JP4970804B2 - Powder container / 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 powder recovery box. Centralized and accumulated.
This type of powder recovery box includes a toner inlet connected to a cleaning mechanism, a toner transport unit that transports toner put in the box, and a toner that detects the degree of toner storage (filling rate) in the box. A detection means is provided.
When the toner detection means detects that the box is full of toner, the powder recovery box is replaced.
From the viewpoint of improving user convenience, it is better to reduce the number of replacements of the powder collection box as much as possible. For this purpose, it is desirable to increase the capacity of the box as much as possible.

However, in this type of image forming apparatus, as is well known, downsizing and cost reduction have progressed, and the actual situation is that it is not allowed to enlarge the box only from the viewpoint of improving the powder recovery.
In general, the powder collection box is often arranged using a so-called dead space such as a space between a paper feeding unit arranged at the bottom of the image forming apparatus main body and an image forming unit located above the sheet feeding unit.
As a configuration of the powder collection box, there is a configuration in which a toner conveying 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 be used for development does not cause supply failure by smooth movement. However, some of the accommodated toner is solidified to cause a so-called blocking phenomenon, and 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 pressure mylar that can come into contact with the falling toner is disposed in the vicinity of the toner outflow side of the screw, and the pressure mylar is rotated by rotating a square bar that can contact the pressure mylar. By pushing the upper portion of the accumulated toner downward, the accumulated toner flows downward while preventing the blocking and spreading of the accumulated toner.

  Further, as a configuration for diffusing the accumulated toner as disclosed in Patent Document 2, there is a configuration in which the deposited toner is broken by bending the wall surface of the toner container (for example, Patent Document 3). ).

JP-A-11-002947 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 05-204281 JP-A-06-118846

  However, when there is no room in the height direction of the image forming apparatus main body from the viewpoint of miniaturization, the dimensional ratio of the powder recovery 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 conveying method is applied to the powder recovery box, the toner is easily solidified and accumulated around the toner detecting means, and the above-described problem of erroneous detection cannot be solved.

  On the other hand, in the techniques disclosed in Patent Document 2 and Patent Document 3, although the toner filling rate can be increased by loosening the introduced toner, the toner is sufficiently accumulated and loosened. Since the loosening operation is performed at the stage of contact with the member, the intended purpose cannot be achieved unless the toner has been accumulated to some extent. Therefore, the accumulated toner has parts with different heights. For example, if the high part faces the toner detection unit, it is determined that the container is full even if the container is not full. There is a risk that it will end up.

  As described above, if the behavior of the toner in the powder recovery box is not appropriate, there may be a case where an accurate full state cannot be determined even if a powder detection unit for detecting the full state is provided.

  Further, since the toner stored in the cartridge is accumulated in a state where there is some space between the particles, the excessive storage space is caused by the space narrowing the storage space. In spite of this, there is a possibility that it is erroneously detected as a full state. In particular, when the toner is moved in the horizontal direction, there may be variations in the accumulated height of the collected toner. Although there is still a space that can be collected in the region up to the high part and it does not correspond to an actual full state, a false detection may occur as a full detection.

  The present invention can freely control the flow and amount of powder such as toner so that the actual condition of the collected toner can be accurately detected, and the collected amount can be increased to an actual full state. Accordingly, the main object of the present invention is to provide a powder container and an image forming apparatus having the powder container that can reduce erroneous detection of the powder detection means and contribute to improvement of user convenience.

  The present invention is intended only for this part when there is a variation in local height by leveling the height of the powder to be conveyed by combining the mechanism for pressing the powder with the powder conveying means. As described above, it is based on the idea of preventing the occurrence of erroneous detection and increasing the filling rate between powders by pressing so that an actual full state can be obtained.

Specifically, the invention according to claim 1 has a case having a powder inlet portion into which powder is put, and a powder full detection for detecting a full state of the powder put into the case. In the powder container provided with the means and installed substantially horizontally, a stirring plate capable of reciprocating in the horizontal direction is provided in the case, and the stirring plate is in a reciprocating direction in the horizontal direction. It is formed by a conveying member in which a plurality of dam plates that have an angle on a substantially horizontal plane and can push and move the powder in a direction different from the reciprocating direction, and enter between the dam plates of the conveying member. A conveying unit for changing the pushing direction of the powder, and at a position facing the stirring plate of the conveying unit, a reciprocating motion of the stirring plate and a conveying direction of the powder in a direction different from the reciprocating direction; pressing means movable is arranged in the height direction orthogonal to the conveying unit The powder is transported in the transport direction of the powder is pressurized by the pressurizing means is characterized by leveling the height of the powder.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the powder container according to the first aspect, wherein the powder conveying and pressurizing means is disposed so as to face almost the entire area of the powder containing area to be conveyed and conveyed. It is characterized in that the powder is pressed by moving in the body height direction.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the powder container according to the first or second aspect, the powder conveying and pressurizing means equalizes the height of the powder by pressurizing the powder. .

