JP6740417B2 - Image forming device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus including a toner replenishing unit that replenishes toner from a toner bottle that is detachably attached.

Conventionally, in an image forming apparatus provided with a toner replenishing unit that receives replenishment of toner from a toner bottle, a shutter provided on the toner bottle is opened according to insertion of the toner bottle into the main body of the image forming apparatus. Is known (see Patent Document 1).

In such a configuration, in order to reduce the packaging size of the main body and the packaging material of the toner bottle, it is considered to bundle the toner bottle with the main body before shipping.

JP, 2005-284244, A JP, 2005-189423, A

However, in the configuration of Patent Document 1, when the toner bottle is packed in the main body, the shutter is opened when the toner bottle is mounted in the main body. Therefore, the toner may be replenished from the toner bottle to the toner replenishing section due to the vibration during transportation, and the toner may be scattered.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-242242 discloses a configuration intended to be included in a main body of an image forming apparatus when a developing device is shipped. In the configuration of Patent Document 2, a sealing member connected to a toner transport unit that is driven at the time of starting the operation of the main body is provided separately from the shutter of the toner replenishment port to prevent toner leakage and toner replenishment from the developing device inlet during transportation. A preventive arrangement is disclosed.

However, in the configuration of Patent Document 2 described above, since the sealing member is provided in the connecting portion between the developing device and the main body in addition to the shutter, the sealing structure of the connecting portion becomes complicated and the size is increased, and the sealing configuration is There is a problem that the possibility of toner leakage increases due to the increase.

An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus that enables a toner bottle to be packed in a main body and shipped without causing an increase in size and cost of the apparatus and at the same time prevent toner scattering and leakage. That is.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention is a bottle that is detachably provided in an apparatus main body and that stores toner, the bottle having a discharge port for discharging the stored toner , and opening and closing the discharge port. A shutter disposed on the bottle for moving relative to the bottle between a closed position for closing the outlet and an open position for opening the outlet; An engaging member movably provided on the main body and configured to engage with the shutter; and a driving force transmitted to the engaging member to move the engaging member from the first position to the first position. A drive transmission unit for moving to a second position at a different position, and when the engagement member is at the first position in a state where the bottle is mounted at the mounting position, the drive transmission unit. The shutter moves from the closed position to the open position as the engagement member, to which the driving force is transmitted, moves from the first position to the second position, and the bottle moves to the mounting position. When the engaging member is in the second position in the state of being attached to the shutter, the shutter moves from the open position to the closed position in accordance with the detaching operation for detaching the bottle from the mounting position. When the engagement member is in the second position in a state where the bottle is removed from the mounting position, the shutter is closed by the mounting operation for mounting the bottle in the mounting position. It is characterized by moving from a position to the open position .

According to the present invention, it is possible to ship (transport) with the bottle mounted on the main body without increasing the size of the device and increasing the cost, and it is possible to prevent toner scattering and leakage.

FIG. 3 is an overall explanatory diagram of the configuration of the image forming apparatus. (A), (b) is a perspective view of a toner replenishing device (A), (b) is a perspective view of essential parts of the toner replenishing device. (A) is a bottom view of the toner bottle, (b) is a perspective view of the toner bottle, and (c) is a plan view showing engagement between the shutter and the shutter slider. (A), (b) is a perspective view of essential parts of the toner replenishing device. (A), (b) is a perspective view of essential parts of the toner replenishing device. (A), (b) is a perspective view of essential parts of the toner replenishing device.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The image forming apparatus of the present invention can be implemented in another embodiment in which a part or all of the configuration of the embodiment is replaced with an alternative configuration as long as the image forming apparatus includes a toner bottle and a toner supply unit.

Therefore, an image forming apparatus having four image carriers in contact with the intermediate transfer body is illustrated, but the invention is not limited to this, and an image carrier having three or less or five or more image carriers in contact with the intermediate transfer body is used. It can also be implemented by a forming device. Further, in the present embodiment, only the main part relating to toner replenishment will be described, but the present invention adds a necessary device, equipment, and housing structure to a printer, various printing machines, copiers, fax machines, multifunction machines, and the like. , Can be implemented for various purposes.

(Structure of image forming apparatus)
A schematic configuration of the image forming apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is an overall explanatory diagram of the configuration of the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 1000 according to the present embodiment is a tandem type full-color printer in which four image forming portions Pa, Pb, Pc, and Pd are arranged in a linear section of the intermediate transfer belt 8.

