JPH0361973A - Hopper device for toner supply - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce an installation space remarkably and to obtain high performance by arranging respective hoppers in the same shape in array so that the same reference line are in the same direction, and arranging a toner supply conveyance opening and a spiral rotary shaft which is provided in the conveyance opening for the hoppers. CONSTITUTION:The hoppers 201A - 201D which are containers in the same shape classified by colors of toner, i.e. yellow, magenta, cyan, and black are arrayed in array in the frame 701 of a cram shell opening/closing part 700. Then the toner supply conveyance opening 209 and the spiral rotary shaft 208 which is provided in the conveyance opening 209 are arranged for the respective hoppers 201A - 201D. The conveyance opening 209 has an angle other than 0 deg. to the reference lines. Consequently, the setting space becomes small, a driving transmission structure is simple and secure, and the hoppers 201A - 201D are formed in the same shape to the same size to obtain the high-performance device at low cost.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an improvement of a toner supply hopper device for supplying toner to each developing group of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus capable of forming color images.

[Conventional technology]

Y and M in electrophotographic color image forming apparatuses.

Images are formed using a total of four types of toner: three color toners of C, B, G, and R, and black toner. Of course, these four colors are developed using separate developing devices.
i! Each container must be replenished with toner from a separate toner supply hopper. The hopper uniformly stirs the toner and conveys it to the developing device by a conveyance member provided near the supply port. Generally, stirring is performed by a stirring wheel, and toner is transported in a screw-pong manner by a spiral rotating shaft provided at the supply port. A flexible hose is connected to the supply port toward the developing device, and a spiral member whose one end is connected to the spiral rotating shaft passes through the flexible hose. The toner is conveyed and supplied by the rotation of the rotating shaft.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

Conventionally, drive transmission to the stirring shaft of each of these multiple hoppers and the spiral rotating shaft of the supply port has been carried out using spur gears or chain wheels. The hoses are arranged in different directions or in a staggered manner in the left and right directions to avoid collision or intersection of the hoses for conveying toner from the supply port. For this reason, each hopper occupies a large space, which increases the size of the entire image forming apparatus, and when a gear train is used in the drive system, the number and types of gears and transmission shafts increase, making the structure complicated. It is also conceivable to change the shape and dimensions of each hopper, but this will not save space and will significantly increase manufacturing costs.

The present invention solves these problems and provides a low-cost, high-performance toner supply hopper device that requires a small installation space, has a simple and reliable drive transmission structure, and has each hopper of the same shape and size. The purpose of the assignment is to do something.

[Means to solve the problem]

The purpose of this is to arrange a plurality of colored toner supply hoppers of the same shape for color image formation in one example so that the same reference line of each hopper is in the same direction, and each hopper has a toner supply and conveyance port; This is achieved by a toner supply hopper device characterized in that a spiral rotation shaft is disposed within the transport port, and the transport port has an angle other than the vicinity of O0 with respect to the reference line.

〔Example〕

An image forming apparatus incorporating one embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 1-4.

1 and 2 are side sectional views showing the structure of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus incorporating the toner supply hopper device of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a plan view of the present embodiment. It also represents a cross-sectional view taken along line xx' in FIG.

In the figure, lO is a drum-shaped image carrier, ie, a photosensitive drum, which is driven and rotated clockwise in FIG. 2 and counterclockwise in FIG. Reference numeral 20 represents a charging electrode that applies an electric charge to the photoreceptor on the circumferential surface of the photoreceptor drum 10, and 30 represents a laser writing system unit that is an exposure optical system.

When a laser writing signal is input to the laser writing system unit 30, in the laser writing system unit 30, a laser beam generated by a semiconductor laser (not shown) is applied to a polygon mirror 3 rotated by a drive motor 31.
2, the optical path is bent by three mirrors 34A, 34B, and 34C through an fθ lens 33,
The light is projected onto the circumferential surface of the photoreceptor drum IO to which a charge has been previously applied by the charging electrode 20.

