JP4036759B2 - Toner supply container - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a toner supply container that contains toner for developing a latent image into a visible image in an image forming apparatus or the like.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, in order to develop and visualize an electrostatic latent image on a photosensitive member in an electrophotographic copying machine, a facsimile machine, a printer, or a multifunction device in which the functions of these devices are combined into one device. The device is in use. This developing device is equipped with a toner supply container filled with toner. In a black and white image forming apparatus, charged black toner is used, and in a color image forming apparatus, charged yellow, magenta, cyan, and black toner are used. The electrostatic latent image is developed by being conveyed from the toner supply container onto the photoreceptor.
[0003]
In addition, the toner supply container is provided as an empty container on the developing device, and if necessary, a toner hopper that can be replenished with toner from another container such as a bottle or a pre-filled toner that can be easily added to the developing device. There are a toner supply container in the form of a removable toner cartridge, and an image forming unit in which a photoconductor, a developing device, and a predetermined amount of toner are integrally formed as an image forming unit.
[0004]
When the toner of a certain image forming apparatus is consumed in a place where a plurality of image forming apparatuses having toner supply containers of various forms are used at the same time, the toner supply containing other toners There is a case where the container is used by mistake or the toner of another image forming apparatus filled in the bottle is mistakenly supplied to the toner hopper, the toner cartridge or the image forming unit. In such a case, since toner having different characteristics is supplied to the developing device, a predetermined visible image is not formed, and in the worst case, the developing device may need to be overhauled.
[0005]
In addition, after the toner in the toner supply device is consumed, if the image forming apparatus is continuously used, the image deterioration proceeds, and in the worst case, a powdery developer that serves to carry the toner onto the photoreceptor is constituted. In some cases, the carrier to be deteriorated rapidly, and the developer or carrier or the developing device itself needs to be replaced.
[0006]
For this reason, in the toner supply container filled with the toner, the life is calculated in advance, and there is a demand for a measure that does not cause the above problem when the life is reached. For example, in Patent Document 1, when the lifespan of a toner cartridge and an image forming apparatus is the same, a toner collection container that performs a predetermined number of image formations and collects toner that has not been transferred to a recording medium becomes full. If the image formation continues after that, a problem occurs. Therefore, a means for preventing the mounted toner cartridge from being removed and displaying the end of life has been proposed.
[0007]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-100519
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, the method according to Patent Document 1 is effective when the lifetimes of the image forming apparatus and the toner cartridge are the same, and since the toner cartridge is locked and unloaded, the image forming apparatus cannot be used, and the toner hopper This method cannot be used in the case of an apparatus configured such that the image forming apparatus can be used by continuously replenishing toner.
[0009]
Also, if the image formation with a large amount of toner continues, the toner cartridge will be emptied before the image forming apparatus reaches the predetermined life, and the image forming apparatus cannot be used satisfactorily due to the deterioration of image quality. become.
[0010]
The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and when the toner supply container supplies a predetermined amount of toner to the developing device and the life is reached, the toner supply from the toner supply container cannot be supplied. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a toner supply container provided with means for preventing the toner supply container from being replenished and used with toner having different characteristics by mistake.
[0011]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, in a toner supply container that is attached to a developing device and supplies a predetermined amount of filled toner to the developing device by rotating a toner supply roller of a toner supply mechanism section. When a substantially predetermined amount of toner is supplied to the developing device, a toner supply roller rotation stopping unit is provided to stop the rotation of the toner supply roller that is rotated by the driving force transmitted from the driving unit.
[0012]
According to the present invention, the toner supply roller rotation stopping means includes a stopper provided in a speed reduction mechanism that engages with a rotation shaft of the toner supply roller and decelerates the rotation of the toner supply roller. The rotation of the toner supply roller is stopped by causing the rotor fixed to the rotation shaft of the toner supply roller to stop by rotating and moving from the initial position to a predetermined position by the deceleration mechanism. Let
[0013]
While the toner supply roller rotation stopping means engages with the rotation shaft of the toner supply roller and decelerates the rotation of the toner supply roller, a stopper provided in the deceleration mechanism portion supplies a substantially predetermined amount of toner. The rotational mechanism is rotated from the initial position to a predetermined position by the speed reduction mechanism unit, and the coupling of the rotary connector that transmits the drive to the rotation shaft of the toner supply roller between the drive unit and the rotation shaft of the toner supply roller is released. As a result, the rotation of the toner supply roller is stopped.
