JPH0139579B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an improvement in a toner receiving device for receiving toner in a separately prepared toner container unit in an electrostatic recording device using a dry type developer.

In an electrostatic recording device using a dry two-component developer or an electrostatic recording device using a single-component toner, the toner is consumed as copies are made;
After a large number of copies have been made, it is necessary to replenish toner. Toner is generally replenished by replenishing a toner receiving device (hopper) of an electrostatic recording device from a toner container unit containing toner. Toner is a powder with an average particle diameter of more than 10 microns and is easily scattered.When replenishing toner by attaching a toner container unit to the toner receiving opening of the hopper, the toner may leak out or scatter. This often resulted in contamination of the surrounding area. Further, toner contamination often occurs due to incorrect operation during installation of the toner container unit or other operations.
A toner receiving device needs to overcome these drawbacks and at the same time solve the following problems. That is, since the hopper that receives toner from the toner container unit replenishes toner uniformly over the entire width of the recording paper, the hopper generally has a length corresponding to the width of the recording paper. On the other hand, the toner container unit has a relatively short opening, so when the toner container unit is attached to the hopper and opened, and the toner in the toner container unit is simply dropped into the hopper, the toner is It is filled unevenly in the hopper. When development is carried out under such conditions, the agitation of the toner in the developing section is insufficient, resulting in shading in the width direction of the recording paper, which has the disadvantage that uniform development is not carried out.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention aims to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks, and its purpose is to have an opening at the end thereof with a lid that can be opened and closed to receive toner, and a toner replenishing port. On the other hand, when a toner container equipped with a slide lid that can be opened and closed is attached to the opening, the slide lid engages with the opening/closing lid of the opening and is linked to the opening/closing operation of the opening/closing lid. After the toner container is attached to the opening, the toner from the toner container falls through the opening formed by the opening and closing operation of the opening and closing lid, and the toner is dropped into the book. In a toner receiving device loaded in a toner receiving device, the toner container moves below the toner container in conjunction with the opening operation of the opening/closing lid to convey toner in the advancing direction to the other side, and when the opening/closing lid closes. This is accomplished by a toner receiving device that is provided with a leveling member that returns without carrying toner.

The present invention will be described in detail below using the drawings.
First, the structure of the toner container unit will be explained, and then the toner receiving device (hopper) of the present invention will be described in which the toner container unit is installed and toner is supplied.
Explain the structure and operation of.

FIG. 1 is an external view of the toner container unit 1, showing a case where the opening thereof is sealed with a film-like sheet, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view (AA cross-sectional view of FIG. 1) in this state.

In the figure, reference numeral 11 denotes a container body, which has a cylindrical shape with at least one end open, and is made of plastic, paper, or the like. 12 is a fixed lid, but the fixed lid 12 may be integrally molded with the container body 11 as a plastic molded product.

Reference numeral 13 denotes a mouthpiece, which is attached to the open end of the container body 11. Note that the container body 11 may be made of plastic and may be molded integrally with the mouthpiece 13. This mouthpiece 13 has a protruding portion 131 that engages with a sliding portion of a sliding lid 15, which will be described later.
(Fig. 3) on the left and right with respect to the sliding direction.

Reference numeral 14 denotes a film-like sheet that seals the opening 132 as a toner replenishment port of the mouthpiece 13, and is peelably adhered to the lower end surface 133 of the mouthpiece 3 on the circumferential surface of the opening 132, for example, with an adhesive. Ru. The leading end 141 of this film-like sheet 14 is adhesively fixed to a leading end fixing part 1321 near one end of the opening 132 serving as a toner replenishing port, and is removably adhered to the lower end surface 133. The rear end 142 is folded back from the sealed end near the end, passes through the outside of the slide lid 15, and is adhesively fixed to the rear end fixing part 1322 on the upper surface near the tip fixing part 1321 of the base part 13. As the material of the film-like sheet 14, a material that is flexible and strong against breakage, such as polyester film, is used.

Reference numeral 15 denotes a sliding lid, which is made of metal, plastic, etc., and serves both to protect the film-like sheet 14 for sealing during storage or transportation, and for opening the seal. This slide lid 15 is provided with a slide groove 151 that is coupled to the protrusion 131 of the base portion 13 . As is clear from the sectional view of FIG. 2, the toner inside the container body 11 is supported by both the film-like sheet 14 and the slide lid 15 during storage or transportation.

Figure 3 shows toner container unit 1 when replenishing toner.
FIG. 4 shows a sectional view in this state (BB sectional view in FIG. 3), and FIG. 5 shows an external view in the same state as seen diagonally from below.

