JP4913393B2 - Powder container / toner container / waste toner container / image forming device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a powder container for collecting and storing powder such as toner, and an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile, and a plotter having the powder container.

  In an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, the transfer residual toner remaining on the photosensitive drum or intermediate transfer belt after the toner image is transferred to a recording medium or intermediate is removed by a cleaning mechanism and collected in a waste toner collection box. Centralized and accumulated.

  This type of waste toner collection box includes a toner inlet connected to a cleaning mechanism, a toner transport unit that transports toner put into the box, and a toner that detects the degree of storage (filling rate) of the toner in the box. A detection means is provided.

  When the toner detection means detects that the box is full of toner, the waste toner collection box is replaced.

  From the viewpoint of improving user convenience, it is better to reduce the number of replacements of the waste toner collection box as much as possible. For this purpose, it is desirable to increase the capacity of the box as much as possible.

  However, as is well known, this type of image forming apparatus has been reduced in size and cost, and the actual situation is that it is not permitted to enlarge the box only from the viewpoint of improving waste toner recovery.

  In general, the waste toner collection box is often disposed using a so-called dead space such as a space between a sheet feeding unit disposed at the bottom of the main body of the image forming apparatus and an image forming unit located above the sheet feeding unit.

  As a configuration of the waste toner collection box, there is a configuration in which a toner conveyance unit is provided in a box-shaped toner cartridge (for example, Patent Document 1). In this configuration, an eccentric cam is provided on the shaft of the screw that replenishes toner to the outside, and the flat plate is reciprocated in the horizontal direction by the eccentric cam, and a C-shaped inward projection formed integrally with the flat plate. The toner is conveyed. Further, a configuration for detecting the remaining amount of toner is provided in the cartridge.

On the other hand, it is important that the toner introduced into the developing device to resist development does not cause supply failure due to smooth movement. However, some of the contained toner has solidified to cause a so-called blocking phenomenon,
Smooth movement may be hindered.
Therefore, conventionally, a configuration for loosening the toner causing such blocking has been proposed (for example, Patent Document 2). In this configuration, a reciprocally movable plate member disposed in the developing container is disposed, and the plate member is provided with a toner inflow port and a protruding portion that enters the inflowing toner to reciprocate the plate member. In some cases, the toner may be loosened by the protrusions.

JP-A-11-002947 JP-A-10-207202

  However, when there is no room in the height direction of the image forming apparatus main body in terms of downsizing, the dimensional ratio of the waste toner collection box is inevitably large in the vertical and horizontal directions (X and Y directions), and the height direction (Z direction). ) Must be small. That is, it tends to be a flat box shape that is wide in the horizontal direction and small in height.

  In such a box shape, it is very difficult to accumulate toner uniformly, and there is a possibility that the toner is partially solidified and accumulated. When toner is solidified and accumulated around the toner detection means, the entire box is not full, but full detection is performed, and the replacement operation is requested early in a non-full state, resulting in a decrease in user convenience. It will be.

  The technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 aims to efficiently replenish toner to the end while preventing aggregation of the toner previously stored in the cartridge. As shown in FIG. 7 of the same document, the conveying direction of the protrusion as a member is different from each other, but the toner is unidirectionally directed to the toner detecting means by the interaction.

  Therefore, when this conveyance method is applied to the waste toner collection box, the toner is easily solidified and accumulated around the toner detection means, and the above-described problem of erroneous detection cannot be solved.

  On the other hand, in the technique disclosed in Patent Document 2, the introduced toner can be moved by being pushed and moved by a reciprocating plate member. However, the introduced toner has the largest amount on the introduction side, and is introduced. As the sheet is sequentially moved from the section, the amount of the plate member that is pushed and moved is reduced by leveling in the internal space, and the amount of the toner detecting means may be decreased. For this reason, if the amount of toner collected in the waste toner box is the largest in the vicinity of the introduction port and gradually accumulates in the process from this position to the position of the toner detection means, a new waste toner collection box is newly created. Even if a situation occurs in which the movement of the toner to be introduced into the inside is obstructed, this state cannot be detected by the toner detecting means. There is a risk that the area around the grounding portion of the waste toner collection box will be contaminated by overflowing near the inlet of the toner collection box.

  The present invention can freely control the flow and amount of powder such as toner, and can accurately detect the actual condition of the collected toner, thereby reducing the false detection of the powder detection means and improving the convenience for the user. The main object of the present invention is to provide a powder container that can contribute to the above and an image forming apparatus having the same.

