JPH01109375A - Developing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent scattering of toner at the time of development for a long period by providing a side seal body, which is provided with a side member in the end part side, with a bending part which is bent in the direction opposite to the side member to cover the outside peripheral surface of a developing roll. CONSTITUTION:Toner is supplied to a photosensitive drum 3 through the aperture of a device housing H provided with a developing roll 6a which is arranged to face the photosensitive drum 3 as the latent image carrier, and a pair of side seal parts are provided in both end parts of this aperture. Each side seal part consists of a bending side member 6D, which is slided on the outside peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 3 to close the gap in the end part side between the photosensitive drum 3 and the device housing H, and a side seal main body 6B which is provided with the side member 6D in the end part side and is attached to the side end part of the aperture. Since the side seal main body 6B is provided with a bending part 6F which is bent in the direction opposite to the side member 6D to cover the outside peripheral surface of the developing roll 6a, it is strong against deformation and covers the outside peripheral surface of the developing roll 6a.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a developing device of a copying machine or the like, and in particular, a device housing is provided with a pair of side seals at both ends of an opening to prevent toner from escaping from both ends. This invention relates to an improvement of a developing device that prevents scattering.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, as a developing device for a copying machine or the like, a magnetic brush developing device shown in FIG. 9 is used as an example.
A developing roller (d) is disposed opposite to the developing roller (d) and consists of a cylindrical sleeve (b) and a magnetic roller (C), and a developing roller (d) is provided on the back side of the developing roller (d) and carries a developer consisting of toner and carrier. A paddle wheel (e) is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the developing roller (d), and a paddle wheel (e) is provided above the developing roller (d) to scrape off excess developer supplied to the developing roller (d). a trimmer plate (f), a developer transport plate (l) that transports the scraped developer to a part away from the developing roller (d), and a developer transport plate (g) located above the end of the developer transport plate (g) in the transport direction. The main part thereof consists of a toner box (j), which is provided with a toner dispensing roller (+) at the lower end for replenishing the consumed toner, and the toner box (j) is provided with a toner dispensing roller (+) at the lower end thereof, and the toner box (j) is provided with a toner dispensing roller (+) at the lower end for replenishing the consumed toner. The static IRWJ image on the photosensitive drum (a) is rubbed with a magnetic brush (k) made of a carrier and a carrier, and the toner in the magnetic brush (k) is transferred to the latent image forming surface of the photosensitive drum (a). There are known devices that visualize the image.

By the way, in this type of developing device, toner floating inside the device and the developing roller (which is not involved in development) are removed.
d) The toner on the top may escape from the opening (m) of the device housing (h) to the outside of the device as the developing roller (d) rotates at high speed. However, it has the disadvantage of being contaminated by toner.

For this reason, in the conventional developing device, as shown in FIG. ,
Side seal parts (S) are provided at both ends of the opening (m), and the toner escaping from the front side of the opening (m) is magnetically attracted and captured by magnetic seal members (n). In addition, a method is adopted in which toner leaking from both ends of the opening (m) is blocked by side seal members (S) to prevent the toner from escaping.

As shown in FIG. 11, the side seal portion (S) includes a side member (Sl) attached to both ends of the opening (m) of the housing (h), and The sheet member (Sl) is provided on the side and formed of a flexible sheet, and the sheet member (Sl) is not attached to the opening (m) for operational reasons or In order to reduce the contact pressure to the surface of the developing roller (d), a pair of sheet pieces (s3) whose proximal ends are cantilevered at both upper and lower edges of the opening (m) are provided.
(s3), and the side part (s3).
l) is brought into sliding contact with the outer circumferential surface of the photosensitive drum (a) to close the gap between the photosensitive drum (a) and the housing (h), while the sheet member (Sl) closes the end of the opening (m). The side of the opening (m) is covered to prevent toner from escaping from the end of the opening (m).

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention J As described above, in the conventional developing device, the side seal portion (S) is separated from the side member (Sl) and the sheet member (
SL), and it is necessary to position them relative to each other and attach them to predetermined parts of the housing (h) and opening (m), and the installation process is complicated, and
The sheet member (Sl) is a pair of sheet pieces (s3) (
s3), these sheet pieces (8
3) (s3) may deform over time and its tip side may curl toward the developing roller (d) side or the opposite side, making it impossible to cover the end side of the opening (m) and toner particles. There was a problem that dispersion could not be completely prevented.

[Means for Solving the Problems 1] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and its object is to facilitate the formation of side seal portions;
Moreover, it is an object of the present invention to provide a developing device that can prevent toner from dissipating during development for a long period of time.

