JPH0239073A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a satisfactory image and to design a simple toner vessel by providing a means moving toner in the toner vessel in synchronization with the replenishing action of transfer material. CONSTITUTION:An impact member 11 freely rotates, centered around a fulcrum 11a provided inside a side plate in parallel with the paper surface of an image forming device main body. Namely, a bearing 11b is rotatably fitted to one side of the impact member 11, and a heavy hammer part 11c is provided on the other side. When the impact member 11 rotates counterclockwise around the fulcrum 11a, the hammer part 11c bumps into the toner vessel c4. The impact member 11 hits the toner vessel 4 with a slope part 4a on its bottom to give vibration, thereby carrying toner to a developing sleeve 3. Thus, a satisfactory image can be formed and moreover the toner vessel can be simplified.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION "Field of Industrial Application" The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus using an electrostatic transfer process, such as an electrophotographic copying machine or an electrophotographic printer.

"Prior Art" FIG. 7 shows an electrostatic latent image development process and a cleaning process. A developing device for the developing process includes a toner container 4,
Consists of a developing sleeve 6 and a doctor blade 23,
The developing sleeve 3 is located at a position facing the photosensitive drum 1.

A cleaning device serving as a cleaning process includes a cleaning blade 24 for collecting residual toner of the transferred image on the photosensitive drum 1, a cleaning container 7, and a scooping sheet 25.

Conventionally, in such an image forming apparatus, a toner container 4
As a means for conveying the toner inside to the developing sleeve 3,
There were rotating members such as a stirring rod 26 and stirring blades shown in FIG. The same goes for the cleaning device 1, in which the waste toner was transported away from the opening of the cleaning device by the rotational movement of the waste toner sending blade 27 shown in FIG.

``Problems to be Solved by the Invention'' However, in the conventional example described above, when the power for driving the stirring rod 26 and the power for rotating the photosensitive drum 1 or conveying the transfer material are common, the paper passes through the image due to fluctuations in torque. Density unevenness called pitch unevenness occurs in the direction.

Furthermore, in the conventional method of supplying toner to the developing sleeve 6 by rotating the stirring rod 26, if the toner is left for a long time or absorbs moisture, the powdered toner aggregates and the movement of the toner becomes poor. The toner 28 remains outside the rotation range of the rod 26, making it impossible to use all of the toner in the toner container 4.

These problems did not pose a major problem with replenishment type developers, which have a toner replenishment port in the toner container and replenish toner directly or from a toner cartridge, but disposable developers, which are now widely used due to their ease of use, did not pose a major problem. In a process cartridge that integrates a charger, a developing device, a cleaning device, a photosensitive drum, etc., the toner cannot be used until the end.
It was becoming a big problem.

In addition, in a disposable developing device or process cartridge, putting a stirring means inside the toner container 4 means putting the drive gear, stirring rod 26, etc. in a small space, which increases the cost of the developing device or process cartridge. As a result, running costs become high, which has become a very big problem.

Therefore, as shown in the toner container 29 in FIG.
A possible method is to increase the angle a so that the toner naturally falls near the developing sleeve 6 under its own weight.

However, in this method, since the toner capacity is reduced, it may not be possible to make the angle of the bottom portion 29a very large. Furthermore, if the angle is too large, the force applied to the toner near the developing sleeve 3 will increase initially, causing the toner to aggregate, making it impossible to supply the toner to the developing sleeve 6, making it impossible to perform development.

In addition, there is a method to move the toner in the toner container using a different method than rotating a stirring rod or feed blade, or using a toner container with a large angle at the bottom. In this case, if the toner container is mechanically or electrically vibrated at a constant cycle, the latent image being formed on the photosensitive drum 1, the image being developed, or the transfer material This effect appears on the image being transferred, resulting in the formation of a defective image. The cleaning device has the same problems as above.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems and provides an image forming apparatus that provides a means for acting on a toner container and a cleaning device outside the image forming apparatus, thereby obtaining a good image and having a simple structure for the toner container and cleaning device. The purpose is to obtain.

"Means for Solving the Problems" In a small image forming apparatus, the number of transfer materials that can be loaded at one time on the main body of the apparatus is normally 100 to 200 sheets. Therefore, the transfer material must be replenished until the 100th or 200th sheet is printed.

According to the present invention, the toner is conveyed into the toner container by having a means for causing movement of the toner in the toner container or cleaning device provided in the main body of the device, which operates in synchronization with the operation when replenishing the transfer material. This arrangement allows the toner in the toner container or cleaning device to be moved without affecting the printed image without providing any means.