On the other hand, when scanning is started, the laser beam is detected by the index sensor, modulation of the laser beam by the first color signal is started, and the modulated laser beam scans the circumferential surface of the photoreceptor drum IO. Therefore, a latent image of the first color is formed on the circumferential surface of the photosensitive drum 10 by the main scanning by the laser beam and the sub-scanning by the rotation of the photosensitive drum IO. This latent image is developed by a developing means containing a developer of, for example, yellow as a first color, and a yellow toner image is formed on the circumferential surface of the photosensitive drum 10. The obtained toner image, while being held on the circumferential surface of the photosensitive drum 10, passes under the cleaning means that is separated from the circumferential surface of the photosensitive drum IO, and enters the next copy cycle.

That is, the photosensitive drum 10 is charged again by the charging electrode 20, and then the second
A color signal of
Writing is performed on the peripheral surface using the second color signal to form a latent image. The latent image is developed by a developing means containing developer of a second color, for example magenta.

This magenta toner image is formed over the previously formed yellow toner image.

The toner image thus obtained is held on the circumferential surface of the photosensitive drum 10, and then passes under a cleaning means that is separated from the circumferential surface of the photosensitive drum 10, and enters the next copy cycle.

Similarly, writing is performed on the photosensitive drum 10 using the third color signal to form a latent image. This latent image is developed by a developing means containing a developer of a third color, for example cyan. This cyan toner image is formed superimposed on the yellow magenta toner image described above.

As described above, a color toner image is formed on the photoreceptor drum 10 using the three color toners, but a high quality color image can be obtained by further overlapping a black toner image in the same manner.

Reference numerals 611A, 611B, 611C, and 611D are developing units that are developing means that contain yellow, magenta, cyan, and black developers, respectively, for performing the above-mentioned development.

As shown in the example of the developing device 611A, each developing device has a developing roller (developing sleeve) 612 that faces the circumferential surface of the photoreceptor drum 10 with a predetermined gap therebetween and has a magnetic pole fixed on the inside. It is equipped with a pair of stirring rollers 614 and 615 having conveying force in opposite directions, and the stirring roller 614
The developer is supplied to the circumferential surface of the rotating developing roller (developing sleeve) 612 after the toner and carrier components are made uniform by the mixing action of and 615.

A direct current or even alternating current bias is applied to the developing roller (developing sleeve) of each developing device that carries developer.
Non-contact reversal development is performed using two-part developer.

Charging by the charging electrode 20 provided on the photosensitive drum 10 and its periphery, exposure by the laser writing unit 30 for each color, and developing units 611A, 611B, 6
The development processing by 11G and 611D is performed four times for each color, so that color toner images are formed on the circumferential surface of the photoreceptor drum 10 by overlapping.

Reference numerals 61 and 62 indicate a first feeding roller and a second paper feeding roller, respectively, which are in a constantly rotating state, and 71 and 72 indicate paper feeding guides having an arcuate shape and a linear shape, respectively.

The recording paper is carried out one by one from the paper feed cassette, and is sent along the paper feed guide 71 by the first paper feed roller 61 to the U.
After turning, that is, turning upside down, the paper contacts the rising portion of the paper feed shutter S that quickly cuts the conveyance path of the paper feed guide 72 and temporarily stops. In this case, the second paper feed roller 62 continues to rotate by slipping the stopped recording paper over its surface.

When the paper feed shutter S retracts downward in synchronization with the rotation of the photoreceptor drum lo carrying the toner image, the recording paper is synchronized with the circumferential speed of the photoreceptor drum 10 by the frictional force of the second paper feed roller 62. and is fed to the transfer section.

Reference numeral 80 denotes a rotatable transfer roller, which is charged with a voltage applied thereto, and constitutes a transfer section that transfers the toner image to the recording paper side via the conveyor belt 80B at the point of contact with the surface of the photoreceptor drum IO. do. A conveyor belt 80B is stretched between the transfer roller 80 and a drive roller 80A that rotates counterclockwise, and the recording paper is transferred while being conveyed by the conveyor belt 80B. Note that 80C is a cleaning means for cleaning the surface of the conveyor belt 80B.

90 is a front charging electrode located upstream of the cleaning device 1100, and the photosensitive drum 10 on which the toner image has been transferred to the recording paper.
Charge to a state that makes it easy to remove residual toner on the peripheral surface.

100 is a cleaning device, 110 and 120 are a conductive bristle brush and a conductive collecting roller which are cleaning means of the cleaning device m1oo, and 130 is a waste toner collecting section that stores the toner collected by the cleaning means.