That is, the present invention includes a developing roller disposed opposite to the latent image carrier, supplies toner to the latent image carrier through an opening in the device housing, and has a pair of side seals at both ends of the opening. The developing device is designed to prevent toner from escaping from both sides of the opening, and the side seal portion is slidably contacted with the outer peripheral surface of the latent image carrier to seal the latent image carrier and the device. a curved side member that closes the space m on the end side with the housing; and a side seal body that is attached to the side end of the opening and has the side member on the end side; The present invention is characterized in that the seal body is provided with a curved portion that curves in the opposite direction to the side member and covers the outer circumferential surface of the developing roller.

In such technical means, the side seal portion is composed of a side seal body and a side member attached to one end side of the side seal body, and the side seal body is made of a flexible sheet material, For example, the material may be made of polyester sheet, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyimide, boria 0 pyrene, Teflon (trade name), etc., while the side members may be made of foamed urethane, foamed rubber, etc.

Further, as a method for forming the curved portion in the side seal body, for example, a notch may be provided at the boundary between the side seal body and the side member, and the curved portion may be formed through the notch. Note that when this technical means is applied to a developing device equipped with a magnetic roller, lines of magnetic force are generated along the axial direction of the developing roller at the end thereof, and a magnetic brush is formed along the line of magnetic force at the end. Therefore, the curved portion of the side seal main body comes into contact with this magnetic brush, which tends to cause a toner cloud. Therefore, in such a case,
It is preferable to form a cutout recess on the end side of the side seal main body facing the side member so that contact with the magnetic brush curved portion does not occur.

As for the scope of application of this technical means, it is naturally applicable to not only a two-component type magnetic brush developing device but also a one-component type developing device that does not use a carrier as a developer.

In addition, copying machines that incorporate these developing devices include ordinary monochrome copying machines, and full-color copying machines that have multiple developing devices along the movement path of the latent image carrier and make color copies of color originals. , and in which the developing device is removably attached to the latent image carrier, is applicable to flat color copying machines and the like in which the developing device is replaced as appropriate to make copies of desired colors.

[Function] According to the technical means described above, the side seal part can be
It is composed of a curved side member that closes a gap on the end side between the latent image carrier and the device housing, and a side seal body that is attached to the side end of the opening and has the side member on the end side, In addition, since this side seal body is provided with a curved portion that curves in the opposite direction to the side member and covers the outer circumferential surface of the developing roller, the side seal portion is composed of a single member and its installation is easy. In addition, since the curved portion of the side seal main body is less likely to deform than a conventional sheet member, it becomes possible to cover the outer circumferential surface of the developing roller for a long period of time with this curved portion.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example in which the present invention is applied to a small-sized magnetic brush developing device using a screw auger will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

First, FIG. 7 shows an electrophotographic copying machine incorporating this magnetic brush developing device, and this copying machine has a platen (2) provided on the top side of the copying machine body (1),
A photosensitive drum (3) provided on the lower side, and a charger (
4), an optical system (5), two magnetic brush developing devices (6) and (7) for color and black, and a transfer device (8), etc.
It is equipped with 5 paper trays (9) to (9) provided below the photosensitive drum (3) and a paper reversing section (10) to transport the copied paper (p) to the photosensitive drum (3) side again. The main part thereof is composed of a paper conveyance path (11) and the like, and in addition to normal black copying, it has functions such as double-sided copying, single-sided multiple copying, and partial color copying.

The above-mentioned magnetic brush developing devices (6) and (7) are as follows:
As shown in FIG. 1, the developing devices (6) and (7) are partitioned into device housing sections (1A).
The developing device (6) for color copying disposed on the upper side is constituted by the developing device according to this embodiment.

That is, this developing device is removably disposed via a holding portion (1B) provided near the photosensitive drum (3), and
As shown in Figures 6 to 6, a developing roller (6a) arranged on the photosensitive drum (3) side and a first screw auger installed side by side with a partition (6b) on the back side of the developing roller (6a). (6C), a third screw auger (6d), a third screw auger (6t) whose receiver is provided through a plate (6e) on the upper side of these augers (6c) and (6d), and this housing. (H) opening (
Hl) Magnetic seal member provided on the upper end side (not shown)
The main part consists of the side seal members (6A) (6A) attached to both ends of the opening (old),
Further, a toner box (6j) having a coiled auger (6g) for stirring toner and a screw auger (6h) for conveying toner is disposed on the back side of the housing (H).