In the image forming portion Pa on the most upstream side, a yellow toner image is formed on the photosensitive drum 1a and is primarily transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 8 at the primary transfer portion T1a. In the image forming portion Pb, a magenta toner image is formed on the photosensitive drum 1b and is primary-transferred at the primary transfer portion T1b so as to be superimposed on the yellow toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 8. Similarly, in the image forming portion Pc and the image forming portion Pd, a cyan toner image and a black toner image are formed on the photosensitive drums 1c and 1d, respectively, and the primary transfer portions T1c and T1d similarly perform the primary transfer to the intermediate transfer belt 8. Transcribed.

The four-color toner images sequentially primary-transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 8 are conveyed to the secondary transfer portion T2 and secondarily transferred onto the recording material S all together. Transfer residual toner remaining on the intermediate transfer belt 8 after passing through the secondary transfer portion T2 is removed by the belt cleaning device 9.

The toner removed by the cleaning blade 91 of the belt cleaning device 9 passes through the toner carrying screw 4 of the belt cleaning device 9 through the toner carrying means 4 arranged on the inner side of the main body, and is transferred to the collected toner container (not shown). Be transported.

The recording material S to which the four-color toner images have been transferred is heated and pressed by the fixing device 5 to fix the toner images on the surface, and then discharged from the discharge roller 32 to the discharge tray 31.

The recording material S is fed from the recording material storage cassette 71, separated one by one by the separating device 72, and delivered to the registration roller 61. The registration roller 61 feeds the recording material S to the secondary transfer portion T2 in synchronization with the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 8.

The four image forming units Pa, Pb, Pc, and Pd have the same configuration except that the colors of toner used in the attached developing devices 4a, 4b, 4c, and 4d are different from yellow, magenta, cyan, and black. Hereinafter, the most upstream image forming unit Pa will be described, and the other image forming units Pb, Pc, and Pd will be described by replacing a at the end of the reference numerals with b, c, and d in the description.

The image forming portion Pa has a charging device 2a, a developing device 4a, a primary transfer roller 5a, and a drum cleaning device 6a arranged around the photosensitive drum 1a. The image forming portion Pa including the photosensitive drum 1a and the developing device 4a is formed into a process cartridge for maintenance purposes.

The photosensitive drum 1a is composed of a metal cylinder having a photosensitive layer having a negative charging polarity formed on its surface, and rotates in the direction of arrow R1 at a predetermined process speed.

The charging device 2a presses a charging roller against the photosensitive drum 1a to rotate the charging roller, and applies a voltage obtained by superposing a DC voltage and an AC voltage to the charging roller to uniformly charge the surface of the photosensitive drum.

The exposure device 3 scans a laser beam obtained by ON-OFF modulating scanning line image data in which a separated color image is developed by a polyhedral mirror to write an electrostatic image of an image on the surface of each charged photosensitive drum.

The developing device 4a adheres the negatively charged toner to the exposed portion of the electrostatic image on the photosensitive drum 1a to reversely develop the electrostatic image. The developing device 4a rotates the developing sleeve 7a carrying toner in a counter direction with respect to the photosensitive drum about a fixed magnetic pole, and a developing voltage obtained by superimposing an AC voltage on a DC voltage having a negative polarity from a power source (not shown) to the developing sleeve 7a. Is applied.

The primary transfer roller 5a is pressed against the photosensitive drum 1a via the intermediate transfer belt 8 to form a primary transfer portion T1a between the photosensitive drum 1a and the intermediate transfer belt 8. The intermediate transfer belt 8 is applied with a positive DC voltage from a power supply (not shown) to the primary transfer roller 5a in the process of overlapping the negatively charged toner image and passing through the primary transfer portion T1a. Is primarily transcribed.

The cleaning device 6a removes the transfer residual toner remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 1a after passing through the primary transfer portion T1a to prepare for the next toner image formation.

A toner bottle 100, which is movably provided with a shutter that opens and closes a discharge port for discharging toner, is detachably attached to the main body of the image forming apparatus 1000. The image forming apparatus 1000 includes a toner replenishing device 500 that receives toner from the toner bottle 100. Here, the toner supply device 500 will be described.

The toner replenishing device 500 has bottle mounts 101a to 101d (101 shown in FIG. 2), toner replenishing units 102a to 102d, and toner replenishing pipes 103a to 103d. The bottle mount 101 (see FIG. 2) is a mounting portion to which the toner bottles 100a to 100d containing toner are removably mounted. The toner replenishing units 102a to 102d are toner replenishing units that receive replenishment of toner from the mounted toner bottle 100. The toner replenishing device 500 includes the toner replenishing parts 102a to 102d and the toner replenishing pipes 103a to 103d from the respective toner bottles 100a to 100d in accordance with the amount of toner stored in the respective developing devices 4a to 4d. Toner is supplied to 4a to 4d.

