and does not engage with the large-diameter tip portion 63 of the collet chuck 30. The roller 70 is guided so that the collet chuck 30 approaches the toner bottle 20 from when the biasing force of the spring 51 is no longer applied until the movement to the toner replenishment position B is completed.

In this embodiment, since the cam device 40 is provided in the vicinity of the rotation axis of the bottle holder 21 as described above, the developer storage container exchanger can replace the developer storage container with the above-described one. The distance between the center of rotation Z and the point of action on the bottle holder 21 that applies a pulling or pushing force to move the bottle holder 21 between the bottle mounting position A and the toner supply position B. But,
The distance is larger than the distance between the engagement point between the cam surface portions 71 and 72 of the cam device 40 and the roller 70 and the rotation center Z. Therefore, the lever holder can move the bottle holder 21 with a relatively small force.

In the above structure, the bottle holder 21 of the toner replenishing unit 17 is located at the toner replenishing position B during the normal copying operation. In order to position the bottle holder 21 at the toner supplying position B, it is desirable to provide a locking mechanism for the bottle holder 21, for example, a locking mechanism using a magnet, on the front side plate of the copying machine and the bottle holder 21. At this toner replenishment position B, as shown in FIG.
As shown in, the toner bottle 2 on the bottle holder 21
0 is positioned by engaging the tip of the locking member 52 of the bottle locking mechanism 36 with the protruding ring-shaped portion 54, and the bottle rib 57 of the end wall on the opening 23 side of the bottle locking mechanism 36 to the link rib 58 of the gear link 38. It is capable of engaging. Also,
As shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B, the collet chuck 30 is at the most retracted position from the toner bottle 20,
In a state in which the core 39 urged by the core spring 51 is engaged with the large-diameter tip portion 63 and is narrowed by the holding portion 33, the knob portion 26 of the stopper 25 is held to hold the stopper 25, The opening 23 of the toner bottle 20 is open. The toner receiving portion 16a of the hopper 16 on the main body side of the copying machine is located below the toner dropping opening 49 of the stopper cover 48.

When the developing process operation is repeated and the toner concentration in the developing device decreases, the toner replenishing roller 19 starts to rotate by the output signal of the toner concentration sensor (not shown), and the bottle motor 37 rotates accordingly. First, the drive is transmitted to the toner bottle 20 via the gear 55 and the gear link 38, and the toner bottle 20 rotates. Since the spiral guide groove 27 is provided on the inner surface of the toner bottle 20, the toner stored inside is gradually sent out to the opening portion 23 by the rotation, and the opening portion 23 is opened.
Then, it is received by the toner receiving portion 16a of the hopper 16 through the toner dropping opening 49 of the stopper cover 48, and is conveyed by the toner conveying screw 18 to the hopper 16 portion on the back side from the front side plate of the copying machine. This operation is continued until the toner concentration in the developing device reaches a predetermined value and the toner supply roller 19 stops again. As described above, instead of rotating the toner bottle 20 when the toner supply roller 19 rotates, the toner bottle 20 may be rotated at an appropriate timing when the toner in the hopper 16 is reduced.

Here, as shown in FIGS. 12A and 12B, the locking member 5 of the positioning mechanism of the toner bottle 20 is arranged.
2 engages with a part of the locking member 52 as the toner bottle 20 rotates, against the biasing force of the biasing spring 53 (see FIG. 7) of the positioning mechanism. , Once the tip of the locking member 52 is lifted to such an extent that the engagement from the protruding ring-shaped portion 54 is not released, the engagement with the part is released, and the tip of the locking member 52 is moved around the toner bottle 20. If the hitting protrusion 73 for moving the surface is tapped, the hitting operation of the locking member 52 causes the toner bottle 20 to move.
The wall surface of the toner vibrates, the fluidity of the toner in the toner bottle 20 is increased, the discharge amount from the opening 23 is increased, and the adhesion of the toner to the inner peripheral surface can be suppressed. It should be noted that reference numeral 29 in FIG. 12 indicates a cap attached to the opening collar 24 when the toner bottle 20 is transported. Further, the shape of the container near the opening 23 of the toner bottle 20 shown in the figure is for allowing the toner in the toner bottle 20 to be satisfactorily discharged from the opening 23, which will be described later in detail.

When the toner bottle 20 is taken out of the bottle holder 21 for replacement of the toner bottle 20 or the like, first, the bottle holder 21 is moved from the toner replenishment position B to the bottle mounting position A. While the bottle holder 21 is moving, the collet chuck 30 holding the stopper 25 is moved toward the opening 23 of the toner bottle 20 while guiding the roller 70 by the first cam surface of the cam device 40, and the core 20 is moved. The collar portion 66 of 39 is the collar portion 6 of the stopper 25.
It is brought into contact with the edge of the opening collar 24 of the toner bottle 20 via 5. Even after the movement of the core 39 is restricted by this, the roller 70 is guided by the second cam surface of the cam device 40 along with the movement of the bottle holder 21, and the collet chuck 30 is further moved to move the core 39. Collet chuck 30
The engagement with the large-diameter tip portion 63 is released, and the collet chuck 3
With the restoring force of 0, the holding part 33 is opened, whereby the plug 25
The holding of the knob 26 is released. By moving the collet chuck 30 so far, the plug 25 is inserted into the opening collar 24 of the toner bottle 20 to seal the opening 23.
Then, when the movement of the bottle holder 21 to the bottle mounting position A is completed, as shown in FIGS.
As shown in (a) and (b), the holding portion 33 of the collet chuck 30 is in a state in which the opening thereof is larger than the maximum diameter D1 of the grip portion 26 of the stopper 25.

Next, with the bottle holder 21 at the bottle mounting position A, the person who replaces the toner bottle 20
The locking member 52 of the bottle locking mechanism 36 is pulled upward against the urging force of the urging spring 53 so as to be separated from the peripheral surface of the toner bottle 20, and the protruding ring-shaped portion 54 on the peripheral surface. Toner bottle 2 in the disengaged state
0 is pulled out from inside the stopper cover 48, and the toner bottle 20 is taken out from the bottle holder 21.

Here, since the locking member 52 is constantly biased toward the peripheral surface of the toner bottle 20 by the biasing spring 53, when pulling up is stopped and the tip portion is freed, the tip portion descends. , And re-engages with the protruding ring-shaped portion 54 of the toner bottle 20. Therefore, the toner bottle 20
When pulling out, it is necessary to maintain the state in which the tip of the locking member 52 is pulled up. Therefore, this locking member 5
Once the tip of 2 is pulled up, even if the pulling is stopped immediately and the tip is freed, the tip of the locking member 52 and the projecting ring 54 will not be engaged again with the projecting ring 54. It is desirable that the toner bottle 20 is automatically moved when the engagement of is released. To this end, for example, as shown in FIG. 13A, the toner spring 20 is pushed out by the core spring 51 via the core 39 when the positioning by the bottle locking mechanism 36 is released. . In the illustrated example, the edge of the opening collar 24 of the toner bottle 20 positioned by the bottle locking mechanism 36 has a stopper cover 48.
The height and the like of the collar 24 are set so that the collar 24 protrudes by a predetermined amount S. According to this, the bottle locking mechanism 3
At the moment when the engagement member 52 of No. 6 and the projecting ring-shaped portion 54 of the toner bottle 20 are disengaged from each other, by the urging force of the core spring 51, as shown by the phantom line in the figure, the flange portion 66 of the core 39 is shown. Moves until it hits the gear link 38, and the toner bottle 20 can be pushed out by the same predetermined amount S as shown by a virtual line in the figure.

In the initial stage of the movement of the core 39 and the pinching portion 26 of the stopper 25 is not completely removed from the holding portion 33 of the collet chuck 30, the core 39 has the large diameter tip portion of the collet chuck 30. When the gripping portion 33 of the collet chuck 30 is narrowed by engaging with the gripping portion 63 and the picking portion 26 of the stopper 25 is clamped, when the toner bottle 20 is subsequently pulled out, the stopper 25 continues to be held by the collet chuck 30. The opening 23 of the rear toner bottle 20 is in an open state, and the toner adhering to the inner surface of the opening 23 or the like may be spilled and stain hands or clothes. Also,
At the time of completion of the above movement, the core 39 has the collet chuck 3
When the holding portion 33 of the collet chuck 30 is brought into a narrowed state by engaging with the large-diameter tip portion 63 of 0, when the new toner bottle 20 described later is set, the knob portion 26 of the stopper 25 of the bottle is held inside the holding portion 33. May not get into.
Therefore, the predetermined amount S does not cause the core 39 to engage with the large-diameter tip portion 63 of the collet chuck 30 even after the movement of the core 39 and the flange 66 of the core 39 is in contact with the gear link 38. It is desirable to set so that the holding portion 33 can maintain the opened state. That is, the bottle locking mechanism 36
When the positioning of the toner bottle 20 by the is released, the core 39 causes the large diameter tip portion 63 of the collet chuck 30.
It is desirable to set the position of the gear link 38 so that it abuts against the gear link 38 and stops before moving to the position where the gear link 38 is engaged. In addition, such a core 39
For the purpose of restricting movement, other members may be used instead of being used as the gear link 38.

