JPH01219863A - Developer replenishing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To surely set a toner empty detecting means by providing said means with a red switching operating in response to the coming near/off of a magnet provided on an empty lever and detecting toner empty by at least two ore more detecting actions of the reed switch. CONSTITUTION:Owing to the rotation of an eccentric cam 87 provided on a developer agitating means 81, the empty lever 91 of the toner empty detecting means 90 is rocked vertically, and toner empty is detected through two or more actions of the reed switch 94, which are caused by the rocking of the empty lever 91. When a container 61 is full of toner in initialization, the rocking of the lever 91 results in toner interposition between the top of the lever 91 and the reed switch 94, whereby the switch 94 can be set in turn-off-state. Thus, the toner empty detecting means 90 is set surely.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a developer replenishing device in an image forming apparatus that forms an image using an electrophotographic process such as a laser printer, and particularly The present invention relates to a developer replenishing device that is loaded into a developing unit in the form of a cartridge and replenishes developer.

(Prior Art) Usually, an image forming apparatus transfers an image by passing a sheet through an image transfer section of an electrophotographic process unit that performs charging, exposure, development, transfer, peeling, cleaning, etc.
The image is fixed on the paper by passing the paper onto which the image has been transferred between a pair of fixing rollers.

Conventionally, in this type of image forming apparatus, such as a laser printer, a disposable cartridge-type developer replenishment device is used to replenish developer (hereinafter referred to as toner) to a developing unit built into the apparatus main body. It is configured such that it can be removably and replaceably loaded into the developing unit built into the main body of the apparatus.

Such a conventional developer replenishing device incorporates an assembly of various means as a developer replenishing means over the entire longitudinal length of an oblong container made of synthetic resin, and agitates and transports the toner contained in the container. During this process, toner is replenished into the developing unit from the toner replenishing port, and the remaining amount of toner in the container can be detected by a toner empty detection means.

The toner empty detection means described above usually
An empty lever is pivotably supported to rotate according to the amount of toner remaining in the container, a permanent magnet is provided at the tip of the empty lever, and a magnet is attached to the outside of the container in correspondence with the permanent magnet. It consists of a reed switch installed in the
When the toner is sufficiently filled in the container, the permanent magnet provided at the tip of the empty lever and the reed switch are separated by the toner, and the reed switch is turned off.
When the toner in the container is low, the permanent magnet provided at the tip of the empty lever is brought into close contact with the reed switch, and the reed switch is turned on. It is designed to detect the amount of toner remaining.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the toner empty detection means in a developer replenishing device having such a conventional structure, at the time of initialization, the empty lever is first raised in a direction away from the reed switch. It is set so that the tip rests on the toner, but due to the toner being lopsided due to the tilt of the container when setting, or due to an assembly error of the device itself, it is easy to set the empty lever with the empty lever down. However, there was a problem in that even if the container was full of toner, "no toner" was detected.

The present invention has been made under the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a developer replenishing device in which toner empty detection means can be set reliably.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a solution to the problems described above. A developer stirring means integrally formed with a paddle frame is provided around the rotation center axis for conveying the toner to the bottom of the container corresponding to one side of the developer conveyed by the developer stirring means in the conveying direction. A developer replenishing device is provided with a toner replenishing section having a toner replenishing section offset to one side, and a toner transporting and supplying means for transporting the developer to the toner replenishing port side. An eccentric cam is provided on the rotational center axis of the paddle frame, and a toner empty detection means is provided, which includes an empty lever that swingably responds to the rotational movement of the eccentric cam. The toner is equipped with a reed switch that is activated by the movement of a magnet toward and away from the magnet, and is configured to detect "no toner" by at least two detection operations of the reed switch.

(Function) That is, by having the above configuration, the present invention has the following features:
The rotation of the eccentric cam provided in the developer stirring means causes the empty lever of the toner empty detection means to swing up and down, and the reed switch is activated two or more times by the swinging of this empty lever to detect "no toner". Therefore, if the container is full of toner at the time of initialization, one swing of the empty lever will cause toner to be interposed between the tip of the empty lever and the reed switch, and the reed switch will be activated. This allows the toner empty detection means to be set reliably.

