JP5705063B2 - Toner supply device, toner cartridge, and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a toner replenishing device and a toner cartridge, and more particularly to a toner replenishing device and a toner cartridge used in an image forming apparatus that forms an image using a two-component developer containing toner and a magnetic carrier.

  Conventionally, in a developing device that stores a two-component developer containing toner and a magnetic carrier and supplies it to a photosensitive drum, two-component development is performed when it is detected that the toner in the developing device is consumed and reduced due to image formation. The toner is supplied from the toner cartridge into the developing device so that the toner concentration in the agent does not become a predetermined value or less.

  For example, Patent Document 1 mainly discloses a toner storage unit that stores toner to be supplied, a toner supply port that supplies toner to the developing device, and a toner transport that transports toner in the toner storage unit to the toner supply port. A toner cartridge having a screw portion is described.

JP 2006-235255 A

  However, the conventional toner cartridge as shown in Patent Document 1 has a small amount of toner replenishment when the fluidity of the toner is lowered due to transportation over a long distance or leaving it for a long time in a high temperature environment. There was a problem of becoming.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides a toner replenishing device and a toner cartridge capable of stabilizing the amount of toner to be replenished.

The present invention provides a plurality of toner containing bags enclosing toner therein, a connecting member for connecting the plurality of toner containing bags, a winding member for winding the connecting member, and a rupturable member for rupturing the toner containing bag. And a toner replenishing device.
According to the present invention, if the toner containing bag connected by the connecting member is taken up by the take-up member, and the toner containing bag is sequentially ruptured by the rupturable member, the toner for one bag is replenished. It becomes possible. Accordingly, since one bag of toner is replenished, the amount of toner replenished to the developing device can be stabilized without being affected by the fluidity of the toner.

The toner containing bag is formed of a rubber balloon.
According to the present invention, the toner containing bag, which is a rubber balloon, contracts immediately after being ruptured, so that toner adhesion to the toner containing bag after rupture can be reduced.

The connecting member is a string or a belt.
According to this invention, since the connecting member can be flexibly and flexibly deformed, it can be smoothly wound up by the winding member without being bulky.

The rupture member may be a needle, a knife, or a member having a sharp angle at the tip.
According to the present invention, the toner containing bag can be reliably ruptured by the rupture member.

A toner bag container having a toner discharge port; a plurality of toner storage bags accommodated in the toner bag container and enclosing toner therein; and a connecting member for connecting the plurality of toner storage bags; A winding member that winds up the connecting member, and a rupturing member that ruptures the toner containing bag. The toner enclosed in the toner containing bag ruptured by the rupturing member is discharged from the toner discharge port to the outside. A toner cartridge is provided.
According to the present invention, if the toner containing bag connected by the connecting member is taken up by the take-up member, and the toner containing bag is sequentially ruptured by the rupturable member, the toner for one bag is discharged. It can be discharged from the outlet. Accordingly, since one bag of toner is replenished, the amount of toner replenished to the developing device can be stabilized without being affected by the fluidity of the toner.

The rupture member is provided on a surface of the winding member.
According to the present invention, the toner containing bag is ruptured by the rupture member when it reaches the surface of the take-up member, so that one bag of toner can be reliably supplied regardless of the route when the toner containing bag is taken up. Can be replenished.

In addition, a plurality of the rupture members are provided at equal intervals on the surface of the winding member.
According to the present invention, since there is a rupture member on the surface of the winding member, the toner containing bag approaching the surface of the winding member can be reliably ruptured.

Further, the toner discharge port is provided at a lower portion in a vertical direction of the winding member.
According to the present invention, after the toner containing bag is ruptured, the toner inside the bag falls by gravity and is quickly discharged from the toner discharge port.

Further, the plurality of toner containing bags are connected at equal intervals by the connecting member.
According to the present invention, since the toner containing bags are connected at equal intervals, the toner replenishment amount can be controlled with high accuracy in units of one bag by controlling the length of winding of the connecting member.