  The present invention intentionally gives a difference in directionality and conveyance amount to the movement of the powder in the container by changing the conveyance direction and conveyance amount at each position of the powder conveyance means, and finally the powder. This is based on the idea of surrounding the detection means.

Specifically, the invention of claim 1 wherein the magnitude of the direction perpendicular to the thickness direction box is made smaller in the powder container used for the vertical and horizontal direction, provided in the box comprising the a powder inlet section, the introduced powder from the powder inlet portion, and a powder conveying means for moving toward the powder detection unit for performing a powder full state detection provided within the box The powder conveying means is divided in a rectangular shape by the ribs running in the vertical and horizontal directions, and is configured by arranging a plurality of barrier plates that have an angle in the vertical and horizontal directions and can move the powder in parallel. An agitation member provided with a portion, an eccentric cam accommodated in a receiving part integrated with the agitation member and capable of moving the agitation member in a reciprocating direction and a height direction, and means for driving the eccentric cam; Conveying section that is partitioned into the rectangular shape Judges are characterized by varying the amount of the powder that enters between the weir plate by varying the parallel spacing of the plurality of the sheathing board portion.

According to a second aspect of the invention, the transport unit, by varying the orientation of the plurality of the sheathing board portion is characterized by varying the conveying direction of the powder in the conveying portions.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the plurality of dam plates are configured such that the heights of the surfaces that can push and move the powder entering between the dam plates are different between the conveying units. It is characterized in that the transport amount is different between the transport units .

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the powder conveying means includes at least two regions among the regions where the powder detection unit, the powder detection unit, and the powder storage unit are provided. It has a partition member provided at a position where the powder transported in the above-mentioned different directions extends above and below the transport unit, and the transport unit and the partition member are formed integrally and movable integrally. It is characterized by doing.

According to a fifth aspect of the invention, one of the upper Symbol partition member, the powder toward the powder detecting unit between the region area and the powder reservoir for the powder detecting portion is provided is provided It is characterized by being provided in parallel with the moving direction .

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in another aspect of the present invention, the partition member is configured such that the powder heading toward the powder detection unit is between a region where the powder inlet portion is provided and a region where the powder storage portion is provided. It is characterized by being provided perpendicular to the body movement direction .

The invention according to claim 7 is characterized in that at least the upper end of the partition member extends in a direction perpendicular to the reciprocating direction of the stirring member .

The invention described in claim 8 is characterized in that the powder container according to one of claims 1 to 7 is used for a toner container.

The invention described in claim 9 is characterized in that the powder container according to one of claims 1 to 7 is used as a waste toner container.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, there are provided an image forming unit arranged in parallel in a substantially horizontal direction and capable of forming images of different colors, and a belt-like intermediate transfer member capable of sequentially transferring images formed by the image forming units. And an image forming apparatus comprising: a secondary transfer roller capable of collectively transferring an image transferred to the intermediate transfer body onto transfer paper; and a cleaning mechanism for removing transfer residual toner on the intermediate transfer belt. The toner collected by the mechanism is stored in the powder container according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to define how the waste toner is buried by controlling the amount and direction of movement of the toner in the container with a simple configuration, and it is possible to prevent the toner from being unevenly distributed to a part. The toner fullness detection accuracy can be increased by surely moving the toner to the position.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the illustrated embodiments.

  First, the overall configuration of an image forming apparatus equipped with a toner container having a powder container according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  In the image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1, the exposure unit 3 performs optical writing on the four image forming units 4, 5, 6, and 7 arranged in parallel in the substantially horizontal direction to form an electrostatic latent image. The Each electrostatic latent image is visualized by developing means of each image forming unit.

  The toner images formed on the image forming units are sequentially transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 8 in a superimposed manner. The transfer paper loaded in the paper feed cassette 1 is fed by the paper feed roller 2, and after correcting the oblique shift by the registration roller pair 9, is sent to the secondary transfer portion at a predetermined timing. The superimposed toner images on the intermediate transfer belt 8 are collectively transferred onto the transfer paper by the secondary transfer roller 10 at the secondary transfer site.

  Thereafter, the color toner image is fixed as an image on the transfer paper by the fixing unit 11 and is discharged as an output image to the paper discharge tray 15 on the upper surface of the apparatus by the paper discharge roller pair 12.

  The transfer residual toner on the intermediate transfer belt 8 is removed from the belt by the cleaning mechanism 13 and accumulated in a waste toner collection container (waste toner box) 14 as a powder container (waste toner container).