(Example) Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to an illustrated example.

FIG. 10 shows the external appearance of a laser printer as an electrophotographic image forming apparatus using a semiconductor laser, and FIG. 11 shows its internal configuration.

This laser printer is connected to a host system (not shown), which is an external output device such as a computer or word processor, via a transmission controller such as an interface circuit, and receives a print start signal from the host system. Then, the image recording operation is started, and the image is recorded on paper as a transfer material and outputted.

That is, the above-described image forming apparatus has the following configuration.

As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, reference numeral 1 in the figures represents a main body of the apparatus, and a main control board 2 is disposed in the center of the main body 1 of the apparatus. An electrophotographic process unit 3 for forming images is arranged behind the main control board 2 (toward the right side in the state shown in FIG. A control board accommodating section 5 for accommodating the substrates 4 .

In the control board accommodating section 5, up to three control boards 4 for adding functions can be installed depending on the degree of addition of functions, such as adding more types of kanji, etc. Further functions can be added by inserting an IC card 8 for adding functions into the IC card connector 7 on the front edge side of the control board 4 for adding functions located at the bottom. There is. Furthermore, two interfaces (not shown) are provided on the left end surface of the control board 4 for adding functions located at the bottom, and these interfaces are formed on the left side surface of the device main body 1. It is arranged to face the opening 9 .

Further, reference numeral 10 in the figure is a cassette accommodating portion that accommodates a paper feed cassette 11 formed in the lower part of the apparatus main body 1.

As shown in FIG. 10, the paper discharge section 6 consists of a recess formed on the front upper surface of the apparatus main body 1, and a paper discharge tray 12 is provided at the front edge thereof in the direction of the solid arrow. It is provided so as to be rotatable for folding and unfolding, and the size of the paper ejection section 6 can be adjusted according to the size of the paper P to be ejected.

Further, on the upper surface of the left frame portion 1a of the apparatus main body 1 located on the left side of the paper ejecting portion 6, a control panel 16 is arranged, in which a display LED 13, a two-digit status display segment 14, and a switch 15 are arranged. On the other hand, a manual feed tray 17 is attached to the rear end surface side of the apparatus main body 1.

Next, the configuration of the electrophotographic process unit 3 that performs electrophotographic processes such as charging, exposure, development, transfer, peeling, cleaning, and fixing will be explained based on FIG.
1 is a drum-shaped photoreceptor serving as an image carrier disposed approximately in the center of the unit housing portion in the apparatus main body 1. As shown in FIG.

Around the photoreceptor 20, a charging means 21 made of a scorotron, an exposure section 22a of a laser exposure unit 22 as an electrostatic latent image forming means, and a charging means 21, an exposure section 22a of a laser exposure unit 22 as an electrostatic latent image forming means, are arranged along the direction of rotation of the photoreceptor 20, and a developing step and a cleaning step are simultaneously carried out. A magnetic brush type developing unit 23, a transfer means 24 made of a scorotron, a memory removal means 25 made of a brush member, and a pre-exposure means 26 are arranged in this order.

Reference numeral 29 in the figure denotes a paper conveyance path formed in the apparatus main body 1, in which paper P is fed from the paper feed cassette 11 via the paper feed means 27 and paper manually fed from the manual feed tray 17. P through the image transfer section 28 between the photoreceptor 20 and the transfer means 24 to the paper discharge section 6 provided on the top side of the apparatus main body 1, and the image on the paper conveyance path 29 On the upstream side of the transfer section 28, a pair of conveying rollers 30, a pair of aligning rollers 31. A fixing unit 33 and a paper ejection roller unit 34 are arranged on the downstream side thereof.

In the figure, 35 is a cooling fan unit disposed above the pair of conveyance rollers 32, 36 is an aligning switch provided near the pair of aligning rollers 31, and 37 is a conveyance fan unit provided near the image transfer section 28. It is a guide.