Next, a new toner bottle 20 is exchanged at the bottle mounting position A. A new toner bottle 20 filled with toner and having an opening 23 sealed with a stopper 25 is placed on the bottle holder 21 with its head facing the stopper cover 48, and the bottle head is stopped by the stopper cover 48. Insert it inside. In the middle of this inserting operation, the locking member 52 of the bottle locking mechanism 36 is locked by the toner bottle 20.
To engage with the protruding ring-shaped portion 54, and thereby position the toner bottle 20 on the bottle holder 21. In the illustrated example, during the insertion operation of the toner bottle 20, the tip portion of the locking member 52 rides on the opening side inclined surface 54b of the protruding ring-shaped portion 54, and the protruding ring-shaped portion 54 is locked. Since the inclined surface of the member 52 is lifted, the operation of lifting the locking member 52 for locking can be omitted. Further, as described above, the stopper cover 48 restricts the core 39 to a position where it does not engage with the large-diameter tip portion 63 of the collet chuck 30, and the holding portion 33 of the collet chuck 30 is regulated.
If the open state is set, the knob of the plug 25 that seals the opening 23 can be removed by the collet chuck 3 during this insertion operation.
It is possible to smoothly enter the holding section 33 of 0. When the toner bottle 20 is pushed out by the core 39 as described above, the gripping portion 33 is narrowed after the gripping portion 26 of the stopper 25 escapes the gripping portion 33 of the collet chuck 30. When inserting a new toner bottle 20 into the stopper cover 48,
The rim of the opening collar 24 of the toner bottle 20 pushes the collar portion 66 of the core 39 through the collar portion 65 of the stopper 25 to release the engagement between the core 39 and the large diameter tip 63 of the collet chuck 30. The gripping part 33 of the stopper 25 after the holding part 33 is expanded.
6 so as to enter the holding portion 33, the stopper 25,
It is desirable that the collar portion 65 has a shape that is sufficiently projected from the knob portion 26.

Next, the bottle holder 21 is moved from the bottle mounting position A to the toner supplying position B. While the bottle holder 21 is moving, the collet chuck 30 holding the stopper 25 is moved away from the opening 23 of the toner bottle 20 while guiding the roller 70 with the first cam surface of the cam device 40. In the initial stage of the movement of the collet chuck 30, the large-diameter tip portion 63 of the collet chuck 30 engages with the core 39, and the gripping portion 33 is narrowed to grip the picking portion 26 of the plug 25. Hold.
Even during the subsequent movement, the core 3 is pressed by the urging force of the core spring 51.
9 and the large-diameter tip portion 63 are maintained to hold the stopper 25, whereby the stopper 25 is removed from the opening portion 23 to open the opening portion 23, and FIGS. a),
As shown in (b), the movement of the bottle holder 21 to the toner supply position B is completed. As a result, as described above, the toner can be discharged from the opening 23 by the rotation of the toner bottle 20.

As described above, according to the toner replenishing unit 17 of this embodiment, the toner leaks from the opening 23 of the toner bottle 20 only by moving the bottle holder 21 and replacing the toner bottle 20 on the bottle holder 21. It is possible to replace the toner bottle 20 without causing the occurrence.

As shown in FIG. 13 (b), the diameter d2 of the outer edge of the collar portion 65 of the stopper 25 that seals the opening 23 of the toner bottle 20 is larger than the diameter d3 of the outer edge of the opening collar 24. It is desirable to set it small. According to this, when the toner bottle 20 is detached from the stopper cover 38, the flange portion 65 of the stopper 25 engages with the collar seal 59 attached to the inner periphery of the attachment / detachment opening of the stopper cover 38 and comes off. Can be prevented. Also, FIG. 13 (c)
As shown in FIG. 5, it is necessary to attach the cap 29 from above the stopper 25 to prevent the cap from being unplugged when the toner bottle is transported, particularly when the toner bottle 20 is accidentally dropped, or when the toner bottle 20 is transported by high altitude or by air. It is effective in preventing.
Further, since such cap removal can be prevented by the cap 29, the strength of the fitting of the plug 25 itself with the opening collar 24 can be made relatively weak, and the attaching / detaching force of the automatic attaching / detaching mechanism of the plug 20 can be set weakly.

Here, a modification of the core 39 shown in FIG. 7 will be described. As shown in an enlarged view in FIG. 14A, the core 39 of this example has a cylindrical body portion 74 having a diameter slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the stopper cover 48, and a peripheral wall of the body portion 74. Includes a plurality of ring-shaped peripheral surface seal members 75.
A brim portion 76 is formed for partitioning a plurality of mounting portions for mounting in parallel with each other in the axial direction. The peripheral surface sealing member 75 seals between the inner surface of the stopper cover 48 and the strip-shaped sealing material having the adhesive layer 75a of FIG. It may be attached to the mounting portion by adhesion or the like, and the already ring-shaped sealing material of FIG. 14C may be attached to the mounting portion by adhesion or the like. In the former case, core 3
It is desirable that the positions of the abutting portions of the short sides in the circumferential direction of 9 be different between the seal materials adjacent to each other in the axial direction of the core 39. In the latter case, an elastic body 75b mainly having circumferential elasticity, for example, a non-foaming elastic body, and an elastic body 75c mainly having elasticity in the thickness direction, for example, a foaming elastic body, are laminated. It is desirable to use a seal member. Further, the boss 77 of the through hole of the collet chuck 30 is provided on the end face of the core 39 of this example which comes into contact with the flange portion of the plug 25.
Is formed, and this also serves as a positioning member when the flat donut-shaped end face seal member 78 as shown in FIG. 14D or FIG. 14E is attached by adhesion or the like. In addition,
This end face seal member can be made of a single material as shown in FIG. 14 (d) or can be made by laminating a plurality of donut-shaped seal materials as shown in FIG. 14 (e). It is desirable that the surface 78a is made of a resin having a small surface energy, such as a silicone resin or a fluorine resin, to which toner hardly adheres.

Next, with reference to FIGS. 15 to 18, an example of improvement in the above embodiment for reducing the operation force for moving the bottle holder 21 will be described. When the toner adheres to the inner surface of the opening collar 24 or the contact portion of the stopper 25 with the inner surface, the stopper 25 is attached to the opening 23.
The force required for inserting and withdrawing the toner is increased, and in proportion to this, the pushing operation force required to move the bottle holder 21 from the bottle mounting position A to the toner replenishing position B (the opening 23 (The force of pulling out the stopper 25 from the container is generated) and the operation force of the withdrawal (the above-mentioned opening 23
(Causing the insertion force of the plug 25 into it) increases. Figure 15
Is a state in which toner is attached to the inner surface of the opening collar 24 using three types of toner replenishing units 17 (hereinafter, referred to as type 1 to type 3) in which the shapes of the collet chuck 30 and the core 39 are different from each other. 6 is a graph showing the results of examining the pushing operation force and the pulling operation force with respect to the toner bottles 20 having various diameters, in which the horizontal axis indicates the diameter of the toner bottle 20 opening 23 and the vertical axis indicates the bottle holder 21. It takes control power. In the figure, among the alternate long and short dash lines showing the sample measurement results, the ones whose both ends are indicated by arrows are type 1, the ones whose both ends are indicated by x are type 2, and both ends are indicated by X. The chain double-dashed line shown is the result using type 3. The area A1 shown in parentheses is the sample measurement result distribution area of the pushing operation force for the type 1, the area B1 is the sample measurement result distribution area of the pulling operation force for the type 1, and the area A2 is the type 2 Sample pressure measurement result distribution area of the above pushing force, area B2 is type 2
3 shows the sample measurement result distribution regions of the above-mentioned operation force of pulling out of FIG. Although the same sample measurement result distribution area is not shown for Type 3, the sample measurement results of the pushing operation force are in the areas A1 and A2, and are in the areas B1 and B2 and in these areas. Below is the sample measurement result of the operation force of the drawer. The hatched region C (the region sandwiched between the horizontal axis parallel line of the operating force 2200 g and the inclined straight line indicating the upper limit of the region A3) is the region where the insertion of the plug 25 is defective. As can be seen from FIG. 15, the pushing operation force is larger than the drawer operation force.
For example, an operating force exceeding 2 kg is required. Further, depending on the diameter of the opening 23 of the toner bottle 20 and the shapes of the collet chuck 30 and the core 39, when the operation force of the drawer exceeds, for example, 2.2 kg, the insertion failure of the plug 25 may occur. is there.

FIG. 16 shows the opening 23 of the toner bottle 20.
When inserting or withdrawing the plug 25 into or from the plug 25, the plug 25 is rotated around the advancing / retreating direction to smooth the insertion or withdrawal of the plug 25 into or from the opening 23, thereby reducing the operating force for pushing or pulling. It is an exploded perspective view which concerns on a principal part. In this modified example, the boss portion 5 of the stopper cover 48 in which the collet chuck 30 slides in order to cause the rotation of the stopper 25 around the advancing / retreating direction.
0, a cam slit 79 for causing the collet chuck 30 to rotate due to the forward / backward movement of the collet chuck 30.
And the sliding pin 8 is formed on the chuck shaft 69 of the collet chuck 30 and enters the cam slit 79.
0 has been planted. 17A and 17B, in this modified example, the bottle holder 21 has the toner replenishment position B.
10A, which is shown in FIG.
Corresponding to (b), (c) is an enlarged view seen in the direction of arrow A in (b), and (d) is an enlarged view seen in the direction of arrow B in (b). When in the toner replenishing position B, the sliding pin 80 is provided at the entrance of the cam slit 79 formed at the lowest position in the circumferential direction of the boss portion 50 indicated by the one-dot chain line L1 in FIG. 17C. Is located. The cam slit 79 is formed such that its rear end portion is formed at a position indicated by a one-dot chain line L2 deviated by a predetermined angle α, for example, 90 degrees from the lowermost position in the circumferential direction of the boss portion 50
While the sliding pin 80 is being moved from the entrance to each side end as indicated by the chain double-dashed line C in FIG. 17C, the center of the boss portion 50 as shown in FIG. A guide is provided so as to rotate about the axis by a predetermined angle α. FIG.
11A and 11B show a state in which the bottle holder 21 is in the bottle mounting position A, which is shown in FIG.
Corresponding to (a) and (b), the same figure (c) is an enlarged view seen in the arrow A direction in the same (b), and the same (d) is an arrow B in the same (b).
It is the enlarged view seen in the direction.

