JPH03176302A - Apparatus for loading fine particle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To load fine particles at a high speed with a high density as well as prevent the loaded particles from being presses into a lump by providing a fine particle buffering means having a fine particle buffering member on an opening of a vessel. CONSTITUTION:A driver 33 is operated to such a direction that a supporting lever 32 lowers. Thus a whole body of a fine particle buffering member 31 is inserted into a vessel 1 to have a fine particle injection port 28 opened. Toner reserved in a toner hopper 11 and in a fine particle supply line 12 drops into the vessel 1. Since inside the vessel 1 is decompressed with respect to inside the toner hopper 11 at this time, the toner flows into the vessel 1 at a high speed. The toner which flows into the vessel 1 at a high speed collides hard against a cone-shaped outer periphery of the fine particle buffering member 31 held perpendicularly below the fine particle injection port 28 and its speed is reduced. The toner which collides with the outer periphery of the fine particle buffering member 31 scatters around and further collides with an inner periphery of the vessel 1, further losing speed. As a result, even if there is a difference in pressures between inside and outside the vessel 1, the toner can be loaded with a high density without being pressed into a lump in the vessel 1.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a powder filling method capable of filling powder such as toner used in an image forming apparatus into a predetermined container at high speed and with high density. Regarding equipment.

(Prior Art) Toner used in image forming apparatuses such as electrophotographic copying machines is normally filled in a bottle-shaped or cylindrical container for transportation, storage, etc. Conventionally, toner is filled into a container by placing the container below a toner supply device and allowing the toner in the toner supply device to fall naturally into the container.

In this method, the toner does not fall into the container at high speed due to the air present in the container, and the toner that falls into the container is mixed with the air inside the container, so the bulk density is reduced. smaller and not densely packed. For this reason, it is not possible to fill a predetermined amount of toner into a container by gravity-dropping at once. For example, by filling about half of the toner I to be filled into the container by gravity-dropping, the toner can be completely filled. A method is adopted in which the remaining toner is filled after a predetermined period of time has elapsed for the toner to settle down. In such a method,
The toner could not be efficiently filled into the container, resulting in very poor work efficiency.

Therefore, the applicant of the present application, for example,
As disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 03, a powder filling device has been proposed which can fill powder such as toner at high speed and with high density, and which has a relatively simple configuration.

This powder filling device reduces the pressure inside the container to be filled, and utilizes the pressure difference between the container and the powder feeder to quickly fill high-density powder from the powder feeder. It is designed so that it can be filled into the container at any time. FIG. 4 shows a schematic configuration of the powder filling device.

In the powder filling device, a pressure reducing case 71 whose inside is in a reduced pressure state is provided with a pressure reducing means 72 for reducing the pressure in the internal space and a pressure increasing means 73 for increasing the pressure from the reduced pressure state. A powder supply nozzle 74 that is inserted into the filling port 2 of the container 1 that is hermetically sealed in the vacuum case 71 is provided in the vacuum case 71, and the powder supply nozzle 74 includes: Powder supply that can supply a predetermined amount of powder to the powder official Roaro via the powder supply pipe 77! 1
75 are provided. The powder supply pipe 77 is provided with an on-off valve 78 such as a ball valve that opens and closes the inside of the powder supply pipe 77 .

The container 1, which is hermetically sealed in the decompression case 71, is pushed upward by the container lifting means 80, and the tip of the filling port 2 comes into pressure contact with the gasket 79 of the powder supply nozzle 74, so that the container 1 is lifted up. The inside is sealed.

The powder filling device having the above configuration operates as follows.

First, the container 1 is placed in the decompression case 71 with a gap formed between the filling port 2 of the container 1 and the powder supply nozzle 74 . Next, the on-off valve 78 provided in the powder supply pipe line 77 is closed, the inside of the decompression case 71 is sealed, and the inside of the decompression case 71 is brought into a depressurized state by the decompression means 72. By this pressure reduction operation, the pressure inside the pressure reduction case 71 and the container 1 are respectively reduced. Next, the container 1 is raised by the lifting means 8o, and the filling port 2 is brought into close contact with the gasket 79 of the powder supply nozzle 74, thereby making the inside of the container 1 airtight. Thereafter, at the same time as the powder supply pipe 77 is opened, the pressure increasing means 73 causes the pressure reducing case 71 to
increase the pressure inside. As a result, a predetermined amount of powder is forcefully dropped into the container l from the powder supply device 75 via the powder supply conduit 77. Furthermore, since the pressure inside the decompression case 71 increases at the same time as the powder is supplied, the pressure inside and outside of the container 1 is balanced, and the container 1 is not damaged.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) In the powder filling device having such a configuration, the powder that falls from the powder supply device 75 is stored in the container! Since the inside of the container 1 is already in a reduced pressure state, it is filled into the container 1 at high speed. Moreover, since the inside of the container 1 is in a substantially vacuum state, the powder dropped into the container 1 does not contain air, and has the advantage that there is no risk of its bulk density decreasing.

However, on the other hand, since the falling velocity of the powder falling into the container 1 is high and the amount of air inside the container 1 is small,
There is a tendency for the powder filled into the container 1 to become too compressed. Especially in the early stages of filling when the difference between the pressure inside the powder feeder 75 and the pressure inside the container 1 is large, the container! The powder that fell into the
The powder collides violently with the inner bottom surface of the container 1, and a large compressive force acts on the powder. As a result, depending on the particle size of the powder, the powder may solidify into a block-like mass at the bottom of the container l. When the powder filled in the container l is a toner used in an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying machine,
If the toner in the container L is solidified, when the container L is attached to an image forming apparatus and used,
There is a possibility that toner may not be smoothly replenished from the container 1 to the image forming apparatus.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, and its purpose is to be able to fill powder such as toner at high speed and with high density, and to prevent the filled powder from solidifying in the container. An object of the present invention is to provide a powder filling device that can prevent this.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The powder filling device of the present invention simultaneously charges the inside and outside of a container filled with powder from a reduced pressure state such that the inside and outside of the container are in an equilibrium state. A powder filling device that fills the container with powder by increasing the pressure and simultaneously dropping the powder from the powder inlet into the opening of the container, the device opening and closing the powder inlet. a powder buffer means having a powder buffer member which enters into the container from an opening of the container so that the powder input from the powder input port collides with the powder buffer member; The above object is thereby achieved.

(Example) The present invention will be described below with reference to Examples.

As shown in FIG. 1, the toner filling device, which is a powder filling device of the present invention, includes a toner supply device 1O that can supply a predetermined amount of toner, which is fine powder, and a toner supply device 10 below the toner supply device 1O. A vacuum case 20 is provided in which a container 1 filled with toner is held.

The toner supply device 1G is connected to a toner cutter (not shown) capable of cutting out a predetermined amount of toner from a powder storage tank, for example, and to the toner cutter, and stores a predetermined amount of toner cut out by the toner cutter. a powder supply conduit 12 that communicates a toner hopper 11 that can be used with the toner hopper 11 and a toner drop opening in the toner hopper 11 with the inside of the vacuum case 20;
It is configured such that a predetermined amount of toner is dropped from the toner hopper 11 into the vacuum case 20 via the powder supply conduit 12.

The decompression case 20 includes an upper half 21 that can be divided into upper and lower parts,
It is composed of a lower half body 22. The lower half 22 is capable of joining and separating from the upper half 21.
It is raised and lowered by an air cylinder 70. Then, by raising the lower half body 22 with the air cylinder 70, the lower half body 22 is joined to the upper half body 21. Seal members 21a and 22a made of soft rubber, for example, are provided at the portions where the two join, respectively.
By joining the lower half 22 raised by the air cylinder 70 to the upper half 21, the seal members 21a and 22a are airtightly engaged, and the inside of the decompression case 20 is made airtight. On the lower outer surface of the upper half body 21, the lower half body 2 is attached.
A guide member 23 is provided for guiding the sealing member 22a of the lower half 22 to be joined to the sealing member 21a of the upper half 21 when the lower half 22 is raised and joined.

The upper half 21 of the decompression case 20 is connected to the powder supply pipe 1
It is fixedly attached to the lower part of 2. A powder supply nozzle 24 that protrudes downward is provided on the upper surface of the upper half 21, and a powder supply conduit 1 is inserted into the powder supply nozzle 24.
The lower end of 2 is inserted. A contact surface portion 25 is provided on the upper and lower surface of the powder supply nozzle 24 to engage a packing 25a made of soft rubber. Below the corresponding contact surface part 25 is a nozzle part 26 in the shape of an inverted truncated cone whose diameter gradually decreases as it goes downward.

At the center of the lower end surface of the nozzle portion 26, the lower end of the powder supply conduit 12 opens as a powder inlet 28. The outer diameter at the upper end of the nozzle portion 26 is approximately equal to the inner diameter of the filling port 2 formed at the upper end of the container l held within the decompression case 20.

Upper half 2 of decompression case 5-20! A powder buffer means 30 is disposed on the axis of the powder supply nozzle 24 fixedly attached to the powder supply nozzle 24 . The powder buffering means 30 has a conical powder buffering member 31 whose diameter gradually increases as the outer circumferential surface becomes lower. The outer diameter at the lower end of the powder buffer member 31 is larger than the inner diameter of the powder intake port 28 and smaller than the inner diameter of the filling port 2 of the container l held in the decompression case 20.

Therefore, approximately the upper half of the powder buffer member 31 is fitted into the powder input port 28, and the entire powder buffer member 31 is inserted into the container l through the filling port 2 of the container l. The angle of inclination of the outer peripheral surface of the powder buffer member 31 with respect to the axis is such that the powder can flow down the outer peripheral surface and collide with the inner peripheral surface of the container l.

The powder buffer member 31 is supported concentrically below the powder supply nozzle 24 by a vertical support rod 32 . The support rod 32 passes through the powder supply conduit 12 and the toner hopper 11, and its upper end extends above the toner hopper 11. The upper end of the support rod 32 is connected to a drive device 33 disposed above the toner hopper 11. The drive device 133 raises the support rod 32 in the axial direction so that substantially the upper half of the powder buffer member 31 is hermetically fitted into the powder input port 28, and also raises the support rod 32 that has been raised. is lowered in the axial direction to open the powder immersion port 28.
A powder buffer member 31 is held below. Therefore, by raising and lowering the support rod 32 by the drive device 33, the powder buffer member 31 can be switched between a state in which the powder inlet 28 is opened and a state in which the powder inlet 28 is airtightly closed. Then, the powder buffer member 31 is inserted into the powder input port 28.
When the vacuum case 2 is opened from the powder inlet 28,
The toner falls into the powder buffer member 31 and collides with the conical outer peripheral surface of the powder buffer member 31.

The lower half 22 of the decompression case 20 is provided with a container elevating means 60 for elevating and lowering a cylindrical container l filled with toner while holding the container l. The container elevating means 60 has an air cylinder 61 attached to the bottom surface of the lower half 22, and an elevating table 62 attached to the tip of the piston a rad 61a of the air cylinder 6L. The air cylinder 61 has a piston rod 61
It is installed so that the advancing direction of a is upward. The lifting platform 62 includes a holding frame 62a that holds the lower end of the container l.
is provided, and this holding frame 62a fits into the lower part of the container 1 to hold the container 1 in a substantially vertical state. The container l is raised and lowered as the air cylinder 61 is raised and lowered.

The lower half 22 is lowered and separated from the upper half 21 and inserted into the lower half 22, and the lifting platform 6
2.

Then, with the container l placed on the lifting platform 62 and the upper half 21 and lower half 22 of the decompression case 20 hermetically joined, the air cylinder 61 is moved so that the piston rod 61a advances upward. When driven, the filling port 2 of the container l is connected to the powder supply nozzle 24 provided on the upper surface of the upper half body 21.
The container l rises while being guided by the outer peripheral surface of the nozzle portion 26. Further, when the container 1 is raised by the air cylinder 61, the upper end of the filling port 2 comes into elastic pressure contact with the gasket 25a that is locked to the contact surface portion 25, and the filling port 2 and the powder input port 28 have a capacity of if. and are brought into airtight contact.

On the upper surface of the upper half 21 of the decompression case 20, there are provided a decompression means 40 that can appropriately reduce the pressure inside the decompression case 20, and a pressure increase means 50 that can appropriately increase the pressure from this depressurized state.
Each is equipped with The pressure reduction means 40 includes a pressure reduction pipe 41 that communicates the inside of the pressure reduction case 20 and the vacuum pump 44.
and an on-off valve 42 interposed in the pressure reducing pipe 41. The pressure increase means 50 has an atmosphere introduction pipe 51 attached to the pressure reduction case 20, and an on-off valve 52 and a flow tg regulating valve 53 interposed in the atmosphere introduction pipe 51.

With the powder filling device having such a configuration, toner is filled into the container 1 as follows.

First, the support rod 32 is raised by the drive device 33 so that the powder buffer member 31 of the powder buffer means 30 airtightly closes the powder input port 28 .

In this state, a predetermined amount of toner is put into the toner hopper 11. The toner put into the toner hopper U is transferred to the toner hopper 11 and the powder supply pipe 12.
stored within. Then, the lower half 2 of the decompression case 20
2 by operating the air cylinder 70 in the direction of lowering the
The lower half 22 is separated from the upper half 2. In this state, the container 1 is placed on the lifting platform 62 so that the filling port 2 is located on the upper side. Next, the air cylinder 70 is operated to raise the lower half 22 in order to airtightly join the sealing member 22a of the lower half 22 and the sealing member 21a of the upper half 21. When the lower half body 22 and the upper half body 21 are joined, the on-off valve 52 installed in the atmospheric air introduction pipe 51 is closed, and the inside of the decompression case 20 is made airtight.

In this case, the filling port 2 of the container l held in the lower half body 22 is separated from the powder supply nozzle 24, and the inside of the container l is in communication with the inside of the decompression case 20. There is. In this state, the on-off valve 42 interposed in the pressure reducing pipe 41 is opened, and the vacuum pump 44 is driven.

As a result, the air inside the pressure reduction case 20 is sucked, and the pressure inside the pressure reduction case 20 is reduced, and at the same time, the pressure inside the container 1 is reduced. Then, when the inside of the container l and the inside of the depressurizing case 20 surrounding the container l are depressurized in equilibrium and both become in a substantially vacuum state, the on-off valve 42 installed in the depressurizing pipe 41 is opened. be done. As a result, the decompression case 20
The inside will be airtight.

In this state, the air cylinder 61 inside the decompression case 20 is operated to raise the elevator platform 62. As a result, the filling port 2 of the container 1 held on the lifting table 62 comes into contact with the lower surface of the packing 25a, and the filling port 2 and the powder film inlet 28 are airtightly connected. Further, the powder buffer member 3t, whose upper half is fitted into the powder input port 28, has its lower half inserted into the container l through the filling port 2.

Next, the drive device 33 is operated in the direction in which the support rod 32 is lowered. As a result, the entire powder buffer member 31 is inserted into the container 1, as shown in FIG.
Open 8. At the same time, the on-off valve 52 installed in the atmospheric air introduction pipe 51 is also opened. When the powder inlet 28 is opened, the toner stored in the toner hopper 11 and the powder supply pipe 12 falls into the container l.

At this time, since the pressure inside the container 1 is reduced relative to the inside of the toner hopper 11, the toner flows into the container 1 at high speed.

The toner flowing into the container l at high speed collides violently with the conical outer peripheral surface of the powder buffer member 31 held vertically below the powder inlet 28 and is decelerated.〇Powder buffer member 3
! The toner that has collided with the outer circumferential surface of the container 1 is scattered around, and further collides with the inner circumferential surface of the container 1 to be decelerated by -layer. As a result, even if the pressure difference between the inside and outside of the container 1 is large at the beginning of opening of the powder inlet 28, the toner is filled into the container 1 without solidifying.

Moreover, since the air inside the container 1 is removed when filling the toner, even if the speed at which the toner falls into the container 1 decreases, the toner is filled in the container 1 with high density.

Moreover, at the same time as the powder inlet 28 is opened, a predetermined amount of air defined by the flow j [regulating valve 53] flows from the atmosphere introduction pipe 51 into the depressurization case 20, and the depressurization case surrounding the container l flows into the depressurization case 20. Even if the pressure inside the container 20 increases due to the toner flowing into the container 1, the pressure inside the container 1 and the outside of the container 1 are balanced, so that the pressure inside the container 1 increases. Deformation and breakage are prevented.

When all the toner in the toner hopper 11 is filled into the container 11, the air cylinder 61 in the decompression case 20 is driven, the support base 62 is lowered, and the nozzle portion 26 is removed from the filling port 2 of the container 1. . Next, air cylinder 7
0 is driven to lower the lower half 22 of the vacuum case 20. When the lower half 22 is separated from the upper half 21, a container l filled with toner is attached to the lower half 22.
taken out from within.

If the drive device 33 is operated so that the support rod 32 vibrates in the axial direction before the nozzle part 26 is removed from the container l, the shock caused by the vibration will cause damage to the outer circumferential surface of the powder buffer member 31. The attached toner falls into the container 1. This prevents toner from falling from the outer peripheral surface of the powder buffer member 31 into the lower half body 22 . As a result, the inside of the vacuum case 20 is prevented from being stained by toner, and the upper part of the container is also prevented from being stained with toner when setting another new container. Furthermore, it is possible to improve the yield of the amount of powder filled into the container l.

Further, since the powder buffer member 31 also serves as an on-off valve for the powder supply pipe 12, an on-off valve such as a ball valve is eliminated from the powder supply pipe 12, and the apparatus is made smaller.

In addition, in the powder filling device of the present invention, the powder buffer member 31 of the powder buffer means 30 can also be fixedly disposed below the powder input port 28. In that case, an on-off valve such as a ball valve is installed in the powder supply conduit 12. When the powder supply pipe line 12 is provided with an on-off valve, when reducing the pressure inside the decompression case 20, the filling port 2 of the container 1 and the powder input port z8 are airtightly connected in advance, and the powder It is also possible to perform operations such as depressurizing the inside of the container 1 separately from the outside of the container 1 via the supply line 12.

The powder buffer means 30 may further include a flat powder buffer member 34 supported directly below the powder supply nozzle 24, as shown in FIG.

The powder buffer member 34 has its negative side connected to the powder supply nozzle 2.
It is rotatably supported on one side of 4, and by its rotation, the tilt angle can be changed from a horizontal state to any angle within a range of 0 to 90 degrees. In the powder buffer means 30 having such a powder buffer member 34, the powder buffer member 34
Toner is flowed into the container 1 with the container 1 in a predetermined inclined state. As the toner flows down along the inclined powder buffer member 34, the toner is prevented from colliding with the inner surface of the container l and solidifying. Further, in this case, at the start of toner filling when the difference between the pressure inside the toner supply device 20 and the pressure inside the container 1 is large, the powder buffer member 34
By decreasing the inclination angle of the powder buffer member 34 and then increasing the inclination angle of the powder buffer member 34, the speed of the toner flowing into the container l is stabilized, and the toner is filled relatively uniformly throughout the container l. be done.

Further, by placing the powder buffer member 34 in a horizontal state after filling with toner, toner adhering to the top surface of the powder buffer member 34 is prevented from falling.

In the above embodiment, the pressure inside and outside the cartridge is reduced through two pressure reduction paths, but the filling device of the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. As disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-124503! The system's depressurization path may be used.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, the powder filling device of the present invention increases the pressure inside the container by increasing the pressure at the same time from the reduced pressure so that the inside and outside of the container filled with powder are in an equilibrium state. In a filling device that drops powder into a container, the powder flowing into a container at high speed collides with a powder buffer member and is decelerated, so that the powder is filled into the container without solidifying. Moreover, since the powder collides with the powder buffer member and also collides with the inner surface of the container, solidification of the powder within the container is further reliably prevented.

4. Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a toner filling device which is an example of the powder filling device of the present invention, FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an enlarged main part of another example of a filling device, and FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a conventional toner filling device.

l... Container, 2... Filling port, 10... Toner supply device, 20... Decompression case, 24... Powder supply nozzle, 28... Powder immersion port, 30... Powder buffer means, 3
1.34... Powder buffer member, 40... Pressure reduction means, 5
0...Pressure increasing means, 60...Container lifting/lowering means.

that's all

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. From a state where the pressure is reduced so that the inside and outside of the container filled with powder are in an equilibrium state, the pressure inside and outside of the container is simultaneously increased, and at the same time, the pressure of the powder is increased. A powder filling device that fills powder into a container by dropping the powder into an opening of the container from an input port, the powder filling device being arranged so as to be able to open and close the powder input port, A powder filling device comprising: a powder buffering means having a powder buffering member that enters into the container from an opening of the container so that the powder input from the powder input port collides with the powder.