(Structure of toner supply device)
The toner supply device 500 will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

As shown in FIG. 2A, FIG. 2B, FIG. 3A, and FIG. 3B, the toner replenishing device 500 transmits a motor 200 as a drive source and a driving force of the motor 200. The drive transmission unit 201 is provided. The drive transmission unit 201 interlocks a shutter movement mechanism for moving a shutter slider as an engagement member described later with a toner bottle drive transmission member that transmits drive to the toner bottle or releases drive transmission. With this drive transmission unit 201, the shutter moving mechanism and the toner bottle drive transmission member can be driven by the motor 200 that is the same drive source. This will be described below.

The first output gear 202 receives the driving force from the motor 200 through the drive transmission unit 201 and is rotationally driven. The swing arm 206 that constitutes the drive transmission member is provided so as to swing coaxially with the first output gear 202. The swing arm 206 rotatably holds a swing gear 203 that constitutes a drive transmission member. The rocking gear 203 meshes with the first output gear 202, and rotates when the first output gear 202 is rotationally driven. As a result, the swing arm 206 swings around the first output gear 202, and the swing gear 203 is connected to the second output gear 204 that is a drive gear that transmits the driving force to the toner bottle 100 ( Mesh) or disconnect. That is, the oscillating arm 206 and the oscillating gear 203, which constitute the drive transmitting member, have the drive transmitting position shown in FIG. 3 for transmitting the drive to the toner bottle 100, and FIG. 5 for releasing the drive transmitting to the toner bottle 100. It is provided so as to be movable to the release position shown in FIG.

The swing arm 206 is integrally provided with a swing arm 206 and a swing lock portion 206a that swings around the first output gear 202. The swing lock portion 206a is provided so as to be able to engage with the swing stop portion 209a of the swing stopper 209 that is a stopper member that is provided so as to be movable in the attachment/detachment direction of the toner bottle 100. The swing stopper 209 holds the drive transmission member 203 in the release position shown in FIGS. 5 and 7, and the release release shown in FIG. 3 that releases the release position of the drive transmission member 203. It is provided so as to be movable to a position. The rocking stop portion 209a of the rocking stopper 209 engages with the rocking lock portion 206a of the rocking arm 206 to restrict rocking of the rocking arm 206, and the rocking gear 203 causes the rocking gear 203 to move to the second output gear. The state of disconnecting the connection with 204 is maintained (see FIGS. 5 and 7). That is, in the state where the swing stop portion 209a of the swing stopper 209 is engaged with the swing lock portion 206a of the swing arm 206, the state (release position) in which the transmission of the driving force to the toner bottle is interrupted is maintained. To be done.

On the other hand, the swing stopper 209 is provided with a first worm wheel 209b which receives a driving force from a first worm gear 208 which constitutes a shutter moving mechanism. The first worm wheel 209b meshes with the first worm gear 208 when the swing gear 203 is disconnected from the second output gear 204 (see FIGS. 5 and 7). Therefore, when the first worm wheel 209b receives the driving force from the first worm gear 208, the swing stopper 209 moves in the direction opposite to the toner bottle insertion direction (the arrow direction in FIG. 2). As a result, the engagement between the rocking stop portion 209a of the rocking stopper 209 and the rocking lock portion 206a of the rocking arm 206 is released, and the rocking arm 206 becomes rockable. Therefore, when the first output gear 202 is rotationally driven, the swing arm 206 swings and the swing gear 203 is connected to the second output gear 204 (see FIG. 3 ). That is, the driving force is transmitted to the toner bottle.

On the bottle mount 101 of the toner replenishing device 500, a shutter slider 213 is provided so as to be slidable in the attachment/detachment direction of the toner bottle 100. The shutter slider 213 moves from the first position (see FIG. 5) that allows the shutter 301 to be in the closed position where the toner outlet 100 is closed when the toner bottle 100 is attached to the apparatus body of the apparatus. A shutter 301 is provided so as to be movable to a second position (see FIG. 3) capable of opening and closing the discharge port in accordance with the attachment/detachment operation to/from. As will be described later, the shutter slider 213 is assembled at the first position when the device is assembled, is positioned at the first position at the time of shipping, and is moved to the second position by receiving a driving force at the time of installation. The shutter slider 213 is provided with a shutter stopper 213a that engages with the shutter 301 (shutter locking portion 301a) of the toner bottle 100. The shutter slider 213 is an engagement member that opens and closes the shutter 301 of the toner bottle 100 by engaging with the shutter 301 of the toner bottle 100 as the toner bottle 100 is inserted. Further, the shutter slider 213 is provided with a second worm wheel 213b that meshes with the second worm gear 212a that constitutes the shutter moving mechanism. (See FIGS. 3B and 5B.) Also, the toner on the shutter slider 213 is fixed to the shutter slider 213 by engaging with a slider restraining portion 215 a projecting downward from the bottom surface of the replenishing base 215. A slider locking portion 213c is provided to prevent movement in the bottle insertion direction (arrow direction in FIG. 2).