The toner bag container includes a guide member that guides the toner bag one by one toward the winding member.
According to the present invention, since the guide member is provided, it is possible to prevent the plurality of toner storage bags from being wound around the winding member at the same time because the connecting member is entangled.

Further, the present invention provides a photosensitive drum on which an electrostatic latent image is formed, a charging device that charges the surface of the photosensitive drum, and an exposure device that forms an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photosensitive drum. A developing device for supplying toner to the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum to form a toner image, a toner cartridge for supplying toner to the developing device, and the developing device on the surface of the photosensitive drum. An image forming apparatus comprising: a transfer device that transfers a formed toner image to a recording medium; and a fixing device that fixes the toner image to the recording medium, wherein the toner cartridge is a toner cartridge having the characteristics described above. It is to provide.
According to this, since the toner replenishment amount can be stabilized without being affected by the fluidity of the toner, an image having a stable image density can be formed over a long period of time.

  According to the present invention, a plurality of toner containing bags enclosing toner therein, a connecting member for connecting the plurality of toner containing bags, a winding member for winding the connecting member, and the toner containing bag are ruptured. Since the rupture member is provided, if the toner is replenished by sequentially rupturing the toner containing bag one by one, the amount of toner to be replenished can be stabilized without being affected by the fluidity of the toner. be able to.

1 is an explanatory diagram showing the overall configuration of an embodiment of an image forming apparatus of the present invention. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a toner cartridge according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is an A-A ′ cross-sectional arrow view of the toner cartridge 25 in FIG. 2. FIG. 4 is an enlarged explanatory view of a toner containing bag 103 of the present invention.

The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. However, this does not limit the present invention.
<Configuration of Image Forming Apparatus of the Invention>
FIG. 1 shows a configuration diagram of an embodiment of an image forming apparatus provided with a toner cartridge of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, an image forming apparatus 100 of the present invention mainly includes a photosensitive drum 21 on which an electrostatic latent image is formed, a charging roller (charging device) 23 for charging the surface of the photosensitive drum 21, and An exposure unit (exposure device) E for forming an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 21; a developing device 22 for supplying toner to the electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 21 to form a toner image; A toner cartridge 25 for supplying toner to the device 22, a transfer unit (transfer device) for transferring the toner image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 21 to the recording medium via the intermediate transfer belt 11, and fixing the toner image to the recording medium. A fixing unit (fixing device) 15.

  The image forming apparatus 100 forms a multi-color or single-color image on a predetermined sheet (recording paper, recording medium) according to image data transmitted from the outside via a communication network or the like. A scanner or the like may be provided above the image forming apparatus 100.

First, the overall configuration of the image forming apparatus 100 will be described.
An image forming apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 1 forms a color image or a single color image, and image data for each of four color components of black (K), cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y). Shall be handled. Here, a black image, a cyan image, a magenta image, and a yellow image are formed separately, and one color image is formed by superimposing the images of the respective color components.

Therefore, in the image forming apparatus 100, as shown in FIG. 1, the developing device 22 (22a, 22b, 22c, 22d) and the photosensitive drum 21 (21a, 21b, 21c) are formed so that images of the respective color components are formed. , 21d), four charging rollers 23 (23a, 23b, 23c, 23d), four cleaning units 24 (24a, 24b, 24c, 24d), and four primary transfer rollers 13 (13a, 13b, 13c, 13d). ing.
In other words, four image forming stations (image forming portions 55a to 55d) each including the developing device 22, the photosensitive drum 21, the charging roller 23, the cleaning unit 24, and the primary transfer roller 13 are provided.

The symbols a to d indicate that a is a member for forming a black image, b is a member for forming a cyan image, c is a member for forming a magenta image, and d is a member for forming a yellow image. It is shown.
In addition, the image forming apparatus 100 includes an exposure unit E, a fixing device 15, paper transport paths (P 1, P 2, P 3), a toner cartridge unit 20, a paper feed cassette 16, a manual paper feed tray 17, and a paper discharge tray 18. It has been.