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the powder container according to any one of the first to third aspects, the powder conveyance pressurizing means is combined with a mechanism for pressurizing separately from the means for conveying the powder. It is characterized by being configured.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the powder container according to any one of the first to third aspects, the powder conveying and pressurizing means includes a pressurizing unit in a part of the powder conveying unit. It is characterized by being composed.

A sixth aspect of the present invention is the powder container according to the fifth aspect, wherein a part of the conveying portion has a surface having a lower horizontal area than the upper portion in the height direction. It is characterized by.

A seventh aspect of the present invention is the powder container according to the sixth aspect, characterized in that a part of the transport portion has a triangular cross section.

The invention described in claim 8 is characterized in that, in the powder container according to claim 6 , a part of the conveying portion has an inverted T-shaped longitudinal section.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the powder container according to the sixth aspect of the present invention, a part of the conveying section is inclined along the horizontal direction.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the powder container according to any one of the sixth to ninth aspects, a part of the transport portion has a rib structure.

The invention described in claim 11 is the powder container according to any one of claims 1 to 10 , wherein a part of the transport portion is disposed away from the bottom surface of the space in which the transport unit is stored. It is a feature.

The invention described in claim 12 is characterized in that the powder container according to any one of claims 1 to 11 is used as a toner container.

According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, the toner container according to the thirteenth aspect is used in a toner collecting portion after image formation.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to control the moving state of powder such as toner contained in a narrow space by eliminating blocking phenomenon and clumping, and collecting toner until it corresponds to an actual full state. By defining the method of filling the powder in the container and preventing it from being unevenly distributed in part, the powder detection unit can be filled with powder in the final order. It is possible to improve detection accuracy by eliminating an erroneous operation of detecting a full state in the powder detection unit before the container is full.

  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 toner storage box 14 as a powder 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 user convenience and reduce the number of times the powder box is replaced. However, it does not allow the size of the machine to increase. Therefore, it is often the case that the powder box is 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 a powder container is installed.
However, when the above-described configuration is adopted, the following problems occur as described above.

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

According to the study by the present inventors, it is necessary to create a plurality of flows in different directions at different positions on the horizontal plane in order to control the powder so that it can be accumulated uniformly.
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 powder box 100, or as shown in FIG. A configuration in which a plurality of lines are arranged is conceivable.
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 conveyance direction is simply reversed, it is difficult to finely control the toner flow and flow amount, and the powder full capacity detection accuracy is still low. The problem cannot be solved.

  In the present embodiment, in view of the above circumstances, the flow and amount of toner can be controlled easily and with high accuracy with a simple configuration, and the toner can be reliably moved to the position of the powder full detection means. An object of the present invention is to provide a powder container that can increase the accuracy of full detection.

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

As shown in FIG. 3, the lower case 22 accommodates a powder transport unit 24 as a powder transport unit. As indicated by an arrow 25, the powder conveying means 24 is fixed to one end of the stirring plate 26, the cam shaft 27, and the cam shaft 27 that reciprocates substantially in the horizontal direction. A drive gear 28 connected to the cam shaft 27, 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 powder full detection unit 23 includes powder full detection means 34 as powder detection means. As the powder 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 running vertically and horizontally, and has an angle on a substantially horizontal plane with respect to the moving direction of the powder conveying means 24 (reciprocating direction indicated by the 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 powder full detection means 34. For example, the conveyance direction of the conveyance units 33J, 33K, and 33L is powder full. 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 powder on the upper portions of the transporting portions 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 flow amount of the upper and lower powders 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.

  The powder conveying means 24 used in the conveying structure of the conveying unit in this embodiment is configured to reciprocate by a driving mechanism having the configuration shown in FIG. 4, and the movement form is different between the forward path and the backward path. It is.

The above-described motion form is realized by making the movement trajectory different between the forward path and the return path, and the height direction and the inclination correspond to the movement trajectory.
Since the movement forms are different in this way, the shape of the conveyance surface provided for conveyance in the powder conveyance unit 24 is different between the forward path and the backward path, and the inclination of the forward path and the backward path is different, so Breaking down and transporting in the moving direction (pressing and moving the toner in the forward path) can be performed efficiently. Hereinafter, this configuration will be described with reference to FIG.