According to this improved example, the toner supplying position B
While the bottle holder 21 in FIG. 2 is moved to the bottle mounting position A, the chuck shaft 69 to which the collet chuck 30 is fixed slides in the boss portion 50 of the stopper cover 48 as described above. While moving to the bottle 20 side, the sliding pin 8 is moved by the cam slit 79 as shown by the chain double-dashed line C in FIG.
0 is guided and rotated about the central axis of the boss of the stopper cover 48 by a predetermined angle α. Therefore, the stopper 25 held by the collet chuck 30 is inserted into the opening collar 24 of the toner bottle 20 while rotating around the central shaft stopper 25 of the boss. On the contrary, while moving the bottle holder 21 at the bottle mounting position A to the toner replenishing position B, the chuck shaft 69
However, as described above, the boss portion 5 of the stopper cover 48
While sliding in 0, it moves from the toner bottle 20 to the side, and the sliding pin 80 is guided by the cam slit 79 to rotate in the opposite direction around the central axis of the boss of the stopper cover 48 by a predetermined angle α. As a result, the stopper 25 held by the collet chuck 30 is pulled out from the opening collar 24 of the toner bottle 20 while rotating around the central shaft stopper 25 of the boss. In this way, when the stopper 25 is inserted into or withdrawn from the opening 23 of the toner bottle 20, the stopper cover 4 which moves the stopper 25 in the advancing / retracting direction.
Since it is rotated around the central axis of the boss portion 50 of 8, the insertion and withdrawal of the stopper 25 from the opening portion 23 can be performed smoothly, and the operation force for pushing and pulling out the bottle holder 21 can be performed by rotating such stopper 25. It can be made smaller than that when not allowed.

Next, referring to FIGS. 19 (a) to 19 (d),
Another improvement example for reducing the operation force for moving the bottle holder 21 in the above-described embodiment will be described. Plug 25 for opening 23 of toner bottle 20
To facilitate the attachment / detachment of
As shown in (b), the connecting peripheral wall portion 83 that connects the fitting peripheral wall portion 81 fitted to the inner peripheral surface of the opening collar 24 and the bottom wall portion 82 of the plug 25 has a predetermined angle, preferably 45 degrees or less. It is preferable that the diameter of the bottom wall 82 of the plug 25 be smaller than the outer diameter of the fitting peripheral wall portion 81.

Further, the thickness t of such a connecting peripheral wall portion 83 is thinner than the thickness T of the bottom wall portion 82, for example, about half the thickness T of the bottom wall portion 82 (t≈1 / 2 · T). It is desirable to set. According to this, as compared with the case where the thickness t of the connecting peripheral wall portion 83 is approximately the same as the thickness T of the bottom wall portion 82, when the stopper 25 is inserted into the opening 23 using the collet chuck 30, The forces f1 and f1 '(see FIG. 19 (c)) that the peripheral wall portion 25 pushes the opening collar 24 can be reduced. Further, when the stopper 25 is pulled out from the opening 23 using the collet chuck 30, the forces f2 and f2 'received by the peripheral wall portion of the stopper 25 from the opening collar 24 (see FIG. 19).
(See (c)) can be made relatively small. As a result, it is possible to prevent the insertion failure and the extraction failure due to the deformation of the stopper 25 when the stopper 25 is attached to and detached from the opening 23. Further, by providing unevenness on the surface of the tip of the stopper 25 (the side in contact with the toner) that comes into contact with the toner, even if a toner pool is formed during opening the container and during storage in the container, discharge is easily started. The concavo-convex shape may be a shape in which a mountain-shaped rib is formed on the outer surface of the tip of the plug 25.

Further, as shown in FIG. 19D, if the surface of the fitting peripheral wall portion 81 has a sawtooth cross section,
When inserting the plug 25 into the opening 23, the opening collar 24
The toner adhering to the inner peripheral surface can be scraped off inside the toner bottle 20 by the sawtooth shaped portion 84, and the force required for inserting the plug 25 into the opening 23 can be maintained constant. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a situation in which the force required to insert the plug 25 into the opening 23 is increased by 1.5 times due to the adhesion of the toner to the inner peripheral surface of the opening collar 24. For example, when the bottle diameter is 39.90 mm, the force required to pull out the stopper 25 can be up to 950 g without toner adhesion and up to 1570 g with toner adhesion, and the force required to insert the stopper 25 can be adjusted to Up to 1370 without
It is possible to select a combination of the collet chuck 30 and the plug 25 that can achieve a maximum of 1770 g with toner adhesion.

Next, with reference to FIGS. 20 to 23, a desirable container shape in the vicinity of the opening 23 in order to satisfactorily discharge the toner in the toner bottle 20 according to the above embodiment will be described. 20A is a front view of the toner bottle 20 with the cap attached, FIG. 20B is a rear view of the bottle, FIG. 20C is a left side view of the bottle, and FIG. Right side view, the same (e) is a plan view of the same bottle, the same (f) is a bottom view of the same bottle, the same (g)
[Fig. 3] is a plan view of the bottle with a cap and a stopper removed. 21A is an enlarged view of the end surface of the AA cut portion in FIG. 20A, FIG. 21B is a perspective view of the bottle, and FIG. 21C is the same as FIG. 20A of the toner bottle 20 according to the modification. It is the elements on larger scale of the end surface of the same cutting part. In these figures, the bottle rib 5 for receiving the rotational force from the tubular ring.
7 is omitted (see FIGS. 34 (a) and 34 (b)).

The toner bottle 20 of this embodiment is smaller than the diameter of the cylindrical main body in a state where it is substantially horizontal on the bottle holder 21 so that the opening 23 faces sideways like the toner replenishing device 17. In order to satisfactorily discharge the stored toner through the opening 23 formed in the one end wall so as to have a diameter, the toner existing in the lower portion of the cylindrical body can be lifted up to the opening 23 and discharged by the rotation of the toner bottle. It was done like this. For this reason, for example, as shown by hatching the outer surface side in FIG. 21B, a part of the inner surface of the shoulder portion, which is a peripheral wall portion near the end surface where the opening portion 23 is formed, is formed in the opening portion 23. Of the inner surface of the shoulder portion having a diameter larger than the diameter of the opening portion to the edge of the opening portion to form a protruding portion 85 for lifting the toner. In the illustrated example, as shown in FIG. 21A, both the end wall and the peripheral wall are formed to have a substantially constant thickness, and the inner shape of the toner bottle 20 appears on the outer surface as it is.
Also in (e), the reference numerals relating to the inner surface portion of the toner bottle 20 are appropriately displayed on the corresponding outer surface portion side.

Further, in the present embodiment, FIG.
The inner surface of the container peripheral wall, which is continuous with the protruding portion 85 in the circumferential direction, is shown by hatching with different angles on the outer surface side, as shown in FIG. To extend in the direction of the center line L to form an in-opening protruding portion 86. As shown in FIG. 20 (g), the protruding portion 86 in the opening is the cap and the plug 25.
When viewed from the outside in the direction of the center line L in the state where the is removed, it can be seen as if it protrudes into the opening 23.

The protruding portion 85 and the in-opening protruding portion 86 have the opening 23 in the direction of the center line L.
It is desirable to make the slope shape so as to project more in the direction of the center line L as it is farther away from. Further, as shown in FIG. 21D, it is desirable that at least a part of the cross section including the center line L has a concave shape that appears as a curve having a curvature center C1 on the center L side. This FIG. 21 (d) is shown in FIG.
It is a BB cross section in (c), and corresponds to the above-mentioned protruding portion 85. On the other hand, FIG. 21 which is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 21A (corresponding to the AA cross section in FIG. 23C).
As shown in (c), in the end portion of the opening protruding portion 86, the cross section including the center line L is opposite to the center L so that the toner can be satisfactorily pushed onto the opening collar 24. It is desirable to have a convex shape that appears as a curve with the center of curvature C2 on the side. Furthermore, the protruding portion is formed so as to be continuous with the spiral guide groove 27, so that the toner guided to the vicinity of the opening 23 in the guide groove 27 having a predetermined width is directly retained in the opening 23. It is desirable to lift it to the edge so that it can be guided to the opening protrusion 86.

As shown in the partial sectional view of FIG. 24 (a), the inner surface shape of the wall portion a of the guide groove 27 on the peripheral wall of the toner bottle 21 is such that the toner is directed in the guide direction (bottle opening side) indicated by the arrow A. The wall surface portion b for pushing the toner squeezes out toward the center of the bottle at an angle θ1 that is almost vertical to the flat inner peripheral surface portion, for example, an angle of 80 to 90 degrees, and the toner sent from the rear end side of the bottle. The wall surface portion c that can be overridden in the direction may be set so as to project toward the center of the bottle at a gentle angle θ2 in the toner guiding direction, for example, 30 ° or less, preferably 10 to 30 °. According to this, when the toner bottle 21 rotates, the toner easily drops from the inner wall surface portion, and the toner remaining due to the adhesion to the inner wall surface portion can be reduced.