The present invention provides (1) a transfer type image forming apparatus that transfers an image on an image carrier to a transfer material, including means for causing the toner in the toner container to move in synchronization with the transfer material replenishment operation 1ζ; This is an image forming device with special features.

(2) In a transfer type image forming apparatus that transfers an image on an image carrier to a transfer material, an image characterized by having means for causing the toner in the cleaning device to move in synchronization with the replenishment operation of the transfer material. It is a forming device.

"Embodiments" Examples of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the invention. Impact member 1
1 freely rotates around a fulcrum ++a provided inside a side plate parallel to the paper surface of the main body 40 (FIG. 2) of the image forming apparatus. A roller 11b is rotatably attached to one end of the impact member 11, and the other end is a heavy connecting portion 11c.

When the impact member 11 rotates counterclockwise about the fulcrum 11a, the contact portion 11C collides with the toner container 4. The paper feed cassette 9 is a tray that holds transfer materials, and when replenishing the transfer material, the paper feed cassette 9 is removed from the main body 40, the transfer material is loaded therein, and then the paper feed cassette 9 is attached to the main body 4a. The main body 40 is provided with a guide and a stop means (both not shown) so that this attachment/detachment is performed mainly by moving in the left-right direction in FIG. This paper cassette 9
There are protrusions 9a and 9b on the sides, and the flow llb can move in and out between the protrusions 9a and 9b.

FIG. WJ2 shows an image forming apparatus having the means of the embodiment shown in FIG. During image formation, the photosensitive drum 1 rotates in the direction of the arrow shown in the figure, and is uniformly charged by the negative charger 2. Image light sent through the exposure device 5 forms a latent image on the photosensitive drum 1. form. The toner in the toner container 4 of the developing device is applied to the latent image by the developing sleeve 3 to form a visible image, and the latent image is moved to the position of the transfer charger 6. On the other hand, paper feed roller 10
The transfer material is sent out from the paper feed cassette 9, passes through the guides 50 and 51, and is timed with the photosensitive drum 1 by the registration roller 12. The transfer material passes through the guide 32A5 and passes between the transfer charger 6 and the photosensitive drum 1. The image is transferred, passes through the conveyance guide 34, and is fixed in the fixing device 8,
The paper is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 14. After transfer, photosensitive drum 1
The toner is further rotated, and the remaining toner remaining on the surface is scraped off by the cleaning blade 24, and the toner is stored in the cleaning container 7.

As a means for conveying the toner in the toner container 4 to the developing sleeve 3, the toner container 4 having a slope 4a at the bottom is struck with an impact member 11 to apply vibration, thereby conveying the toner to the developing sleeve 3. . The impact member 11 operates to strike the toner container 4 as the paper feed cassette 9 is attached and detached.

This operation is shown in FIGS. 3, 4, and 5.

First, the state in which the paper feed cassette 9 is attached to the main body 40 is shown in Fig. 1. From this state, when the paper feed cassette 9 is removed from the main body 40 to replenish the transfer material, the movement as shown in Fig. 6 occurs. do. In other words, the paper feed cassette 9 is the main body 4 indicated by arrow A.
0, the roller 11b is pushed by the protrusion 9a, and the impact member 11 rotates in the direction of arrow B around the fulcrum 11a, increasing the height of the lower end surface of the roller 11b from the upper surface of the side of the paper feeding force set 9. When g (the gap between the roller 1b and the paper feed cassette 9 shown in FIG. 4) becomes higher than the height of the protrusion 9a, the protrusion 9a passes under the roller 11b, and the paper feed cassette 9
It deviates from 0. When exiting the protrusion 9a, the connecting portion 11c is separated from the toner container 4, but the inertia and gravity of the connecting portion 11C continue to rotate and energize the toner container 4 at the connecting portion 11c, as shown in FIG. Hit.

Next, FIG. 5 shows the case where the paper feed cassette 9 is attached to the main body 4o.

When the paper feed cassette 9 moves in the direction of attachment to the main body 40 as indicated by the arrow C, the paper o+1b is pushed by the protrusion 9b. Therefore, the impact member 11 rotates about the fulcrum 11a in the direction of the arrow.

When the paper feed cassette 9 is returned to its original position, it will be in the state shown in FIG.

"Example 2" FIG. 6 shows a second embodiment.

