JPH0244298Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] This invention develops an electrostatic latent image formed on the photoconductive surface of a photoreceptor to obtain a toner image, and this toner image is directly fixed or transferred onto a transfer member. The present invention relates to a cartridge for replenishing powder toner that is incorporated into a developing device used in electrophotography and the like to obtain copies by post-fixing.

Conventionally, electrophotographic methods such as the cascade method and the magnetic brush method have been used, and the developer used is a mixed powder of a carrier such as iron powder and a non-magnetic toner such as colored resin powder. In addition, magnetic toners containing resin and magnetic powder as main components are also being used.

In conventional developing devices, a large powder toner storage chamber is provided, and powder toner replenishment requires pulling out the storage chamber from the device and replenishing a large amount of toner at once from a container such as a bottle, but this work is now done manually. In order to do this, the inside of the device may be contaminated, fine powder toner may be scattered around, and work such as leveling the toner uniformly is required, resulting in a time-consuming replenishment process.

Recently, in order to overcome these drawbacks, a toner replenishment cartridge as shown in FIG. 1, for example, has been proposed. This cartridge is
Wrapping a sheet material such as paper or synthetic resin,
A long and narrow opening 2 (replenishment port) was provided in a long and narrow body 1 whose side edges were polymerized and bonded, and closing caps 3 and 4 were fitted to both ends of this body 1, and powdered toner was filled from the opening 2. Afterwards, this opening 2 is hermetically closed with a tape-shaped sealing material 5. A joint 6 is formed in the body 1 in the length direction.

As shown in FIG. 2, which shows the AA cross section of FIG. The side edges are formed by overlapping each other, resulting in a step and a gap 7 on the back side of the joint 6. Furthermore, if the edges of the sheet material S forming the body 1 are butted as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, there will be no step, but a gap 8 will be created at this butted portion. Become. Furthermore, in such a cartridge, as shown in FIG. 6, since the closing caps 3 and 4 are simply fitted on both ends of the body 1, the inner surface of the circumferential end of both ends of the body 1 and A slight gap a is created between the outer surfaces of the closing caps 3 and 4.

On the other hand, the particle size of the powdered toner contained in the cartridge is less than 30 microns, and usually has an average particle size of 5 to 10 microns. The toner is composed of a finely divided, pigmented resin, a pigment mixture uniformly dispersed in a non-tacky, low melting point resin.
The pigments used are heterochromatic pigments such as carbon black or other finely divided carbonate pigments.

When filling such a fine powder toner into a conventional cartridge, the following problems occurred.

(1) Finely divided toner powder is extremely light and can float in the air, and
There are small gaps 7 and 8 as shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, and the gaps 7 and 8 are continuous in the length direction of the body 1, and are open to the wall surface of the opening 2 through which toner is taken in and taken out. Therefore, if air passes between the inside of the body and the toner, this toner will inevitably leak. Further, as shown in FIG. 6, if there is a gap a, the toner t enters the gap a and leaks from the gap b between the flange 9 of the closing caps 3 and 4 and the circumferential ends of both ends of the body 1. I will do it.

(2) Therefore, the toner powder leaks from the gaps 7, a, b and the gap 8 during the packaging stage after filling the cartridge or during transportation.

(3) As mentioned above, when fine powder toner leaks, the surface of the cartridge is contaminated with the leaked toner.

(4) If the surface of the cartridge is contaminated with toner, the operator's hands and clothes may get dirty, and the toner filling process may take an unexpected amount of time.

(5) Furthermore, although the opening is formed by cutting the body, there is a risk that paper dust is generated when forming this opening, mixes with powdered toner, and deteriorates development.