The charging roller 23 uniformly charges the surface of the photosensitive drum 21 to a predetermined potential.
As the charging roller 23, a contact brush type charger or a non-contact charger type charger may be used in addition to the contact roller type charger shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the exposure unit E is a laser scanning unit (LSU) including a laser irradiation unit and a reflection mirror. However, in addition to the laser scanning unit, the exposure unit E can be an EL (electroluminescence) or LED writing head in which light emitting elements are arranged in an array. The exposure unit E forms an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the image data on the surface of the photosensitive drum 21 by exposing the charged photosensitive drum 21 to light corresponding to the input image data.

  The exposure unit E includes a semiconductor laser (not shown), a polygon mirror 4, a first reflecting mirror 7, a second reflecting mirror 8, and the like. When forming a color image, black, cyan, magenta, and yellow Each of the photosensitive drums 21a to 21d is irradiated with a light beam such as a laser beam modulated by the image data of each hue. As a result, electrostatic latent images based on image data of the respective hues of black, cyan, magenta, and yellow are formed on the photosensitive drums 21a to 21d.

  The photosensitive drum 21 is disposed above the exposure unit E and is a substantially cylindrical image carrier, and is controlled to rotate in a predetermined direction by a driving unit and a control unit (not shown). The photosensitive drum 21 is configured by forming a photoconductive layer on a base material. For example, a metal drum made of aluminum or the like is used as a base material, and a photoconductive layer such as amorphous silicon (a-Si), selenium (Se), or an organic photo semiconductor (OPC) is formed in a thin film on the outer peripheral surface thereof. ing. The configuration of the photosensitive drum 21 is not particularly limited to the above-described configuration.

The developing device 22 (22a to 22d) supplies toner to the surface of the photosensitive drum 21, and the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 21 is visualized with any of K, C, M, and Y toners. (Develop).
A toner transfer mechanism 26 (toner supply pipes 26a, 26b, 26c, and 26d) and a toner cartridge 25 (25a, 25b, 25c, and 25d) attached to the toner cartridge unit 20 are provided on the upper portion of the developing device 22.
The toner cartridge 25 includes a plurality of toner storage bags 103 and a toner bag storage device 101 as will be described later.
Each of the developing devices 22a to 22d contains toner of each hue of black, cyan, magenta, and yellow, and an electrostatic latent image of each hue formed on each of the photosensitive drums 21a to 21d is black. The toner images are visualized as cyan, magenta, and yellow toner images.

The cleaning unit 24 removes and collects the toner remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 21 after the development and image transfer processes.
A transfer unit is disposed above the photosensitive drum 21. The transfer unit includes a primary transfer roller 13 (13a, 13b, 13c, 13d), an intermediate transfer belt 11, a driving roller 11a, a driven roller 11b, and a secondary transfer roller that transfers the toner image transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 11 to a sheet. 14 and an intermediate transfer belt cleaning unit 12.
The primary transfer roller 13, the driving roller 11a, and the driven roller 11b stretch the intermediate transfer belt 11 and rotationally drive the intermediate transfer belt 11.

The outer peripheral surface of the intermediate transfer belt 11 faces the photosensitive drum 21d, the photosensitive drum 21c, the photosensitive drum 21b, and the photosensitive drum 21a in this order.
Primary transfer rollers 13a to 13d are arranged at positions facing the respective photosensitive drums 21a to 21d with the intermediate transfer belt 11 interposed therebetween. Each of the positions where the intermediate transfer belt 11 faces the photosensitive drums 21a to 21d is a primary transfer position. The intermediate transfer belt 11 is formed endlessly with a film having a thickness of about 100 to 150 μm.
In order to transfer the toner images carried on the surfaces of the photosensitive drums 21a to 21d onto the intermediate transfer belt 11, the primary transfer rollers 13a to 13d are controlled at a constant voltage by a primary transfer bias having a polarity opposite to the charging polarity of the toner. Applied. As a result, the toner images of the respective colors formed on the photosensitive drum 21 (21a to 21d) are sequentially superimposed on the outer peripheral surface of the intermediate transfer belt 11, and a full-color toner image is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the intermediate transfer belt 11. It is formed.