First, the developing roller (6a) is composed of a cylindrical sleeve (6r) that rotates in the direction of the arrow and a magnetic roller (6S) fixedly arranged inside the sleeve, as in the conventional case. ) on the upper side of the trimmer bar (
Excess developer is scraped off by 6[), and a fixed amount of magnetic brush (6u) is formed on the outer peripheral surface thereof.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5, the screw augers (6C) to (6f) are driven by rotating wheels (6W
) ~ (6W) and these rotating wheels (6W) ~ (6W),
Conveying blades spirally formed in the length direction (6x)
~ (6x), and the first screw auger (6C) has its conveying blade (6x) made of non-magnetic stainless steel material (non-magnetic SO8304) and is similar to the magnetic roller (6S). It is not affected by magnetic force. Also, on one end side of the partition (6b), as shown in FIG.
The toner conveyed by the first screw auger (6C
), an opening (6k) has been opened to supply the
On the other hand, the above amount also occurs on both ends of the plate (6e), when the toner conveyed by the second screw auger (6d) hits the side wall of the housing (H) and the third screw auger (6f)
An opening (6m) for supplying the toner to the first screw auger (6C) and an opening (6n) for supplying the toner transported by the third screw auger (6t) to the first screw auger (6C) are opened. The toner replenished from the toner box (6j) is transferred to the second paint auger (6d),
It is transported to the first screw auger (6C) via the third screw auger (6r), and
C) to the developing roller (6a).

Further, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the side seal members (6A) are disposed on both end sides of the housing (H) fF1 opening (Hl), and the side seal members (6B) made of polyester sheet and a side member (60) made of foamed urethane attached to one end side of the main body (6B), and the side member (6D) is attached to the side seal main body (6^). Make a notch (6E) at the boundary,
A curved portion (6F) is formed through this notch (6E) to cover the outer periphery of the developing roller (6a). Further, the side member (6D) is connected to the curved portion (6F).
It is curved in opposite directions and is placed in sliding contact with the outer circumferential surface of the photosensitive drum (3) to connect the photosensitive drum (3) and the housing (
H) and the curved portion (6B) of the side seal body (6B).
On the end side of F), there is a notch recess (6G) that prevents contact with the magnetic brush formed on the end side of the developing roller (6a).
is formed.

Furthermore, on the back side of the toner box (6j), there is a spring (6p) that biases the housing (H) in a direction to separate it from the photosensitive drum (3), and this spring (6p).
) against the urging force of the photosensitive drum (3).
) is provided with a retracting means (12) composed of an eccentric cam (6q) that causes the housing (H) to be alternately placed in a developing position and a non-developing position. .

Furthermore, the partition portion (
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a magnetic seal member (1[) composed of a magnet and iron powder is disposed on the tip side of the partition (1◎) along the length of the partition (10). It captures the toner falling from the color developing device M (6) located on the upper side, and captures the toner floating from the black developing device (7) located on the lower side. Toner color mixing in the developing devices (6) and (7) is prevented.

The black developing device (7) disposed below the color developing device (6) includes a developing roller (7a), a paddle wheel (7b), and an agitator (7), as shown in FIG.
c), and a screw auger (7d) for supplying black toner.
), and the housing (H)
A retracting means (13) consisting of a spring (1e) and an eccentric cam (7t) is arranged on the back side of the
The color developing device (6
) and the black developing device 1 (7) are alternately retracted. In this case, as shown in Fig. 8, one rectangular cam (6z) is arranged on the back side of the housing (H), and this cam (6z) controls each of the eccentric cams (6Q).
Of course, it is also possible to adopt a configuration in which <7f> is also used. In addition, in this developing device (7), a magnetic seal member (made of an iron band-shaped body) and magnetized by a nearby magnetic roller (IS) is provided on the lower side of the housing (H).
7A) is fixedly arranged to catch the toner falling from the housing (7A), and a box-shaped catch pan (7B) is provided below the magnetic seal member (1^). is fixedly arranged, and when the housing (H) is arranged at the non-developing position and the magnetic attraction force based on the magnetic roller (7S) of the magnetic sealing member (IA) is reduced, this magnetic sealing member (IA) The catch pan (7B) collects the toner that falls from the toner.

To make a color copy using the color developing device (6) configured as described above, each of the retracting means (
12) (13) is activated, and the color developing device (6) is arranged at the developing position as shown in FIG.
The black developing device (7) is arranged at a non-developing position.

Next, a normal copying operation is performed in this state, and the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum (3) is developed and visualized with color toner, and this color toner image is transferred by the transfer device (8). The image is transferred to the paper (p) side and fixed by the fixing device (14) to obtain a color copy.