The output shaft 207 and the first worm gear 208, which form the shutter moving mechanism, are rotationally driven by receiving the driving force from the motor 200 through the drive transmission unit 201. The drive mount 214 holds the output shaft 207 (first idler gear 210), the second idler gear 211, and the shutter slide gear 212. The second worm gear 212a of the shutter slide gear 212 that constitutes this shutter moving mechanism meshes with the second worm wheel 213b of the shutter slider 213 to transmit the driving force, so that the shutter slider 213 moves from the first position to the second position. Moved to. As will be described later, the shutter slider 213 moved to the second position engages with the shutter 301 when the toner bottle is inserted into the apparatus body. Therefore, the shutter 301 can be moved from the sealing position that maintains the sealing of the discharge port to the opening position that releases the sealing when the toner bottle is inserted into the apparatus main body.

(Structure of toner bottle)
The configuration of the toner bottle will be described with reference to FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b). The toner bottles 100a to 100d shown in FIG. 1 have the same configuration except that the colors of the toners contained therein are different. Hereinafter, the toner bottle 100 will be described.

As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the toner bottle 100 moves to seal a bottle case 300 that is a storage unit that stores toner and a toner discharge port 300 a provided in the bottle case 300. It has a possible shutter 301 and an input coupling 302 which receives the driving force from the main body side. The shutter 301 is provided with a shutter locking portion 301a, which will be described later, and a communication port 301b. As shown in FIG. 2B, this toner bottle 100 is mounted on the bottle mount 101 on the main body side, and the input coupling 302 of the toner bottle 100 and the output coupling 205 on the main body side are connected.

(Functions of each part of the toner replenishing device)
The general function of each part of the toner supply device will be described.

The shutter 301 of the toner bottle 100 seals the discharge port 300a so that the toner in the toner bottle 100 does not come out when not attached to the main body (see FIG. 6), and slides in the insertion direction of the toner bottle 100. Is configured to. At this time, the shutter 301 slides from the position where the discharge port 300a and the communication port 301b communicate with each other to the downstream side in the insertion direction to release the communication and realize the sealing. When the toner bottle 100 is inserted into the main body of the apparatus, the shutter 301 is engaged with the shutter slider 213 moved to the second position when the toner bottle 100 is inserted to a certain position. The position of the shutter slider 213 is the position shown in FIG. 3, and is the second position in which the shutter 301 can open and close the discharge port 300a as the toner bottle 100 is attached to and detached from the apparatus main body. At this position, the shutter locking portion 301a of the shutter 301 engages with the shutter stopper portion 213a provided on the shutter slider 213 of the toner replenishing device. At this time, in the shutter slider 213, as shown in FIG. 3, the slider locking portion 213c of the shutter slider 213 locks with the slider blocking portion 215a of the replenishment base 215, and the toner of the shutter slider 213 is moved to the second position. Movement in the bottle insertion direction (arrow direction in FIG. 2) is restricted. Therefore, when the toner bottle 100 is further inserted, the shutter 301 is slid relative to the toner bottle 100 by the movement of the toner bottle 100, and the discharge port 300a and the communication port 301b are overlapped and communicated with each other to replenish the toner. This is possible (see Fig. 4).

The input coupling 302 of the toner bottle 100 engages with the output coupling 205 of the toner replenishing device, and transmits the driving force to the toner conveying member (not shown) provided inside the toner bottle 100.

The first output gear 202, the swing gear 203, the second output gear 204, and the swing arm 206 transmit the driving force from the drive transmission unit 201 to the output coupling 205. The swing arm 206 swings around the center of the first output gear 202 as a rotation center while rotatably holding the swing gear 203.

As shown in FIG. 5, the swing stopper 209 provided so as to be movable in the attachment/detachment direction of the toner bottle 100 has the swing stop portion 209a at the position where the first worm wheel 209b meshes with the first worm gear 208. It engages with the swing lock portion 206a of 206. In this manner, the swing stop portion 209a of the swing stopper 209 engages with the swing lock portion 206a of the swing arm 206, so that the swing gear 203 is disconnected from the second output gear 204. The swing of the swing arm 206 (transmission of drive to the output coupling 205) is stopped.

