JP6152771B2 - Collection bottle and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a collection bottle and an image forming apparatus.

  Patent Document 1 proposes a configuration in which the auger is driven so that the collected toner moves from the color portion having a large amount of collected toner in the collection bottle to the color portion having a small amount.

JP 2009-251232 A

  The present invention relates to the rotational driving force of the driving force transmission member on the main body side when the direction of the rotating shaft of the driving force transmission member provided on the main body side and the direction of the rotation shaft of the transport member in the collection bottle main body are different. An object of the present invention is to provide a recovery bottle and an image forming apparatus including a transmission mechanism with a simple structure that transmits the image to a conveying member in the recovery bottle main body.

Claim 1
A collection bottle that is mounted on an image forming apparatus main body that forms an image using toner and collects waste toner,
A bottle body for storing waste toner;
Body-side connecting portion the image forming apparatus a driving force transmission member provided in the main body for rotating the shaft comprises a tip portion of the shaft extending in a first direction as a rotation shaft for transmitting a rotational driving force to the collection bottle a driving force receiving portion receive the rotational driving force from the bottle-side coupling member that having a a first helical gear that rotates the shaft coaxially integral with the drive force receiving portion,
A conveying member disposed in the bottle body and extending in a second direction different from the first direction and rotating to convey waste toner in the bottle body;
A recovery bottle, comprising: a second inclined gear that is fixed to the conveying member and meshes with the first inclined gear to rotate the conveying member.

Claim 2
An image forming apparatus comprising: an image forming apparatus main body that forms an image using toner; and a collection bottle that is attached to the image forming apparatus main body and collects waste toner.
The image forming apparatus main body includes a driving force transmitting member that includes a main body side connecting portion that transmits a rotational driving force to the collection bottle at a distal end portion of a shaft extending in the first direction and rotates about the shaft. ,
The collection bottle is
A bottle body for storing waste toner;
Yusuke a driving force receiving portion that will receive the main body-side connecting part or al rotational driving force of said driving force transmission member, and a first helical gear that rotates the shaft coaxially integral with the drive force receiving portion A bottle side connecting member,
A conveying member disposed in the bottle body and extending in a second direction different from the first direction and rotating to convey waste toner in the bottle body;
An image forming apparatus comprising: a second inclined gear fixed to the conveying member and meshing with the first inclined gear to rotate the conveying member.

  According to the recovery bottle of claim 1 and the image forming apparatus of claim 2, the driving force is transmitted with a simple structure.

1 is an external perspective view of a printer as an embodiment of an image forming apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an outline of an internal configuration of the printer illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the vicinity of a toner discharge port of a cleaner provided for four image forming engines and a cleaner for an intermediate transfer belt. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a structure including an intermediate transfer unit and four image forming engines from an angle different from that in FIG. 3. It is the perspective view which showed the front side of the collection box. It is the perspective view which showed the back side of the collection box. It is the expansion perspective view which showed the part of the gear train of a collection bottle. It is the expansion perspective view which showed the part of the gear train of a collection | recovery bottle from the angle different from FIG. It is the fragmentary perspective view which showed the driving force transmission structure as a comparative example.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.

  FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a printer as an embodiment of the image forming apparatus of the present invention.

  In the printer 1, a collection bottle as an embodiment of the present invention is detachably incorporated.

  An upper part of the printer 1 is provided with an image reading unit 10 that reads an image from a document. The image reading unit 10 is provided with a lid 11. The lid 11 has a structure that opens and closes using a hinge on the back side as a rotation axis. When the lid 11 is opened and the document is set downward, the lid 11 is closed and the start button 21a is pressed, the image on the document is read and image data is generated.

  The printer 1 is provided with a user interface 20 having a plurality of operation buttons 21 including the start button 21 a and a display screen 22.

  The printer 1 further includes an image forming unit 30 that forms an image on a sheet using toner based on the image data.

  Below the image forming unit 30, a paper tray 31 that can be pulled out is provided. In the paper tray 31, sheets before image formation used for image formation are stacked and stored. Inside the image forming unit 30, a sheet is taken out from the sheet tray 31, and an image is formed on the sheet. The paper on which the image is formed is discharged onto a paper discharge tray 32 at the top of the image forming unit 30.