The photosensitive drum 10 that has passed the front charging electrode 90 is brought into sliding contact with the conductive bristle blanket 1 by a signal from the control section.
10, the residual toner adhering to the conductive brush 110 is adsorbed by the conductive collection roller 120, and then transferred to the waste toner collection section 13.
Sent to 0.

The waste toner collecting section 130 is provided with a waste toner sending rod 131 and a deformable toner collecting bag 132, and the residual toner, that is, waste toner sent by the collecting roller 120 is sent through the waste toner sending rod 131. Bag member 1
It is housed in 32.

The photosensitive drum 10 whose circumferential surface has been cleaned in this way
is charged again by the charger 20 and starts forming a new image, and at the same time the conductive bristle brush 110 is released from the rubbing state.

On the other hand, the recording paper to which the toner image has been transferred in the transfer section is separated from the circumferential surface of the photoreceptor drum 10 and transferred to the fixing device 60.
will be sent to. Reference numeral 63 denotes a pair of heat rollers for fixing, and numeral 64 denotes a pair of paper ejecting rollers. The recording paper on which the toner is melted and fixed by the pair of heat rollers 63 is ejected from the fixing device by the pair of paper ejecting rollers 64.

Reference numerals 73 and 74 are paper ejection guides for guiding the recording paper ejected by the paper ejection roller pair 64 to the upper part of the apparatus main body. The relays discharge and stack the sheets onto the tray 75 with the image surface facing downward.

Next, the 1iIF rule of the developing device 600 will be explained.

As described above, the device 600 includes a developing device 611A containing Y (yellow) developer, a developing device 611B containing M (magenta) developer, a developing device 611C containing C (cyan) developer, and a developing device 611C containing C (cyan) developer. This is more important than developing device 6110, which stores BL (black) developer. Each of the Y and M%C developing devices has one cartridge frame 60.
2 to form a color developing device and guide rail 7.
Clamshell opening/closing part 700 formed on the upper part of the base part 800 of the image forming apparatus 1 guided by 13A and 713B
It is set so that it can be attached and detached from the entrance/exit window 713 provided in the 7th frame 701. On the other hand, the black developer containing developing device 611D is set to be independently attachable and detachable to the opening/closing section 700 from the entrance/exit window 713 along the guide rail 713C.

Since the configuration of each of the four developing units is the same, the configuration of 611A will be explained. The aforementioned developing roller (developing sleeve) 612 and stirring rollers 614 and 615 are housed inside the container 603 of the developing device, and at both ends of the developing roller 612 there are outer diameter portions 6 that are a certain amount larger than the outer diameter of the roller 612.
13 are provided in the same manner. Also, on the right side of the container 603 is a gear train 630 for transmitting drive to each of the rollers.
A toner receiving port 62 is provided on the left side of the container 603.
1 is open.

Then, a spring 618 is applied along a rail 619 provided in the container 603 so as to close the receiving port 621.
A mouth opening/closing member 618 is provided which is biased by a guide bin 616.

The container is connected to the developing unit 611 by a spring 625 (this may be a plate spring or a helical spring).
A is the outer diameter portion 613 at both ends of the developing roller 612 and the photoreceptor 10
It should be pressed against the drawing. This allows the gap between the developing roller 612 and the photoreceptor drum 10 to maintain an optimum gap for forming a magnetic brush.

Next, the toner supply hopper device t 200 and the toner replenishment device 250 will be explained.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the hopper device 200 includes hoppers 201A, 201B, and 201G, which are containers of the same shape for each color of toner Y, M, C, B, L, on a frame 701 of a Talam shell opening/closing portion 700. , 20! D are arranged in one row. Then, the drive motor 205 drives the helical gears 205A, 206, 207, and 20.
8A to each of the toner containers (hoppers') 201A.
, 201B, 201c, and 201D and the spiral rotation shaft 208 are made rotatable. The spiral rotation shaft 208 is provided near the supply conveyance port 209 of the hopper device 200, and the conveyance port has a 272A
, 272B, 272C, and 272D are connected to one end of each hose, and a flexible spiral member 271 connected to the spiral rotation shaft 208 is provided in the hose. The member 271 freely rotates the shaft, and the helical gear 205A is connected to the helical gear train.
The meshing of the gears 206 and 207 is a combination of helical gears, and the rotation axes of the gears are parallel to each other. However, the meshing of helical gears 207 and 2o8A functions as a screw gear, and the rotation axes of both gears make a predetermined angle with each other, which is the addition or subtraction of the angle depending on whether the twist direction of the helical angle is positive or negative. . Therefore, the direction of the spiral rotation axis and the supply conveyance port is as shown in FIG.
01A.

