JP4619148B2 - Developing unit and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to current image unit and an image forming apparatus.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic printer, a toner cartridge can be mounted horizontally in a developing unit (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a conventional toner cartridge, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a conventional developing unit.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the toner cartridge 102 is formed on a substantially cylindrical toner storage portion 103, a rotary knob 104 rotatably attached to one end of the toner storage portion 103, and a side wall of the toner storage portion 103. The toner discharge port 105 is provided.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the developing unit 101 has a toner cartridge mounting portion 106 for mounting the toner cartridge 102, and a print head mounting portion 107 for mounting a print head (not shown). An opening 111 for supplying toner to a developing unit (not shown) is formed on the bottom surface of the toner cartridge mounting unit 106. Further, a seal member 113 for preventing toner leakage is disposed around the opening 111. A side wall 108 and a side wall 109 are formed at both ends of the toner cartridge mounting portion 106, and a guide rib 112 is formed inside the side wall 108. The guide rib 112 is formed so as to extend long in the vertical direction, and is fitted into the peripheral wall of the rotary knob 104 when the toner cartridge 102 is mounted.

  Next, an operation for mounting the toner cartridge 102 to the developing unit 101 will be described.

  First, the toner cartridge 102 is mounted on the toner cartridge mounting portion 106 from above the developing unit 101. Then, after the toner cartridge 102 is mounted on the toner cartridge mounting portion 106 of the developing unit 101, the rotation knob 104 of the toner cartridge 102 is rotated. At this time, the toner cartridge 102 moves horizontally on the toner cartridge mounting portion 106 as the rotary knob 104 rotates.

When the toner cartridge 102 moves horizontally to a predetermined position, the toner discharge port 105 of the toner cartridge 102 and the opening 111 of the toner cartridge mounting portion 106 are fitted, and toner is supplied.
JP 2004-170790 A

  However, in the conventional developing unit 101, when the toner cartridge 102 is placed on the toner cartridge mounting portion 106, the toner discharge port 105 of the toner cartridge 102 is a seal member 113 around the opening 111 of the toner cartridge mounting portion 106. The toner discharge port 105 and the opening 111 are fitted with each other while rubbing. For this reason, a load is applied when the toner cartridge 102 is translated in the longitudinal direction, and the rotation knob 104 cannot be rotated to a predetermined position, causing half-insertion of the toner cartridge 102.

  Further, the seal member 113 is worn by being rubbed by the toner discharge port 105 of the toner cartridge 102. As a result, the seal member 113 is deteriorated and its sealing performance is deteriorated, so that toner leakage is likely to occur. Then, when the seal member 113 is rubbed by the toner discharge port 105 of the toner cartridge 102, a seal member piece scraped from the seal member 113 is mixed into the developing unit 101.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems and forms a toner cartridge by forming a bottom portion of the toner storage portion and a toner discharge port inclined portion having a predetermined inclination angle around the toner discharge port of the toner cartridge. When the developing unit is mounted, the seal member disposed around the opening of the developing unit is not rubbed by the toner cartridge, and the half insertion of the toner cartridge can be prevented, and the seal member is worn. without having to, it is possible to improve the sealing property without toner leakage occurs, providing a current image unit and an image forming apparatus Ru can be prevented from mixing into the developing unit of the sealing piece Objective.

For this purpose, in the developing unit of the present invention, a toner storage portion for storing toner, a toner discharge port for discharging toner from the toner storage portion, and a periphery of the toner discharge port, protrudes from the bottom, a developing unit with the toner cartridge and a fitting portion having a predetermined inclination angle with respect to the bottom is mounted, and a mounting portion to which the toner cartridge is mounted, is supplied from the toner cartridge An opening formed in the mounting portion so as to store the toner to be stored, and a seal member disposed around the opening, the mounting portion facing substantially parallel to the bottom of the toner cartridge And an inclined portion that is recessed from the opposing portion and engages with the fitting portion of the toner cartridge. The inclined portion is a groove-like shape that is inclined with respect to the opposing portion. Comprising a Jo, the opening is formed in the inclined portion, the toner outlet facing the toner cartridge, the sealing member is disposed in the inclined portion, opposed to the engaging portion of the toner cartridge .