The first worm gear 208 is attached to the output shaft 207, and when the first worm gear 208 is engaged with the first worm wheel 209b of the swing stopper 209 as shown in FIG. Slide it in the direction opposite to the toner bottle insertion direction.

The drive force is transmitted from the drive transmission unit 201 to the output shaft 207, the first idler gear 210, the second idler gear 211, and the shutter slide gear 212. Then, as shown in FIG. 5B, when the second worm gear 212a and the second worm wheel 213b are engaged, the shutter slider 213 is slid in the direction opposite to the toner bottle insertion direction by the driving force thereof.

In the shutter slider 213 located in the second position shown in FIG. 3, the slider locking portion 213c is locked with the slider blocking portion 215a projecting from the bottom surface of the replenishment base 215 to insert the toner bottle into the shutter slider 213. Movement in the direction is stopped. At this time, since the slider locking portion 213c has been released from riding on the slider blocking portion 215a as shown in FIG. 5B, the meshing of the second worm wheel 213b with the second worm gear 212a is released. As a result, in the second position shown in FIG. 3, the driving force from the motor 200 is not transmitted to the second worm wheel 213b via the first worm gear 208 and the like.

The shutter slider 213 is assembled at the first position shown in FIG. 5 when the device is assembled. At the time of this assembling work, as shown in FIG. 5B, the slider locking portion 213c of the shutter slider 213 is mounted so as to ride on the slider restraining portion 215a provided on the bottom surface of the replenishing base 215. As a result, the second worm wheel 213b provided on the bottom surface of the shutter slider 213 meshes with the second worm gear 212a. Since the slider locking portion 213c is connected to the slider elastic portion 213d as shown in FIG. 4C, the slider elastic portion 213d is elastically deformed to ride on the slider stop portion 215a. Therefore, the slider locking portion 213c is configured such that a force (restoring force) that the elastically deformed slider elastic portion 213d tries to return to the original state acts. The same effect can be obtained even when an elastic member is separately provided to urge the slider locking portion.

The drive mount 214 holds the output shaft 207 (first idler gear 210), the second idler gear 211, and the shutter slide gear 212.

The drive transmission unit 201 rotatably holds the first output gear 202 and the output shaft 207 and transmits the driving force. Further, the drive transmission unit 201 holds the swing arm 206 swingably, holds the swing stopper 209 slidably in the axial direction of the output shaft 207, and can rotate the output coupling 205 and the first output gear 202. Hold on.

Next, the operation of each part of the toner replenishing device is divided into the time when the device is shipped (when the toner bottle is attached to the body), the time when the device is installed (start of operation), the time when the device is installed (communication with the discharge port), and the time when the device is installed (toner bottle operation). This will be explained in order.

(When the device is shipped (toner bottle main body installed))
In this embodiment, even when the toner bottle 100 is attached (enclosed) to the apparatus main body at the time of shipment of the apparatus, the toner is not supplied from the toner bottle 100 (toner does not come out). Specifically, when the apparatus is shipped, the position of the shutter slider 213 is set to a first position (see FIG. 5) different from the second position (see FIG. 3) during normal use. The first position is a position that allows the shutter 301 to be in the closed position in which the discharge port 300a is closed when the toner bottle 100 is attached to the apparatus main body. As a result, when the toner bottle 100 is attached to the apparatus main body, the sliding amount of the shutter 301 is controlled to realize the sealing of the toner bottle 100. Details are given below.

As shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, the shutter slider 213 is provided so as to be slidable in the toner mount attachment/detachment direction with respect to the bottle mount 101, so that the shutter bottle 213 can be moved during assembly of the apparatus. It is assembled in the state closest to the downstream side in the insertion direction (rightward in the figure). Further, the shutter slider 213 is assembled in a state in which the slider locking portion 213c rides on the slider blocking portion 215a due to the elastic deformation of the slider elastic portion 213d during the assembly work. As a result, the second worm wheel 213b of the shutter slider 213 engages with the second worm gear 212a of the shutter moving mechanism so that the driving force can be transmitted between them. Similarly, the swing stopper 209 is also mounted in the state closest to the downstream side (the right direction in the drawing) in the insertion direction of the toner bottle during the assembling work. As a result, the first worm wheel 209b of the swing stopper 209 engages with the first worm gear 208, and the driving force between them can be transmitted. Further, in this state, the swing stop portion 209a of the swing stopper 209 is engaged with the swing lock portion 206a of the swing arm 206, and the swing gear 203 is disconnected from the second output gear 204. The oscillating arm 206 is prevented from oscillating. Further, the shutter slider 213 swings due to the meshing of the second worm gear 212a and the second worm wheel 213b, the meshing of the first worm gear 208 and the first worm wheel 209b, the sliding resistance of the drive transmission unit 201, and the rotation resistance of the motor 200. The stopper 209 is held at the above position (first position shown in FIG. 5) without being affected by external force.