  In recent years, even in such an image forming apparatus, downsizing and cost reduction have been advanced. There is also a need for improved user convenience.

  Therefore, it is desirable to increase the capacity of the box as much as possible in order to improve the convenience of the user and reduce the number of replacement of the waste toner box. However, it does not allow the size of the machine to increase. Therefore, the waste toner box is often arranged in a form that fills the dead space in the machine configuration.

  In the image forming apparatus of this embodiment, the space from the paper feed roller 2 to the secondary transfer roller 10 needs to be separated to some extent due to the transfer paper transfer relationship, and a dead space is likely to occur. Often installed.

  However, when the above-described configuration is adopted, the following problems occur as described above.

  Since the dimensional ratio of the waste toner box is large in the X and Y directions and small in the Z direction, it is very difficult to accumulate toner uniformly. If the toner is partially solidified and accumulated, the waste toner (hereinafter also referred to as “toner”) is clogged without being conveyed, causing inconvenience to other parts, or waste toner full capacity detection (full detection) There arises a disadvantage that the detection accuracy is remarkably deteriorated.

  According to the study by the present inventors, in order to control so that the waste toner can be uniformly accumulated, it is necessary to create a plurality of flows having different directions at different positions on the horizontal plane.

  In order to achieve this, for example, as shown in FIG. 8, the toner stirring rod 17 is disposed so as to cover the entire area of the bottom surface of the waste toner box 100, or as shown in FIG. A configuration in which a plurality of lines are arranged can be considered.

  However, in such a system, the configuration for driving the stirring means such as the toner stirring rod 17 and the conveying screw 18 becomes complicated, and it must be expensive. That is, in order to simultaneously rotate a plurality of stirring means in different directions, a complicated gear train is required.

  Even in this case, since the toner transport direction is simply reversed, it is difficult to finely control the flow and amount of toner, and the full capacity detection accuracy of waste toner is still low. The problem cannot be solved.

  In the present embodiment, in view of the above circumstances, waste toner fullness detection can be performed easily and accurately with a simple configuration, and the toner can be reliably moved to the position of the toner detection means. An object of the present invention is to provide a waste toner collecting container capable of improving the accuracy of the toner.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the waste toner collection container 14 used in this embodiment includes an upper case 21 having a waste toner inlet portion 20 as a powder inlet portion, a lower case 22, a waste toner full detection unit 23, and the like. have. A waste toner transfer hose (not shown) extending from the cleaning mechanism 13 is connected to the waste toner inlet 20 and waste toner is charged.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the lower case 22 accommodates waste toner conveying means 24 as powder conveying means. The waste toner conveying means 24 includes a stirring plate 26 that reciprocates substantially in the direction of an arrow 25, a cam shaft 27, and a drive gear fixed to one end of the cam shaft 27 and connected to a drive source of an image forming apparatus (not shown). 28, an eccentric cam 30 provided in the other end portion of the cam shaft 27 and housed in a cam receiving portion 29 formed integrally with the stirring plate 26.

  The cam shaft 27 is supported by a plurality of support pieces 31 formed integrally with the stirring plate 26. The camshaft 27 is divided on the drive gear 28 side and is connected by a coupling 32.

  The waste toner full detection unit 23 has waste toner full detection means 34 as powder detection means. As the waste toner full detection means 34, for example, a light reflection type photosensor can be used.

  The stirring plate 26 is integrally formed of a synthetic resin, and has a plurality of conveying portions 33A, 33B, 33C,... 33P arranged at different positions on a substantially horizontal plane. Each conveying portion 33 is partitioned into a rectangular shape by ribs that run vertically and horizontally, and has an angle on a substantially horizontal plane with respect to the moving direction of the waste toner conveying means 24 (reciprocating direction indicated by arrow 25). It is formed with the conveyance member (33Fa in the case of the conveyance part 33F) which put in parallel the some dam plate part which can be moved.

  The respective conveying members are arranged obliquely at substantially equal intervals, and a groove is formed between the respective conveying members.

  Each transport unit 33 is composed of, for example, a 33H type and a 33K type having a different transport direction.

  In the transport units 33A, 33B, 33H, 33M, 33N, and 33P, the toner transport direction is the direction indicated by the solid line arrow, and in the transport units 33C, 33D, 33E, 33F, 33G, 33I, 33J, 33K, 33L, and 33P, the dashed arrow It becomes the direction shown by. In other words, the direction in which the toner is pushed and moved is different between the transport units 33A to 33P.