When a print start signal is received from the host system, the drum-shaped photoreceptor 20 rotates and the photoreceptor 20 rotates.
The photoreceptor 20 is charged by the charging means 21, and then the laser beam a modulated in response to the dot image data from the host system is scanned and exposed onto the photoreceptor 20 using the laser exposure unit 22. Photoreceptor 20
An electrostatic latent image corresponding to the image signal is formed thereon. This electrostatic latent image on the photoreceptor 20 is developed and visualized by toner in a developer magnetic brush (not shown) in the developing unit 23.

On the other hand, the paper P taken out from the paper feed cassette 11 or manually fed from the manual feed tray 17 periodically during this toner image forming operation is transferred to the aligning roller pair 31.
The toner image previously formed on the photoreceptor 20 is transferred onto the paper P by the action of the transfer means 24 . The paper P after the transfer is sent to the fixing unit 33 through the paper transport path 29, and after the toner image is melted and fixed on the paper P, the paper discharge roller unit 34
In this case, residual toner remaining on the photoconductor 20 after the toner image is transferred onto the paper P is discharged to the paper discharge section 6 via the paper P.

The memory is removed by a memory removing means 25 consisting of a conductive brush.

The fixing unit 33 also includes a heat roller 41 with a built-in heater lamp, and a pressure roller 42 that is in pressure contact with the heat roller 41, and the paper P passes between these rollers 41 and 42, which serve as fixing rollers. The heat roller 41 and pressure roller 42 are surrounded by a lower casing 43 and an upper casing 44 to maintain a good temperature necessary for fixing. The structure is designed to prevent heat from escaping to the outside to ensure a good atmosphere.

Further, the paper ejection roller unit 34 includes a lower roller 3
4a and an upper roller 34b, this upper roller 3
The upper half including 4b is connected to the conveyance guide 37 and the transfer means 2.
4, etc., and is attached to the lower surface side of the top cover 50 of the device main body 1.
0 uses the support shaft 51 provided at the upper part of the rear end of the device main body 1 as a rotation fulcrum, and as shown in FIG.
Most of the paper transport path 29 and equipment facing the paper transport path 29 are exposed, making it easy to remove paper jams on the paper P on the paper transport path 29 and to inspect, maintain, and replace equipment. At the same time,
As shown in FIG. 13, an operating protrusion 52 is provided on the right inner surface 50a of the top cover 50.
Reference numeral 2 opens and closes a rotary shutter of a cartridge type developer replenishing device 60, which will be described later, and which replenishes toner to the developing unit 23 along with the opening and closing operation of the top cover 50. 6
0 is removably inserted into the side of the right frame portion 1b of the apparatus main body 1, as shown in FIG. It is designed to be inserted and loaded.

That is, as shown in FIG. 1, the cartridge-type developer replenishing device 60 according to the present invention includes a hopper-shaped container 61 made of synthetic resin such as ABS resin and having an oblong shape in which toner is stored. The left end surface 61a of the direction is closed and serves as the insertion end into the device main body 1, and the right end surface 61b is open.
It has a tapered shape that slightly widens from 1a to the right end surface 61b.

Further, one drive side end portion 83a of a rotation center shaft 83 of a paddle frame 82 of a developer stirring means 81 constituting the toner filling port 62 and a developer replenishing means 80, which will be described later, is inserted into the left closed end surface 61a of the container 61. A shaft hole 63 to be held is formed as an opening, and a double annular groove 64 is formed on the inner surface side of this shaft hole 63.
．． 65 is formed.

And, on the right opening end surface 61b side of the container 1I61,
A bearing portion 66 is formed into which one end 92a of a rotating shaft 92 of an empty lever 91 constituting a toner empty detection means 90, which will be described later, is inserted and held, and this open end surface 61b is connected to a developer replenishing means 8o, which will be described later. After assembly, the cover 70 is fused and sealed, and the developer stirring means 8 is provided on the inner surface of the cover 70.
a bearing portion 71 into which the other end portion 83b of the paddle frame rotation center shaft 83 of No. 1 is inserted and held; and the toner empty detection means 9.
A bearing portion 72 into which the other end portion 92b of the empty lever rotation shaft 92 of No. 0 is inserted and held is formed.