On the other hand, since the shutter 301 of the toner bottle 100 mounted on the main body of the apparatus is located at the position shown in FIG. 6A before mounting, the shutter 301 prevents the toner in the toner bottle 100 from coming out. It is sealed.

The toner bottle 100 is inserted and attached to the apparatus main body in the above state before the main body is shipped. When the insertion of the toner bottle 100 is started, in the process, the shutter stopper portion 213a of the shutter slider 213 located at the first position shown in FIG. 5 has the shutter stopper of the shutter 301 located at the position shown in FIG. 6A. The stopper 301a engages as shown in FIG. 4(c). When the toner bottle 100 is further inserted, since the shutter stopper portion 213a is engaged with the shutter locking portion 301a, the shutter 301 is stopped by the shutter slider 213 located at the first position. The shutter 301 slides relative to the insertion. When the toner bottle 100 is inserted up to the mounting position (the position shown in FIG. 2B), the shutter slider 213 is at the position shown in FIG. 5A, so the shutter 301 moves from the position shown in FIG. 6A. Slide to the position shown in FIG. 6(b). 6A and 6B, since the communication opening 301b of the shutter 301 does not communicate with the toner discharge opening 300a provided in the bottle case 300, the toner bottle 100 is sealed. The state is maintained.

As described above, depending on the position of the shutter slider 213 (shutter stopper 213a), the sliding amount of the shutter 301 when the toner bottle is mounted is necessary for the discharge port 300a of the bottle case 300 and the communication port 301b of the shutter 301 to communicate with each other. It is less than the slide amount. That is, as shown in FIG. 5, the shutter slider 213 assembled at the first position during assembly of the apparatus is located at the closed position where the shutter 301 closes the discharge port 300a when the toner bottle 100 is mounted on the apparatus body. To allow that. In this state, the toner is not discharged to the toner supply pipe 103 side due to vibration or the like, so that the toner bottle 100 can be shipped with it attached to the main body.

(When the device is installed 1 (start operation))
In the present embodiment, when the use of the apparatus in the shipping state described above is started (when the apparatus is installed), the motor 200 of the toner bottle 100 is operated, so that the toner can be replenished from the attached toner bottle 100. To the right state. Specifically, when installing and operating the apparatus, in order to start replenishment of toner from the toner bottle 100, the shutter slider 213 (shutter stopper 213a, shutter 301) is moved by driving the motor 200. As shown in FIG. 4A, the discharge port 300a of the bottle case 300 and the communication port 301b of the shutter 301 are made to communicate with each other. After that, the driving force to the toner bottle 100 is transmitted. Details are given below.

When the motor 200 is driven in the state shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, the drive transmission unit 201 transmits the drive to the first output gear 202 and the output shaft 207. In this state, the swing stopper 209 is closest to the downstream side in the toner bottle insertion direction (rightward in the drawing). Therefore, the swing stop portion 209a of the swing stopper 209 engages with the swing lock portion 206a of the swing arm 206 to stop the swing of the swing arm 206, so that the swing of the first output gear 202 is prevented. The drive transmitted to the gear 203 is not transmitted to the second output gear 204. As a result, the discharging force does not act on the toner in the toner bottle 100. At this time, the oscillating gear 203 is rotationally driven (rotating) while maintaining its position by being driven by the first output gear 202, but the oscillating movement (revolution) is restricted by the oscillating stopper 209. Has been done. The oscillating gear 203 receives a force in the oscillating direction due to the frictional force received when the first output gear 202 is driven, but the oscillating force is relatively small. Therefore, even if a drive is input to the swing gear 203 while the swing stopper 209 holds the swing gear 203 in the holding position, the swing stopper 209 is not damaged.

On the other hand, the driving force is transmitted from the output shaft 207 to the first worm gear 208 and the first worm wheel 209b, and the swing stopper 209 starts moving to the upstream side in the toner bottle insertion direction (to the left in the drawing). However, only when the movement is started, the swing stop portion 209a of the swing stopper 209 and the swing lock portion 206a of the swing arm 206 are still engaged. Therefore, the drive is not transmitted to the toner bottle 100 and the toner bottle 100 is maintained in a state in which the discharging force does not work.