  However, when image data of only a part of the hues of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black is input, a part of the four photosensitive drums 21a to 21d corresponding to the hue of the input image data. Only the photosensitive drum 21 forms an electrostatic latent image and a toner image. For example, when forming a monochrome image, an electrostatic latent image and a toner image are formed only on the photosensitive drum 21 a corresponding to the black hue, and only the black toner image is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the intermediate transfer belt 11. Transcribed.

  Each of the primary transfer rollers 13a to 13d is configured by covering the surface of a shaft made of a metal (for example, stainless steel) having a diameter of 8 to 10 mm with a conductive elastic material (for example, EPDM, urethane foam, or the like). A high voltage is uniformly applied to the intermediate transfer belt 11 by a conductive elastic material. In this embodiment, the primary transfer rollers 13a to 13d are used as the transfer electrodes, but brushes and the like can also be used.

  At each primary transfer position, the toner image transferred onto the outer peripheral surface of the intermediate transfer belt 11 is conveyed to a secondary transfer position that is a position facing the secondary transfer roller 14 by the rotation of the intermediate transfer belt 11. The secondary transfer roller 14 is pressed against the outer peripheral surface of the intermediate transfer belt 11 whose inner peripheral surface is in contact with the peripheral surface of the driving roller 11a at a predetermined nip pressure during image formation. In order to constantly obtain the nip pressure, either the secondary transfer roller 14 or the drive roller 11a is made of a hard material such as metal, and the other is a soft material such as an elastic roller (for example, an elastic rubber roller or foaming property). Resin roller).

When the paper fed from the paper feed cassette 16 or the manual paper feed tray 17 passes between the secondary transfer roller 14 and the intermediate transfer belt 11, the secondary transfer roller 14 transfers the toner image onto the paper. Voltage is applied. This voltage is a high voltage having a polarity (+) opposite to the charging polarity (−) of the toner.
In this way, the electrostatic latent images on the respective photosensitive drums 21 (21a to 21d) are visualized with toners corresponding to the respective hues to become toner images, and these toner images are transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 11. Are stacked. Thereafter, the laminated toner images are moved to a contact position between the conveyed paper and the intermediate transfer belt 11 by the rotation of the intermediate transfer belt 11, and are intermediately moved by the secondary transfer roller 14 disposed at this position. A toner image is transferred from the outer peripheral surface of the transfer belt 11 onto the paper.

The toner adhering to the intermediate transfer belt 11 due to the contact between the intermediate transfer belt 11 and the photosensitive drum 21 and the toner image remaining on the intermediate transfer belt 11 are not transferred when the toner image is transferred from the intermediate transfer belt 11 to the sheet. The toner that has been used becomes a cause of toner color mixing in the next step, and is therefore removed and collected by the intermediate transfer belt cleaning unit 12.
The intermediate transfer belt cleaning unit 12 includes a cleaning blade as a cleaning member that contacts the intermediate transfer belt 11. The portion of the intermediate transfer belt 11 in contact with the cleaning blade is supported by a driven roller 11b from the back side.

  The fixing device 15 includes a heating roller 15a and a pressure roller 15b, and the heating roller 15a and the pressure roller 15b rotate with the sheet interposed therebetween. The heating roller 15a is controlled by a control unit (not shown) so as to have a predetermined fixing temperature. This control unit controls the temperature of the heating roller 15a based on a detection signal from a temperature detector (not shown).