22 and 23 show the protruding portion 85.
And a method of guiding the toner by the opening squeezing portion 86. In each drawing, the drawing (c) is a front view and the right side view of the toner bottle 20 in the drawing (a).
Drawing (d) is a right side view of toner bottle 20 in drawing (b), which is a front view when rotated 90 degrees from the state of drawing (a). The arrow K in the figure indicates the direction of rotation by the toner supply unit 17. In the state shown in FIGS. 22A and 22C, the maximum diameter portion of the shoulder portion is located vertically downward, and the toner is guided by the guide groove 27 to the lower portion of the peripheral wall of the maximum diameter portion portion of the bottle head. . In the state of FIGS. 22 (b) and 22 (d) rotated 90 degrees from this state in the direction of arrow K, the boundary portion between the maximum diameter portion of the shoulder portion and the protruding portion 85 is located vertically downward, and The toner guided by the guide groove 27 is partially placed on the protruding portion. 23 further rotated from this state in the direction of arrow K by 90 degrees.
While rotating 90 degrees until the state of (a), (c) is reached,
The protruding portion is like a spoon and lifts the toner to the edge of the opening 23. Then, in the direction of arrow K, 9
The toner on the protruding portion 85 partially moves to the opening protruding portion 86 before and after being rotated by 0 degree and reaching the state of FIGS. 23 (b) and (d), and due to the inclination of the opening protruding portion 86. , And is guided to the outside of the bottle in the direction of the center line L and discharged from the opening 23. here,
In the illustrated example, as well shown in FIG. 23C, the protruding portion 85 itself has a concave shape like the scooping portion of a spoon. With such a container shape near the opening 23, the toner in the toner bottle 20 is discharged and dropped from the opening 23 as a lump of toner powder, and the hopper 16 is discharged.
No dust is generated inside, and the toner powder is gradually discharged. Further, the toner stored in the toner bottle 20 can be used up with almost no remaining toner. Furthermore, when the bottle rotates, excess toner is removed,
Since only one spoon of toner is scooped up and lifted to the opening 23, the amount of toner discharged from the opening 23 is constant.

As shown in FIG. 24 (b), the protruding portion 85 for lifting the toner is formed on the inner surface of the bottle shoulder portion.
Also, two sets of the protruding portion 86 in the opening may be formed.
According to this, with the same rotation amount of the toner bottle 21, it is possible to obtain a toner discharge amount that is double that in the case of one set. Also, FIG.
As shown in (c), a grip portion L1 having a diameter Φ1 smaller than the outer diameter Φ0 (100 mm or more) of the other portion may be formed on the peripheral wall of the toner bottle 21. Outer diameter of this grip L1 Φ1
Is about 80 to 100 mm, and its length in the longitudinal direction is about 80 to 100 mm. Note that FIG.
The inner surface shape of the wall portion a of the guide groove 27 on the peripheral wall of the toner bottle 21 in (c) is the inner surface shape shown in FIG. The arrow a in the figure (c) shows the state of the toner that is pulled upward by the rotation of the toner bolt 21 to the inner peripheral surface of the bottle and moves upward, and the arrow b in the same figure shows the toner along the inner peripheral surface. It shows the state of the toner falling down.

In FIG. 25, the rotation speed (number of rotations per minute) of the toner bottle 20 at the time of toner replenishment and the toner bottle 20 not being discharged from the opening 23 but remaining in the toner bottle 20 cannot be used up. 6 is a graph showing the relationship with the amount of toner (remaining amount of bottle). As can be seen from this graph, the remaining amount of the bottle varies depending on the rotation speed. For example, when the remaining amount of the bottle is up to 50 g, it is desirable to rotate the bottle at 30 to 40 rpm. Of course, as described above, the proper rotation speed of the toner bottle 20 for reducing the remaining amount of the bottle is determined by the specific diameter of the opening 23, the specific shapes of the protruding portion 85 and the opening protruding portion 86, and the like. Therefore, the proper rotation speed is previously obtained by an experiment, and the toner bottle 20 is set to rotate at that rotation speed.

In the toner replenishing unit 17,
26. Although the tip portion of the collet chuck 30 is narrowed to hold the tab 26 of the stopper 25 to hold the stopper, instead of this, as shown in FIG.
As shown in (a), the plug may be held by abutting the inner surface of the peripheral wall of the plug 25 when the tip end portion is expanded. FIG. 26B shows a state in which the tip of the collet chuck 30 is relatively narrowed and the stopper 25 is released. In the collet chuck 30 of the illustrated example, the front end portion of the slit is narrower than the rear end portion 87, and an interrupt pin implanted at a fixed position of the stopper cover 48, for example, at this narrow slit tip portion. With the collet chuck 30 relatively moved so that 88 enters, the slit is expanded and the tip end is expanded. Further, when the collet chuck 30 is relatively moved so that the interrupt pin 88 is located in the rear end portion 87, the tip end portion is prevented from coming into contact with the stopper 25. 26A shows the state when the bottle holder 21 is at the toner supplying position B, and FIG. 26B shows the state when the bottle holder 21 is at the bottle mounting position A.

Next, a modified example of the toner supply unit 17 will be described. FIG. 27 is a front view of the toner replenishing unit 17 of this embodiment at the toner replenishing position B shown in FIG. 1B, FIG. 28 is a plan view of the unit 17, and FIG.
FIG. 29A is a right side view of the unit, and FIG.
FIG. 30 is a partially enlarged view seen from the direction of arrow A in FIG.
It is a front view of the toner replenishing unit 17 in the bottle mounting position A shown in (b). In these drawings, members corresponding to those in the toner replenishing unit 17 according to the above-described embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals. The toner replenishing unit 17 of this embodiment can also rotate about 90 degrees around the rotation center Z in a substantially horizontal plane as shown in FIG. The position A can be taken. In this way, the bottle holder 21 of the toner replenishing unit 17 is moved to the rotation center Z
As a mechanism for rotatably supporting the same, a mechanism similar to that of the above-described embodiment can be adopted. and again,
The toner replenishing unit 17 of this embodiment also includes a bottle locking mechanism for positioning the toner bottle 20 on the bottle holder 21, and a bolt motor 3 for rotationally driving the toner bottle 20 held by the bottle holder 21.
7. A gear link 38 for transmitting the drive from the bolt motor 37 to the toner bottle 20, a collet chuck 30 for holding the stopper 25 of the toner bottle 20 on the bottle holder 21, and a slide on the collet chuck 30. Freely attached core 39, collet chuck 30
It has a cam device for moving back and forth.

One of the differences between the toner replenishing unit 17 of the above embodiment and the toner replenishing unit 17 of this embodiment is that the cam device for moving the collet chuck 30 forward and backward is
In the toner replenishing unit 17, the bottle holder 21 is configured near the rotation center Z, whereas in the toner replenishing unit 17 of the present embodiment, the bottle holder 21 is located relatively far from the rotation center Z in the longitudinal direction. It is the point that is configured. That is, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 28, the copying machine facing the end of the bottle holder 21 at the toner replenishment position B farther from the rotation center Z (hereinafter referred to as the bottle holder moving end). A cam device 93 is composed of a cam member 97 fixed to the front plate 96 of the main body, and a flanged roller 95 attached to the bottle holder moving end side. The collared roller 95 is provided with a mounting plate 94 for rotatably supporting the roller, and a rear end portion of the toner bottle 20 (an end portion on the opposite side of the opening 23). On the side, the bottle holder 21 or the movable bracket 41 is movable back and forth with respect to the rear end portion.
Attached to the reciprocating bracket 89 attached to
The advancing / retreating bracket 89 and the arm member 99 fixed to the rear end of the collet chuck 30 with a screw 98 are connected by a connecting shaft 100 extending in the longitudinal direction of the bottle holder 21.

The cam member 97 has a pair of facing wall members 97a and 97b which guide the roller portion of the collared roller 95 from the side on the side surface and support the collared portion of the collared roller 95 from below. This moat member 97
The a and 97b are formed such that the closer they are to the front side plate, the smaller the distance from the rotation center Z of the bottle holder. Further, as shown in FIG. 29B, the front end of the fence member 97a on the toner bottle 20 side is near the completion of the movement of the bottle holder 21 from the bottle mounting position A to the toner replenishment position B. In order that the collared roller 95 attached to the bottle holder 21 side can start to be engaged smoothly, the sloped portion is low toward the front.

A forward / backward rod 90 having a bottle rear end abutting member 91 fixed to the front end is slidably supported by a boss portion 89a of a hole formed in the vertical wall portion of the forward / backward bracket 89, and Between the vertical wall portion and the bottle rear end abutting member 91, a bottle pressing spring 92 for urging to increase the distance between them is attached.

With the above construction, when the bottle holder 21 is at the toner replenishment position B as shown in FIGS. 27 and 28, the flanged roller 95 is moved by the cam member 97 to the most proximal end in the longitudinal direction of the bottle holder 21. It is in the state of being moved to the side, and this collar 95 with the collar and the connecting shaft 10
The collet chuck 30 connected via 0 or the like is also in the state of being moved to the most proximal side. In this state, as described later, the collet chuck 30 holds the stopper 25 at a position apart from the opening 23 of the toner bottle 20, whereby the stored toner can be discharged from the opening 23. Further, in the toner bottle 20, the end surface portion on the opening side is the end surface of the stopper cover 48 with the rear end portion being biased toward the base end portion side of the bottle holder by the bottle rear end contact member 91 and the pressing spring 92. Abut the
The bottle holder 21 is positioned in the longitudinal direction. That is, the bottle rear end contact member 91 and the like,
It constitutes a positioning mechanism for the toner bottle.