  According to the present invention, the toner cartridge is formed with the bottom portion of the toner storage portion and the toner discharge port inclined portion having a predetermined inclination angle around the toner discharge port. Thus, when the toner cartridge is mounted on the developing unit, the seal member disposed around the opening of the developing unit is not rubbed by the toner cartridge, and half-insertion of the toner cartridge can be prevented. In addition, the seal member is not worn, the sealability can be improved, toner leakage does not occur, and mixing of the seal member piece into the developing unit can be prevented.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the printer according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  In the figure, reference numeral 40 denotes a printer as an image forming apparatus, which has a developing unit 4 as an electrophotographic image forming unit. The printer 40 is a color printer that performs printing by arranging a plurality of developing units 4 that form images of the respective colors in a multi-stage manner, and transferring a plurality of types of colorants one after another on a printing sheet. However, here, for convenience of explanation, it is assumed that the monochrome printer performs printing by transferring a single color (for example, black) colorant to printing paper by a single developing unit 4.

  Reference numeral 56 denotes a printing medium as printing paper; 41, a paper cassette for storing the printing medium 56; 42, a hopping roller for separating the printing medium 56 from the paper cassette 41 one by one; A medium conveyance path through which the medium 56 is conveyed, 44 and 45 are pinch rollers disposed on the downstream side of the hopping roller 42 in the medium conveyance path 43, and 46 is a correction of skew of the print medium 56 together with the pinch roller 44. A registration roller 47 is a conveyance roller that conveys the print medium 56 in the direction indicated by the arrow together with the pinch roller 45.

  The medium transport path 43 is opposed to the developing unit 4 equipped with a toner cartridge 5 that contains toner, an LED (Light Emitting Diode) head 57 as an exposure device, and the developing unit 4, and prints a toner image on a printing medium. A transfer roller 55 for transferring onto 56 is disposed. Further, 48 is a fixing device for fixing the toner image transferred onto the printing medium 56 to the printing medium 56 by heat and pressure, and 49 to 52 are discharges for discharging the printing medium 56 that has passed through the fixing device 48. A roller 53 is a discharge plate on which the discharged print medium 56 is placed.

  Next, the configuration of the toner cartridge 5 will be described.

  1 is a perspective view of a toner cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 5 is a side view of the toner cartridge according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a first perspective view of the toner cartridge according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a second perspective view of the toner cartridge in the embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5 to 7, the toner cartridge 5 has a substantially cylindrical shape, and is rotatably attached to one end of the toner storage portion 10 that stores toner therein and the toner storage portion 10. And a cap 12 attached to the other end of the toner storage unit 10. As shown in FIG. 6, the rotary knob 11 includes a knob 13 that is picked by an operator to rotate, a peripheral wall 14 formed in a substantially circumferential shape of the rotary knob 11, An opening 15 formed by cutting out a part, guide walls 16a and 16b formed inside the peripheral wall 14, and inclined ribs 17a and 17b similarly formed inside the peripheral wall 14 are provided.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the cap 12 has a substantially circular shape, and locking receiving portions 18a and 18b are formed at slightly upper ends of both ends.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 1, a toner discharge port 30 for discharging the toner from the toner container 10 is provided on the surface of the toner cartridge 5. Around the toner discharge port 30, a toner discharge port inclined portion 31 is disposed such that the downstream side in the parallel movement direction when the toner cartridge 5 is attached to the developing unit 4 is low and the upstream side is high. . The toner discharge port inclined portion 31 is inclined with an angle formed from the surface of the toner cartridge 5. That is, the toner discharge port inclined portion 31 is inclined at a predetermined inclination angle with respect to the bottom of the toner containing portion 10. The toner discharge port 30 is not formed with an inclined angle, and is disposed in parallel with the surface of the toner cartridge 5.