In the first embodiment, the toner container 4 was mechanically struck, but
This embodiment shows an example in which the toner container 4 is struck by electrical control.

A movable rod 16 of the solenoid 15 is disposed facing the toner container 4. The movable rod 16 is biased to the right by a spring (not shown), and is in the position shown when not energized.

A power source 18 for driving the solenoid is wired to the solenoid 15 via a switch 17.

A dog 9c is provided on the side of the paper feed cassette 9. When the paper feed cassette 9 is attached and detached from the main body 40 when replenishing transfer material, the switch 17 is turned on and off with the dog 9C, so that the solenoid 15 is energized, and the movable rod 16 moves in the direction of arrow E and strikes the toner container 4. The effect is the same as when done mechanically, but the structure is simpler than when done mechanically, and it can be made into a /T type. In addition, by controlling with a microcomputer or the like to determine whether or not to strike using an electric signal, it is possible to strike the toner container 4 several times during the removal and installation of the paper feed cassette 9 - times, thereby transporting the toner more reliably. It is possible. It is also possible to move the toner by placing the movable rod 16 close to the toner container 4 and applying vibration to the toner container 4 for a certain period of time.

Furthermore, with this configuration, even in an image forming apparatus that does not have the paper feed cassette 9, the toner container can be tapped when replenishing the transfer material.

For example, instead of paper feeding by a cassette as shown in FIG. 12, an image forming apparatus [38] having a platform 35 called a paper deck whose height changes depending on the amount of transfer material 67, or a transfer device as shown in FIG. To replenish materials, do not use the paper feed cassette paper deck, but use the transfer material 3 called the paper feed tray.
This case corresponds to an image forming apparatus 69 having a tray 66 on which the image forming apparatus 7 is placed.

Embodiments 1 and 2 have been described as means for moving toner in a toner container of a developing device.

However, the means of Example 1 or 2 can also be used for the cleaning container 7 here.

For example, as shown by the two-dot chain line in Fig. 2, the solenoid 15'
and a switch 1 that operates when the paper feed cassette 9 is installed or removed.
7 (FIG. 6), the solenoid 15'' is energized to strike the cleaning container 7 with the movable rod 16-.

When used in the cleaning container 7, it not only transports waste toner from the opening of the cleaning device to the back, but also removes toner that adheres to the edge of the cleaning blade 24 and is difficult to remove, which can cause cleaning failures. It can also be dropped.

〔Effect of the invention〕

The above configuration provides the following effects.

(1) When replenishing the transfer material, the toner container and/or cleaning container is tapped outside the image forming apparatus, so there is no effect on the image.

(2) Since the operation is not performed by the power source (motor) of the device, the load on the device is reduced.

(3) Unlike those using stirring or the like, the range of action is not limited. That is, when the toner container or cleaning container is struck, the vibration acts on all the toner in the toner container or cleaning container.

(4) In a process cartridge type image forming apparatus, there is no need for a means for conveying toner within the process cartridge, so the process cartridge can be simplified and the process cartridge can be made inexpensive, resulting in lower running costs.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a side cross-sectional view of an impact member for hitting the developing device and toner container in the first embodiment, and FIG. 2 shows an example in which the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 is applied to an image forming apparatus. side sectional view,
6, 4, and 5 are side sectional views for explaining the operation of the impact member shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. Fig. 7 is a side sectional view showing the electrostatic latent image development and cleaning process section;
The figure is a side cross-sectional view of a developing device having a stirring rod, M9 is a side cross-sectional view of a cleaning device having a discharge toner feeding blade,
The figure is a side cross-sectional view showing toner remaining in a developing device having a stirring rod, and FIG.
FIG. 12 is a side view of an image forming apparatus having a paper deck, and FIG. 15 is a side view of an image forming apparatus having a paper feed tray. 6.Developing sleeve 4.Toner container 6.Transfer charger 7.Cleaning container 9.Paper feed cassette 9a, 9b#.Protrusion/impact member/fulcrum corosolenoid.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In a transfer type image forming apparatus that transfers an image on an image carrier to a transfer material, the apparatus includes means for causing the toner in the toner container to move in synchronization with the replenishment operation of the transfer material. An image forming device featuring: 2. In a transfer type image forming apparatus that transfers an image on an image carrier to a transfer material, an image forming device characterized by having means for causing the toner in a cleaning device to move in synchronization with the replenishment operation of the transfer material. Device.