  The image forming unit 30 is provided with a front cover 33 that can be opened and closed at the top of the paper tray 31. A recovery bottle that contains waste toner that is no longer needed is mounted immediately inside the front cover 33. The collection bottle is attached and detached by opening the front cover 33.

  Image formation in the image forming unit 30 is performed based on image data obtained by reading by the image reading unit 10. However, not only that, the image forming unit 30 receives image data from an external device such as an image editing computer, and an image is formed based on the received image data.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an outline of the internal configuration of the printer shown in FIG.

  A transparent glass plate 12 is provided immediately below the lid 11 of the image reading unit 10 at the top of the printer 1. The document is placed face down on the transparent glass plate 12 with the lid 11 opened. Under the transparent glass plate 12, an image reading sensor 13 for reading an image on a document is provided. The image reading sensor 13 extends in the depth direction of the printer 1 (the direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. 2), and sequentially reads the image on the document while moving in the arrow A direction to generate image data. .

  Four image forming engines 50Y, 50M, 50C, and 50K arranged side by side are provided on the top of the sheet tray 31 of the image forming unit 30. These image forming engines 50Y, 50M, 50C, and 50K are engines that form toner images with toners of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K), respectively. These image forming engines 50Y, 50M, 50C, and 50K have the same configuration except for the difference in the color of the toner used. In the following, when it is not necessary to distinguish between colors, Y, M, C, and K, which are symbols representing colors, are omitted, and the description will be made using only numerals.

  Each image forming engine 50 includes a photosensitive drum 51Y that rotates in the direction of arrow B. Each image forming engine 50 is provided with a charger 52, an exposure device 53, a developing device 54, a transfer device 55, and a cleaner 56 around the photosensitive drum 51.

  The charger 52 uniformly charges the surface of the photosensitive drum 51.

  The exposure device 53 irradiates the photosensitive drum 51 with exposure light modulated according to the image data, and forms an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 51.

  The developing device 54 stores toners of colors (Y, M, C, K) corresponding to the image forming engines 50Y, 50M, 50C, 50K. The developing device 54 forms a toner image on the photosensitive drum 51 by developing the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 51 with the stored toner.

  An intermediate transfer belt 61 is disposed above the four image forming engines 50Y, 50M, 50C, and 50K arranged side by side. The intermediate transfer belt 61 is an endless belt, is wound around rolls 62 and 63, and circulates in the direction of arrow C on the circulation moving paths along these four image forming engines 50Y, 50M, 50C, and 50K. Moving.

  Above the intermediate transfer belt 61, four toner cartridges 59Y, 59M, 59C, and 59K that respectively store toners of the respective colors (Y, M, C, and K) are provided. When the toner in each developing device 54 provided in each image forming engine 50 decreases, the toner is supplied from the corresponding toner cartridge 59 to the developing device 54.

  The transfer device 55 of each image forming engine 50 is disposed inside the intermediate transfer belt 61 with the intermediate transfer belt 61 interposed between the transfer drum 55 and the photosensitive drum 51. The toner image formed on the drum 51 is transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 61 by the action of the transfer device 55. Here, the four toner images formed by the four image forming engines 50Y, 50M, 50C, and 50K are transferred so as to sequentially overlap the intermediate transfer belt 61 as the intermediate transfer belt 61 circulates.

  The cleaner 56 cleans the photosensitive drum 51 by removing unnecessary toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 51 after the transfer from the photosensitive drum 51.

  The toner images transferred so as to sequentially overlap the intermediate transfer belt 61 are conveyed by the intermediate transfer belt 61 and transferred onto the sheet by the action of the secondary transfer unit 71. Unnecessary toner remaining on the intermediate transfer belt 61 after the transfer onto the paper is removed from the intermediate transfer belt 61 by the cleaner 64.

  The toner removed from each photosensitive drum 51 by each cleaner 56 and the toner removed from the intermediate transfer belt 61 by the cleaner 64 are discharged into a collection box 100 disposed at a position indicated by a one-dot chain line in FIG. Accommodated as toner. Details of the collection box 100 will be described later.

  The intermediate transfer belt 61, the two rolls 62 and 63, the cleaner 64, and the transfer device 55 constituting each image forming engine 50 are unitized. Here, this is referred to as an intermediate transfer unit 60.