When the bottle holder 21 is moved from the toner supply position B to the bottle mounting position A,
The collared roller 95 is guided by the cam member 97 and is moved to the bottle moving end side, and the collet chuck 30 is also moved toward the opening 23 of the toner bottle 20 accordingly. While moving while being guided by the cam member 97, the distance between the advance / retreat bracket 89 to which the flanged roller 95 is attached and the stopper bottle 48 is equal to the length of the toner bottle 20 and the natural length of the pressing spring 92. Is smaller than the sum of the above, the insertion of the stopper 25 held by the collet chuck 30 into the opening 23 is completed while the bottle rear end contact member 91 is positioned with respect to the toner bottle 21. Here, when the stopper 25 is inserted into the opening 23, the rear end of the toner bottle 21 abuts on the bottle rear end abutting member 91 at the tip of the advancing / retreating rod 90, so that a sufficient plug inserting force can be generated. When inserting the stopper by moving the bottle holder 21 from the toner replenishment position B to the bottle mounting position A,
A cam member may be provided so that the rear end of the advancing / retreating rod 90 abuts and can continue to be pushed toward the collet chuck 30 side as compared with the advancing / retreating bracket 89.

As the bottle holder 21 moves further, the engagement between the collared roller 95 and the cam member 97 is released. Even after the disengagement, the state shown in FIG. 30 is reached when the bottle holder 21 is moved to complete the movement to the bottle mounting position A. That is, the opening 23 is the plug 2
5, the holding portion of the collet chuck 30 is widened to the extent that the grip portion 26 of the stopper 25 can be removed so that the toner bottle 20 can be replaced. Leave the bottle 20. Here, if the collet chuck 30 retracts to the bottle holder base end side for some reason after the engagement of the collared roller 95 and the cam member 97 is disengaged, the collet chuck 30 abuts the stopper cover 48 and stops. The large-diameter tip portion 63 (see FIG. 31) of the collet chuck 30 engages with the core 39 that is being held, the holding portion 33 is narrowed, and the picking portion 26 of the stopper 25 is held to cause a problem in taking out the toner bottle 20. It also makes it difficult to set a new toner bottle 20. Therefore, in the illustrated example, as shown in FIG. 28, the position of the rear end of the collet chuck 30 is regulated so that the collet chuck 30 does not retract while the engagement between the collared roller 95 and the cam member 97 is disengaged. Holder base side cam member 10 having a cam surface
1 is provided near the rotation center Z. The forward movement of the collet chuck 30 relative to the core 39 for expanding the holding portion 33 is also performed by the holder base end side cam member 10.
It is also possible to carry out the procedure by 1.

Contrary to the above, when moving from the bottle mounting position A to the toner replenishing position A, after the flanged roller 95 is engaged with the cam member 97, the advancing / retracting bracket 8 is moved.
9 and the collet chuck 30 move to the holder base end side, the toner bottle 20 is positioned, the stopper 25 is removed from the opening 23, and finally the state shown in FIGS.

Further, the toner replenishing unit 1 of the above embodiment
7 and the toner replenishing unit 17 of this embodiment, the holding portion 33 of the collet chuck 30 is expanded, but the holding portion 33 is sufficiently expanded in the toner replenishing unit 17 without applying an external force that narrows the holding portion 33. While the collet chuck 30 that is used is used to create a state in which such an external force is not applied, in the toner replenishing unit 17 of the present embodiment, an external force that expands the holding portion 33 is positively applied to the collet chuck 30. It is also different in that it is added to each other.

That is, as shown in FIG. 31 (a), in the collet chuck 30 of this embodiment, the narrow cracking portion 30a having a narrow cracking width is located behind the large cutting cracking portion 30b having a wider width. It is formed on the edge side. And
As shown in FIG. 31 (b), the core interrupt protrusion 102 that enters into, for example, all the cuts (three in the illustrated ribs) of the collet chuck 30 on the inner peripheral surface of the hole for sliding the collet chuck of the core 39. The core interruption projection 102 was attached so as to cut into the cut crack 62 of the collet chuck 30. Also, the illustrated collet chuck 3
3 has an abutting surface 104 which has a larger diameter portion 103 formed on the peripheral surface further on the tip side than the large diameter tip portion 63 and which stands substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction at the boundary between both portions. Was formed. The core 39 shown in the figure is the core 3 described with reference to FIG. 14 except that the core interrupt protrusion 102 is provided.
31 (a), reference numeral 105 in FIG. 31 (a) is a butt portion when the peripheral surface seal is formed by abutting the short sides of the strip seal material.

FIG. 32 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the positional relationship between the collet chuck 32 and the core 39 and the state of the holding section 33. The same (a) is the same relation when the core 39 hits the stopper cover 48 (not shown in the figure) and the position is regulated, for example, when the bottle holder 21 is in the bottle mounting position A. In this state, the core interrupt protrusion 102 of the core 39 has the narrow cut crack portion 30.
Located inside a, the holding portion 33 is positively expanded by the wedge action. Further, the same (b) is, for example, a bottle holder 2
1 is moved from the bottle mounting position A to the toner replenishment position B, the collared roller 95 and the cam member 97 are engaged with each other, and the collet chuck 33 is retracted to a certain degree. , The boss portion of the core 39 urged by the core spring 51 is engaged with the abutment surface 104 while being engaged with the large diameter tip of the collet chuck 33,
The holding part 33 is narrowed.

Further, the toner replenishing unit 1 of the above embodiment
7 and the toner replenishing unit 17 of this embodiment transmit the rotational force from the gear link 38 to the toner bottle 20, but in the toner replenishing unit 17, the bottle rib 57 is formed on the end surface of the toner bottle 20 on the opening side. While the link rib 58 is formed on the end face of the gear link 38, in the toner replenishing unit 17 of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 33, instead of the bottle rib 57, a concave portion 106 for engagement is formed and the link rib is formed. It is also different in that 58 is shaped so as to be able to engage with this engaging recess 106. However, also in the toner replenishing unit 17 of the present embodiment, for example, as shown in FIG. 34, it is possible to use the same rotational force transmitting method as that of the above-described apparatus. This FIG. 34 (d) shows an arrow A in FIG. 34 (b).
It is an inner view of the gear link seen from the direction.

Here, as shown in FIGS. 34 (a) and 34 (b), when the bottle rib 57 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the toner bottle 20, as shown in FIGS. 35 (a) to 35 (e). When molding the toner bottle 20 by molding resin,
It is desirable to form the bottle ribs 57 on the divided parts (parting line parts) of the mold at the time of molding. According to this, compared to the case where it is formed in the other portion, the bottle wall thickness of this portion can be made relatively thick. The number is not limited as long as it is a divided part of the mold. For example, in the illustrated two-divided mold, there are two parting lines, and in the four-divided mold, there are four such lines, so that an arbitrary number can be formed on these line portions.

From the gear link 38 to the toner bottle 2
In order to transmit the rotational force to 0, instead of forming the engaging concave portion 106 in the toner bottle as shown in FIG. 33, the protruding portion 8 on the inner surface of the shoulder portion of the toner bottle 20 is replaced.
The outer surface portion corresponding to 5 may be used for engagement with the link rib 58, which is an engagement portion on the gear link 38 side, or the like. FIG. 36 (a) is a perspective view showing an example thereof, and FIG. 36 (b).
Is a partial cross-sectional view thereof. In FIG. 36 (a), the gear link 38 is engaged with an outer surface portion (hereinafter, referred to as an outer surface of the protruding portion) 85 a of the toner bottle 20 corresponding to the protruding portion 85 so that the toner bottle is removed from the gear link 38. An engaging portion 200 that transmits the rotation to the gear 20 is formed, and the tip end side of the toner bottle 20 is connected to the gear link 3
The engaging portion 200 is engaged with the protruding portion outer surface 85a when it is inserted into the inside. FIG. 36 (b) is a partial cross-sectional view for explaining this engaged state. In the figure, reference numeral 200
Reference numeral a denotes a surface of the engaging portion 200 that directly engages with the outer surface 85a of the protruding portion. Due to the engagement of the protruding portion outer surface 85a and the engaging portion 200, which are substantially orthogonal to the rotation direction, the toner bottle 20 moves the gear link 38 around its axis.
It is driven to rotate integrally with. According to this, the toner bottle 2 is removed from the gear link 38 by utilizing the outer surface 85a of the protruding portion.
Since rotation is transmitted to 0, the bottle rib 57
It is not necessary to specially form a protrusion for transmitting rotation to the toner bottle 20 to the toner bottle 20, and the manufacturing cost of the toner bottle 20 can be reduced. Moreover, the rotation transmission can be surely performed by engaging the engaging portion 200 of the gear link 38 with the protruding portion outer surface 85a.

Further, as shown in FIG. 37 (a), in order to provide two engaging surfaces at the tip of the toner bottle 20, the toner bottle 20 is engaged at a position 180 ° away from the outer surface 85a of the protruding portion in the rotational direction. The mating surface 201 is formed and the gear link 3 is formed.
Two engaging portions 200 that engage with these engaging surfaces 85a and 201 may be formed on the shaft 8. In this case, the inner surface of the toner bottle 20 corresponding to the added engagement surface 201 may be configured to function as a protruding portion for lifting the toner. In FIG. 38, the protruding portion 85 (in the drawing, the protruding portion outer surface 8 is provided at the tip of the toner bottle 20 at 180 ° intervals around the axis so as to be symmetrical with each other about the axis.
Fig. 39 is a perspective view showing an example in which two
39A is a perspective view of the toner bottle 20, FIG. 39B is a partial view of the toner bottle 20 seen from the direction of arrow A in FIG. 39A, and FIG. It is a top view. In these drawings, the same parts as those in the toner bottle 20 of the above-described embodiments are designated by the same reference numerals. According to such a configuration, the toner bottle 2
While the 0 rotates once, the opening 23 along the protruding portion
Since the toner is guided to the toner bottle twice, the toner bottle 2
Opening 2 at the stage when the remaining amount of toner in 0 is low
The toner is ejected from No. 3 more favorably. Further, since there are two engagement points between the bottle-side engaging surface and the gear-link-side engaging portion for transmitting the rotation from the gear link 38 to the toner bottle 20, the gear link 38 to the toner bottle 20 is engaged. The rotation transmission is performed more reliably.