They are arranged at the predetermined angle with respect to the straight lines 201B, 201C, and 201D, and do not overlap with each other. Therefore, each hopper container 201 of the same shape and size
Even if A, 201B, 201C, and 2010 are arranged closely on the same plane, their supply ports should be arranged facing toward the target L/ner replenishing device or developing device without interfering with each other. become. Moreover, it becomes possible to store multiple hoppers for toner supply in a very compact manner.

An inlet pipe 259 is connected to a distribution container 251 for each color toner. A toner supply port 257 is opened in the container 251 . The container 251 is provided with a rail 254 and an opening/closing member 258 that slides on the rail 254. An extension 251Al of the bottom of the container 251: The opening/closing member 258 is opened by the provided bottle 252 and the spring 255. Always biased to the right. Usually, the supply port 257 is connected to the opening/closing member 2.
It is closed and obstructed by 58.

The bottom extension portion 251A of each distribution container 251 of this toner replenishing device is fitted with bottles 266, 267 and 264 that fit into elongated holes 708, 709 provided in the frame 701 of the Talam shell opening/closing portion 700, and It is fixed by being combined with a bent portion 262 of a plate 261 that is slidable in the direction of the elongated hole.

On the other hand, the frame 701 of the Taramsiel opening/closing part 700 is connected to the bearing part 802 provided on the frame 801 of the base part 800.
The opening/closing operation is made possible by the rotating support shaft 702 that fits into the opening/closing operation.

In addition, bottle fitting grooves 703A, 703B, 703G, 70
The cam lever 703 with 3D is the cam lever 703
Bins 704 and 705 fixed to 7 frames 701 of 00
Bin 266 and base part 8 fixed to the plate 261
It is provided so as to fit into the bin 805 fixed to the frame 8ol of oo.

When the Talam shell opening/closing part 700 is opened from the side view shown in FIG. 1 to the perspective view shown in FIG. By moving the long holes 708 and 769, the plate 261 on which those bottles are planted will move to the left.

In this way, the dispensing container 252 of the toner replenishing section, which is fixed to the bent portion 262 of the plate 261 by the bottom extension 252A, can also be moved to the left. As a result, the container 252 is separated from the container 603 of the developing device, and the opening ylJ closing member 258 is released from its spring 255.
The biasing force closes the supply hole 257 and prevents toner from spilling from the distribution container 251.

On the other hand, the toner receiving port 621 of the container 603 of the developing device 600
The mouth opening/closing member 618 slides on the rail 61Q by the biasing force of the spring 617 and is closed. And developing device 6
The toner in the container 603 of 00 is also prevented from spilling.

In this way, when the clamshell opening/closing g 700 is open, the toner supply unit 250 moves backward and closes the toner supply port 257, and the toner receiving port 621 of the container 603 of the developing unit 600 is also closed, so that toner spillage is automatically prevented. completely prevented.

When the clamshell opening/closing section 700 is open in this way, the cartridges consisting of the three color developing units of Y, M, and C are integrated into one cartridge and the guide rail 7 is integrated into the entrance/exit window 713 of the Talamusiel.
It can be easily attached and detached by being guided by 13A and 713B.

In addition, the developing device 611D for black toner is an independent cartridge with 7 frames 701 of the clamshell opening/closing part.
It is guided by the guide rail 713C of the entrance/exit window 713 to enable easy attachment and detachment.

, cleaner ioo, charger 20. Front charge electrode 9o,
As shown in the perspective view of FIG. 4, the photosensitive drum cartridge 500 including the toner collecting section 130 and the like also moves along the guide rail introducing section 712A8 and the guide rail 712 when the taram shell opening/closing section is opened. The cartridge 500 is guided by guide parts 510A and 510B on both sides to facilitate attachment and detachment, and the drum center bin 11 is guided by guide parts 510A and 510B on both sides of the frame.
It can be set so that it fits in a predetermined position along 1.