The purpose of the present invention is to eliminate the drawbacks of conventional cartridges for storing toner, and to achieve this purpose, the present invention has a structure in which a sheet material such as paper is wound. , the side edges of adjacent sheet materials are polymerized and bonded to form a cylindrical body, this cylindrical body is cut to a predetermined length to form a body, and caps are fitted to both ends of this body to close it. In this cartridge, the body is provided with an opening for replenishing toner, a resin film is applied to the thick side of the opening and the vicinity thereof, the opening is closed with a sealing material, and the sheet material is The cut surface of one side edge is a sloped surface that slopes downward, and the cut surface of the other side edge is a sloped surface that slopes upward, and these sloped surfaces are polymerized and bonded together. The surface and inner surface of the overlapping portion are made smooth, and further, a fitting portion is formed at the peripheral end of the body with at least one of the surface and inner surface being tapered, and an annular groove is provided in the flange of the cap. The inner surface of the annular groove is made to correspond to the shape of the fitting part of the body, and the fitting part is fitted into the annular groove.

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 13. In addition, in these figures, the same parts as in the above-mentioned FIGS. 1 to 6 are indicated by the same numbers and symbols.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the cartridge according to the present invention, and FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG.
FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along line BB.

The body 1 is made of multiple layers of paper wound spirally and glued together, and the front and back surfaces are coated with impermeable sheets 1.
0 are stacked. A resin film 11 is provided on the wall surface (thick surface) of the opening 2 and in the vicinity thereof.

As described above, the end portion of the sheet material S constituting the body 1 is butted against the wall surface of the opening 2, and a gap 8 is formed in this portion. One feature of the present invention is that the resin film 11 is formed over the wall surface of the opening 2 and the front and back surfaces in the vicinity thereof. Further, when the inside of the body 1 is filled with powdered toner, a tape-shaped sealing material 5 is adhered to the opening 2. The sealing material 5 is preferably transparent so that the inside of the body 1 can be seen, and for this reason it is preferably a transparent plastic film.

As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the gap 8 that is open on the wall surface of the opening 2 is closed by the resin film 11, and is not open on the wall surface of the opening 2.

As a method for applying this resin film 11, the following method can be adopted.

A. Painting method (spraying, feather coating, etc.) B. Dipping method C. Other methods such as attaching a film As mentioned above, the present invention provides the resin film 11 on the wall surface of the opening 2 and in the vicinity of the opening 2. Therefore, the gap 8 of the abutting portion of the sheet material S constituting the body 1 appearing at the cut surface of the opening is completely closed by the resin film 11.

Since it is possible to prevent the paper dust remaining attached to the cut surface of the opening 2 and the gap from mixing with the powdered toner, development can be maintained well.

Further, FIG. 10 is an enlarged view of the joint portion of the side edge of the sheet material S that constitutes the body 1 of the cartridge according to the present invention, and FIG. 10A shows the body 1 formed from one sheet material S. Figure 10B shows the case where
1 shows a case in which two sheet materials S are laminated, and a surface layer 13 and an inner layer 14 are further laminated on the inner and outer surfaces thereof. The sheet material S is made of paper or synthetic resin. In the present invention, as shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B, the cut surfaces of one side edge and the other side edge of the sheet material S are sloped surfaces that are inclined in opposite directions. These slanted surfaces are polymerized and bonded to each other to form an overlapping part 12.
is formed. Note that for bonding, an adhesive may be used, heat sealing, etc. may be used. As shown in FIG. 11, which shows a further enlarged view of the joint portion, the overlapping portion 12 has a smooth surface P and an inner surface Q thereof. Note that in order to make the surface P and the inner surface Q smooth, the angle of inclination of each sloped surface is the same, and since the angle differs depending on the thickness of the sheet material S and the width of the overlapped part 12, For example, but not limited to, if the sheet material S is 1 mm thick, the overlapped portion 1
If the width of 2 is 5 mm, it is preferably about 12 degrees. The slanted surface may be formed by an appropriate means such as a grinder. Further, N indicates an adhesive layer.