Further, 67 in the figure is a toner replenishing portion formed at a position offset to the right side of the bottom of the container 61;
A toner conveying and supplying means 100 constituting the developer replenishing means 80 is incorporated therein, and a toner replenishing port 68 for dropping and supplying toner to the developing unit 23 is opened at the bottom left side thereof. In this toner supply port 68, a first shutter means 200 and a second shutter means 300, which will be described later, are arranged in correspondence with each other.

That is, as shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the developer stirring means 81 constituting the developer replenishing means 80 rotates a plurality of paddle frames 82 around a rotation center axis 83 having a cross-shaped cross section. For example, a diameter of 60 mm is connected in a spiral manner.
It consists of a frame made of ABS resin in the shape of a wheel with a diameter of 5 mm, and one end 83a on the driving side thereof is connected to the closed end surface 61 of the container 61.
The other end 83b is inserted into and held in the shaft hole 63 formed in the shaft hole 63 formed in the opening end 61a of the container 61, and the other end 83b is inserted and held in the bearing part 71 of the cover 70 that seals the open end 61b of the container 61. As shown in FIG. 2, a first pad 8 is provided at one end 83a on the drive side that protrudes to the outside.
A driving gear 802 that can mesh with a gear of a drive system (not shown) on the device main body 1 side is attached via a spring washer 803 through a spring washer 803 .

Furthermore, an annular flange portion 84 is integrally formed on one end portion 83a on the drive side of the rotation center shaft 83, and this annular flange portion 84 is formed on the inner surface side of the shaft hole 63 of the closed end surface 61a of the container 61. A second pad 804 is fitted into the formed outer annular groove 64 and into the inner annular groove 65, and a thickness is formed between the second pad 804 and the inner surface of the annular flange portion 84. By adopting a shield structure in which a thin disc-shaped packing 805 with a diameter of about 0.3 mm is inserted, the sealing performance and lubricity around the shaft area due to the labyrinth effect are improved, and toner leakage and toner around the shaft area are prevented. The developer agitating means 81 prevents the intrusion of water, generation of frictional heat, and intrusion of moisture into the container 61, and when the developer stirring means 81 is driven to rotate, the developer stirring means 81 rotates in a spiral manner by a plurality of paddle frames 82... The toner (not shown) housed in the container 61 is double-stirred by the rotation center shaft 83 having a cross-shaped cross section, and is transported inside the container 61 from the left side to the toner replenishing part 67 side located off to the right side. It has become.

In the figure, reference numeral 85 denotes an elastic material such as Mylar (trade name) or rubber provided at the tip 82a of one paddle frame 82 corresponding to the toner replenishing portion 67 of the plurality of paddle frames 82 constituting the developer stirring means 81. This is a toner scraping plate made of a thin plate piece, and its tip 85a is connected to the inner bottom surface 61 of the container 61.
c, and the developer stirring means 8
With one rotation, the toner conveyed toward the open end surface 61b side, which is one side in the longitudinal direction of the container 61, can be scooped up and supplied into the toner replenishing section 67.

Further, in the figure, 86 is a large-diameter gear integrally formed on the other end 83b side of the rotation center shaft 83 constituting the developer stirring means 81, and 87 is an eccentric cam integrally formed on the outside of this large-diameter gear 86. The large-diameter gear 86 is meshed with a small-diameter gear 102 integrally formed with a spiral shaft 101 constituting the toner conveying and supplying means 100.
In addition, an empty lever 91 constituting a toner empty detection means 90, which will be described later, is brought into contact with the eccentric cam 87, and the empty lever 91 is connected to the large diameter gear 86, i.e. ,
The developer stirring means 81 is configured to be able to swing up and down in accordance with the rotation of a rotational center shaft 83 that constitutes the developer stirring means 81.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the empty lever 91 constituting the toner empty detection means 90 has a U-shape, and one end 92a of its rotation shaft 92 is connected to the The container 61 is inserted and held in a bearing part 66 formed on the right opening end face 61b side, and the other end part 92b is inserted and supported in a bearing part 72 formed on the inner surface of the cover 70. A permanent magnet 93 is attached to the swinging end 91a of the eccentric cam 87 which is integrally formed on the other end 83b of the rotation center shaft 83 constituting the developer stirring means 81. As shown in FIG.
In other words, the container 61 is rotated to the lowest position of the inner bottom surface 61c due to its own weight, and the reed switch 94 as a detector fixedly provided on the device main body 1 side outside the container 1 is caused to swing. The permanent magnet 93 of the end portion 91a can be placed in the corresponding position, and in this state, the empty lever 91 is swung up and down several times, for example, at least twice, by the rotation of the eccentric cam 87. , "No toner" can be detected for the first time when the reed switch 94 is operated ON-OFF, and thereby,
At the time of initialization, when the empty lever 91 is raised and set, the toner is skewed due to the inclination of the container 61,
Alternatively, it is possible to reliably prevent malfunctions due to assembly errors in the device itself, and to accurately detect the final amount of toner.

