JPH02114280A - Developing agent replenishing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the operability and reduce the production cost of the title device by engaging a lug section with the engaging section of a developing device as a cartridge is rotationally operated and, at the same time, forming an opening by breaking part of the main body of the cartridge. CONSTITUTION:The cartridge 1 of this invention is constituted of a main body 10 formed by rounding a sheet member which has rigidity and a lug section 101 at one end 10a is formed to a cylinder-like shape and a pair of main body holding sections which hold both end sections of the main body 10 in the axial direction and the inside of the cartridge 1 is filled up with a developing agent. The cartridge 1 is rotated in the axial direction after the cartridge 1 is inserted into a prescribed location of a developing device 2. As the cartridge 1 is rotated, the lug section 101 of the cartridge 1 is engaged with the engaging section 27 of the device 2 and, at the same time, the bonded section 15 of the main body 10 is broken and an opening is formed, since the lug section 101 and main body 10 are separated from each other in opposite directions. As the opening is formed, the developing agent in the cartridge 1 naturally drops, and thus, the agent is replenished. Therefore, the operability can be improved and production cost can be reduced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a developer replenishing device for replenishing developer to a developing device of an electronic copying machine.

[Prior Art] As a conventional developer replenishing device, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 58-17
The one disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 465 is known. This developer replenishment device uses a cartridge whose circumferential surface is partially cut off to form a replenishment port, and the replenishment port is sealed with a seal.
After inserting the developer into the insertion part with the supply port facing up,
The toner is supplied by rotating the toner with the replenishing port facing downward, and the seal is peeled off and removed by engagement with a peeling member on the insertion portion side during the rotation operation.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] The conventional developer replenishing device described above has excellent operability because the seal is automatically removed from the replenishing port during rotation operation. However, the seal that seals the supply port is Car 1
~Since it is formed separately from the main body, steps such as heat caulking and gluing are required when attaching this seal. For this reason, the production cost per cartridge has been high.

The present invention has been devised in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a developer replenishing device that has excellent operability and reduces production costs.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The developer replenishing device of the present invention is provided by winding a rigid sheet member having an ear portion at one end into a cylindrical shape and bonding the portion overlapping with the edge portion of the other end. A cartridge that contains a developer therein, and is made up of a main body formed of a metal body and a pair of main body holding parts that hold both ends of the main body in the axial direction. Accordingly, the developing device has an engaging portion that engages with the ear portion and forms an opening by breaking a portion of the main body from the engaged ear portion.

[Operation] In the developer replenishing device of the present invention, a cartridge containing a developer therein is inserted into a predetermined position of a developing device and rotated in the axial direction. With this rotational operation, the ear portion of the cartridge engages with the engaging portion, and the ear portion and the main body move away from each other, so that a part of the main body is torn and a frontage is formed. The developer in the cartridge falls naturally through this opening, and the developer is replenished.

[Example] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(First embodiment) Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a developer replenishing device of this embodiment, Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a cartridge, Fig. 3 is a sectional view thereof, Fig. 4 is a side view thereof, and Fig. 5 shows an exploded view of the main body.

The developer replenishing device of this embodiment includes a cartridge 1 including a main body 10 and a pair of main body holding parts 15, and a developing device 2 having an engaging part 27.

The main body 10 is formed by winding rigid cardboard (sheet member) into a cylindrical shape. An ear portion 101 is formed at one end 10a of the cardboard constituting this main body 10, and a recessed portion 103 with a depressed center portion is formed at the other end 10b of the cardboard. An adhesive portion 105 is formed at the edge portion of the other end 10b along the recess 103 to be adhered to the overlapping portion when the one end 10a is wound to form a cylindrical shape.