  The sheet on which the toner image is transferred as a visible image is guided to a fixing device 15 including a heating roller 15a and a pressure roller 15b, and passes between the heating roller 15a and the pressure roller 15b to be heated and pressed. Receive. As a result, the toner image that becomes a visible image is firmly fixed on the surface of the paper. The paper on which the toner image is fixed is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 18 by the paper discharge roller 18a.

In the image forming apparatus 100, a substantially vertical direction for feeding the paper stored in the paper feed cassette 16 to the paper discharge tray 18 between the secondary transfer roller 14 and the intermediate transfer belt 11 and via the fixing device 15. Paper transport path P1 is provided.
In the paper transport path P1, a pickup roller 16a that feeds the paper in the paper cassette 16 one by one into the paper transport path P1, a transport roller r10 that transports the fed paper upward, and the transported paper is predetermined. A registration roller 19 that guides between the secondary transfer roller 14 and the intermediate transfer belt 11 at the timing and a paper discharge roller 18 a that discharges the paper to the paper discharge tray 18 are disposed.

Further, inside the image forming apparatus 100, a paper conveyance path P2 in which a pickup roller 17a and a conveyance roller r10 are arranged is formed between the manual paper feed tray 17 and the registration roller 19.
Further, a paper transport path P3 is formed between the paper discharge roller 18a and the upstream side of the registration roller 19 in the paper transport path P1.

The transport roller r10 is a small roller for promoting and assisting the transport of paper, and a plurality of transport rollers r10 are provided along the paper transport path.
The pickup roller 16a is provided at the end of the paper feed cassette 16 and is a call-in roller that feeds paper one by one from the paper feed cassette 16 to the paper transport path P1. The pickup roller 17a is provided in the vicinity of the manual paper feed tray 17 and is a draw-in roller that feeds paper one by one from the manual paper feed tray 17 to the paper transport path P2.
The registration roller 19 temporarily holds the sheet conveyed through the sheet conveyance path, and conveys the sheet to the transfer unit at the timing when the leading edge of the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 11 and the leading edge of the sheet are aligned.

The paper discharge roller 18a is rotatable in both forward and reverse directions. When the single-sided image is formed to form an image on one side of the paper and the second-side image is formed during double-sided image formation to form an image on both sides of the paper, Driven in the rolling direction, the paper is discharged to the paper discharge tray 18.
On the other hand, when the first side image is formed in the double-sided image formation, the paper discharge roller 18a is driven in the normal rotation direction until the rear end of the paper passes the fixing device 15, and then the rear end of the paper is sandwiched. Driven in the reverse direction, the paper is guided into the paper transport path P3. As a result, the sheet on which the image is formed on only one side during the double-sided image formation is guided to the sheet conveyance path P1 with the front and back sides and the front and rear ends reversed.

The registration roller 19 is fed from the paper feed cassette 16 or the manual paper feed tray 17, or the paper conveyed via the paper conveyance path P <b> 3 is synchronized with the rotation of the intermediate transfer belt 11 at the secondary transfer roller 14. And the intermediate transfer belt 11. For this reason, the registration roller 19 stops rotating when the operation of the photosensitive drum 21 and the intermediate transfer belt 11 is started, and the sheet fed or conveyed prior to the rotation of the intermediate transfer belt 11 is registered at the front end. The movement in the paper transport path P1 is stopped in a state where it is in contact with the roller 19.
Thereafter, the registration roller 19 rotates at a timing at which the front end portion of the sheet and the front end portion of the toner image formed on the intermediate transfer belt 11 face each other at a position where the secondary transfer roller 14 and the intermediate transfer belt 11 are in pressure contact with each other. To start.

  Further, in full image formation where image formation is performed in all of the image forming units 55a to 55d, the primary transfer rollers 13a to 13d press the intermediate transfer belt 11 against all of the photosensitive drums 21a to 21d. On the other hand, only the primary transfer roller 13a presses the intermediate transfer belt 11 against the photosensitive drum 21a during monochrome image formation in which image formation is performed only in the image forming unit 55a.