Further, the leg portions 503 and 504 of the cartridge are provided to facilitate inspection and cleaning when the cartridge 500 is pulled out from the taram shell opening/closing portion 700 and placed on an arbitrary table, making it easy to handle.

In this way, each cartridge can be easily installed and removed while the clamshell opening/closing section is open for maintenance inspection, and it is also easy to replace the cartridge with a new one. Furthermore, by dividing the cartridge into three parts, it is no longer possible to load toner of each color in the wrong order. This is a particularly useful function not only for full-color images but also for multi-color images. Furthermore,
By attaching and detaching the drum cartridge containing the photoreceptor drum and the developer cartridge so as to be orthogonal to each other, the loading and assembling operation is safer and more reliable than parallel loading. In particular, the structure is simpler if the photoreceptor cartridge is attached and detached before the developer cartridge is attached and detached than if it is done the other way around. This is because if the process is carried out in the reverse order, it is necessary to construct a configuration in which the developing roller and the like are removed so that the surface of the photoreceptor is not scratched during attachment and detachment of the developing device. Although this does not make the structure that complicated, it is preferable to have a method that does not require such measures.

Although each color developing device is placed in one cartridge and the black cartridge is placed in another cartridge, it is possible to consider the replacement period depending on the frequency of use. However, when used as a multicolor image forming apparatus, Depending on the user's usage, a certain color may be used more frequently,
In this case, it is also possible to configure a child cartridge among the cartridges so that the developer of that color can be replaced particularly quickly.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, it has become possible to arrange a plurality of toner supply hopper devices having the same shape and size in close proximity to each other in a row on the same plane. Furthermore, the space occupied by the toner supply hopper device inside the image forming apparatus can be made much smaller than in the past. Additionally, this eliminates the need to increase or complicate the number of components of the drive unit, and since helical gears are used instead of spur gears, smooth, quiet operation is achieved without noise. .

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 and 2 are a left sectional view and a right sectional view of an image forming apparatus incorporating an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a plan view of an image forming apparatus incorporating an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an image forming apparatus incorporating one embodiment of the present invention when the taram shell is opened. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10... Photosensitive drum 11... Drum center bin 20... Charging device 30... Laser writing system unit 60... Fixing device 80... Transfer roller 90
...Pre-charger lOO...Cleaning device +30...Toner collection section 200...Toner supply hopper device 201A, 20
1B, 201G, 201D... Hopper 205... Drive motor 205A, 206, 207.208A... Helical gear 208... Spiral rotation shaft 250... Toner supply device 251... Distribution container 251A...・Extension part 25
2.264, 266.267...bin 255.617
．． 625...Spring 254...Rail 257...Toner supply port 258.618...Opening/closing member 259...Introducing vibe 261...Plate 262...Bending portion 271...Spiral member 272A , 272B, 272G, 2
72D... Hose 500... Photosensitive drum cartridge 503, . 504... Leg 510A, 5
10B... Guide section 600... Developing device 602
...Frame 603...Container 611A...Y developer containing developing device 611B...M developer containing developing device 611C...C developer containing developing device 611D...Black developer containing developing device 612...Developing roller (developing sleeve) 613...
Outer diameter portion 614, 615... Stirring roller 616
... Guide bin 621 ... Toner receiving lower 0
0...Talam shell opening/closing part 701.801...Frame 702...Rotation shaft 703...Cam lever 703A, 703B, 703C, 703D...Bin fitting groove 704.705...Bin 708.709・
・Long hole 7!2.713A, 713B, 713G...
Guide rail 712A... Guide rail introduction part 713... Entrance/exit window 800... Base part 802
・・・Bearing part

Claims (1)

[Claims] A plurality of colored toner supply hoppers having the same shape for color image formation are arranged in one example so that the same reference line of each hopper is in the same direction, and each hopper has a toner supply conveyance port;
1. A hopper device for supplying toner, comprising: a spiral rotating shaft provided within the conveying port, the conveying port having an angle other than the vicinity of 0° with respect to the reference line.