In the toner bottle 20 shown in the figure, a protrusion 204 is formed in a portion extending from the peripheral edge of the opening collar 24 to the shoulder 205. This is to prevent erroneous setting of the toner bottle 20. That is, since the characteristics (charging characteristics and color) of the toner to be used differ depending on the developing device, the toner bottle 20 containing the toner having the characteristic different from the toner planned to be used in the specific developing device is the toner replenishing unit. Need to be set to. Therefore, in this example, the size and formation position of the protrusion 204 are set in advance in accordance with the characteristics of the toner to be stored. When the toner bottle is completely inserted into the gear link 38, the protrusion 204
A recess is formed on the inner surface of the end wall of the gear link 38 corresponding to the above, into which the protrusion 204 of the toner bottle 20 containing the toner to be used can enter. As a result, when the toner bottle 20 containing the toner different from the intended use is set, the recess and the protrusion 204 of the gear link 38 are different in size and position, and the toner bottle to the gear link 38 is different. I am trying not to insert 20 completely. Contrary to this example, a recess may be formed on the toner bottle 20 side and a projection may be formed on the gear link side.

Further, from the gear link 38 to the toner bottle 2
In order to more reliably transmit rotation to 0, or
In order to perform better toner discharge when the toner remaining amount in the toner bottle 20 is low, the number of engagement points between the bottle side engagement surface and the gear link side engagement portion is set to three or more. Alternatively, the protruding portions 85 may be provided at three or more places. Also in this case, it is desirable that three or more engaging portions and protruding portions are located at equal intervals in the rotation direction. FIG. 40A is a toner in which the protruding portion 85 (the outer surface 85 a of the protruding portion is shown in the drawing) and the engaging portion 203 are alternately formed at intervals of 90 ° in the rotation direction of the toner bottle 20. 39B is a perspective view of the bottle 20, FIG. 19B is a partial view of the toner bottle 20 seen from the direction of arrow A in FIG. 39A, and FIG. 39C is a plan view of the toner bottle 20. In these drawings, the same parts as those in the toner bottle 20 of the above-described embodiments are designated by the same reference numerals.

Further, the engagement portion on the gear link 38 side is formed more than the engagement surface of the toner bottle 20 to improve the operability of inserting the tip of the toner bottle 20 into the gear link 38. good. 41 is a perspective view showing an example thereof, FIG. 42 (a) is a view of the gear link 38 of the same example as seen from the direction of arrow B in FIG. 41, and FIG. 42 (b) is X- in FIG. 41 (a). An X sectional view, FIG. 42C shows the toner bottle 20 of the same example.
FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which insertion of the tip end into the gear link 38 is completed.

In FIG. 41, the toner bottle 2 of this example is shown.
0 is the same as the toner bottle 20 in FIG. 39, and two protruding portions 85 are formed at 180 ° intervals around the axis so as to be symmetrical with each other around the axis, and the outer surface of each protruding portion is 0. 85a is used as an engaging surface. Then, on the inner surface of the end wall of the gear link 38, four arc-shaped rims 202 having a cross section projecting in the axial direction are formed at 90 ° intervals around the axis line so as to be symmetrical to each other around the axis line. . As shown in FIG. 42 (b), these rims 202 are shaped such that the upper edge portion 202b of the gear link 38 on the toner bottle insertion port side is inclined at an angle α. When the toner bottle is inserted into the gear link 38, this inclination α is even if the portion extending from the peripheral edge of the opening collar 24 of the toner bottle 20 shown in FIG. 41 to the shoulder 205 collides with the upper edge portion 202b. This is for allowing the toner bottle 20 to be smoothly inserted while being slid along and rotating. For smooth insertion, it is desirable to set this inclination α to less than 30 °. Then, the surface 20 facing the axis of the rim 202
2a engages with the outer surface 85a of the protruding portion of the toner bottle 30 and transmits the rotation of the gear link 38 to the toner bottle 20.

According to this example, even if the portion from the peripheral edge of the opening collar 24 of the toner bottle 20 to the shoulder 205 collides with the upper edge portion 202b, the toner bottle 20 is slid and rotated along the inclination α. However, the toner bottle 20 can be continuously inserted smoothly.

[0071]

In the developer supplying apparatus according to claim 1 to 1 1, according to the present invention is a developer accommodating container in a state where the opening is sealed by a removable plug, the opening in the developer inlet portion When it is held by the container holding means, the stopper removing means automatically removes the stopper from the opening, whereby the developer storage container exchanger holds the developer storage container in the container holding means. Since the developer can be replenished only by doing so, it is possible to save the labor for the person who replaces the developer storage container to open the opening of the developer storage container, and the developer storage container replacement work becomes easier. Further, unlike the case where the developer storage container exchanger opens the opening of the developer storage container and then places the developer storage container on the container holding means of the developer supply device, the opening of the developer storage container is opened. There is no fear that the developer will leak from this opening after the completion of the placement on the container holding means. In particular, the developer supply device according to claim 2, in a state where current image agent container is held by the container holding means, the plug mounting means, automatically, the opening of the container, the opening A stopper for sealing is attached, which allows the developer storage container exchanger to, for example, in a state where the opening is sealed with the plug when the storage container becomes empty,
Since the developer accommodating container can be taken out from the container holding means, the developer accommodating container exchanger can take out the developer accommodating container from the container holding means without dropping the developer adhering to the inner surface of the opening or the like. This makes it easy to replace the developer storage container.

[0072] Further, in the developer supplying apparatus according to claim 1, said plug removal means, constituted by a collet chuck, a reciprocating movement means, the clamping control means in該挾lifting control means, said collet chuck and the When the distance between the containers is a predetermined distance, the holding portion of the collet chuck is maintained in an open state so that the protrusion can enter, and as the distance is increased by the advancing / retracting moving means, the collet chuck is increased. The holding portion of the plug is narrowed to hold the protruding portion of the stopper. As described above, when the distance is the predetermined distance, the holding portion of the collet chuck is in the open state, so that the developer accommodating containers having the protrusions can be easily exchanged with each other. Further, when removing the stopper, as the distance is increased by the advancing / retreating moving means, the holding portion of the collet chuck is narrowed to hold the protruding portion of the stopper, thereby ensuring that the stopper is held. By further increasing the distance, the plug can be removed from the opening.

Further, in the developer replenishing device according to the second aspect of the present invention, the holding release means reduces the distance between the collet chuck and the container by the advancing / retreating movement means, and the opening portion of the opening is formed by the stopper held by the collet chuck. Simultaneously with or before and after the completion of sealing, the gripping portion of the collet chuck is expanded to release the gripping of the protrusion, so that after mounting the plug, this plug is used to replace the developer storage container. The developer storage container attached with can be easily taken out.

Further, in the developer replenishing device of the third aspect , the core which is slidable on the collet chuck and is always urged to the opening side of the developer accommodating container by the urging means is used. Since this is opposed to the large-diameter portion of the collet chuck, which is larger than the holding portion, and the engaging portion is engaged with the large-diameter portion, the holding portion is narrowed. It is possible to securely remove the stopper. Further, since the slidable core on the collet chuck is made to face the large-diameter portion of the collet chuck so as to narrow the sandwiching portion, an engaging member that narrows the sandwiching portion at a position away from the sandwiching portion is provided. As compared with the case where they are engaged, it is possible to suppress the collet chuck from sagging. Further, when the distance is the predetermined distance, the core movement restricting means restricts the movement of the core against the biasing force of the biasing means, and the core is opposed to the small diameter portion of the collet chuck. Since the holding part is kept open so that the protruding part of the stopper can enter,
The developer accommodating container having the opening sealed with the stopper can be smoothly attached to the position where the protrusion of the stopper can be held by the holding portion of the collet chuck. Further, when the distance is the predetermined distance, the urging means is used to face the core to the small diameter portion of the collet chuck and maintain the holding portion in the open state so that the protrusion of the stopper can enter. Since the core movement restricting means for restricting the movement of the core against the urging force of the core is used, a relatively strong urging means is used to surely maintain the open state of the holding part. it can. Therefore, a relatively strong urging means is used to strengthen the engagement between the core and the large diameter part of the collet chuck when the plug is removed, whereby the holding part holds the plug. It is also possible to securely hold the protrusion.

Further, in the developer replenishing device of the fourth aspect , the core which is slidable on the collet chuck and is always urged by the urging means toward the opening of the developer container is provided. A wedge effect is created by providing a protrusion and inserting this protrusion into a part of the collet chuck that has a narrower cutting width than the rear end of the crack, and the gripping part of the collet chuck is expanded, so the gripping release of the collet chuck is ensured. Can be done. Therefore, when the developer accommodating container is mounted at a position where the protruding portion of the plug that seals the opening can be held by the holding portion of the collet chuck, it is possible to reliably prevent the protruding portion from being caught by the holding portion. .