  The paper stored in the paper tray 31 is picked up by the pick-up roll 81, and when a plurality of sheets are picked up one by one, it is surely separated into one by the paper roll 82, and the single paper is taken by the transport roll 83. Then, it is conveyed to the timing adjustment roll 84 in the direction of the arrow D.

  Then, the timing is adjusted so that the sheet is also conveyed to that position in synchronization with the timing at which the toner image transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 61 is conveyed to the position of the secondary transfer unit 71, and the timing adjustment roll 84. Thus, the sheet is fed in the direction of arrow E.

  The toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 61 is transferred onto the sheet by the action of the secondary transfer unit 71. The sheet on which the toner image has been transferred is further conveyed in the direction of arrow F and passes through the fixing device 90.

  The fixing device 90 includes a heating roll 91 and a pressure roll 92.

  The paper conveyed to the fixing device 90 is sandwiched between the heating roll 91 and the pressure roll 92 and heated and pressurized, whereby the toner image on the paper is fixed on the paper.

  The sheet that has passed through the fixing device 90 is further conveyed in the direction of arrow G by the conveyance roll 85, and is discharged onto the discharge tray 32 provided at the upper part of the image forming unit 30 by the discharge roll 86.

  FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the vicinity of a toner discharge port of a cleaner provided for four image forming engines and a cleaner for an intermediate transfer belt.

  Under the intermediate transfer unit 60, four image forming engines 50Y, 50M, 50C, and 50K are provided, including a front end portion of the photosensitive drums 51Y, 51M, 51C, and 51K, and a cleaner. The front ends of 56Y, 56M, 56C, and 56K are shown. At the front ends of the cleaners 56Y, 56M, 56C, and 56K shown in FIG. 3, waste toners collected by the cleaners 56Y, 56M, 56C, and 56K from the photosensitive drums 51Y, 51M, 51C, and 51K are discharged. The discharge ports 561Y, 561M, 561C, and 561K are shown. These discharge ports 561Y, 561M, 561C, and 561K have a shape protruding to the front side, and are inserted into a collection box 100 (see FIG. 2) in which waste toner is stored.

  In FIG. 3, an intermediate transfer belt 61 is shown as a component of the intermediate transfer unit 60, and a cleaner 64 for removing unnecessary toner on the intermediate transfer belt 61 is shown. The cleaner 64 also has a discharge port 641 having a shape protruding to the front side from which the waste toner collected from the intermediate transfer belt 61 is discharged. This discharge port 641 is also inserted into the collection box 100.

  Further, the intermediate transfer unit 60 includes a lever 65, a support member 66, and a handle 67 provided on the support member 66.

  The lever 65 is an operation member for bringing the intermediate transfer belt 61 into contact with the photosensitive member 51 (see FIG. 2) or separating it from the photosensitive member 51. The support member 66 is fixed across the width direction of the intermediate transfer belt 61 so as not to touch the intermediate transfer belt 61. The handle 67 is for lifting the intermediate transfer unit 60 by hand. In other words, the intermediate transfer unit 60 is structured such that the intermediate transfer belt 61 is moved away from the photoreceptor 51 by operating the lever 65, and the unit 67 can be removed by grasping and lifting the handle 67.

  FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a structure including an intermediate transfer unit and four image forming engines from an angle different from that in FIG.

  In FIG. 4, the front side in the direction of arrow H is the front side. FIG. 4 also shows a collection box 100 on the front side of the structure. On the back side of the collection box 100, outlets 561Y, 561M, 561C, and 561K of cleaners 56Y, 56M, 56C, and 56K provided in the four image forming engines 50Y, 50M, 50C, and 50K are inserted. Respective insertion ports 101Y, 101M, 101C, 101K are provided. Similarly to this, on the back side of the collection box 100, an insertion port 102 into which the discharge port 641 of the cleaner 64 provided in the intermediate transfer unit 60 is inserted is provided. FIG. 4 shows a state in which a total of five discharge ports 561Y, 561M, 561C, 561K, and 641 are inserted into the respective insertion ports 101Y, 101M, 101C, 101K, and 102, respectively.

  FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the front side of the collection box.

