JP5708924B2 - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus including a toner container that is detachable from an apparatus main body.

  In an image forming apparatus that replenishes toner by replacing the toner container, the color of the toner stored in the toner container, the compatible model, the initial filling amount, the current remaining amount, whether or not the toner is almost exhausted, etc. When a non-volatile storage circuit board storing information is provided in the toner container and the toner container is attached to the apparatus main body, the specific information is sent from the storage circuit board to the apparatus main body, and the attached toner container is attached to the apparatus. In some cases, it is determined whether or not the toner container is suitable, and when the toner container is detached from the apparatus main body, the use history of the toner container is overwritten on the memory circuit board. Information transmission between the toner container and the apparatus main body is performed when the storage circuit board provided in the toner container contacts the connection terminal of the apparatus main body when the toner container is mounted on the apparatus main body (for example, (See Patent Document 1).

  In such an image forming apparatus, when the toner container is not attached, the connection terminal of the apparatus main body is exposed, so that toner or the like may adhere to the connection terminal and a contact failure may occur.

  Patent Document 2 proposes a technique in which a connection terminal is covered with a cover member, and the cover member is opened and closed in conjunction with the attaching / detaching operation of the process cartridge. Therefore, it is conceivable to apply the proposed technique to the protection of the connection terminal in the image forming apparatus in which the toner container can be attached and detached.

Japanese Patent No. 4414221 (paragraph (0037), FIG. 13, FIG. 15, etc.) JP 7-77921 A

  However, in the proposed technique of Patent Document 2, the process cartridge attaching / detaching direction and the cover member opening / closing direction are the same direction. In addition, since the user generally attaches and detaches the toner container in many cases and it is difficult to adjust the force when attaching and detaching, for example, when the toner container is vigorously attached to the apparatus main body, There is a risk that the toner will be smoked and adhere to the connection terminals. Further, since the cover member is opened while the toner container is being attached, the toner container being attached may come into contact with the connection terminal and the connection terminal may be deformed.

  Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of such conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus having a detachable toner container, in which a connection terminal provided on the apparatus main body is attached with toner or the like. Thus, there is no connection failure and the connection terminal is not damaged by the attaching / detaching operation of the toner container.

  An image forming apparatus according to the present invention that achieves the above-described object is an apparatus main body, and a toner that is detachable from the apparatus main body and is movable between a toner replenishable position and a toner non-replenishable position when mounted on the apparatus main body. The toner container has a discharge port for discharging the toner in the container and has a memory circuit board on the outer peripheral surface, and the apparatus main body receives the toner discharged from the toner container. A receiving port; a shutter member movable between a closed position for closing the receiving port and an open position for opening; and a connection terminal connected to the memory circuit board, wherein the connection terminal is configured such that the shutter member is in a closed position. In this case, it is covered with the shutter member, and when the shutter member is in an open position, it is exposed and can be connected to the memory circuit board.

  Here, it is preferable that the shutter member is moved from the closed position to the open position in conjunction with the movement of the toner container from the toner supply impossible position to the toner supply possible position.

  Further, it is preferable that the toner container has a cylindrical shape and is moved between a toner replenishable position and a toner replenishment impossible position by rotating the toner container.

  The connection terminal may always be biased in the direction of the toner container.

  In the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the connection terminal of the apparatus main body is usually covered with a shutter member that closes and opens a receiving port for receiving toner from the toner container to the apparatus main body, and when the shutter member is in the open position. Since it is exposed for the first time and is connected to the storage circuit board of the toner bottle, toner adhesion to the connection terminal is remarkably suppressed as compared with the conventional case. Further, when the toner container is not attached or when the toner container is attached or detached, an external force is not applied to the connection terminal and the connection terminal is not damaged.

  Further, in the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the operation of attaching the toner container to the apparatus main body and the operation of enabling toner replenishment to the apparatus main body are separate operations, and the shutter member is interlocked with the toner replenishment capable of easily adjusting the force. Since the shutter is moved from the closed position to the open position, the amount of toner eruption can be reduced compared to the conventional configuration in which the shutter member is set to the open position in conjunction with the mounting operation of the toner container. Can be suppressed.

  Furthermore, in the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the connection terminal is covered with a shutter member that closes / opens the toner receiving port of the apparatus main body, so that an increase in the number of parts is suppressed and a complicated structure is prevented.