  Among these, for example, the conveyance direction of the conveyance units 33A, 33B, 33M, 33N, 33P, and 33G is a direction approaching the waste toner full detection unit 34, and the conveyance direction of the conveyance units 33J, 33K, and 33L is full of waste toner, for example. This is the direction away from the detection means 34.

  A partition plate 35 extending along the cam shaft 27 is integrally formed on the upper surfaces of the transport portions 33N and 33P. The partition plate 35 regulates the flow of waste toner on the upper portions of the conveyance units 33N and 33P.

  Each of the above-mentioned conveying units has different intervals between barrier plates that can be used to push and move the toner, so that the amount of toner that moves through the conveying unit is different. That is, when the interval between the dam plate portions is increased, the amount of toner entering between the dam plate portions is larger than when the interval between the dam plate portions is small.

  In addition, a partition plate 36 extending in a direction orthogonal to the cam shaft 27 is integrally formed between the transport units 33F and 33G and the transport units 33J and 33M. The partition plate 36 regulates the flow and amount of the upper and lower waste toner between the transport units 33F and 33G and the transport units 33J and 33M. These partition plates 35 and 36 are disposed at positions that abut against the toner flow generated by the transport unit.

  As shown in FIG. 4 (schematic cross-sectional view viewed from the drive gear 28 side), when the cam shaft 27 rotates with the large-diameter portion of the eccentric cam 30 facing downward, the stirring plate 26 is moved to the cam receiving portion 29. In accordance with the phase of the large-diameter portion of the eccentric cam 30 with respect to, first, it moves to the left in the figure so as to float upward as indicated by arrow A, and then descends while slightly retracting as indicated by arrow B, As shown by the arrow C, it moves backward substantially horizontally, and then moves diagonally upward while moving back slightly as shown by the arrow D, and repeats these operations to perform a substantially reciprocating motion as a whole. As a result, at the time of forward movement (the direction indicated by reference numeral C in FIG. 4), the agitating plate 26 moves along the bottom surface of the case 22 so that the conveyance unit 33 can push the toner and move backward. At that time (directions indicated by symbols D and A in FIG. 4), the agitating plate 36 is lifted from the bottom surface of the case 22 so that the transport unit 33 is also lifted and moved away from the pushed toner. In other words, the toner is moved in a state where the toner is not returned, in other words, in a state where the toner is stopped at the pushed position.

  According to such a configuration, a plurality of transport units 33 having different transport directions can be simultaneously reciprocated by a single drive source without using a gear train.

When the agitating plate 26 performs reciprocating motion, different flows are generated in the respective transport units. However, as shown in FIG. 5, a transport flow as indicated by a thick black arrow is generated as a whole, resulting in partitioning. The area a1 divided by the plates 35 and 36, the area a2 near the waste toner inlet 20 and the area a3 near the cam receiver 29 are filled in this order, and finally the area a4 near the waste toner full detection means 34 is filled. .
Further, in the process of moving the toner to each area, the amount of toner varies depending on the distance between the weir plate portions in the transport section and the restriction of the moving direction by the partition plates 35 and 36, and is not unevenly distributed between the areas. Thus, the toner is finally filled in the area a4 close to the toner full detection means 34.

  That is, the overall conveyance flow can be finely controlled by the arrangement patterns of the two types of conveyance units 33 having different conveyance directions, and the vicinity of the waste toner full detection means 34 is filled early, resulting in erroneous detection. Can be prevented.

  The arrangement pattern of each conveyance unit 33 is not limited to this example, and an optimum pattern can be determined by experiments or the like according to conditions such as toner flow characteristics.

  As shown in FIG. 3, support members 40 and 40 for supporting the same end portion of the stirring plate 26 from the lower surface side are provided opposite to the waste toner full detection means 34 of the lower case 22 (see FIG. 3). 5 is omitted). The function of the support member 40 will be described based on FIG. 6 (a schematic sectional view seen from the cam receiving portion 29 side).

  When the reciprocating motion is performed in a state where the end of the stirring plate 26 on the side away from the eccentric cam 30 is supported by the support member 40, the toner conveyance direction is reversed on both sides with the support member 40 as a boundary.

  That is, the transport unit 33A near the eccentric cam 30 moves so as to scoop up the toner in the container from the bottom to the top (arrow R), and the toner transport direction is the left direction in the figure.