When the slide lid 15 is pulled out in the direction of the fixed parts 1321 and 1322 (rightward in the figure), the film-like sheet 14 is also pulled as the slide lid 15 moves, and is gradually peeled off from the other end side of the lower end surface 133 of the opening 132. be done. When the slide lid 15 is fully pulled out to the right, the opening 132 is almost open, and the toner T in the container body 11 is replenished by falling.

When the toner supply is completed, slide the slide lid 15 to the left. The film-like sheet 14 that was peeled off earlier also returns to its original position, returning to the state shown in FIG. Next, the toner container unit 1 is removed from the copying machine hopper, which will be described next.

Next, the toner receiving device (hopper) 2 of the present invention
I will explain about it. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the toner receiving device, FIG. 7 is a sectional view of a main part thereof, and FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the opening/closing lid. Furthermore, Figs. 9, 10, and 11 all show the toner receiving device 2.
FIG. 9 is a sectional view showing a state in which the toner container unit 1 is not attached. FIG. 10 is a sectional view showing a state in which the toner container unit 1 is only installed. FIG. 11 is a sectional view showing a state in which after the toner container unit 1 has been installed, a knob 25, which will be described later, is moved to the right in the figure to open the lid. Further, FIG. 12 is a sectional view showing a ZZ cross section in FIG. 11. FIG. 13 is an exploded perspective view showing how the components of the toner receiving device 2 of the present invention are attached.

First, the structure of the toner receiving device 2 of the present invention will be explained with reference to FIG. An upper lid 21 and an inner lid 22 are integrally fixed to the upper surface of the toner receiving device 2. The upper lid 21 is made of molded synthetic resin and has an upper lid opening 2.
11 is provided, and the inner lid 22 is also made of molded synthetic resin, and the inner lid opening 22 is located at the position corresponding to the upper lid opening 211.
There is 1. The openings 211 and 221 are openings for attaching the toner container unit 1. The upper lid 21 also has a long hole 212 provided for moving the knob 25.

There is an opening/closing lid 23 which is held between the upper lid 21 and the inner lid 22 and slides to open and close the openings 211 and 221. The opening/closing lid 23 is also made of molded synthetic resin, and a knob mounting plate 231 is fixed at one end thereof, the tip of which passes through a long hole 212 in the upper lid 21 to the upper surface of the upper lid 21, and a knob 25 is attached thereto. Opening/closing lid 23
The other end has an upwardly protruding inclined surface, to which a blade 232 made of a thin elastic plate is attached.

Further, a compression spring 233 is provided at the right end of the opening/closing lid 23, and the compression spring 233 is connected to a rising portion 23 provided on the end face of the sliding plate 24 that slides on the opening/closing lid 23.
1 and pushes the sliding plate 24 to the left in the figure. The other end surface of the sliding plate 24 is bent to form a U-shaped portion 242, and the opening/closing lid 23 is sandwiched between the U-shaped portions 242, and the tip of the opening/closing lid meets the U-shaped portion of the sliding plate 24. 242.

A push-up spring A 222 and a push-up spring B 223 are attached to the upper surface of the inner lid 22 to push the opening/closing lid 23 upward, and the upper surface of the opening/closing lid 23 is in contact with the back surface of the upper lid 21 . The blade 232 is in sliding contact with the sliding surface on the back surface of the upper lid 21, and is used to remove toner adhering to the sliding surface when the opening/closing lid 23 is closed to the left. In addition, a packing 224 made of sponge material is attached to the upper surface of the inner lid 22.
This prevents toner from entering between the opening and closing lid 23.

Steps 2301 are provided on both upper surfaces of the opening/closing lid 23, and a step 2101 is provided on the bottom surface of the upper lid 21, and when the lid is closed (FIG. 9), the opening/closing lid 23 is moved by a push-up spring A222. , push-up spring B223
The stepped portion 2301 and the stepped portion 210 are pushed up by the
1 is engaged. FIG. 15 shows a situation in which the push-up spring B223 pushes up the opening/closing lid 23.
FIG. 14 shows this engagement relationship.

In addition, there is a compression spring 234 at the left end of the inner lid 22.
The lock claw member 261 and the lower lock plate 262 push the lock member 26, which is integrally coupled and is slidable from side to side, to the right. The lock member 26 is a member that attaches and holds the toner container unit 1, and the lock member 26 is a member that attaches and holds the toner container unit 1.
When the lid 3 is closed, the tip 2302 of the opening/closing lid 23 prevents the locking member 26 from moving to the right.