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating an example of a toner container. FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view illustrating an example of an operation unit of a toner container. FIG. 6 is a partial perspective view illustrating a state when the toner container is mounted on the apparatus main body. The state figure when a shutter member exists in a closed position. The state figure when a shutter member exists in an open position. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a main part at a discharge port portion when the toner container is in a position where toner cannot be replenished. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of a main part when the toner container moves from the state of FIG. 7 toward a toner replenishable position. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a main part at a discharge port portion when the toner container is in a toner replenishable position. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of a main part when the toner container is moved from the state of FIG. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the main part of the storage circuit board portion when the toner container is in a position where toner replenishment is impossible. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of the storage circuit board portion when the toner container is in a toner replenishable position. FIG. 13 is a partially enlarged view near a connection terminal in FIG. 12.

  The image forming apparatus of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention, and shows components in the case of a monochrome image forming apparatus. However, the present invention can also be applied to a full-color image forming apparatus.

  An image forming apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 1 uniformly charges a cylindrical photoreceptor 11 that carries a toner image and is driven to rotate clockwise, and a surface of the photoreceptor 11 provided around the photoreceptor 11. A charging charger 12 to be exposed, an exposure device 13 for irradiating light on the surface of the photosensitive member 11 to form an electrostatic latent image, and developing the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the photosensitive member 11 with toner to form a toner image. , A transfer / separation charger 15 for transferring a toner image formed by the development device 14 to a recording paper (not shown), and a toner remaining on the photoreceptor 11 without being transferred to the recording paper is removed. A cleaning device 16 that removes the residual potential remaining on the surface of the photoconductor 11.

  The developing device 14 includes a rotatable developing roller 18 provided so as to face and separate from the photoreceptor 11, and an agitating and conveying roller 19 for agitating and conveying the toner to the developing roller 18. The toner in the developing device 14 is agitated by the agitating and conveying roller 19 and frictionally charged to a predetermined charge amount and supplied to the developing roller 18. Then, the toner is conveyed to a region (development region) facing the photosensitive member by the rotation of the developing roller 18. A developing bias voltage is applied to the developing roller 18, and toner moves from the developing roller 18 to the photoconductor 11 based on a potential difference between the developing bias voltage and the electrostatic latent image on the photoconductor 11, and the static on the photoconductor 11 is statically moved. The electrostatic latent image is visualized with toner.

  A sub hopper 21 is connected to the developing device 14. When the amount of toner in the developing device 14 decreases, the sub hopper 21 replenishes toner in the developing device 14 with a signal from the control unit 51. When the toner empty sensor 53 detects that the amount of toner in the sub hopper 21 is less than a predetermined amount, the toner is supplied to the sub hopper 21 from the toner container 30 that is detachably attached to the sub hopper 21. . The toner container 30 includes a bottle unit 31 that stores toner and an operation unit 32 that is operated by a user when the toner is attached and detached. When the bottle unit 31 is rotationally driven by the motor 54, the toner built in the bottle unit 31 is supplied to the sub hopper 21 from the discharge port 36 formed in the operation unit 32.

  FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the toner container 30. The toner container 30 has a cylindrical shape and includes a bottle portion 31 that stores toner, and an operation portion 32 provided with a handle 33, a door 34, a storage circuit board 37, and the like. The bottle part 31 is rotatably attached to the operation part 32, and a spiral groove is formed on the peripheral wall of the bottle part 31. When the toner container 30 is mounted on the apparatus main body and the bottle section 31 is rotated by a motor 54 (shown in FIG. 1) on the apparatus main body side, the toner in the bottle section 31 is conveyed toward the operation section 32 by the spiral groove. It is discharged from the outlet 36 (shown in FIG. 3) to the sub hopper 21.

  FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the operation unit 32 of the toner container 30. A discharge port 36 for discharging the toner is formed in the outer peripheral portion of the operation unit 32. A pair of guide members 35 are provided on both sides of the discharge port 36, and a door 34 (shown in FIG. 2) that opens and closes the discharge port 36 is slidably provided on the guide member 35. However, in this figure, in order to illustrate the discharge port 36, the door 34 (illustrated in FIG. 2) is removed. A seal member 38 is attached around the discharge port 36 to prevent toner leakage. A storage circuit board 37 is provided at a position shifted in the axial direction from the discharge port 36. A flat portion on the surface of the memory circuit board 37 is a connection portion with a contact terminal 41 (shown in FIG. 6) described later. The memory circuit board 37 contains data such as toner type, applicable image forming apparatus model, color, toner filling amount, manufacturing date, lot number, usage history, consumption amount and retained toner amount to date. It is remembered. The mounting position of the memory circuit board 37 is not particularly limited, but from the viewpoint of suppressing the toner from adhering during toner replenishment, the toner container 30 is further upstream in the rotational direction of the toner container 30 than the discharge port 36. It is desirable to be located above the discharge port 36 in the up and down direction in the replenishable state.