[0014]
Further, the speed reduction mechanism unit is responsive to a ratio between a rotational speed at which the toner supply roller rotates to supply the predetermined amount of toner and a rotational speed at which the stopper rotates from the initial position to the predetermined position. Has a reduction ratio.
[0015]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, the details of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the main part of the image forming apparatus.
[0016]
In FIG. 1, the main part of image formation includes a developing device 1, a toner supply container 10, a photoconductor 15 that rotates in the D direction and forms an electrostatic latent image on its surface by a main charger 16 and exposure 18. The image forming apparatus includes a developing device 1 that develops an electrostatic latent image into a toner image, and a fixing device 19 that fixes the toner image transferred from the photoreceptor 15 to the paper P by the transfer charger 17.
[0017]
In the case of the two-component development method, the developing device 1 includes a developer 5 in which a carrier and toner are mixed at a predetermined ratio and stirred by a stirring roller 3 that rotates in the B direction, for example. 5 is carried to the surface of the adjacent photoconductor 15 by the developing roller 2 rotating in the C direction, and the electrostatic latent image on the photoconductor 15 is developed. A toner concentration detector 4 is attached inside the developing device 1 so as to always contact the developer 5 to be stirred. A toner supply container 10 filled with a predetermined amount of toner 13 is mounted on the upper portion of the developing device 1, and the toner supply roller 12 of the toner supply mechanism unit 11 is rotated in the A direction as necessary, whereby the toner is supplied. 13 is supplied to the developing device 1.
[0018]
In the configuration as described above, the fact that the amount of toner contained in the developer 5 during the image forming process is small, that is, that the toner concentration has become lower than a predetermined value, is the toner concentration detector 4 in the developing device 1. Is detected, the toner supply roller 12 is rotated in the A direction by a control device and a drive device (not shown) to supply the toner 13 to the developing device 1. The toner supply is performed until the toner concentration detector 4 detects that the toner concentration of the developer 5 supplied with the toner 13 is a predetermined concentration. Although not shown and described, in a one-component developing type developing device, it is understood that the developer 5 is replaced with toner 13 for one-component developing method, and the toner concentration detector 4 is replaced with a toner level detector. easy. In the case of the one-component developing method, when the toner in the developing device 1 is consumed and the level thereof is lowered, the toner 13 for the one-component developing method is similarly supplied from the toner supply container 10.
[0019]
In some cases, the user may perform an image forming operation in parallel with the above-described process. In this case, the toner 13 contained in the developer 5 or, in the case of the one-component development method, the toner for the one-component development method. Since 13 is consumed, the toner supply operation may continue for a long time. As described above, the supply of the toner 13, that is, the rotation of the toner supply roller 12, is performed in proportion to the amount of toner consumed by forming an image.
[0020]
Next, the toner supply mechanism of the first embodiment used in the toner supply container of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of the toner supply mechanism unit according to the first embodiment, and FIG. 2A is a diagram illustrating a state at the start of use of the toner supply container. The toner supply mechanism unit 11 is driven by a drive system (not shown) during toner supply and rotates in the direction of arrow E. The toner supply roller 12 is fixed to the rotation shaft 20 and rotates simultaneously with the rotation shaft 20. A reduction mechanism 21 that engages with the gear 22 on the rotation shaft 20 to decelerate the rotation of the rotation shaft 20 is configured.