  On the other hand, although the transport unit 33B has the same configuration as the transport unit 33A, the toner moves up from the top to the bottom (arrow L), and the toner transport direction is the right direction in the figure.

  By utilizing this characteristic, the support member 40 is arranged so that a conveying flow is generated in a direction away from the inlet at a portion close to the waste toner inlet portion 20 and in a direction toward the inlet at a portion far from the inlet. As a transport flow.

  In this embodiment, as a configuration in which the amount of toner movement between the conveyance units is different, the parallel interval of the weir plate portions included in the conveyance unit is varied between the conveyance units. As shown in FIG. 4, the height of the surface where the conveyance unit 33 located in each area comes into contact with the toner, that is, the surface where the toner can be pushed and moved is varied to vary the amount of toner filled between the weir plates. You may make it move.

1 is a schematic front view of an image forming apparatus using a powder container according to an embodiment of the present invention as a waste toner collecting container. FIG. 4 is an overall perspective view of a waste toner collection container. FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating a transport direction in each transport unit of a waste toner collection container. It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the reciprocating motion of a stirring plate. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an overall conveyance flow in a waste toner collecting container. It is a figure explaining the mechanism in which a conveyance direction reverses with a support member as a boundary by reciprocation when a stirring plate is supported by a support member. It is sectional drawing which shows the principal part modification of the conveyance part used for a present Example. It is an assumption block diagram for obtaining uniform conveyance. It is another assumption block diagram for obtaining uniform conveyance.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 14 Waste toner collection container as powder container 20 Waste toner inlet part as powder inlet part 24 Waste toner transport means as powder transport means 33 Transport part 34 Waste toner full detection means as powder detection means

Claims (10)

In the powder container in which the box whose size in the thickness direction perpendicular to this direction is reduced with respect to the vertical and horizontal directions is used,
A powder inlet provided in the box;
A powder conveying means for moving the powder introduced from the powder inlet portion toward a powder detection portion for detecting powder fullness provided in the box;
The powder conveying means is
A stirrer provided with a conveying unit configured by juxtaposing a plurality of dam plates that are partitioned in a rectangular shape by the ribs that run in the vertical and horizontal directions and have an angle in the vertical and horizontal directions and can move the powder;
An eccentric cam accommodated in a receiving part integrated with the stirring member and capable of moving the stirring member in the reciprocating direction and the height direction;
Means for driving the eccentric cam,
The powder containers characterized in that the conveying sections partitioned into the rectangular shapes have different amounts of the powder entering between the barrier plates by changing the parallel intervals of the plurality of barrier plates. . The powder container according to claim 1, wherein
The said conveyance part changes the conveyance direction of the powder in conveyance parts by changing the direction of said several dam plate part, The powder container characterized by the above-mentioned. The powder container according to claim 1 or 2,
The plurality of dam plates are configured so that the conveyance amount of the powder is different between the conveyance units by varying the height of the surface that can push and move the powder entering between the dam plates between the conveyance units. A powder container, characterized in that The powder container according to claim 1, wherein
The powder conveying means is above and below the conveying unit between at least two of the areas where the powder detecting unit, the powder detecting unit, and the powder storing unit are provided. Each having a partition member provided at a position where the powder that extends and is conveyed in the different direction hits,
The powder container, wherein the transport unit and the partition member are integrally formed and move integrally. The powder container according to claim 4,
One of the partition members is provided in parallel with the moving direction of the powder toward the powder detection unit between the region where the powder detection unit is provided and the region where the powder storage unit is provided. A powder container characterized by comprising: The powder container according to claim 4,
Another one of the partition members is perpendicular to the moving direction of the powder toward the powder detection unit between the region where the powder inlet portion is provided and the region where the powder storage portion is provided. A powder container characterized by being provided. The powder container according to any one of claims 4 to 6,
The powder container, wherein the partition member has at least an upper end extending in a direction perpendicular to the reciprocating direction of the stirring member. A toner container using the powder container according to claim 1. Waste toner container, which comprises using the powder container according to one of claims 1 to 7. An image forming unit arranged in a substantially horizontal direction and capable of forming images of different colors;
A belt-like intermediate transfer body capable of sequentially transferring images formed by the image forming units;
A secondary transfer roller capable of batch-transferring the image transferred to the intermediate transfer member to transfer paper;
In an image forming apparatus provided with a cleaning mechanism for removing transfer residual toner on the intermediate transfer belt,
An image forming apparatus, wherein the toner collected by the cleaning mechanism is accommodated in the powder container according to claim 1 .

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