When the toner is sufficiently stored in the container 61 as at the initial stage, when the empty lever 91 is raised, the tip 91a of the empty lever 91 is moved as shown by the dotted line in FIG. , the toner remains on top of the toner contained in the container 61, and as a result, the toner enters between the permanent magnet 93 attached to the tip 91a of the empty lever 91 and the reed switch 94, and the reed The switch 94 is turned off.

Further, a toner replenishing section 67 formed at a position offset to the right side of the bottom of the container 61 incorporates a toner transporting and supplying means 100 constituting the developer replenishing means 80. is composed of a hollow spiral shaft 101 having a diameter of 12 mm, for example, formed into multiple threads of at least two threads, and a small diameter gear 102 integrally formed on the end 101a of the spiral shaft 101 on the cover 70 side. A support shaft 103 is loosely inserted into the hollow shaft of the spiral shaft 101 to allow rotation of the spiral shaft 101, and one end 103a of this support shaft 103 is connected to the closed end surface of the toner supply section 67. 67
a, and the other end 103b is inserted and held in a shaft hole 74 formed in a stepped recess 73 of a cover 70 that seals the open end surface 61b of the container 61. The small diameter gear 102 integrally formed with the spiral shaft 101 is connected to the developer stirring means 8.
The spiral shaft 101 is rotated by the rotation of the large diameter gear 86, and the spiral shaft 101 is rotated, and the toner is supplied into the toner replenishing section 67. The supplied toner is conveyed from the right side to the toner supply port 68 on the left side. In this case, if the spiral shaft 101 is prepared with a variety of spirals such as one, two, and three spirals and replaced,
As the number of spiral threads increases, it becomes possible to control the amount of toner replenishment within a delicate range without varying the rotation speed of the spiral shaft 101.

Further, a first shutter means 200 is provided above the toner replenishing port 68 opened at the bottom left side of the toner replenishing section 67, and the first shutter means 200 is disposed within the hollow shaft of the spiral shaft 101. A rotary shutter 201 is provided to be rotatable in synchronization with one end portion 103a of a support shaft 103 inserted in a loosely fitted state and pivotally supported on the closed end surface 67a of the toner replenishing portion 67, and the rotary shutter 201
a support shaft that is inserted into a shaft hole 74 formed in a stepped recess 73 of a cover 70 that seals the open end surface 61b of the container 61 so that the notch 201a always avoids the position corresponding to the toner replenishment 068 and projects to the outside; The other end 103b of 103
A return spring 202 rotates and urges the rotary shutter 201 in one direction, and the support shaft 103 is moved in a direction in which the notch 201a of the rotary shutter 201 corresponds to the toner supply port 68 against the urging force of the return spring 202. Operation lever 20 to rotate
It is composed of 3. And this operation lever 203
is fixed to the other end 103b of the support shaft 103 via a pad 204 and a spring washer 205, and when the developer replenishing device 60 is not loaded into the device main body 1 or when the developer is replenished. When the device 60 is loaded into the device main body 1 and the top cover 50 of the device main body 1 is lifted up and opened as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, the steps shown in FIG. As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the toner replenishment port 68 is always closed by the rotary shutter 201, free from the pressing operation caused by external force such as the operating protrusion 52 provided on the inner surface 50a of the top cover 50. On the other hand, when the developer replenishing device 60 is loaded in the device main body 1 and the top cover 50 of the device main body 1 is in the closed state as shown in FIGS. , the operating protrusion 5 provided on the inner surface 50a of the top cover 50
2 by the suppression operation in the direction of the solid arrow shown in FIG.
The operation lever 203 is rotated by an angle θ (approximately 12 degrees) as shown by the two-dot broken line in FIG. By synchronously rotating the notch 201a of the shutter 201 in a direction corresponding to the toner replenishing port 68, the upper part of the toner replenishing port 68 is opened, as shown in FIG. be.