  Next, the configuration of the developing unit 4 will be described.

  FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the developing unit in the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a state in which the toner cartridge in the embodiment of the present invention is mounted on the developing unit.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the developing unit 4 has a toner cartridge mounting portion 20 as a mounting portion for mounting the toner cartridge 5, and a print head mounting portion 21 to which a print head (not shown) is mounted. A part of the bottom surface of the toner cartridge mounting portion 20 is an inclined portion, and the opening 24 for storing the toner supplied from the toner cartridge 5 in the inclined portion and supplying it to a developing portion (not shown). Is formed. A seal member 28 for preventing toner leakage is disposed around the opening 24. Side walls 22 and 23 are formed at both ends of the toner cartridge mounting portion 20, and guide ribs 25 are formed inside the side walls 22. The guide rib 25 is formed so as to extend long in the vertical direction, and is fitted into the peripheral wall 14 of the rotary knob 11 when the toner cartridge 5 is mounted.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 9, fixing ribs 26 are formed on the left and right upper portions inside the side wall 23. The toner cartridge 5 is fixed in a state where it is mounted by the fixing rib 26. The lower portion of the fixing rib 26 is formed so as to protrude toward the center of the toner cartridge mounting portion 20. When the toner cartridge 5 is mounted, the fixing rib 26 is above the locking receiving portions 18 a and 18 b of the cap 12. Arranged in position. The distance between the side wall 22 and the tip of the fixing rib 26 is set to a dimension that is slightly longer than the length of the toner cartridge 5.

  Next, the configuration of the side surface of the toner cartridge 5 will be described.

  FIG. 10 is a side view of the toner cartridge in the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the inclined rib in the embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 10, the horizontal distance between the guide wall 16 a and the guide wall 16 b is set slightly larger than the width of the guide rib 25. The inclined ribs 17a and 17b are formed in an arc shape between the guide wall 16a and the guide wall 16b.

  And the said inclination rib 17a consists of three parts, as FIG. 11 shows. That is, the first portion 27a is formed to be the lowest, and the upper surface is formed uniformly, that is, without being inclined. The first portion 27a is a portion that first contacts the guide rib 25 when the toner cartridge 5 is mounted.

  Further, the second portion 27b is formed to be the longest, and the upper surface is inclined. The inclination is such that it gradually increases toward the third portion 27c. The inclination angle is set to 45 degrees or less so that the toner cartridge 5 can be moved smoothly.

  Further, the upper surface of the third portion 27c is formed uniformly. The other inclined rib 17b is similarly composed of three parts, that is, a first part 27a, a second part 27b, and a third part 27c. The first portion 27a is disposed so as to first contact the guide rib 25 when the toner cartridge 5 is mounted.

  Next, an operation of mounting the toner cartridge 5 on the developing unit 4 in the printer 40 having the above-described configuration will be described.

  FIG. 12 is a first view showing a side surface of the toner cartridge mounted on the developing unit in the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 13 is a first view showing a side surface of the toner cartridge mounted on the developing unit in the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 and FIG. 14 are first views showing the positional relationship between the opening of the developing unit and the toner outlet of the toner cartridge according to the embodiment of the present invention, and a cross-sectional portion taken along the line AA ′ in FIG. FIG. 15 is a second view showing the positional relationship between the opening of the developing unit and the toner outlet of the toner cartridge according to the embodiment of the present invention, and is a partial enlarged view taken along the line AA 'in FIG. FIG.

  In the present embodiment, since the distance between the side wall 22 and the fixing rib 26 in the developing unit 4 is set larger than the length in the longitudinal direction of the toner cartridge 5, the toner cartridge 5 is mounted. The toner cartridge 5 can be mounted in a horizontal state without being inclined.