The drive of the output shaft 207 is also transmitted from the first idler gear 210 and the second idler gear 211 to the shutter slide gear 212. Since the second worm gear 212a of the shutter slide gear 212 and the second worm wheel 213b of the shutter slider 213 mesh with each other, the shutter slider 213 starts moving to the upstream side in the toner bottle insertion direction (leftward in the drawing). However, since the discharge port 300a of the bottle case 300 and the communication port 301b of the shutter 301 do not overlap with each other only by starting the movement, the sealed state of the toner bottle 100 is maintained.

(When the device is installed 2 (communication with outlet))
When the motor 200 is continuously driven, the shutter slider 213 moves in the direction opposite to the toner bottle insertion direction, so that the shutter 301 of the toner bottle 100 engaged with the shutter slider 213 also moves in the same direction. To do. As a result of this movement, as shown in FIG. 4A, the discharge port 300a of the bottle case 300 mounted and fixed to the bottle mount and the communication port 301b of the shutter 301 that has moved together with the shutter slider 213 are overlapped, and both are in communication. It is the position to do. At this timing, as shown in FIGS. 7(a) and 7(b), the slider locking portion 213c of the shutter slider 213 that has been riding on the slider stopping portion 215a on the bottom surface of the replenishment base is no longer overlapping the slider stopping portion 215a. The slider elastic portion 213d moves upward in the figure, and the slider stopper 215a prevents the toner bottle from moving in the insertion direction, thereby determining the position of the shutter slider 213. At the same time, the second worm wheel 213b of the shutter slider 213 is disengaged from the second worm gear 212a, so that the driving force is not transmitted to the shutter slider 213. The position of the shutter slider 213 in this state becomes the normal position where the shutter slider 213 is located when the apparatus is normally used, and the shutter opens and closes the discharge port as the toner bottle is attached to and detached from the apparatus main body. The position. That is, the shutter slider 213 is at a position where the shutter 301 is unsealed by the operation of inserting the toner bottle 100, and at the position where the shutter 301 seals the discharge port by the operation of pulling out the toner bottle 100.

In the above state, the discharge port 300a of the bottle case 300 and the communication port 301b of the shutter 301 communicate with each other, and the toner can be discharged from the toner bottle 100. However, at this timing, as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, the swing stopper 209 moves in the direction opposite to the insertion direction of the toner bottle, but the swing stop portion 209 a of the swing arm 206 moves. The state in which the swing locking portion 206a is engaged is maintained. Therefore, as described above, when the shutter slider 213 is moved to the second position, the driving force is not yet transmitted to the toner bottle 100 and the toner discharging force is not working.

(When the device is installed 3 (toner bottle drive))
When the driving of the motor 200 is further continued, as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the swing stopper 209 moves in the direction opposite to the toner bottle insertion direction (leftward in the figure). By doing so, the engagement between the swing stop portion 209a of the swing stopper 209 and the swing lock portion 206a of the swing arm 206 is released. As a result, the swinging arm 206 becomes swingable, and the swinging arm 206 swings to the drive transmitting position shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 by the driving force transmitted from the first output gear 202 to the swinging gear 203, and swings. The dynamic gear 203 and the second output gear 204 are engaged with each other, and the driving force transmission to the toner bottle 100 is started. Since the discharge port 300a of the bottle case 300 and the communication port 301b of the shutter 301 are already in communication with each other, it is possible to replenish the toner from the toner bottle 100.

After that, the drive for replenishing the toner causes the swing stopper 209 to move further in the direction opposite to the insertion direction of the toner bottle (left direction in the drawing), so that the first worm wheel 209b and the first worm wheel 209b of the swing stopper 209 move. The engagement of the worm gear 208 is released. When the engagement is released, the drive from the first worm gear 208 to the first worm wheel 209b is not transmitted, so the load on the drive is reduced.

At this stage, the work of connecting the discharge port 300a of the bottle case 300 and the communication port 301b of the shutter 301 is completed, and the motor 200 is operated, so that the normal toner supply from the toner bottle 100 becomes possible.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the shutter slider 213 movable to the first position and the second position seals the toner bottle with the shutter attached to the apparatus main body and the toner by the apparatus main body. The shutter of the bottle can be opened and closed. As a result, shipping (transportation) with the bottle mounted on the main body is possible without increasing the size of the device and increasing the cost, and toner scattering and leakage can be prevented.

Further, as described above, the discharge port 300a of the bottle case 300 and the communication port 301b of the shutter 301 communicate with each other due to the positional relationship between the swing stop portion 209a and the swing stop portion 206a, and the slider stop portion 215a and the slider stop portion 213c. After that, the transmission of the driving force to the toner bottle 100 is started. Therefore, when the discharge port 300a of the bottle case 300 and the communication port 301b of the shutter 301 communicate with each other, the toner bottle 100 has no discharging force, and the toner bottle 100 has the discharging force after the reliable communication. As a result, it is possible to minimize toner stains on the shutter portion.