[0021]
When the image forming operation is performed by the user and the toner is consumed, the toner concentration of the developer 5 shown in FIG. 1 becomes a predetermined concentration or less, and the toner concentration detector 4 detects this and shows The controller that does not drive drives the rotating shaft 20 to rotate the paddle 14 of the toner supply roller 12. When the paddle 14 rotates, the toner 13 is scraped off and supplied to the developing device 1. When the toner 13 is supplied in this way, the gear 23 that engages with the gear 22 of the speed reduction mechanism portion 21 formed on the rotating shaft 20 rotates, and then the rotation is sequentially transmitted as the gear 24 and the gear 25. Thus, the stopper 26 fixed to the shaft of the gear 25 is gradually rotated in the direction of the arrow F. The rotor 27 fixed to the rotating shaft 20 also rotates in the direction of arrow E together with the rotating shaft 20.
[0022]
FIG. 2B is a diagram illustrating when the toner life has expired, and is a diagram illustrating a state in which the stopper 26 has moved to the end position. When the toner 13 is consumed and the rotary shaft 20 reaches a predetermined rotational speed, the stopper 26 rotates from the initial position in FIG. 2A and reaches the end position shown in FIG. A reduction ratio of 21 is set. For example, if the toner supply container 10 of FIG. 1 is filled with 100 grams of toner 13 in advance, the rotation shaft 20 rotates approximately in proportion to the toner consumption, so that the rotation shaft that consumes 100 grams of toner 13 is consumed. Twenty revolutions can be calculated in advance. What is necessary is just to set the reduction ratio of the initial position and the deceleration mechanism part 21 so that the stopper 26 may come to an end position when this rotation speed is reached.
[0023]
When the stopper 26 is rotated to the end position in this manner, the rotor 27 is stopped by the stopper 26 even if the rotating shaft 20 further rotates for supplying the toner. Not done. At this time, since the toner 13 for 100 grams is almost consumed as in the previous example, the toner supply container 10 is also almost empty.
[0024]
At the same time that the stopper 26 reaches the end position, if the user is notified that the life of the toner supply container 10 has expired, for example, by a notification mechanism (not shown) that engages with the stopper 26, the user is filled with toner. It can be replaced with a new toner supply container 10. In addition, it is possible to detect the torque when the rotor 27 hits the stopper 26 in a drive unit (not shown) that transmits the drive to the rotary shaft 20 to cut off the drive to the rotary shaft 20. is there.
[0025]
In the first embodiment, a mode has been described in which the rotation shaft 20 (see FIG. 2) is forcibly stopped when the toner has reached the end of its life. Next, referring to FIG. A mode in which the drive to the toner supply roller shaft 20b according to the second embodiment is cut will be described. 2 are the same as those described with reference to FIG. 2, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted.
[0026]
The toner supply mechanism unit 11 is driven by a drive system (not shown) and rotates in the direction of arrow E. The toner supply roller shaft 20b is engaged with the rotation shaft 20a via a rotary connector 28. The paddle 14 of the toner supply roller 12 is fixed on the toner supply roller shaft 20b and rotates at the same time, and the speed reduction mechanism 21 that engages with the toner supply roller shaft 20b and decelerates the rotation. Further, the gear 23 that engages with the gear 22 of the speed reduction mechanism portion 21 rotates, and then the rotation is sequentially transmitted to the gear 24, the gear 25, and the stopper 29 fixed to the shaft of the gear 25 is indicated by an arrow. Rotate gradually in the direction of G. In the drawing, a stopper 29 indicated by a broken line represents an initial position at the start of use of the toner supply container 10. The rotary coupler 28 is always coupled unless the stopper 29 comes to the position indicated by the solid line in FIG.
[0027]
When the image forming operation is performed by the user and the toner is consumed, the toner concentration of the developer 5 shown in FIG. 1 becomes a predetermined concentration or less, and the toner concentration detector 4 detects this and shows The control unit that does not drive drives the rotation shaft 20 a to rotate the toner supply roller shaft 20 b and the toner supply roller 12 via the rotary connector 28. When the toner supply roller 12 rotates, the toner 13 is scraped off and supplied to the developing device 1. When the toner 13 is thus supplied and the toner supply roller shaft 20b rotates in the E direction, the gear 25 decelerated by the speed reduction mechanism 21 rotates, and the stopper 29 fixed on the shaft gradually rotates in the G direction. Moving.