At this time, in this developing unit W1 (6), toner does not escape from both ends of the opening (old) due to the action of the side seal member (6A) attached to this housing (H), and the above-mentioned The upper and lower parts of the opening (■1) are protected by the action of the magnetic sealing member provided on the upper edge of the opening (old) and the magnetic sealing member (1E) provided on the partition (1D) of the device housing 811 (1^). Toner does not escape from both sides. Therefore, the inside of the copying machine main body (1) is not contaminated with toner, and furthermore, each developing device F (6
) < 7) It has the advantage of being able to reliably prevent toner color mixing.

Moreover, regarding the side seal portion 44 (6A),
Since it is composed of a single member integrally formed with the side member (6D) and the side seal body (6B),
Its installation has the advantage of simplifying the work, and the curved part (6B) formed on the side seal body (6B)
Since F) is difficult to deform, it has the advantage of being able to cover the outer circumferential surface of the end portion of the developing roller (6a) for a long period of time, thereby reliably preventing the toner from escaping.

Incidentally, in order to make a normal black copy using this copying machine, by operating the operation panel to set the black mode, the black developing device (7) is arranged at a developing position, while
The color developer 11tff(6) is arranged at a non-development position to perform black development. In addition, in this copying machine, the paper (p) on which the black toner has been fixed is retransmitted to the photosensitive drum (3) side via the paper conveyance path (11), and an image is formed on it by the color developing device (6). By doing this, a single-sided multicolor multiple copy is made, and by forming an image on this with the black developing device (7), a single-sided single color multiple copy is made. Furthermore, the paper reversing section (1) of the paper transport path (11)
0) to the photosensitive drum (3) side, it is possible to make double-sided copies. Furthermore, a plurality of the above-mentioned color developing devices (6) are prepared, and these developing devices (6) are prepared.
It is also possible to obtain a color copy of a desired color by accommodating different color toners in the toners ( ) to (6) and alternately replacing each developing device (6) for development.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, the present invention includes a side seal portion that includes a curved side member that closes the gap between the latent image carrier and the device housing, and a side member that is attached to the side end of the opening. and a side seal body provided on the end side, and the side seal body is provided with a curved part that curves in the opposite direction to the side member and covers the outer circumferential surface of the developing roller. Since it is a single member, the installation work can be simplified, and the curved portion of the side seal body is less likely to deform than a conventional sheet member, so that it can cover the outer circumferential surface of the developing roller for a long period of time. becomes possible.

Therefore, it is possible to improve production of the developing device, and it also has the effect of reliably preventing toner contamination inside the machine such as a copying machine.

[Brief Description of the Drawings] Figs. 1 to 6 show an embodiment of the present invention, in which Fig. 1 is a sectional view of a developing device according to the embodiment, Fig. 2 is a front perspective view thereof, and Fig. 3 is a sectional view of a developing device according to the embodiment. The figure is a partially enlarged view, FIG. 4 (A) is a perspective view of the side seal member incorporated in the developing device, and FIG.
) is its front view, Figure 4 (C) is its side view, Figure 4 (
D) is a side view of FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a rear perspective view of the developing device, FIG. 6 is a plan view of FIG. The figures show side views of developing devices according to other embodiments, and also include figures 9 to 11.
The figures show a conventional developing device; FIG. 9 is a sectional view thereof, FIG. 10 is a perspective view thereof, FIG. 11(A) is a perspective view of the installation of the side seal portion, and FIG. 11(B) shows its front view, and FIG. 11(C) shows its side view. [Description of symbols] (3)...Photosensitive drum (6a)...Developing roller (H)...Housing (old)...Opening (6^)...Side seal member (6B)...・Side seal body (60)...Side member (6F)...Curved portion (6E)...Notch (6G)...Notch recess Patent Applicant: Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. Agent: Patent attorney Medium Tomohiro Mura (2 others) 2nd eiH CD) 6Δ Figure 5 Figure 7 Figure 8 Figure 9 Figure 10 Figure 11

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) A developing roller disposed opposite to the latent image carrier,
A developing device in which toner is supplied to the latent image carrier through an opening in the device housing, and a pair of side seals are provided at both ends of the opening to prevent toner from escaping from both sides of the opening. In the apparatus, the side seal portion includes a curved side member that slides into contact with the outer circumferential surface of the latent image carrier to close a gap on an end side between the latent image carrier and the device housing, and a side end of the opening. and a side seal body attached to the side member and having the side member on the end side,
A developing device characterized in that the side seal main body is provided with a curved portion that is curved in a direction opposite to the side member and covers the outer circumferential surface of the developing roller. (2) The side seal part is composed of a side member made of urethane foam and a side seal body made of a polyester sheet, and the curved part 2. The developing device according to claim 1, wherein a developing device is formed. (3) The side seal main body is provided with a cutout recess on the end side facing the side member to prevent contact between the side seal main body and the door on the developing roller. Developing device according to item 1.