Further, a second shutter means 300 is provided below the toner replenishing port 68 of the toner replenishing section 67, and this second shutter means 300 is arranged between the toner replenishing port 68 and the toner replenishing port 68 at the bottom of the toner replenishing section 67. A slide shutter 302 is slidably provided through a pad 301 having an opening 301a between slide grooves 69 integrally formed therein, an opening 303 formed on one side of the slide shutter 302, and an opening 303 formed on one side of the slide shutter 302. 303 is always the toner supply port 6
A compression spring 304 biases the slide shutter 302 in one direction so as to avoid the corresponding position of 8, and the slide shutter 302 has the slide groove at one end on the open portion 303 side. A locking pawl 302a that can be locked is formed on the locking stepped portion 69a of the toner replenishing port 69, thereby preventing the slide shutter 302 from coming off when the toner replenishing port 68 is closed.

That is, as shown in FIG. 14, the second shutter means 300 can respond only to the insertion of the developer replenishing device 60 into the device main body 1 or the pulling out operation when replacing the developer supply device 60. As shown in FIG. 7, for example, when loading the developer replenishing device 60 into the device main body 1, the developing unit 2 fixedly provided on the device main body 1 side.
The slide shutter 302 is moved by a relative pushing operation of the abutment plate 53, in which a replenishment port 53a corresponding to the toner replenishment port 3 (not shown) is formed, into the slide groove 69.
By pressing and sliding the opening portion 303 in the opening direction shown by the solid line arrow in FIG. In this case, the lower part of the toner supply port 68 is opened. In this case, when the top cover 50 of the device main body 1 is in the open state,
Even if the second shutter means 300 opens the lower part of the toner replenishment port 68, the first shutter means 200 does not open as shown in FIG. 8, and the developer replenishment shown in FIG. Even if the operating lever 203 of the first shutter means 200 is rotated by mistake when the apparatus so is not loaded into the apparatus main body 1, the second shutter means 300 closes the toner supply port 68.
This keeps the developer replenishing device 6o in the loaded state in the device main body 1 and the top cover 50 of the device main body 1.
As long as both of the above conditions and the closed state are not satisfied, it is possible to reliably prevent toner from spilling from the toner reinforcing port 68 even when being carried or loaded.

In addition, 400 in the figure is a toner filling port 62 opened in the closed end surface 61a of the container 61 constituting the developer replenishing device 60.
This is a cap made of rubber or the like that is sealed after filling with toner.

Therefore, in order to assemble the cartridge-type developer replenishing device 60 according to the present invention, before the cover 70 is sealed, the container 61 is stood up with its open end surface 61b facing up, and the developing agent is first removed from the open end surface 61b side. In order C), when the assembly of the developer agitating means 81 constituting the toner replenishing means 80 is inserted and assembled on the closed end surface 61a side of the container 61, a first The toner conveying and supplying means 1 together with the assembly of the shutter means 200 of
After assembling the assembly 00 and further assembling the toner empty detection means 90 assembly to the bearing portion 66 on the open end surface 6Lb side of the container 61, the open end surface 61b of the container 61 is covered with a cover 70, and Each of the above-mentioned assemblies is assembled and held in the bearing portions 71, 72 and shaft hole 74 of this cover 70. Then, after the cover 70 is fused and sealed to the outer peripheral edge of the open end surface 61b of the container 61 using, for example, a fusion means, the cover 70 is sealed.
The first shutter means 20 projects outwardly from the shaft hole 74 of the
By assembling the remaining assemblies to the assembly of No. 0 and further assembling the assembly of the second shutter means 300 to the bottom of the toner replenishing portion 67 formed at the offset position of the container 61, each means is This completes the assembling of the assemblies, and since the assemblies of each means are concentrated on one side of the container 61, the assemblies of each means can be easily assembled from one direction of the container 61. It becomes possible.