[0028]
The position of the stopper 29 indicated by the solid line is the end position, that is, the position when the toner life is exhausted. When the toner 13 is consumed and the toner supply roller shaft 20b rotates to reach a predetermined number of rotations, the initial position of the stopper 29 and the speed reduction mechanism unit 21 are set such that the stopper 29 rotates from the initial position to the end position. The reduction ratio is set. For example, if the toner supply container 10 of FIG. 1 is pre-filled with 100 grams of toner 13, the toner supply roller shaft 20b rotates approximately in proportion to the toner consumption, so that 100 grams of toner 13 is consumed. The number of rotations of the toner supply roller shaft 20b can be calculated in advance. What is necessary is just to set the initial position and the reduction ratio of the deceleration mechanism part 21 so that the stopper 29 may come to an end position when this rotation speed is reached.
[0029]
When the stopper 29 rotates to the end position in this manner, the coupling portion of the rotary coupler 28 is pushed in the direction of arrow I, and the toner supply roller shaft 20b is separated from the rotation shaft 20a. After that, even if the rotary shaft 20a further rotates for toner supply, since the rotary connector 28 is released from the coupling by the stopper 29, the toner supply roller shaft 20b cannot rotate and toner supply is not performed. That is, at this time, since the toner 13 for 100 grams is almost consumed, the toner supply container 10 is also almost empty.
[0030]
At the same time when the stopper 29 reaches the end position, for example, by notifying the user that the toner supply container has reached the end of its life by a notification mechanism (not shown) that engages with the stopper 29, the user can use the new toner-filled toner. The toner supply container 10 can be exchanged.
[0031]
Note that the mechanism described with reference to the drawings in the first and second embodiments is for easy understanding of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to this mechanism. As described above, the first and second embodiments can be applied to the one-component development system. In the description based on FIGS. 1 to 3, an example in which the paddle 14 is used for the toner supply roller 12 that supplies the toner 13 from the toner supply container 10 is shown. However, the paddle 14 is not limited to the paddle and is wound around the roller. A sponge roller that moves and supplies toner by rotating the sponge, a spiral roller that moves and supplies toner in a spiral groove, or a toner supply roller that has the same effect If it is, it will not specifically limit. Furthermore, although the speed reduction mechanism unit 21 is configured with a gear, other speed reduction mechanisms are possible depending on the speed reduction ratio actually required. Further, the rotation of the rotary shaft 20, 20a or the toner supply roller shaft 20b is detected electronically to stop the rotary shaft 20, or the rotational coupling between the rotary shaft 20a and the toner supply roller shaft 20b is released. Good.
[0032]
【The invention's effect】
In the present invention, a predetermined amount of toner is supplied to the developing device by rotating a toner supply roller of the toner supply mechanism section and supplying the filled predetermined amount of toner to the developing device. When the toner supply roller is supplied to the developing device, the toner supply roller rotation stopping means for stopping the rotation of the toner supply roller which is rotated by the driving force transmitted from the driving unit is provided. Even when a different toner is replenished, the toner is not supplied to the developing device, so that it is possible to prevent image quality deterioration and developer deterioration due to incorrect use.
[0033]
According to the present invention, the toner supply roller rotation stopping means includes a stopper provided in a speed reduction mechanism that engages with a rotation shaft of the toner supply roller and decelerates the rotation of the toner supply roller. The rotation of the toner supply roller is stopped by causing the rotor fixed to the rotation shaft of the toner supply roller to stop by rotating and moving from the initial position to a predetermined position by the deceleration mechanism. Because it is a structure to be used, it can be implemented inside the toner supply container, and even if the toner is completely consumed, it can be returned to the initial state by simply replacing it with a new toner supply container filled with toner. The person's hand is not bothered.