Further, as described above, in this embodiment, the shutter slider 213 is moved to the regular position (the second position shown in FIG. 3) so that the discharge port 300a of the bottle case 300 and the communication port 301b of the shutter 301 communicate with each other. .. Therefore, after the shutter slider 213 moves to the regular position, the shutter 301 is opened and closed by attaching and detaching the toner bottle 100. Therefore, the configuration of this embodiment does not affect the opening and closing of the shutter 301 due to the attachment and detachment of the toner bottle during normal use, and good operability can be maintained.

Further, as described above, in this embodiment, the drive source for driving the toner bottle 100 and the drive source (motor 200) for driving the shutter slider 213 are the same. That is, since the drive source of the toner bottle is used to open the shutter, a new drive source is not required, and the cost increase on the main body side is further reduced. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is possible to realize the configuration of the present patent without problems even when separate drive sources are used.

Further, when the toner bottle is sealed in the device body, the shutter provided in the toner bottle is used. Therefore, it is not necessary to newly provide the shutter in the device body, and the sealing structure does not increase. Has become.

100a to 100d... Toner bottles 101a to 101d... Bottle mounts 102a to 102d... Toner replenishment sections 103a to 103d... Toner replenishment pipe 200... Motor 201... Drive transmission section 202... First output gear 203... Oscillation gear 204... Second output Gear 205... Output coupling 206... Oscillating arm 206a... Oscillating locking portion 207... Output shaft 208... First worm gear 209... Oscillating stopper 209a... Oscillating stop portion 209b... First worm wheel 210... First idler gear 211 Second idler gear 212 Shutter slide gear 212a Second worm gear 213 Shutter slider 213a Shutter stopper 213b Second worm wheel 213c Slider lock 213d Slider elastic 214 Drive mount 215 Supply base 215a Slider stopper 300... Bottle case 300a... Discharge port 301... Shutter 301a... Shutter locking part 301b... Communication port 302... Input coupling 500... Toner supply device 1000... Image forming apparatus

Claims (5)

A bottle that is detachably provided in the apparatus main body and that stores toner, and has a discharge port through which the stored toner is discharged ,
Arranged on the bottle to open and close the outlet and movable relative to the bottle between a closed position for closing the outlet and an open position for opening the outlet. A shutter,
An engaging member that is movably provided on the apparatus body and is configured to engage with the shutter,
A drive transmission unit that transmits a driving force to the engagement member to move the engagement member from a first position to a second position that is a position different from the first position;
Have
In a state where the bottle is mounted at the mounting position, when the engagement member is at the first position, the engagement member to which the driving force is transmitted by the drive transmission unit is moved from the first position to the first position. The shutter moves from the closed position to the open position as it moves to position 2.
When the engagement member is in the second position in a state where the bottle is mounted in the mounting position, the shutter is moved from the open position in association with a detaching operation for detaching the bottle from the mounting position. Moving to the closed position,
When the engaging member is in the second position in a state where the bottle is removed from the mounting position, the shutter is in the closed position in association with the mounting operation for mounting the bottle in the mounting position. The image forming apparatus is characterized in that the image forming apparatus moves to the open position . The drive transmission unit,
A drive transmission member movably provided in a drive transmission position for transmitting drive to the bottle, and a release position for releasing drive transmission to the bottle ;
A drive mechanism for driving the drive transmission member and the engagement member;
A single drive source for driving the drive mechanism;
Equipped with
The drive mechanism is configured such that the drive transmission member moves from the release position to the drive transmission position after the engagement member moves from the first position to the second position. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1. The drive transmission member is disengaged from the holding position that engages with the drive transmission member and restricts the drive transmission member from moving from the release position to the drive transmission position. A holding release position that enables movement from the release position to the drive transmission position, and a stopper member that is movably provided at
The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the stopper member moves from the holding position to the holding release position after the engagement member moves from the first position to the second position. The drive transmission member,
A rotatable rocking gear,
A drive gear that transmits a driving force to the bottle,
A swing arm that holds the swing gear and is swingably provided to connect or disconnect the swing gear to the drive gear ;
Have
When the stopper member engages with the swing arm, the swing gear is disconnected from the drive gear ,
Wherein the stopper member is engaged with the swing arm is released, the rocking gear image forming apparatus according to claim 3, characterized in that it is connected to the drive gear. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a drive source that commonly drives the engagement member and the bottle.

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