<Description of sheet conveying operation>
Next, a sheet conveying operation by the sheet conveying path will be described.
In the image forming apparatus 100 of FIG. 1, sheets of a predetermined size are arranged in advance in a paper feed cassette 16 and a manual paper feed tray 17 used when printing a small number of sheets.
Pickup rollers (16a, 17a) arranged in the vicinity of both trays (16, 17) supply the sheets one by one to the sheet conveyance path.

In the case of single-sided printing, the sheet conveyed from the sheet feeding cassette 16 is conveyed to the registration roller 19 by the conveyance roller r10 in the sheet conveyance path P1, and is stacked on the front end of the sheet and the intermediate transfer belt 11 by the registration roller 19. The toner image is conveyed to the transfer portion (contact position between the transfer roller 14 and the intermediate transfer belt 11) at the timing when the leading edge of the toner image is aligned.
In the transfer unit, a toner image is transferred onto the paper, and the toner image is fixed on the paper by the fixing device 15. Thereafter, the paper is discharged from the paper discharge roller 18a onto the paper discharge tray 18.

  Further, the sheet conveyed from the manual sheet feeding tray 17 is conveyed to the registration roller 19 by a plurality of conveying rollers r10. Subsequent sheet conveyance operations are discharged to the paper discharge tray 18 through a process similar to that for the paper supplied from the paper feed cassette 16 described above.

On the other hand, in the case of double-sided printing, the trailing edge of the paper that has been printed on the single side and has passed through the fixing device 15 as described above is chucked by the paper discharge roller 18a.
Next, the paper is guided to the transport roller r10 by the reverse rotation of the paper discharge roller 18a, and after the back side printing is performed again through the registration roller 19, it is discharged to the paper discharge tray 18.

<Toner cartridge>
Next, the configuration of an embodiment of the toner cartridge 25 of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the toner cartridge 25 of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view taken along the line AA ′ of the toner cartridge 25 shown in FIG.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB ′ shown in FIG.
FIG. 4 is an enlarged explanatory view of the toner containing bag of the present invention.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the toner cartridge 25 connects the toner bag container 101, the plurality of toner storage bags 103 stored in the toner bag container 101, and the plurality of toner storage bags 103. The connecting member 104 includes a winding member 105 that winds up the connecting member 104, and a rupture member 106 that ruptures the toner containing bag 103.
Here, the toner containing bag 103, the connecting member 104, the winding member 105, and the rupturable member 106 constitute a toner replenishing device.

As shown in FIG. 4, the toner containing bag 103 is formed of a rubber bag, for example, a rubber balloon.
A predetermined amount (for example, about 5 g) of toner and dry air (for example, 20 ml) are sealed in each of the bags 103.
The sealing port 103a is sealed with a metal clip 103b so that the toner does not leak outside.
As shown in FIG. 3, the plurality of toner storage bags 103 are stored adjacent to each other in the toner bag storage device and connected to each other by a connecting member 104 at substantially equal intervals.

  The connecting member 104 may be any member that connects a plurality of toner containing bags 103, and is particularly preferable because a string or a belt is not bulky. In one embodiment, for example, a nylon string having a diameter of 1 mm can be used as the connecting member 104.

  The winding member 105 includes a winding rotary shaft 105a, a winding roller 105b fixed to the rotary shaft 105a, and a winding gear 105c. The winding member 105 is rotated by a driving gear and a driving motor (not shown). It winds up on the surface of the winding roller 105b. By winding the connecting member 104, the connected toner containing bags 103 are sequentially moved in the direction of the winding member.

The rupture member 106 may be any member that can rupture the toner containing bag 103. In particular, a member having a sharp apex or corner at the tip, such as a needle or a knife, is preferable because the toner containing bag 103 can be reliably ruptured without being bulky.
As the rupturable member 106, for example, a metal needle (for example, SUS304, tungsten) having a length of 10 mm may be used.
Further, the rupture member 106 is provided on the surface of the winding member 105, and a plurality of rupture members 106 are preferably provided at equal intervals.
As a specific embodiment, a total of 144 metal needles are arranged at equal intervals in the axial direction of the winding member 105 and 12 at equal intervals in the circumferential direction (for example, at intervals of 10 mm). To do.