  An auger 110 is built in a bottle main body 100a that constitutes the collection box 100 and stores waste toner. The auger 110 corresponds to an example of a conveying member according to the present invention. A gear 111 is connected to one end of the auger 110. A rotational driving force is transmitted to the gear 111, the auger 110 rotates, and the collected waste toner moves in the direction of arrow I. This arrow I direction corresponds to an example of the second direction in the present invention. The gear 111 is a bevel gear corresponding to an example of the conveying member gear according to the present invention.

  In addition, two hook portions 103 are provided on the upper portion of the collection box 100.

  When the collection box 100 is mounted on the main body of the printer 1, the collection box 100 is tilted so that the lower portion of the collection box 100 is first inserted into the main body of the printer 1, and then the upper hook 103 of the collection box 100 is attached to the printer 1. Hang it on the body. Then, as shown in FIG. 4, the discharge ports 561Y, 561M, 561C, 561K, 641 are inserted into the insertion ports 101Y, 101M, 101C, 101K, 102 provided on the back surface of the recovery box 100, and the recovery box 100 is inserted. Will be attached. When the collection box 100 is removed from the main body of the printer 1, the operation is reversed.

  FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the back side of the collection box.

  Here, insertion ports 101Y, 101M, 101C, 101K, 102 for receiving waste toner are provided in the bottle main body 100a. Each of the insertion ports 101Y, 101M, 101C, 101K, 102 is provided with a shutter (not shown). When the discharge ports 561Y, 561M, 561C, 561K, and 641 are inserted, these shutters are pushed open, and when the discharge ports 561Y, 561M, 561C, 561K, and 641 are extracted, the respective insertion ports 101Y, 101M, and 101C. , 101K and 102 are closed.

  Also shown here is a gear 111 connected to an auger 110 (see FIG. 5) disposed inside the bottle body 100a and another gear 112 that transmits rotational driving force to the gear 111. . The gear 112 corresponds to an example of a bottle side connecting member according to the present invention.

  7 and 8 are enlarged perspective views showing the gear train of the recovery bottle from different angles. 7 and 8 also show the tip portion of the rotation drive shaft 72 provided in the main body of the printer 1. The rotation drive shaft 72 extends in the direction of arrow H of the printer 1 (see also FIG. 4). A disk member 73 is fixed to the front end of the rotary drive shaft 72. The disk member 73 is further provided with a drive protrusion 731 that protrudes to the front side. The rotation drive shaft 72 is driven to rotate by a motor (not shown) provided in the main body of the printer 1 and plays a role of transmitting the rotation drive force to a gear 112 provided on the collection bottle 100 side. .

  The rotational drive shaft 72 corresponds to an example of a shaft extending in the first direction in the present invention. Further, the disk member 73 corresponds to an example of the main body side connecting member including the driving protrusion 731. Therefore, the combination of the rotary drive shaft 72 and the disk member 73 corresponds to an example of the drive force transmission member according to the present invention.

  The recovery bottle side gear 112 is a driving force receiving portion 112 b that receives the rotational driving force from the driving protrusion 731 of the disk member 73 and a driving force that transmits the rotational driving force received by the driving force receiving portion 112 b to the other gear 111. It has the transmission part 112a.

  The driving force receiving portion 112 b is formed with a driving force receiving projection 112 c that protrudes toward the rotation driving shaft 72 on the printer main body side. When the rotation driving shaft 72 rotates, the driving projection 731 provided on the disk member 73. While rotating the driving force receiving projection 112c, the gear 112 is rotated coaxially with the rotational driving shaft 72. In addition, the driving force transmission portion 112 a of the gear 112 has inclined teeth that mesh with the inclined teeth of the gear 111. The rotational drive force of the rotational drive shaft 72 extending in the direction of the arrow H is transmitted to the gear 111 through the meshing of the inclined teeth, and the auger 110 (see FIG. 5) connected to the gear 111 is moved to the arrow I. Rotate around a rotating shaft extending in the direction.

  In the case of this collection bottle 100, when rotating the auger 110 extending in the arrow I direction in which the rotation of the rotation drive shaft 72 extending in the arrow H direction is different from the arrow H direction, two gears 111 and 112 are used. The driving force is transmitted using gears. In the case of the present embodiment, a simple driving force transmission structure having such a structure is provided.

  FIG. 9 is a partial perspective view showing a driving force transmission structure as a comparative example.