Further, in the developer replenishing device of the fifth aspect, when the developer accommodating container on the container holding means is positioned at a predetermined position by the container positioning means, the biasing means is provided at the edge of the opening. While restricting the movement of the core against the biasing force of the core, the core is opposed to the small diameter portion of the collet chuck, and the holding portion is maintained in the open state so that the protruding portion of the stopper can enter. When the developer accommodating container is taken out from the container holding means, when the core is moved by a predetermined amount by the urging means, the movement is restricted by the restricting member so that the gripping part of the collet chuck is made to protrude from the stopper. Therefore, even when the developer storage container is taken out from the container holding means, the holding part of the collet chuck can be kept open so that the protruding part of the stopper can enter. That. Further, when the developer storage container is taken out of the container holding means, the core is moved by the biasing means in the predetermined direction by a predetermined amount, so that the core is attached to the edge of the opening of the developer storage container. If the shape is such that it can come into contact with the developer container, the developer accommodating container can be pushed out through the edge during the movement of the predetermined amount, so that the stopper projection can be reliably removed from the holding portion.

Further, in the developer replenishing device of the sixth aspect, the engaging portion of the container positioning means, which is constantly urged by the urging means to the peripheral surface side of the developer accommodating container, has the developer accommodating container. The developer accommodating container is positioned on the container holding means by engaging with the concave or convex engaging portion formed on the peripheral wall of the container. Therefore, this engaging portion resists the urging force of the urging means. Positioning can be released by a simple operation of moving the peripheral wall away from the peripheral wall. Further, when the developer accommodating container is taken out of the container holding means for replacement of the developer accommodating container, the engaging portion of the container positioning means and the peripheral portion are manually operated by the developer accommodating container exchanger. At the moment when the engagement with the engaging portion of the surface is released, the developer accommodating container is moved by a predetermined amount by the urging means,
As a result, even if the engaging portion of the container positioning means returns toward the peripheral surface of the developer storage container again by the urging force of the urging means immediately after the disengagement by the manual operation, the engaging portion still remains. Since the engagement portion on the peripheral surface of the developer accommodating container is not re-engaged, the positioning of the developer accommodating container can be reliably released. Therefore, the developer container can be reliably freed from the container holding means.

Further, in the developer replenishing device according to the seventh aspect , the developer accommodating container is a cover provided with an end face wall having a hole portion through which the collet chuck is formed and a peripheral wall covering the periphery of the collet chuck. It is possible to prevent the developer from scattering from the opening of the device. A peripheral surface is provided between the peripheral surface of the core and an inner surface of the peripheral wall, which is slidably mounted on the collet chuck and has an end surface part that can be constantly urged toward the container. Sealing is performed with a sealing member, whereby the developer near the opening of the container is scattered from the hole of the cover through the gap between the peripheral surface of the core and the inner surface of the peripheral wall, It is possible to prevent the developer from splashing to the outside through the hole because it is prevented from wrapping around the hole of the collect chuck. Further, the end face sealing member is used to seal between the end face portion of the core and the brim portion of the stopper, whereby the developer is attached to the outer end face of the stopper, particularly the protrusion on the outer end face. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the collet chuck from being poorly held by the developer adhering to the protrusion, and to prevent the developer from adhering to the hand or clothes of the developer exchanger.

Further, in the developer replenishing device of the eighth aspect, the peripheral surface sealing member of the seventh aspect is configured to have a multi-stage sealing structure in the axial direction of the core, so that the sealing performance is improved. The sliding of the core on the collet chuck can be made smooth.

Further, in the developer replenishing device of the ninth aspect , the multi-stage sealing structure of the eighth aspect comprises a plurality of strip-shaped sealing materials, each of which surrounds the peripheral surface of the core, and the short sides thereof abut each other. The plurality of strip-shaped sealing materials are provided in a shape, and each has a shape in which the short sides of the sealing material surround the core circumferential surface and the short sides thereof face each other, and are adhered to the core circumferential surface or the cover inner circumferential surface. Since it suffices to attach the seal member, the workability of attaching the seal member is good, and the manufacturing is easy. Further, in the case of such a butt structure, some gaps are formed in the butt portion due to the component tolerance, but the position of the butt portion is different between the seal materials adjacent to each other in the axial direction of the core as described above. Since it is provided as described above, it is possible to suppress the developer leakage from the gap of the abutting portion.

[0081] Further, in the developer supplying apparatus of claim 10, the face seal member according to claim 7, the surface in contact with at least the flange portion, the developer is formed with hard tetrafluoroethylene or ethylene resin adhesion Further, it is possible to reduce the adhesion of the developer to the stopper, and to reduce the wasteful consumption of the developer and the stain of the developer on the hands and clothes of the developer exchanger due to the adherence of the developer to the stopper.

Further, in the developer replenishing device of the eleventh aspect, as the peripheral surface sealing member of the seventh aspect, the elastic body mainly having the elasticity in the circumferential direction is provided on the elastic body mainly having the elasticity in the circumferential direction. A laminated annular seal member is used, and the seal member is attached to the peripheral surface of the core. As described above, since the annular seal member mainly having the elastic layer that is rich in the circumferential direction is used, the seal member can be attached to the core by an operation such as setting a rubber band. It has good properties and can be attached without using an adhesive. Further, since the elastic body mainly having the elasticity in the thickness direction is laminated on the layer of the elastic body mainly having the elasticity in the circumferential direction, the sealing property is also good. In addition, since the functions are divided into each material in this way, there is plenty of room for selecting the material.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1A is a front view showing a schematic configuration of a copying machine according to an embodiment. (B) is the same top view.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing a schematic configuration of a developing device of the copying machine.

FIG. 3A is a front view of a toner bottle of the copying machine.
(B) is a partially enlarged view of the bottle.

FIG. 4A to FIG. 4C are process diagrams of removing the stopper from the toner bottle.

FIG. 5A is a perspective view of a stopper according to a modification. (B) is a perspective view of a stopper according to another modification. (C) is a perspective view of the stopper which concerns on a further modification.

FIG. 6 is a front view of the toner supply unit according to the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a part of an exploded perspective view of the unit.

FIG. 8 is another part of the exploded perspective view.

9A and 9B are explanatory views of a collet chuck of the same unit.

10A and 10B are explanatory views of a collet chuck of the same unit.

11A and 11B are explanatory views of a collet chuck of the same unit.

FIG. 12A is another part of an exploded perspective view of the unit. (B) is a partial cross-sectional perspective view of the toner bottle.

FIG. 13A is an explanatory diagram of a collet chuck of the unit. (B) is explanatory drawing of the stopper of the toner bottle which concerns on a modification. FIG. 6C is an explanatory diagram of a toner bottle according to a modified example.

14 (a) to 14 (e) are explanatory views of components of the core in FIG.

FIG. 15 is a graph showing the relationship between the unit operating force and the diameter of the toner bottle.

FIG. 16 is a perspective view of a stopper cover and a collet shaft according to a modification.

17A to 17D are explanatory views of the operation of the modified example.

18A to 18D are explanatory views of other operations of the modification.

FIG. 19A is a perspective view of a stopper. (B) is sectional drawing of the same stopper. (C) is explanatory drawing of the force which concerns on a stopper at the time of plug attachment / detachment. (D) Explanatory drawing of the stopper concerning a modification.

FIG. 20A is a front view of the toner bottle with a cap attached. (B) is a rear view of the bottle.
(C) is a rear view of the bottle. (C) is a left side view of the bottle. (D) is a right side view of the bottle. (E) is a plan view of the bottle. (F) is a bottom view of the bottle. (G) is a plan view of the bottle with the cap removed.

FIG. 21 (a) is an enlarged view of the end face of the AA cut portion of FIG. 20 (a). (B) is a perspective view of the bottle. (C) is a partially enlarged view of (a). FIG. 23D is a sectional view of the bottle taken along the line BB in FIG. 23C.

FIG. 22A is a front view of the toner bottle for explaining how to guide the toner by the protruding portion and the opening protruding portion. FIG. 6B is a front view of the toner bottle when rotated 90 degrees from the state of FIG. (C) is a right side view of the toner bottle of (a). (D) is a right side view of the toner bottle of (b).

23A is a front view of the toner bottle when it is rotated 90 degrees from the state of FIG. 23B. FIG. FIG. 6B is a front view of the toner bottle when rotated 90 degrees from the state of FIG.
(C) is a right side view of the toner bottle of (a). (D) is a right side view of the toner bottle of (b).

FIG. 24A is a partial cross-sectional view of a toner bottle according to a modified example of the inner surface of the peripheral wall. FIG. 6B is a right side view of the toner bottle according to the modified example of the mouth portion. FIG. 6C is a front view of a toner bottle according to a modified example of the outer surface of the peripheral wall.

FIG. 25 is a graph showing the relationship between the rotation speed of the toner bottle and the amount of toner remaining in the toner bottle without being discharged from the opening.

FIG. 26A is an explanatory diagram of an operating state of a collet chuck according to a modified example. (B) is explanatory drawing of the other operating state of the collet chuck which concerns on a modification.

FIG. 27 is a front view of a toner replenishing unit according to another embodiment at the toner replenishment position.

FIG. 28 is a plan view of the unit.

FIG. 29A is a right side view of the unit. (B) is the elements on larger scale which looked at the same unit from the arrow A direction in FIG.

FIG. 30 is a front view of the toner replenishing unit in the bottle mounting position.

FIG. 31A is an exploded perspective view of a collet chuck and a core of the unit. (B) is a front view of the same core.

FIG. 32 (a) is an explanatory view of an operating state of the collet chuck. (B) is explanatory drawing of the other operating state of the collet chuck.

FIG. 33 is a partially enlarged view of the toner bottle of the unit.

FIG. 34A is a front view showing a modified example of the toner bottle in the unit. (B) is a right side view of the toner bottle. (C) is sectional drawing of the gear link for the toner bottle.
(D) is a view of the link viewed from the direction of arrow A in (c).