As shown in FIG. 3, the toner bag container 101 includes a toner discharge port 102 at the lower portion of the winding member 105 in the vertical direction. When the toner storage bag 103 is ruptured, the toner discharged to the outside of the bag is supplied to the developing device 22 via the toner supply pipe 26 connected to the toner discharge port 102.
The size of the opening of the toner discharge port 102 may be set to a size (for example, an opening having a width of several centimeters) that allows the toner contained in one toner storage bag 103 to fall vertically downward.

The toner bag container 101 is provided with a guide plate (guide member) 107 so that the toner containing bags 103 can be guided one by one in the direction of the winding member 105. When the winding member 105 is rotated, one toner containing bag 103 is in the toner outlet 102 through the space between the cross-sectional end of the toner outlet 102 of the toner bag container 101 and the guide plate 107. It is guided in the direction of the upper winding member 105.
When the toner containing bag 103 guided to the vicinity of the winding member 105 comes into contact with the rupturable member 106 provided on the surface of the winding member 105, it bursts. The toner enclosed in the toner containing bag 103 that has been ruptured by the rupture member falls vertically downward due to gravity and is discharged from the toner discharge port 102 to the outside.

20 toner cartridge unit 22 developing device 25 toner cartridge 26 toner supply pipe 100 image forming apparatus 101 toner bag container 102 toner discharge port 103 toner storage bag 103a sealing port 103b clip 104 connecting member 105 winding member 105a winding rotary shaft 105b winding Take-up roller 105c Winding gear 106 Rupture member 107 Guide member

Claims (12)

  A plurality of toner containing bags enclosing toner; a connecting member for connecting the plurality of toner containing bags; a winding member for winding the connecting member; and a rupturable member for rupturing the toner containing bag. A toner replenishing device.   The toner replenishing device according to claim 1, wherein the toner containing bag is formed of a rubber balloon.   The toner replenishing device according to claim 1, wherein the connecting member is a string or a belt.   The toner replenishing device according to claim 1, wherein the rupturable member is a needle, a knife, or a member having a sharp angle at a tip. A toner bag container having a toner outlet;
A plurality of toner containing bags that are housed in the toner bag container and each encloses toner therein;
A connecting member for connecting the plurality of toner containing bags;
A winding member for winding the connecting member;
A rupture member for rupturing the toner containing bag,
A toner cartridge that discharges the toner enclosed in the toner containing bag, which has been ruptured by the rupture member, from the toner discharge port to the outside.   The toner cartridge according to claim 5, wherein the rupturable member is provided on a surface of the winding member.   The toner cartridge according to claim 5, wherein a plurality of the rupture members are provided at equal intervals on the surface of the winding member.   The toner cartridge according to claim 5, wherein the toner discharge port is provided at a lower portion in a vertical direction of the winding member.   9. The toner cartridge according to claim 5, wherein the plurality of toner containing bags are connected at equal intervals by the connecting member. 10.   10. The toner cartridge according to claim 5, wherein the toner bag container includes a guide member that guides the toner storage bags one by one in the direction of the winding member.   An image forming apparatus comprising the toner cartridge according to claim 5. A photosensitive drum having an electrostatic latent image formed on the surface;
A charging device for charging the surface of the photosensitive drum;
An exposure device that forms an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photosensitive drum;
A developing device for supplying toner to an electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum to form a toner image;
A toner cartridge for supplying toner to the developing device;
A transfer device for transferring the toner image formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum by the developing device to a recording medium;
A fixing device for fixing the toner image on the recording medium,
11. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the toner cartridge is the toner cartridge according to claim 5.

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