The pair of main body holding parts 15 includes a large diameter part 151a and a small diameter part 15.
1b integrally connected in the axial direction, and a circular plate whose peripheral edge is joined to the connecting portion between the large diameter portion 151a and the small diameter portion 151b on the inner surface of the ring member 151. It consists of 152. The small diameter portion 151b of the ring member 151 is larger than the large diameter portion 1 by the thickness of the cardboard of the main body 10.
51a, and this small diameter portion 1
51b is inserted into the end of the main body 10 and fixed with adhesive. As a result, the cartridge 1 is in a sealed state, and replenishment developer is accommodated therein. In addition, one main body holding part 15 is provided with a knob part 153 for rotational operation formed along the radial direction on the outer surface of the disc 152. Further, the other main body holding portion 15 is provided with a positioning guide 154 that protrudes from the outer peripheral surface of the large diameter portion of the ring member 151.

The developing device 2 includes a conveying screw and a conveying screw inside the casing 20.
It is equipped with a packet roller, a magnet roller, etc. (none of which are shown), and develops an electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the photoreceptor with a developer introduced into the casing 20. This developing device 2 is provided with an arch-shaped hopper 21 above the conveyance screw, and a circular entrance 22 for longitudinally inserting the cartridge 1 is formed on the side surface of the hopper 21. At the top of the hopper 21,
A first guide for guiding the positioning guide 154 of the cartridge 1.
A guide rail 23 is carved along the insertion direction of the cartridge 1 from the inlet 22, and the hopper side 'J! The second circular arc leading to 21a
A guide rail 24 (FIGS. 6 to 8) is provided. Further, a stopper 25 that comes into contact with the positioning guide 154 is provided at a position approximately 1806 turns from the end of the first guide rail 23 in the direction along the second guide rail 24 . An engaging portion 27 is provided below the terminal end of the second guide rail 24 and is engaged with the ear portion 101 when the cartridge 1 rotates.
It is located along the inner surface of the This retaining portion 27 is a belt-shaped engaging member 2 attached in the axial direction at a distance corresponding to approximately the thickness of the cardboard constituting the main body 10 from the side wall surface.
7a, and a slit 27b formed between the engaging member 27a and the side wall surface.

The developer replenishing device of this embodiment is configured as described above. Next, the operation when replenishing developer will be explained.

As shown in FIG. 1, the positioning guide 154 is first
The cartridge 1 is inserted from the entrance 22 of the hopper 21 so as to match the position of the guide rail 23. As a result, the positioning guide 154 is guided by the first guide rail 23 and reaches its terminal end, and the cartridge 1 is accommodated in the hopper 21. Next, hold the knob 153 by hand and rotate the cartridge 1 in the direction of arrow a. Then, as shown in FIG. 6, the positioning guide 1 is moved by the second guide rail 24.
54 is guided, the car 1 to the bridge 1 rotate, and the ear part 1
The tip of 01 is on the hopper side due to the rigidity of the cardboard! 21a, enters the slit 27b of the engaging portion 27, and engages. As shown in FIG. 7, when the cartridge 1 further rotates, the ear portion 101 passes through the slit 27b and moves away from the main body 10, so that the adhesive portion 105 of the main body 10 is torn from its center and opened. even form. As a result, the developer T stored inside falls naturally from the opening and begins to be replenished onto the conveying screw. The opening formed at this time gradually becomes larger as the cartridge 1 rotates. As shown in FIG. 8, the cartridge 1 is stopped when the positioning guide 154 comes into contact with the stopper 25 when the cartridge 1 has rotated approximately 1800 times.

At this stop position, the opening is at a position slightly past the bottom, and all the developer T has fallen.

Thereafter, by holding the knob 153 and rotating the cartridge 1 in the opposite direction, the ear portion 101 is disengaged from the engaging portion 27, and the cartridge 1 is pulled out from the hopper 21 toward the user to complete the developer replenishment operation.

As described above, in the developer replenishing device of this embodiment, by rotating the cartridge 1 and engaging the ear portion 101 with the engaging portion 27, the adhesive portion 105 of the main body 10 is torn and an opening is formed. I have to.

Therefore, in addition to improving operability, there is no need to provide a sealing member for the replenishment port separately from the main body 10, and production costs can be reduced.

Furthermore, since no sealing member or the like is used, there is less dirt during replenishment caused by developer adhering to the peeled-off sealing member, and replenishment can be performed safely and reliably.