FIG. 35A to FIG. 35E are process diagrams of a method for manufacturing a toner bottle according to an embodiment.

FIG. 36A is a perspective view of a toner bottle and a cylindrical link according to a modification. (B) is an explanatory view of a state in which the toner bottle is inserted into the tubular link.

FIG. 37 is a perspective view of a toner bottle and a cylindrical link according to another modification.

FIG. 38 is a perspective view of a toner bottle and a cylindrical link according to still another modification.

FIG. 39A is a perspective view of a toner bottle according to a modification. (B) is a partial view of the toner bottle. FIG. 3C is a plan view of the toner bottle.

FIG. 40A is a perspective view of a toner bottle according to a modification. (B) is a partial view of the toner bottle. FIG. 3C is a plan view of the toner bottle.

FIG. 41 is a perspective view of a toner bottle and a cylindrical link according to still another modification.

FIG. 42 (a) is an explanatory view of the inside of the tubular link.
(B) is sectional drawing of the same cylindrical link. (C) is an explanatory view of a state in which the toner bottle is inserted in the cylindrical link.

[Explanation of symbols]

5 Development device 11 Developing roller 16 hopper 16a toner receiver 17 Toner supply unit 18 Toner transport screw 19 Toner supply roller 20 toner bottle 21 bottle holder 22 Rotating shaft 23 opening 24 colors 25 stopper 26 Picking part 27 guide groove 28 Color rib 29 screw cap 30 collet chuck 31 Support wall 32 holes 32a Plug removal mechanism 33 Holding part 34 axes 35 Toner feed plate 36 Bottle locking mechanism 37 Bottle Motor 38 gear link 39 Core 40 cam device 41 Movable bracket 42 Fixed bracket 43 Lower pin 44 Upper pin 45 stay 46 fixing screw 47 Receiver 48 Stopper cover 48a Link stopper 49 Toner drop opening 50 Boss 51 core spring 52 Locking member 53 biasing spring 54 protruding ring-shaped part 54a Vertical engagement surface 54b inclined surface 55 gears 56 teeth 57 Bottle Ribs 58 Link rib 59 Color part seal 60 sponge seal 61 Flexible thin plate seal 62 cracks 63 Large diameter tip 64 small diameter rear end 65 collar part 66 collar part 67 Slider 68 plate cam member 69 chuck shaft 70 Roll 71 1st cam surface part 72 Second cam surface portion 73 Projection for hitting 74 torso 75 Peripheral seal member 76 collar part 77 Boss 78 End face seal member 79 cam slit 80 sliding pins 81 Peripheral wall part for fitting 82 Bottom wall 83 Connecting peripheral wall 84 Sawtooth shape 85 The approaching part 86 Opening part in the opening 87 rear end 88 interrupt pin 89 Advance bracket 90 advance / retreat bar 91 Bottle rear end contact member 92 Bottle pressing spring 93 Cam device 94 Mounting plate 95 Collar with collar 96 front plate 97 Cam member 98 screw 99 arm member 100 connecting shaft 101 Holder-side cam member 102 core interrupt protrusion 103 Larger diameter part 104 Abutting surface 105 Butt 106 recess for engagement A Bottle mounting position B Toner supply position Z rotation center

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Nobuhiro Makida 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Within Ricoh Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Seiji Ozawa 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo No. Stock Company Ricoh (72) Inventor Shigeru Yoshiki 1-3-3 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Stock Company Ricoh (72) Inventor Takaaki Yanagisawa 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo (56) References JP 62-195691 (JP, A) JP 59-188678 (JP, A) JP 3-217879 (JP, A) SAIKAI 2-35149 (JP , U) (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G03G 13/08-13/095 G03G 15/08-15/095

Claims (11)

(57) [Claims] 1. A developer accommodating container which is attachable to and detachable from a main body of an apparatus and has an opening for discharging the contained developer sealed by a stopper removable from the container, and a developing section. A developer replenishing device for an image forming apparatus, the container replenishing device communicating with a developer introducing part for holding the container and holding the storage container with its opening facing the developer introducing part. From the opening by moving the stopper of the container held by the container holding means in a state where the opening is sealed to the outside of the storage container by a removable stopper, away from the storage container. A plug removing means for removing the plug is provided , and the plug removing means inserts a protrusion formed on the plug.
A collet chuck for holding and holding the stopper;
Let the chuck and at least one of the containers
And a collet chuck for moving back and forth by moving the collet chuck.
When the distance between the containers is a predetermined distance, the collet chuck
Keep the gripping part of the hook open so that the protrusion can enter
And the distance is increased by the advancing / retreating moving means.
The gripping part of the collet chuck is narrowed as
And a holding control means for holding the protrusion of the stopper.
A developer replenishing device characterized by the above. 2. A device body can be freely attached to and detached from.
The opening for discharging the stored developer.
Developer storage sealed by a removable plug from the container
Communicates with the container and the developer introduction part to the developing part, and stores it
The container is held with its opening facing the developer introducing portion.
Of an image forming apparatus including container holding means for
In the replenishing device, the opening is provided outside the storage container by a removable plug.
The container held by the container holding means in a sealed state
Move the stopper of the container away from the container
The stopper removing means to be removed from the opening, and the opening of the container held by the container holding means,
Plug attaching means for attaching a plug for sealing the opening
And the plug attaching means is inserted between the protrusions formed on the plug.
A collet chuck for holding and holding the stopper;
Let the chuck and at least one of the containers
And moving back and forth to move back and forth, and by the moving back and forth
Reduce the distance between the collet chuck and the container to reduce
Sealing the opening with the stopper held by the let chuck
At the same time as or before and after the stop is completed, the collet char
The grip of the hook is opened to release the grip of the protrusion.
A developer replenishing device characterized by being configured with a holding release means.
Place 3. The developer replenishing device according to claim 1, wherein the holding control means is provided on an outer peripheral surface of the collet chuck.
The formed large-diameter portion and the holding portion sandwiching the large-diameter portion are opposite to each other.
Slidably mounted on the small diameter part formed on the opposite outer peripheral surface
The core that has been scraped off, and the core that is always opened in the developer storage container.
And a biasing means for biasing the collimator to engage the large diameter portion.
Engagement provided on the core that can narrow the holding part of the tochuck
When the joint portion and the distance are the predetermined distance, the urging means
Core movement that restricts the movement of the core against the biasing force of
A developer replenishing device, characterized in that it is configured with a regulating means.
Place 4. The developer replenishing device according to claim 2, wherein the holding means is slid on the collet chuck.
Installed on the ground and store developer constantly by urging means
The core biased toward the opening of the container and the collet chuck
Cut into the crack, and cut from the rear end of the crack.
The collet char exhibits a wedge effect in narrow spaces.
Projection provided on the core, which can expand the holding portion of the hook
And the distance is set by the advancing / retreating moving means, and the sealing is completed.
When it finishes or becomes smaller by the distance before and after that
The movement of the core against the urging force of the urging means.
The width of the cut portion of the cut crack.
Core moving rule for relatively moving from this to the narrow part
A developer replenishing device characterized in that the developer replenishing device is constituted by a control means. 5. The developer replenishing device according to claim 3, wherein the developer accommodating container held by the container holding means is:
The edge of the opening functions as the core movement restricting means.
Position against the urging force of the urging means.
The container positioning means and the developer storage container are
When the collet chuck is removed from the holding means,
With respect to the container positioning means
At a position farther than the edge of the opening of the developer container,
It regulates the movement of the core and functions as the above-mentioned core movement regulation means.
And a regulation member for controlling the developer supply device.
Place 6. The developer replenishing device according to claim 5 , wherein a concave or convex engaging portion is provided on the peripheral wall of the developer accommodating container.
Forming the container positioning means, the engaging portion of the developer
An operating position for engaging the engaging portion of the storage container, and the operating position
Move between the retracted position farther away from the peripheral surface than
So that the engaging portion always urges toward the peripheral surface side.
A developer replenishing device characterized in that 7. The developer replenishing device according to claim 1 or 2.
Te, holding the collet chuck in place of the container holding means
Supports the above-mentioned developer storage container that can be carried forward and backward
And a hole through which the collet chuck passes is formed.
And a peripheral wall that covers the periphery of the collet chuck.
Freely slides on the collet chuck with the cover equipped with
Attached to the container and held on the container holding means
Equipped with an end face that can abut the flange of the plug that seals the opening of the
And the core that is constantly urged toward the container side, and the core
Peripheral surface sealing member for sealing between the peripheral surface and the inner surface of the peripheral wall
And an end face seal for sealing between the end face and the flange of the stopper.
A developer replenishing device, characterized in that the developer replenishing device is provided. 8. A developer replenishing device according to claim 7, wherein said peripheral surface seal member is provided with a multi-stage seal in the axial direction of said core.
Developer having a roll structure
Supply device. 9. The developer replenishing device according to claim 8, wherein a plurality of strip-shaped seal materials are provided on the core circumferential surface, respectively.
Enclose the core so that the short sides thereof face each other, and
The position of the abutting portion between the short sides of the core is the axis of the core.
Set differently between adjacent seal materials in
Developer replenishing device characterized by a stepped seal structure
Place 10. The developer replenishing device according to claim 7 , wherein at least the flange portion of the end face seal member is contacted.
The surface is made of tetrafluoroethylene resin.
Developer supply device. 11. The developer replenishing device according to claim 7, wherein the peripheral surface sealing member is an elastic member mainly in the circumferential direction.
An elastic body, which is rich in elasticity mainly in the thickness direction, is laminated on the elastic body.
An annular seal member is used, and the seal member is attached to the inner peripheral surface of the core.
A developer replenishing device characterized by being attached to
Place