Further, FIGS. 12 and 13 are explanatory diagrams showing a cross section of a main part of an example of the powder toner replenishing cartridge of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 12, the surface 15 of the peripheral end of the body 1 is a tapered surface that slopes downward at the front, and a fitting portion 16 is formed. Note that it is not only the surface 15 that is tapered, but also the 13th surface.
As shown in the figure, the inner surface 17 of the peripheral end of the fuselage 1
Both surfaces 15 and 15 may be tapered surfaces.
Either of the inner surface 17 and the inner surface 17 may be made into a tapered surface. The tapered surface of the inner surface 17 is inclined upwardly toward the front.

Further, the flange portion 9 of the closing cap 4 is provided with an annular groove 18. The inner surface of this annular groove 18 has a shape corresponding to the shape of the fitting part 16 of the body 1. For example, in FIG.
The upper inner surface is a tapered surface that slopes downward toward the back.

As shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, the fitting portion 16 of the body 1 is fitted into the annular groove 18 and integrated therewith. Note that when fitting, an adhesive may be used, heat sealing, etc. may be used.

As described above, according to the present invention, the wall surface of the opening 2 is covered with the resin film 11, the surface and inner surface of the overlapped portion of the sheet material S are made smooth, and furthermore, both peripheral ends of the body 1 are coated with the resin film 11. Since the toner is fitted into the annular groove provided in the flange of the closing cap, there are no gaps or gaps, and the possibility of powder toner leaking can be completely eliminated. As a result, airtightness,
It becomes possible to improve sealing performance.

Furthermore, since the wall surface of the opening 2 is covered with the resin film 11, it is possible to prevent paper dust generated in the opening 2 from being mixed into the powdered toner, and furthermore, the powdered toner can be replenished from the opening, which is a replenishment port. This is done by peeling off the sealing material that was sealing off the supply port in the fuselage, but at this time, it is possible to prevent cracking and other damage to the periphery of the supply port.

Furthermore, there are no gaps or gaps as described above, and by fitting both peripheral ends of the body 1 into the annular grooves of the closing cap, the peripheral ends and the closing cap are integrated. It can improve the strength of the torso.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional powder toner replenishment cartridge, Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along line A-A, Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of the joint portion of the body, and Fig. 4 is a sheet material forming the body. 5th cross-sectional view showing the butt structure of
The figure is an enlarged view of the sheet material formed in multiple layers. Figure 6 shows X-X in Figure 1.
7 is a perspective view of a cartridge for replenishing powder toner according to the present invention, and FIG. 8 is a side sectional view showing the cross-sectional shape of the opening 2 according to the main part of the embodiment of the present invention. 7 is a sectional view taken along line AA, and FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 7. FIG. 10 is an enlarged view of the joint portion of the body of the powder toner replenishment cartridge according to the present invention, and FIG. 11 is an explanatory view showing the joint portion further enlarged. 12th
13 and 13 are explanatory diagrams showing a cross section of a main part of an example of the cartridge for replenishing powder toner of the present invention. 1... body, 2... opening, 3, 4... cap, 5... sealing material, 6... joint, 7... gap, 8... gap, 9... flange, 10... not included Permeable sheet, 11... Resin membrane, 12... Polymerization part, 1
6... Fitting portion, 18... Annular groove, S... Sheet material.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A sheet material such as paper is rolled up, the side edges of adjacent sheet materials are polymerized and bonded to form a cylinder, and this cylinder is cut to a predetermined length to form a body. In a cartridge in which a cap is fitted and closed and an opening is provided in the body for replenishing toner, a resin film is applied to the thick side of the opening and its vicinity, and the opening is closed with a sealing material. Further, the cut surface of one side edge of the sheet material is a downwardly sloped surface, and the cut surface of the other side edge is an upwardly sloped surface. The surfaces are polymerized and adhered to each other to make the surface and inner surface of the overlapping portion smooth, and further, a fitting portion is formed at the peripheral end of the body with at least one of the surface and inner surface being tapered,
A cartridge for replenishing powder toner, comprising an annular groove provided in the flange of the cap, an inner surface of the annular groove corresponding to the shape of a fitting part of the body, and the fitting part fitted into the annular groove.