  First, as shown in FIG. 9, the toner cartridge 5 is mounted on the toner cartridge mounting portion 20 from above the developing unit 4. At this time, the opening knob 15 of the rotary knob 11 attached to the one end 5a of the toner cartridge 5 is positioned at the lowest position. Therefore, the guide rib 25 of the toner cartridge mounting portion 20 is inserted into the peripheral wall 14 from the opening 15 of the rotary knob 11 without interfering with the peripheral wall 14 of the rotary knob 11 as shown in FIG. It enters between the wall 16a and the guide wall 16b. At this time, the guide rib 25 faces the first portion 27a of the inclined rib 17a and the first portion 27a of the inclined rib 17b. Further, the other end 5b of the toner cartridge 5 enters the toner cartridge mounting portion 20 without interfering with the fixing rib 26 as shown in FIG.

  Thus, when the toner cartridge 5 is mounted from above the developing unit 4 and placed on the toner cartridge mounting portion 20 (at the start of mounting), the rotation knob 11 is then rotated. When the rotary knob 11 is rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow shown in FIG. 12 (clockwise direction in FIG. 12), the inclined ribs 17 a and 17 b come into contact with the guide rib 25 as the rotary knob 11 rotates. . As the rotation further continues, the toner cartridge 5 moves toward the fixed rib 26 in the toner cartridge mounting portion 20 in response to the change in the height of the inclined ribs 17a and 17b as shown in FIG. During mounting parallel movement).

  At this time, the moving distance of the toner cartridge 5 is determined by the length and the inclination angle of the second portions 27b of the inclined ribs 17a and 17b. Note that the length and the inclination angle of the second portion 27b of the inclined ribs 17a and 17b are such that the movement distance is such that the locking receiving portions 18a and 18b of the cap 12 as shown in FIG. It is set to be larger than the interval W1 until it fully enters the side.

  Thus, as the rotary knob 11 rotates, the toner cartridge 5 translates in the longitudinal direction. When the rotary knob 11 is rotated to the position shown in FIG. 13, the toner discharge port 30 of the toner cartridge 5 and the opening 24 of the toner cartridge mounting portion 20 are fitted to supply the toner.

  When the interval W1 disappears and the cap 12 comes into contact with the side wall 23, the parallel movement of the toner cartridge 5 stops (when the mounting is completed).

  As a result, the positional relationship between the opening 24 of the developing unit 4 and the toner discharge port 30 of the toner cartridge 5 is as shown in FIG. 14 is a partial enlarged view taken along the line A-A ′ in FIG. 5 and a cross-sectional view taken along the line C-C ′ in FIG. 8. C in FIG. 8 corresponds to the left side in FIG. 14, and C ′ in FIG. 8 corresponds to the right side in FIG. As shown in FIG. 14, the seal member 28 is not in close contact with the toner discharge port inclined portion 31 on the entire surface when mounting is started. During the mounting parallel movement, the toner cartridge 5 moves in the direction indicated by the arrow E in FIG. At this time, the toner shutter 32 starts to be opened by means (not shown) as the rotation knob 11 starts to rotate.

  When the mounting is completed, the positional relationship between the opening 24 of the developing unit 4 and the toner outlet 30 of the toner cartridge 5 is as shown in FIG. 15 is a partial enlarged view taken along the line A-A ′ in FIG. 5 and a cross-sectional view taken along the line C-C ′ in FIG. 8. C in FIG. 8 corresponds to the left side in FIG. 15, and C ′ in FIG. 8 corresponds to the right side in FIG. At this time, the toner discharge port 30 and the opening 24 are fitted, and the toner shutter 32 of the toner discharge port 30 is completely opened. Then, the toner stored in the toner cartridge 5 moves in the direction indicated by the arrow F and is supplied from the opening 24 to the developing unit 4.

  As shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, the opening 24 of the developing unit 4 is formed larger than the toner outlet 30 of the toner cartridge 5. This is because the toner discharge port 30 is opened along with the parallel movement of the toner cartridge 5, and the toner is discharged. The size of the opening 24 needs to be greater than or equal to the sum of the size of the toner discharge port 30 and the parallel movement length of the toner cartridge 5.