[0034]
While the toner supply roller rotation stopping means engages with the rotation shaft of the toner supply roller and decelerates the rotation of the toner supply roller, a stopper provided in the deceleration mechanism portion supplies a substantially predetermined amount of toner. The rotational mechanism is rotated from the initial position to a predetermined position by the speed reduction mechanism unit, and the coupling of the rotary connector that transmits the drive to the rotation shaft of the toner supply roller between the drive unit and the rotation shaft of the toner supply roller is released. Thus, the rotation of the toner supply roller is stopped. Therefore, it can be carried out inside the toner supply container, and even if the toner is consumed up, it can be returned to the initial state by simply replacing it with a new toner supply container filled with toner. Don't bother you. Further, by canceling the drive to the toner supply roller, no extra load is applied to the drive system.
[0035]
Further, the speed reduction mechanism unit is responsive to a ratio between a rotational speed at which the toner supply roller rotates to supply the predetermined amount of toner and a rotational speed at which the stopper rotates from the initial position to the predetermined position. Has a reduction ratio. Therefore, even if the amount of toner to be filled in the toner supply container changes, it can be easily coped with only by changing the setting of the initial position of the stopper.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a main part of an image forming apparatus.
2A and 2B are schematic perspective views of a toner supply mechanism unit according to the first embodiment, in which FIG. 2A is a diagram illustrating a state at the start of use of the toner supply container, and FIG. It is a figure and is a figure which shows the state which the stopper 26 moved to the end position.
FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of a toner supply mechanism unit according to a second embodiment.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Developing device 2 Developing roller 3 Stirring roller 4 Toner density detector 5 Developer 10 Toner supply container 11 Toner supply mechanism 12 Toner supply roller 13 Toner 14 Paddle 15 Photoconductor 16 Main charger 17 Transfer charger 18 Exposure 19 Fixing device 20, 20a Rotating shaft 20b Toner supply roller shaft 21 Deceleration mechanism section 26, 29 Stopper 27 Rotor 28 Rotating coupler 22, 23, 24, 25 Gear P Paper

Claims (6)

In toner supply container for supplying toner Filling, predetermined amount to rotate the toner supply roller of the toner supply mechanism to the developing apparatus, when supplying the toner substantially predetermined amount to the developing device, the drive unit A toner supply roller rotation stopping unit that stops rotation of the toner supply roller that rotates by the transmitted driving force , and the toner supply roller rotation stopping unit engages with a rotation shaft of the toner supply roller to engage the toner supply roller; While a stopper provided in the speed reduction mechanism that decelerates rotation supplies approximately a predetermined amount of toner, the stopper rotates and moves from an initial position to a predetermined position by the speed reduction mechanism, and the rotation shaft of the toner supply roller A toner supply container, wherein the rotation of the toner supply roller is stopped by stopping a rotor fixed to the toner. When a predetermined amount of toner is supplied to the developing device in a toner supply container that supplies a predetermined amount of filled toner to the developing device by rotating the toner supply roller of the toner supply mechanism, the driving unit transmits the toner. Toner supply roller rotation stopping means for stopping rotation of the toner supply roller rotating by the driven driving force, and the toner supply roller rotation stopping means is engaged with a rotation shaft of the toner supply roller to rotate the toner supply roller. While the stopper provided in the speed reduction mechanism section that decelerates the toner is rotated from the initial position to the predetermined position by the speed reduction mechanism section while supplying a substantially predetermined amount of toner, the drive section and the toner supply roller The rotation of the toner supply roller is released by releasing the coupling of the rotary connector that transmits the drive to the rotation shaft of the toner supply roller. Toner supply container, characterized in that stopping. The speed reduction mechanism unit is a speed reduction ratio according to a ratio between a rotational speed at which the toner supply roller rotates to supply the predetermined amount of toner and a rotational speed at which the stopper rotates from the initial position to the predetermined position. The toner supply container according to claim 1, wherein the toner supply container is provided. 4. The toner supply container according to claim 1, wherein the toner supply roller includes a paddle fixed to a roller shaft, and supplies the toner by moving the paddle by rotating the paddle. The toner supply container according to claim 1, wherein the toner supply roller is a sponge roller, and the toner is moved and supplied by rotation of the sponge roller. 4. The toner supply container according to claim 1, wherein the toner supply roller includes a spiral roller, and the toner is moved and supplied by rotation of the spiral roller. 5.

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