The opening/closing lid 23 has a protrusion 2303 that protrudes laterally.
have. A slide member 271 engaged with the protrusion 2303 is placed thereon and slides within the inner lid 22 as the opening/closing lid 23 moves. The slide member 271 has an opening 221 perpendicular to its sliding direction.
A shaft 272 and a stopper member 273 for supporting the shaft 272 are provided at a position further to the left. axis 27
2 includes a leveling plate 2 that can be rotated around a shaft 272;
8 is provided. The leveling plate 28 provided here is in accordance with the present invention and is intended to prevent toner from being unevenly filled in the hopper.
The leveling plate 28 is stopped from rotating clockwise at the vertical position by a stopper member 273. It is also structured so that it can be rotated counterclockwise to a horizontal position. (FIG. 11) When the knob 25 is moved to the right and the opening/closing lid 23 is opened, the leveling plate 28 is moved to the right along with the opening lid. Therefore, the leveling plate 28 moves rightward within the toner receiving device 2 while being maintained in a vertical position by the stopper member 273. In this embodiment, the toner container unit 1 is loaded at the left end of the hopper 2, and the toner is filled in the hopper 2 to the left side. Therefore, the leveling plate 28 moving below the newly installed toner container opens the lid and transfers the fallen toner to the other side.
In other words, the structure is such that it is pushed in the right direction so that it does not fall.

In the final stroke of the rightward movement of the leveling plate 28, the protrusion 2201 provided on the lower surface of the inner lid 22
A part of the leveling plate 28 comes into contact with the protruding piece 281 that protrudes above the shaft 272, and the leveling plate 28, which is in a vertical position, is rotated counterclockwise around the shaft 272 until it is nearly horizontal, and the toner is removed. It performs an operation such as kicking up. This is still insufficiently effective due to the movement of the leveling plate 28 that moves with the opening of the lid, and in order to push the toner further to the right, at the final position of the stroke,
It has an additional function of pushing out the toner.

Next, the operation of the toner receiving device 2 described above will be explained in relation to the loading operation of the toner container unit 1.

FIG. 9 shows a cross section of the toner receiving device 2 in a state before loading the toner container unit 1, and shows openings 211, 221 of the toner receiving device 2.
is closed by an opening/closing lid 23. Opening/closing lid 2
3 is pushed up by push-up springs A222 and B223, and the back surface of the top cover 21 and the top surface of the opening/closing cover 23 are in close contact with each other at the peripheral edges, so that the toner in the toner receiving device 2 does not leak to the outside. Furthermore, since the stepped portion 2101 provided on the back surface of the top lid 21 and the stepped portion 2301 provided on the top surface of the opening/closing lid 23 are engaged, the knob 2
Even if you try to move 5 to the right, it will be locked and will not move. That is, the openings 211 and 221 are locked in the closed state by the opening/closing lid 23.

In the opening 211 of the toner receiving device 2, the toner container unit 1 is inserted into its fixing portions 1321, 132.
Insert from the 2nd side in the direction of arrow S (Fig. 9). The rear end (right end in the figure) of the slide lid 15 of the toner container unit 1 abuts against the rising portion 241 of the sliding plate 24, and compresses the compression spring 233 while closing the opening 221.
It is loaded by dropping it into the (Figure 10)
Here, the sliding plate 24 moves to the right by l ₁ , and from the tip of the slide lid 15 to the tip of the opening/closing lid (the tip of the sliding plate 24
2) is located on the right. This prevents toner from adhering to the open/close lid 23 when the lid is opened.

Furthermore, when the toner container unit 1 is loaded, the opening/closing lid 23, which had been pushed up by the push-up springs A222 and B223, sinks downward by l ₂ (FIG. 14) and engages with the stepped portions 2101 and 2301. The lock is released and the knob 25 can be moved to the right (in the direction of arrow R in FIG. 10).

Then, when the knob 25 is pulled to the right, the step 2304 of the opening/closing lid 23 is engaged with the tip of the sliding lid 15 of the toner container unit 1, so the opening/closing lid 2
3, the slide lid 15 also moves to the right while peeling off the film-like sheet 14 adhered to the lower end surface of the opening 132.

When the opening/closing lid 23 moves to the right, the lock member 26, which had been prevented from moving by the tip 2302 of the opening/closing lid 23, moves to the right by the biased compression spring 234, and the toner container unit 1 is locked. Toner container unit 1 and opening/closing lid 23
While the lid is being opened, the toner container unit 1 is locked by a locking member 26 and cannot be removed.