  FIG. 4 shows a state diagram when the toner container 30 is mounted on the apparatus main body 20. The toner container 30 is inserted into the mounting opening 22 provided above the sub hopper 21 of the apparatus main body 20 in the direction of arrow A from the bottle portion 31 side. The image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 4 is a full-color image forming apparatus, that is, an apparatus that attaches a toner container to the apparatus main body 20 for each toner color.

  5 and 6 are partial cross-sectional perspective views of a cross-section obtained by horizontally cutting a portion of the apparatus main body 20 to which the toner container 30 is mounted from an oblique direction. FIG. 5 is a state diagram in which the receiving port 25 communicating with the sub hopper 21 is closed by the shutter member 23, and FIG. 6 is a state in which the shutter member 23 slides in the circumferential direction and the receiving port 25 is opened. FIG. As can be understood from FIG. 6, a seal member 24 is attached around the receiving port so that when the toner is replenished from the toner container 30, the toner does not leak out.

  What is important here is that the shutter member 23 is expanded in the axial direction and extended in the circumferential direction so as to cover the connection terminal 41 provided at a position shifted in the axial direction from the receiving port 25. Accordingly, when the shutter member 23 is in the closed position, the connection terminal 41 is covered with the shutter member 23, and when the shutter member 23 is in the open position, the connection terminal 41 is exposed. The structure of the connection terminal 41 will be described later.

  7 to 10 are vertical sectional views of the door 34 in a state where the toner container 30 is mounted on the apparatus main body 20. When the toner container 30 is attached to the apparatus main body 20, the toner container 30 is positioned in the state shown in FIG. 7 by the engagement between the door 34 provided on the outer periphery of the toner container 30 and the recess 26 on the apparatus main body 20 side. (Toner supply impossible position). When the toner container 30 is in a position where toner cannot be replenished, the discharge port 36 of the toner container 30 is closed by the door 34, and the receiving port 25 of the apparatus main body 20 is closed by the shutter member 23.

  FIG. 8 shows a state where the handle 33 (shown in FIG. 4) of the toner container 30 is picked and the operation unit 32 is slightly rotated clockwise. At this time, since the door 34 is engaged with the recess 26 of the apparatus main body 20, it does not rotate together with the operation unit 32. Accordingly, the discharge port 36 is gradually opened as the operation unit 32 rotates. On the other hand, the shutter member 23 that closes the receiving port 25 of the apparatus main body 20 rotates clockwise with the first protrusion 32a of the operation unit 32 coming into contact therewith, and the receiving port 25 is gradually opened.

  Then, the operation unit 32 is rotated until the second projection 32b of the operation unit 32 contacts the projection 27 of the apparatus main body 20, and the toner container 30 is set to a toner replenishable position. A state diagram at this time is shown in FIG. The shutter member 23 moves to a position where the receiving port 25 is opened, and the discharge port 36 of the operation unit 32 is positioned so as to completely overlap the receiving port 25.

  In the state shown in FIG. 9, when the motor 54 (shown in FIG. 1) is driven to rotate and the bottle portion 31 rotates, the toner stored in the toner container 30 is sequentially conveyed to the operation portion 32 side, and the discharge port 36 and The sub hopper 21 is replenished through the receiving port 25 of the apparatus main body 20.

  On the other hand, when the toner container 30 is removed from the apparatus main body 20, the handle 33 (shown in FIG. 4) is picked and the operation unit 32 is rotated counterclockwise from the toner replenishable position shown in FIG. Then, as shown in FIG. 10, the second protrusion 32 b of the operation unit 32 comes into contact with the shutter member 23, and the shutter member 23 moves toward the receiving port 25. At the same time, the discharge port 36 of the toner container 30 moves in the direction of the door 34. Then, the toner container 30 is set to a position where toner cannot be replenished, that is, after the discharge port 36 of the toner container 30 is closed by the door 34 and the receiving port 25 of the apparatus main body 20 is closed by the shutter member 23 (see FIG. 7). The toner container 30 is pulled out from the apparatus main body 20 and removed.