  In FIG. 4 (schematic cross-sectional view seen 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 causes the eccentric cam to the cam receiving portion 29. In accordance with the phase of the large-diameter portion of 30, first, it moves to the left in the figure so as to float upward as indicated by arrow A, then descends while slightly retracting, as indicated by arrow B, and then by arrow C As shown in the figure, the robot moves backward substantially horizontally, and then moves diagonally upward while moving backward slightly as indicated by an arrow D, and repeats these operations to perform a substantially reciprocating motion as a whole. As a result, during the forward movement (the direction indicated by C in FIG. 4), the agitating plate 26 moves along the bottom surface of the lower 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.

  The motion form of the stirring plate 26 appears as a difference in inclination between the forward path and the return path as indicated by symbols A to D, and a difference in the height direction obtained from the difference in inclination. Note that the rotational speed of the eccentric cam 30 may be different between the forward path and the backward path of the stirring plate 26. In this case, the moving speed in the backward path corresponding to the motion form that does not contribute to toner transfer is different from that of the forward path. The toner movement can be speeded up by increasing the speed.

According to such a transport structure in the transport unit, 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, the flow is different in each transport unit, but as shown in FIG. 5, a transport flow as shown by a thick black arrow is generated as a whole, resulting in a transport flow. A plurality of regions are formed along the line. That is, the plurality of areas are the area a1 defined by the partition plates 35 and 36, the area a2 near the powder inlet part 20, the area a3 near the cam receiving part 29, and the last area in the order of the conveyance flow. An area a4 facing the powder full detection means 34 is set. Of these areas, the area a1 close to the powder inlet 20 is the inlet area, the area a4 facing the powder full detection means 34 is the sensor area, and the inlet area and the sensor area An area a1 that does not face the powder detection means 20 is a storage area in which toner can be stored. Among these areas, the entrance area is set to have a larger area than the sensor area and flows in the toner. Can be prevented from clogging in the entrance area.

  Furthermore, the toner outlet in the inlet region is configured to be continuous with the toner inlet side in the storage region rather than the sensor region, so that the toner introduced into the inlet region is transported to the inlet of the storage region by the transport unit. As a result, toner conveyance is not delayed in the entrance area, and toner clogging in the entrance area can be prevented.

  By setting the areas and setting the transport order between the areas, the amount of toner in the process of moving the toner to each area can be changed in the distance between the weir plates in the transport section and in the moving direction by the partition plates 35 and 36. In the area a4 close to the powder full detection means 34 corresponding to the final stage of the conveyance process at a time before the toner storage box 14 becomes full so as not to be unevenly distributed between the areas. On the other hand, the toner is filled.

That is, the overall transport flow can be finely controlled by the arrangement patterns of the two types of transport units 33 having different transport directions, and the vicinity of the powder full detection means 34 is filled early, resulting in false 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, 40 that support the same side end portion of the stirring plate 26 from the lower surface side are provided near the powder fullness 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 in a portion close to the powder inlet portion 20 and in a direction toward the inlet in a portion far from the inlet. As a transport flow.

  In the above-described configuration, the present embodiment eliminates the variation in the height of the transferred toner, thereby increasing the amount of toner accommodated and recovering the toner until the actual full state is reached. Hereinafter, this configuration will be described.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for illustrating an example of the above-described configuration. In FIG. 7, the cartridge 14 (see FIG. 2) is transferred by the stirring plate 26 in the vicinity of the stirring plate 26 that is a toner conveying means. A compression mechanism 100 that can pressurize the toner is provided.
The compression mechanism 100 is a mechanism that is used in combination with the stirring plate 26, and includes a pressure member 100A that can reciprocate in the height direction of the toner, and a drive unit 100B connected to the pressure member 100A.
The pressure member 100 </ b> A has a size in plan view that can cover almost the entire area of the stirring plate 26, and can face the entire accumulation portion of the toner transferred by the stirring plate 26. As shown in FIG. 7, the pressurizing member 100 </ b> A is a solid plate member when it is located above the stirring plate 26, but when it is located below the stirring plate 26, it is transported. A penetrating part such as a mesh part for dropping the applied toner toward the lower case 22 side is provided and used.

  The drive unit 100B is a member that drives the pressure member 100A to move up and down. The drive unit 100B pushes the toner at the highest position among the heights that come in contact with the surface of the transferred toner and vary in the height direction as a lift stroke. By breaking, the toner can be leveled in the height direction, and a stroke is set that does not crush and crush when breaking. In this embodiment, the lifting stroke is set to 1 mm or more. The driving force is obtained by using a unique driving source or interlocking with the eccentric cam 30 which is an active source of the stirring plate 26.