By moving the opening/closing lid 23 to the right, the toner in the toner container unit 1 falls into the toner receiving device 2. The leveling plate 28 moves to the right with a delay in falling of the toner, but the plate of the leveling plate 28 is pushed by the toner and reaches a vertical position where it comes into contact with the stopper member 273, and the leveling plate 28 maintains its vertical position. moves to the right in the toner receiving device 2, leveling the toner stacked in a mountain shape in the direction of movement of the leveling plate 28, and transporting it to the right.
Evenly distribute the toner inside. Furthermore, in the final stroke, the protruding piece 281 of the leveling plate 28 comes into contact with the protruding part 221 provided on the lower surface of the inner lid 22, and operates to kick up counterclockwise, so that the toner is strongly sent out to the right. act. In this way, the toner can be distributed over the entire width of the hopper 2, and good development without unevenness can be achieved.

In the process of opening the opening/closing lid 23 and the sliding lid 15, in order to ensure that the toner inside the toner container unit 1 falls into the toner receiving device 2, the opening/closing lid 23 and/or its sliding upper lid 2 are closed.
1. The sliding part on the back side is provided with unevenness, and the device moves along the unevenness. Therefore, when the opening/closing lid 23 is moved to the right, vibrations occur, and the toner solidified in the toner container unit 1 due to humidity or the like also falls due to the vibrations.

After the toner is replenished, the knob 25 is moved to the left (in the direction of arrow T in FIG. 11) to return to the state shown in FIG. 10. Since the blade 232 is in sliding contact with the sliding surface on the back surface of the upper lid 21 during movement, the toner adhering to the sliding surface is removed when the toner falls, and the opening/closing lid 23 is always moved smoothly.

When the opening/closing lid 23 moves to the left, the leveling plate 28, which is in a vertical position, rotates counterclockwise about the shaft 272, and moves the toner to the left as shown by the chain line in FIG. It returns by sliding on the toner surface without being carried.

When the opening/closing lid 23 is closed, the sliding lid 15 is also closed, and the film-like sheet 14 that was peeled off earlier also returns to its original state.

Further, when the opening/closing lid 23 is closed, the locking member 26, which has been engaged and locked with the mouthpiece 13 of the toner container unit 1, is pushed and retracted to the left, and the lock is released. Open the toner container unit 1 at the opening 211.
When removed from the opening/closing lid 23, the push-up spring A222,
The step portions 2301 and 2101 are pushed upward by _l2 by the push-up spring B223, and are locked, making it impossible to open the lid by moving the knob 25.

In the toner receiving device according to the present invention described above, when the toner container unit is attached and toner is replenished, the toner does not leak out or scatter outside, and the replenished toner inside the device is not filled unevenly. The toner was evenly distributed and good development was achieved without any unevenness.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1, 3 and 5 show perspective views of the external appearance of the toner container unit, and FIGS. 2 and 4 show sectional views thereof. 6 and subsequent figures show the toner receiving device, FIG. 6 is a perspective view, FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the main part thereof, and FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the opening/closing lid. , 11 shows cross sections of the three modes, and FIG. 12 is a Z-Z sectional view of FIG.
Figure 3 is an exploded perspective view. Moreover, FIG. 14 shows the engagement of the stepped portion, and FIG. 15 is a sectional view of the main part showing the relationship between the push-up spring and the opening/closing lid. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Toner container unit, 2... Toner receiving device, 13... Mouth part, 14... Film-like sheet, 1
5...Sliding lid, 21...Top lid, 22...Inner lid, 23
...opening/closing lid, 24...sliding plate, 25...knob, 26...
Lock member, 28... Leveling plate, 211, 221... Opening, 222, 223... Push-up spring, 2101, 2
301... Step portion, 271... Slide member, 272...
Shaft, 273...Stopper member, 281...Protruding piece, 2
201...Protrusion.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A toner that has an opening at its end with a lid that can be opened and closed to receive the toner, and a sliding lid that can be opened and closed with respect to the toner supply port. When the container is attached to the opening, the slide lid is engaged with the opening/closing lid of the opening, and the sliding lid is opened/closed in conjunction with the opening/closing operation of the opening/closing lid, After the toner container is attached to the opening, the toner from the toner container falls through the opening formed by the opening operation of the opening/closing lid and is loaded into the toner receiving device. A leveling member is provided that moves below the toner container in conjunction with the opening operation of the lid to convey the toner in the advancing direction to the other side, and returns to its original state without carrying the toner when the opening/closing lid is closed. Toner receiving device.