Note that as the rigid sheet member constituting the main body 10, other than the cardboard used in this embodiment, for example, a plastic sheet, a metal sheet, etc. can be used.

(Second Embodiment) The developer replenishing device of this embodiment is made easy to tear by forming perforations in advance at locations where the main body is to be torn when the cartridge is rotated. Note that the other configurations of this embodiment are basically the same as those of the first embodiment, and only the different parts will be explained.

As shown in FIG. 9, a perspective view of the cartridge 3, the main body 3
0 is formed by winding rectangular cardboard into a cylindrical shape and gluing the overlapping portions of one end 30a and the other end 30b. One end 30a has a main body 3 protruding from the center thereof.
A belt-shaped ear portion 301 is formed integrally with the belt.

On the one end 30 side, perforations 3 extend continuously from both sides of the ear portion 301 in an arc shape to both ends in the axial direction of the main body 30.
03 is set ().

In this developer replenishing device, when the car 1 edge 3 is inserted into the hopper of the developing device and rotated, the ear portion 301 first engages with the engaging portion, and the ear portion 301 and the main body 30 move in a direction away from each other. Therefore, the main body 30 is torn along the perforations 303. When the cartridge 3 is further rotated, the torn portion continuous with the ear portion 301 engages with the engaging portion, and is further torn to form an opening.

As described above, the main body 30 of the JW4 developer replenishing device has perforations 303 formed at locations where the main body 30 should be torn, so that the main body 30 is easily torn along the perforations 303 when the cartridge 3 is rotated. Become.

Therefore, the position of the opening to be formed can be set in advance, and the developer can be replenished more reliably.

(Third Example) Honjitsu 1aPi4 1! The toner replenishing device is designed to be easily torn at a portion of the main body by providing a string on the inner surface of the main body at a portion to be torn when the cartridge is rotated. Note that the other configurations of this embodiment are basically the same as those of the first embodiment, and only the different parts will be explained.

As shown in a perspective view of the cartridge 5 in FIG.
and the other end 50b are bonded together. At one end 50a, a belt-shaped lug 501 is formed integrally with the main body 50 and protrudes from the center thereof. And, on the Mandaise 50a side, the tip thereof is the ear part 50.
A string 503 is integrally adhered to the inner surface of the main body 50 and is continuously arranged in an arc shape from the ear portion 501 to both ends of the main body 50 in the axial direction.
is provided.

In this developer replenishing device, when the cartridge 5 is inserted into the hopper of the developing device and rotated, the ear portion 501 engages with the engaging portion and the ear portion 501 and the main body 50 move in a direction away from each other. The string 503 is pulled together with the ear portion 501, and the main body 50 is torn along the arrangement of the string 503 to form an opening.

As described above, the developer replenishing device of this embodiment has the main body 50.
Since the string 503 is arranged at the location where the string 503 should be torn, the main body 50 is likely to be torn along the arrangement of the string 503 when the cartridge 5 is rotated.

Therefore, by setting the position of the opening to be formed in advance, it is possible to replenish the developer more reliably.

[Effects of the Invention] In the developer replenishing device of the present invention, the ears are engaged with the retaining portions as the cartridge is rotated, and a portion of the main body is torn to form an opening. Therefore, it is possible to improve operability and reduce production costs.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 8 relate to a first embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a developer replenishing device, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a cartridge, FIG. 3 is a sectional view thereof, and FIG. 4 5 is a side view thereof, FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the main body, and FIGS. 6 to 8 are explanatory diagrams at the time of replenishing developer as the cartridge is rotated. Figure 9 is the second
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a cartridge according to an example. FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the cartridge according to the third example yk@.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A main body formed by winding a rigid sheet member with ears formed at one end into a cylindrical shape and gluing the part that overlaps with the edge of the other end, and both axial ends of the main body. a cartridge that contains a developer therein, and a pair of main body holders that engage with the ears when the cartridge is inserted and rotated in the axial direction of the cartridge; 1. A developer replenishing device comprising: a developer having an engaging portion for forming an opening by tearing a part of the main body from the ear portion.