  In FIG. 9, elements corresponding to those in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIGS. 7 and 8, and differences will be described. FIG. 9 shows an example of a driving force transmission structure modeled on a commercially available device.

  The recovery bottle 100 shown in this comparative example is not provided with a gear, and is provided only with the driving force receiving portion 112b. The driving force receiving portion 112b is connected to the internal auger 110 (see FIG. 5). The driving force receiving portion 112b is provided with a driving force receiving projection 112c.

  On the other hand, the main body of the printer 1 is provided with a rotation drive shaft 72, and a first gear 74 made of a helical gear is coaxially fixed to the tip portion of the rotation drive shaft 72. Further, the main body of the printer 1 is further provided with a second gear 75, a third gear 76, and a fourth gear 77. The second gear 75 includes an inclined gear 751 that meshes with the first gear 74 and a spur gear 752. The third gear 76 and the fourth gear 77 are both spur gears. The third gear 76 meshes with the spur gear 752 of the second gear 75, and the fourth gear 77 meshes with the third gear 76. The fourth gear 77 is provided with a disk member 73 corresponding to the disk member 73 provided at the tip of the driving force transmission shaft 72 in the structure shown in FIGS. The disk member 73 is provided with a drive projection 731. When the driving force transmission shaft 72 is rotated, the first gear 74 is rotated, and the rotational drive is sequentially transmitted to the second gear 75, the third gear 76, and the fourth gear 77, and further the recovery bottle 100. Is transmitted to the driving force receiving portion 73 provided in the. And the auger 110 (refer FIG. 5) in the bottle main body of the collection | recovery bottle 100 rotates by this drive force receiving part 73 rotating.

  The driving force transmission structure shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 is a simple structure as compared with the driving force transmission structure of the comparative example shown in FIG.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printer 10 Image reading part 30 Image forming part 31 Paper tray 32 Output tray 33 Front cover 50 Image forming engine 51 Photosensitive drum 56Y, 56M, 56C, 56K, 64 Cleaner 60 Intermediate transfer unit 61 Intermediate transfer belt 71 Secondary transfer Device 72 Rotating drive shaft 73 Disk member 74 First gear 75 Second gear 76 Third gear 77 Fourth gear 90 Fixing device 100 Collection box 100a Bottle body 101Y, 101M, 101C, 101K, 102 Insertion port 103 Hook part 110 auger 111, 112 gear 112a driving force transmission part 112b driving force receiving part 561Y, 561M, 561C, 561K, 641 discharge port 731 driving projection 751 inclined gear 752 spur gear

Claims (2)

A collection bottle that is mounted on an image forming apparatus main body that forms an image using toner and collects waste toner,
A bottle body for storing waste toner;
Body-side connecting portion the image forming apparatus a driving force transmission member provided in the main body for rotating the shaft comprises a tip portion of the shaft extending in a first direction as a rotation shaft for transmitting a rotational driving force to the collection bottle a driving force receiving portion receive the rotational driving force from the bottle-side coupling member that having a a first helical gear that rotates the shaft coaxially integral with the drive force receiving portion,
A conveying member disposed in the bottle body and extending in a second direction different from the first direction and rotating to convey waste toner in the bottle body;
A recovery bottle, comprising: a second inclined gear that is fixed to the conveying member and meshes with the first inclined gear to rotate the conveying member.   An image forming apparatus comprising: an image forming apparatus main body that forms an image using toner; and a collection bottle that is attached to the image forming apparatus main body and collects waste toner.
  The image forming apparatus main body includes a driving force transmitting member that includes a main body side connecting portion that transmits a rotational driving force to the collection bottle at a distal end portion of a shaft extending in the first direction and rotates about the shaft. ,
  The collection bottle is
A bottle body for storing waste toner;
  A bottle side connection having a driving force receiving portion for receiving a rotational driving force from the main body side connecting portion of the driving force transmitting member, and a first inclined gear rotating integrally with the driving force receiving portion and coaxially with the shaft. Members,
  A conveying member disposed in the bottle body and extending in a second direction different from the first direction and rotating to convey waste toner in the bottle body;
An image forming apparatus comprising: a second inclined gear fixed to the conveying member and meshing with the first inclined gear to rotate the conveying member.

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