In this configuration, the toner transferred by the stirring plate 26 is crushed and leveled by the pressure member 100A of the compression mechanism 100 in the course of moving to each region or at the time of movement. As a result, the height of the toner is made uniform, and the space existing between the toner particles is narrowed, so that an extra space where the toner can be collected can be generated and filled in the cartridge 14. This makes it easier for the toner to approach the actual full state. As a result, when there is a variation in height, not only is it not erroneously detected that the full state is detected by detecting the toner at the highest position, but the amount of accommodation corresponding to the actual full state with respect to the volume in the cartridge 14 is reduced. It can be secured.
Note that the compression mechanism 100 can be combined with a conveying screw or the like capable of transferring toner instead of the agitation plate 26 described above.
Note that the compression mechanism 100 described above can be configured so as to also serve as a conveying means by using the motion state of the stirring plate 26 without providing it separately from the stirring plate 26.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a configuration in which the height of toner is leveled by the stirring plate 26, and a plurality of forms are collectively shown for convenience.
In FIG. 10, the rib of the stirring plate 26 has a cross-sectional shape in the form of a triangular cross section whose bottom is parallel to the lower case 22 of the cartridge 14 as shown by a symbol (α) in FIG. As shown, an inverted T-shape is used, and further, an angle θ (preferably −70 to + 70 °) is set with respect to a vertical line with respect to the surface of the lower case 22 as indicated by a symbol (γ). And tilted. In either case, when the pressurizing member 100A moves up and down, the surface that contacts the toner located below the pressurizing member 100A is enlarged to increase the compression rate so that it is easily crushed. Note that any of the above embodiments can be used in combination. With such a configuration, the height of the toner can be leveled by using a movement form for transferring the toner, and the space between the toner particles can be narrowed to reduce the space for storing the toner. Enlargement is possible.

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 powder collection container. It is a whole perspective view of a powder collection container. It is a perspective view which shows the conveyance direction in each conveyance part of a powder collection container. It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the reciprocating motion of a stirring plate. It is a perspective view which shows the whole conveyance flow in a powder collection 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 structure 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. It is a figure for demonstrating the modification regarding the rib structure of a stirring plate.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 14 Toner collection box as powder container 20 Powder inlet part 22 Lower case 24 Powder conveyance means 26 Stirring plate 33 Conveyance part 34 Powder fullness detection means as powder detection means 100 Compression mechanism 100A Pressure member 100B Drive Part

Claims (13)

A powder container having a case having a powder inlet portion into which powder is charged, and having powder full detection means for detecting a full state of the powder charged in the case, and installed substantially horizontally In the vessel
A stirring plate that can reciprocate in the horizontal direction is provided in the case,
The stirring plate has a plurality of weir plate portions arranged in parallel so as to have an angle on a substantially horizontal plane with respect to the reciprocating direction in the horizontal direction and capable of pushing the powder in a direction different from the reciprocating direction. A conveying unit that is formed of a conveying member that changes the direction of pushing and moving the powder entering between the barrier plates of the conveying member,
At the position of the conveying unit facing the stirring plate , a reciprocating motion of the stirring plate and a pressurizing means movable in a height direction orthogonal to the powder conveying direction in a direction different from the reciprocating direction are arranged. And
A powder container, wherein the powder conveyed in the conveying direction of the powder by the conveying unit is pressed by the pressing means to level the height of the powder. The powder container according to claim 1, wherein
The powder conveying and pressurizing means is disposed so as to face almost the entire storage area of the powder to be conveyed, and moves in the height direction of the conveyed powder to pressurize the powder. Powder container. The powder container according to claim 1 or 2,
The powder container pressurizing means equalizes the height of the powder by pressurizing the powder. The powder container according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The powder container pressurizing means is configured by combining a mechanism for pressurizing separately from the means for conveying the powder. The powder container according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The powder container is characterized in that the powder conveying and pressurizing means includes a pressing unit in a part of the powder conveying unit. The powder container according to claim 5,
A part of said conveyance part has a horizontal direction area larger in the lower part than the upper part in the height direction, and has a surface. The powder container according to claim 6,
A powder container, wherein a part of the transport section has a triangular longitudinal section. The powder container according to claim 6,
A powder container, wherein a part of the transport unit has an inverted T-shaped longitudinal section. The powder container according to claim 6,
A powder container, wherein a part of the transport section is inclined along a horizontal direction. The powder container according to any one of claims 6 to 9,
A powder container, wherein a part of the transport section has a rib structure.   The powder container according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein a part of the transport unit is disposed apart from a bottom surface of a space in which the transport unit is stored.   A toner container using the powder container according to any one of claims 1 to 11.   13. An image forming apparatus, wherein the toner container according to claim 12 is used in a toner collecting portion after image formation.

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