Further, the assembly of each means will be assembled later into the container 6.
1, the closed end surface 61 of the container 61 is filled with toner.
Toner is filled from the toner filling port 62 with the side a facing upward, and everything is completed by sealing the toner filling port 62 with the cap 400 after filling the toner.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and it goes without saying that various changes can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, there is provided a rotation center shaft that transports the developer toward one side in the longitudinal direction while stirring the developer into the oblong container in which the developer is stored. A developer stirring means having a paddle frame integrally formed therearound is provided, and a toner replenishing portion having a toner replenishing port is provided at the bottom of the container corresponding to one side in the conveyance direction of the developer conveyed by the developer stirring means. A developer replenishing device is provided with a toner conveying and supplying means for conveying the developer to the toner replenishing port side in this toner replenishing portion, which is formed in a biased manner, and the toner replenishing portion is provided with a toner conveying and supplying means for conveying the developer to the toner replenishing port side, the developer stirring means having a rotation center axis of a paddle frame of the developer stirring means. An eccentric cam is provided, and a toner empty detection means is provided, which comprises an empty lever that swingably responds to the rotational movement of the eccentric cam, and this toner empty detection means is activated by the approaching and separating movement of a magnet provided on the empty lever. Since the reed switch is equipped with a reed switch that detects "out of toner" by at least two detection operations of the reed switch, if the container is full of toner at the initial time, By swinging the empty lever, toner is interposed between the tip of the empty lever and the reed switch, and the reed switch can be set to be kept in the OFF state, thereby setting the toner empty detection means. Therefore, it is possible to provide a developer replenishing device which has an excellent effect of being able to reliably perform the following steps.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional side view showing an embodiment of the developer replenishing device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view showing the assembled state of the developer stirring means assembly in section A of FIG. 1. Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along line ■-m in Figure 1, and Figure 4.
5 is an explanatory view showing the toner empty detection means, FIG. 6 is a side view of the developer replenishing device, and FIGS. 7 to 9 are an exploded perspective view showing the assembled state. FIG. 10 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the main parts showing the operating states of the first and second shutter means, respectively. FIG. 10 is an external view of a laser printer as an image forming apparatus in which the developer replenishing device according to the present invention is loaded. FIG. Similarly, FIGS. 12 to 14 are explanatory diagrams schematically showing the internal structure of the laser printer, and FIGS. 12 to 14 are explanatory diagrams respectively showing the open state of the top cover of the laser printer. 61... Container, 67... Toner supply unit, 68... Toner supply port, 8o... Developer supply means, 81... Developer stirring means, 82... Paddle frame, - 83. ... Rotation center shaft, 87 ... Eccentric cam, 90 ... Toner empty detection means, 91 ... Empty lever, 91a ... Tip part, 93 ... Permanent magnet, 94 ... Reed switch, 100...Toner conveyance supply means. Applicant's agent Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue 61a Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 6 Figure 9 Figure 10 Figure 12

Claims (1)

[Claims] A developer stirring means is provided in a horizontally elongated container in which the developer is stored, and a paddle frame is integrally formed around the rotation center axis to transport the developer toward one side in the longitudinal direction while stirring the developer. A toner replenishing section having a toner replenishing port is formed on one side of the bottom of the container corresponding to one side in the transporting direction of the developer transported by the means, and the developer is transported to the toner replenishing section toward the toner replenishing port side. A developer replenishing device is provided with a toner conveying and supplying means, and an empty lever is provided with an eccentric cam on the rotation center axis of the paddle frame of the developer stirring means, and swingably responds to the rotational movement of the eccentric cam. In addition to providing a toner empty detection means consisting of,
The toner empty detection means includes a reed switch that is activated by the approaching and separating action of a magnet provided on the empty lever, and is configured to detect "no toner" by at least two or more detection actions of the reed switch. A developer replenishment device characterized by: