JPH03265874A - Color image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate the stain of the interior of a machine and deviation in developing gap by integrating an image carrier, a cleaning means, and a multiple number of developing means as a cartridge which is freely attachable to/detachable from the device main body as well as constituting the cleaning means freely attachable to/detachable from the cartridge. CONSTITUTION:A developer hopper 16 is freely attachable to/detachable from the cartridge C and since the developer feeding member 15 such as a developing sleeve, or the image carrier 1 are fixed to the cartridge C, the developing gap which is the space between the image carrier 1 and the developer feeding member 15 is maintained at a high precision. Furthermore, when there is no developer at the developing means, the developer hopper 16 of the developing means where there is no developer can be detached from the cartridge C and exchanged with a new one. Thus, the stain of the interior from splattering of the developer and the deviation in the developing gap can be eliminated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a color image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a laser beam printer that obtains color images using electrophotographic technology.

(Prior Art) FIG. 5 shows a longitudinal section of a conventional color image forming apparatus.
In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a photosensitive tram which is an image bearing member that is rotationally driven in the direction of the arrow in the figure, and around the photosensitive tram 1 there is a charger 2 for charging the photosensitive drum 1. A latent image forming means 3 that forms a latent image by irradiating laser light or the like onto the photosensitive drum 1
, yellow, magenta, cyan, and fluff developer units 4, 5, 6, and 7, which develop latent images formed on the photosensitive tram 1''2 with developer; a transfer tram 12, which is rotationally driven in the direction of the arrow in the figure; A cleaner 9 is also provided to remove the developer remaining on the surface of the photosensitive tram 1 afterwards. Each of the developer units 4, 5°6.7 has a developing sleeve 8, which is a developer supplying member, at its tip, and there is a gap (developing gap) between each developing sleeve 8 and the photosensitive tram (2). is set at 150-500 gm.

Furthermore, paper feed cassettes 10 are provided on both sides of the transfer tram 12.
A paper feed roller 11 and a fixing section 13 are also provided.

The sheets of paper P accommodated in the paper feed cassette 10 are fed one by one by the paper feed roller 11, and are conveyed by being wrapped around the transfer drum 12 by a gripper (not shown) or the like. Thereafter, the developed images of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black are transferred to the paper P four times between the paper P and the photosensitive drum L, and the paper P is guided to the fixing section 13 where the transferred developed images are fixed. It is carried out of the aircraft.

However, in such a color image forming apparatus, when the developer in the developer units 4, 5, 6, and 7 is consumed, the user must replace the developer unit with a new one.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the above-mentioned conventional color image forming apparatus, since the photosensitive drum 1 and the developing device units 4, 5, 6, and 7 are each independent, the developing device units 4 to 7 are There have been problems in that the developer contained in these is scattered during attachment and detachment, and the inside of the machine is stained with the scattered developer, and that the development gap, which is important for dimensional control in the development process, is likely to be distorted.

” As a method to solve problem 1, as shown in FIG. 6, the photosensitive drum 1, developer units 4 to 7, and charger 2 are integrated into a cartridge, and the whole is attached to the main body of the apparatus. There are ways to attach and detach it.

However, according to the above method, the amount of developer consumed for each color differs depending on how the user uses it, and even though there is developer for one color remaining, developer for another color runs out. The problem is that it is uneconomical because the entire cartridge must be replaced.

The present invention has been developed in view of the above problems, and its purpose is to eliminate internal contamination caused by developer scattering and the deviation of the development gap, and to reduce developer consumption for each color by the user. It is an object of the present invention to provide an economical color image forming apparatus that can cope with differences in color.

(Means for Solving the Problems) ] In order to achieve the second object, the present invention provides a color image forming apparatus including an image bearing member, a cleaning means, and a plurality of developing means. The cleaning means and a plurality of developing means are integrated as a cartridge that can be attached to and detached from the apparatus main body, each developing means is provided with a developer hopper that is detachable from the cartridge, and the cleaning means is configured to be detachable from the cartridge. It is characterized by what it did.

(Function) According to the present invention, only the developer hopper of each developing means is removable from the cartridge, and the developer supply member such as the developing sleeve and the image carrier are fixed to the cartridge. The gap (developing gap) between the body and the developer supply member is maintained with high accuracy, and the problem of dirt inside the machine due to developer scattering is eliminated.

Furthermore, for example, if the developing means runs out of developer, it is sufficient to remove only the developer hopper of the developing means that has run out of developer from the cartridge and replace it with a new one. It can accommodate differences in consumption and is very economical.

(Example) Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a color image forming apparatus according to the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the cartridge, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of the operation of the cartridge. In these figures, the same elements as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 are designated by the same reference numerals. Hereinafter, explanations about them will be omitted.

In this embodiment, a photosensitive drum 1, a charger 2, yellow, magenta, cyan, and black developing units 4, 5, and 6 are used.
．． 7 and the cleaner 9 are unitized as a cartridge C, and this cartridge C is taken out from the apparatus main body along the slide member 14 in the direction of the arrow shown in the figure.

Here, the details of the structure of the cartridge C will be explained with reference to FIG. It can be divided into a toner hopper 16 and a toner hopper 16, and both are connected by a mechanism such as a pachinko lock (not shown).

Similarly, the cleaner 9 can be divided into a cleaning head 18 including a cleaning blade 17 and a waste toner container 19, and both are connected by a mechanism not shown.

A photosensitive tram 1, a charger 2, a developing device head 15 and a cleaning head 18 of each of the developing device units 4 to 7 are always fixed to the main body of the cartridge C, and each developing sleeve 8 and the photosensitive drum 1 are connected to each other. The gap between the photosensitive drum 1 and the cleaning head 15 (development gap) is maintained with high precision, and the contact condition between the photosensitive drum 1 and the cleaning head 15 is always kept constant.

In the above configuration, if, for example, the developer units 4 to 7 run out of toner, remove only the toner hopper 16 of each developer unit 4 to 7 from the cartridge C and replace it with a new one, as shown in FIG. Since the toner can be replaced with another one, it is possible to deal with the difference in toner consumption of each color.

In other words, if you run out of toner for one color and still have toner for another color, you only need to replace the developer unit that contained the missing toner.
It is very economical because there is no need to replace the entire cartridge C with a new one as in the conventional case.

Note that the new toner hopper 16 has a toner seal 20 made of a thin film such as PET at the connection part with the developer head 15.
The toner hopper 16 is connected to the developer head 1.
5, the toner seal 20 is cut by a seal cutter (not shown) provided on the developer head 15 side, and the toner contained in the toner hopper 16 can be supplied to the developer head 15 side. Become. Therefore, when replacing the toner hopper 16, toner will not scatter and contaminate the inside of the machine.

Further, when the waste toner container 19 of the cleaner 9 becomes full of waste toner, the waste toner 19 is separated from the cleaning head 18 and replaced with a new empty container.

By the way, according to this embodiment, since the replacement of consumables such as toner and the replacement of relatively long-life items such as the photosensitive drum 1 and the developing sleeve 8 can be performed separately, there is no waste in the replacement cycle. This enables user maintenance with low running costs.

A second embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 4, and in this embodiment,
In addition to the configuration of the first embodiment, the cartridge C also includes a transfer tram 12. In this embodiment, the transfer tram 12 is particularly used as the transfer means, but the transfer means is not limited to this. For example, the toner image on the photosensitive drum is once formed on the intermediate transfer body, and this color image is transferred to the intermediate transfer body. An intermediate transfer belt or the like used in an image forming apparatus that transfers images onto recording paper may also be used.

(Effects of the Invention) As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, an image carrier,
In a color image forming apparatus that includes a cleaning means and a plurality of developing means, at least the image carrier, the cleaning means and the plurality of developing means are integrated as a cartridge that is detachably attached to the main body of the apparatus, and each developing means is The means is provided with a developer hopper that can be attached to and detached from the cartridge, and the cleaning means is configured to be attached to and detached from the cartridge, so that it is possible to eliminate dirt inside the machine due to developer scattering and misalignment of the development gap, and also to eliminate color correction by the user. This has the effect of providing an economical color image forming apparatus that can accommodate differences in the amount of developer consumed.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a color image forming apparatus according to the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of a cartridge, FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of the operation of the cartridge, and FIGS. 5 and 6 are longitudinal sectional views of a conventional color image forming apparatus. 1... Photosensitive drum (image carrier), 4, 5, 6.7...
・Developer unit (developing means), 9...Cleaner (
cleaning means), 12... transfer drum (transfer means), 15... developer head (developer supply member), 16
... Toner hopper (developer hopper), 18...
Cleaning head (waste toner cleaning member), 1
9...Waste toner storage unit (waste toner container), C...Cartridge.

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) In a color image forming apparatus that includes an image carrier, a cleaning means, and a plurality of developing means, at least the image carrier, the cleaning means, and the plurality of developing means are installed as a cartridge that is detachably attached to the main body of the apparatus. A color image forming apparatus characterized in that each developing means is provided with a developer hopper that is detachably attached to the cartridge, and the cleaning means is configured to be detachably attached to the cartridge. (2) The color image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least the image carrier and the developer supplying member of each developing means are fixedly arranged in the cartridge. (3) The cleaning means is composed of a waste toner cleaning member and a waste toner storage section that are separable from each other, and only the waste toner storage section is detachable from the cartridge. The color image forming apparatus described above. (4) The color image forming apparatus according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the cartridge also includes a transfer means.