  In addition, the angle of the inclined portion 31 of the toner discharge port from the toner cartridge 5 is desirably 0.5 degrees or more and 10 degrees or less. If the angle is less than 0.5 degrees, the seal portion 27 rubs against the toner discharge port inclined portion 31 during the mounting operation, and a load is generated when the toner cartridge 5 is mounted. Further, since the seal member 28 is rubbed, the seal member 28 is worn. On the other hand, if the angle is larger than 10 degrees, the height of the toner discharge port inclined portion 31 becomes high, so that the apparatus becomes large. Similarly, the angle of the inclined portion of the bottom surface of the toner cartridge mounting portion 20 in the developing unit 4 is desirably 0.5 degrees or more and 10 degrees or less.

  Thus, in the present embodiment, the toner discharge port inclined portion 31 does not fit into the seal member 28 while rubbing the seal member 28. For this reason, the load is reduced in the mounting operation of the toner cartridge 5, and the toner cartridge 5 can be mounted smoothly. Therefore, half insertion is eliminated.

  Further, since the seal member 28 is not rubbed, it does not wear. Accordingly, the sealing performance can be enhanced, toner leakage is less likely to occur, and the seal member piece scraped from the seal member 28 is not mixed into the developing unit 4.

  In this embodiment, the present invention can also be applied to a printer, a facsimile machine, a copier, and a device having these in combination.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made based on the spirit of the present invention, and they are not excluded from the scope of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a toner cartridge in the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a conventional toner cartridge. It is a perspective view of the conventional developing unit. 1 is a schematic diagram of a printer in an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the toner cartridge in the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a first perspective view of the toner cartridge in the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a second perspective view of the toner cartridge in the embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view of the developing unit in the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the toner cartridge according to the embodiment of the present invention is attached to the developing unit. FIG. 4 is a side view of the toner cartridge in the embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view of the inclination rib in embodiment of this invention. FIG. 3 is a first view illustrating a side surface of a toner cartridge mounted on a developing unit in the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a second view illustrating a side surface of the toner cartridge mounted on the developing unit in the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a first view showing a positional relationship between the opening of the developing unit and the toner outlet of the toner cartridge in the embodiment of the present invention, and is a partial enlarged view taken along the line A-A ′ in FIG. 5. FIG. 6 is a second view showing the positional relationship between the opening of the developing unit and the toner outlet of the toner cartridge in the embodiment of the present invention, and is a partial enlarged view taken along the line A-A ′ in FIG. 5. FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of an end when the toner cartridge is mounted according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

4 Developing Unit 5 Toner Cartridge 10 Toner Storage Portion 24 Opening 20 Toner Cartridge Mounting Portion 28 Seal Member 30 Toner Discharge Port 31 Toner Discharge Port Inclined Portion 40 Printer

Claims (4)

(A) a toner accommodating portion for accommodating the toner,
( B ) a toner discharge port for discharging toner from the toner container;
(C) disposed around the toner outlet, there in the developing unit protrudes from the bottom of the toner storage unit, the toner cartridge having a fitting portion having a predetermined inclination angle with respect to the bottom is attached And
(D) a mounting portion in which the toner cartridge is mounted;
(E) an opening formed in the mounting portion so as to accommodate toner supplied from the toner cartridge;
(F) having a sealing member disposed around the opening,
(G) The mounting portion includes a facing portion facing substantially parallel to the bottom of the toner cartridge, and an inclined portion that is recessed from the facing portion and fits with the fitting portion of the toner cartridge.
(H) The inclined portion has a groove shape that is inclined with respect to the facing portion,
(I) the opening is formed in the inclined portion and faces a toner discharge port of the toner cartridge;
(J) The developing unit , wherein the seal member is disposed in the inclined portion and faces the fitting portion of the toner cartridge . The developing unit according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined inclination angle is not less than 0.5 degrees and not more than 10 degrees. The inclined section 0.5 degrees or more with respect to the opposing portion, and a developing unit according to claim 1 or 2, inclined at an inclination angle of 10 degrees or less. An image forming apparatus comprising the use of a developing unit according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

Images