  Next, FIGS. 11 and 12 are vertical sectional views of the storage circuit board 37 in a state where the toner container 30 is mounted on the apparatus main body 20. FIG. 11 is a vertical cross-sectional view when the toner container 30 attached to the apparatus main body 20 is in a position where toner cannot be supplied, and FIG. 12 is a vertical cross-sectional view when the toner container 30 is in a state where toner can be supplied. . That is, it is a diagram corresponding to the state of the toner container shown in FIGS. Note that the discharge port 36 of the toner container 30 and the receiving port 25 of the apparatus main body 20 are located on the near side of the paper surface in this figure, and therefore do not appear in these figures.

  In the apparatus main body 20, a connection terminal 41 is provided so as to be rotatable about a shaft 43 sandwiched between “U” -shaped support portions 45, and a toner container is provided by a torsion coil spring 44 (shown in FIG. 13). 30 is always urged in the direction of the operation unit 32. On the surface of the connection terminal 41, a connection portion 42 made of an elastic wire is provided so as to protrude outward.

  In a state where the toner container 30 shown in FIG. 11 is in a toner replenishment impossible position (or a state where the toner container 30 is not attached), the connection terminal 41 is covered with the shutter member 23 provided in the apparatus main body 20. Thereby, the adhesion of toner or the like to the connection terminal 41 is reliably suppressed.

  Next, when the operation unit 32 of the toner container 30 is rotated clockwise to move the toner container 30 from the toner replenishment impossible position to the toner replenishment possible position, as described above, the shutter member 23 is moved from the closed position to the open position. Move (see FIGS. 7 to 9). The movement of the shutter member 23 exposes the connection terminal 41 as shown in FIG. At the same time, an electric circuit is formed in contact with the surface of the storage circuit board 37 of the toner container 30. As a result, the type of toner stored in the storage circuit board 37, the model of the applicable image forming apparatus, the color, the amount of toner filling, the date of manufacture, the lot number, the usage history, the current consumption and the retained toner Data such as quantity is sent to the control unit 51 (shown in FIG. 1) of the apparatus main body 20.

  As described above, when the toner container 30 is removed, the toner container 30 is rotated from the toner replenishable position to the toner replenishable position. In conjunction with the rotation of the toner container, the shutter member 23 moves from the open position to the closed position. By moving the shutter member 23 to the closed position, the connection terminal 41 is again covered and protected by the shutter member 23.

  In the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, the connection terminal 41 is normally covered by the shutter member 23 that closes the replenishment toner receiving port 25 of the apparatus main body 20, and this is the first time when the toner container 30 reaches the toner replenishable position. Since it is exposed and connected to the storage circuit board 37 of the toner container 30, contact failure does not occur due to adhesion of toner or the like. Further, it is useful when an external force is applied to the connection terminal when the toner container 30 is not attached or when the toner container 30 is attached or detached, and the connection terminal is not damaged.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 20 Apparatus main body 23 Shutter member 25 Receiving port 30 Toner container 36 Ejection port 37 Memory circuit board 41 Connection terminal 100 Image forming apparatus

Claims (4)

An apparatus main body, and a toner container that is detachable from the apparatus main body and is movable to a toner replenishable position and a toner non-replenishable position while being attached to the apparatus main body,
The toner container has a discharge port for discharging the toner in the container, and has a memory circuit board on the outer peripheral surface,
The apparatus main body includes a receiving port for receiving toner discharged from the toner container, a shutter member movable to a closed position for closing the receiving port and an open position for opening, and a connection terminal connected to the storage circuit board. And
The image forming apparatus, wherein the connection terminal is covered with the shutter member when the shutter member is in the closed position, and is exposed when the shutter member is in the open position so that the connection terminal can be connected to the storage circuit board.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the shutter member moves from a closed position to an open position in conjunction with the movement of the toner container from a toner replenishment position to a toner replenishment position.   3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the toner container has a cylindrical shape, and moves to a toner replenishable position and a toner replenishment impossible position by rotating. 4.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the connection terminal is constantly urged toward the toner container.