JPH0375769A - Shutter mechanism for toner replenishing port of developing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To open and close a shutter member cooperatively with a mounting operation by providing a means for energizing the force for opening and closing the shutter having the change point to be displaced and energizing the opening and closing habits of a toner replenishing port to the shutter member. CONSTITUTION:The shutter member 10 which opens and closes the toner replenishing port 2 of the body of a developing device 1 and the means 20 for energizing the force for opening and closing the shutter having the consideration point are disposed to the above-mentioned body. The energizing force of the energizing means 20 imparts the opening habit and the closing habit to the shutter member 10 with the consideration point as a boundary without acting as external force on the developing device 1. A shutter opening means 30 and a shutter closing means 41 displace the consideration point of the energizing means 20 near to the open position and close position of the shutter member 20. This shutter opening/closing means exist in the positions isolated from the body of the developing device 1 and do not interfere with the developing device 1 and the member 10 while the member 10 exists in the open position and the close position. The disposition of the member 10 which opens and closes cooperatively with the mounting of a toner cartridge 3 into the replenishing port 2 is possible in this way.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] (Industrial application field) The present invention relates to an electrophotographic printer and a copying machine.

The present invention also relates to a shutter mechanism for opening and closing a toner supply port of a developing device in a facsimile machine or the like.

(Conventional technology) As is well known, in electrophotographic copying machines, etc.

It is necessary to sequentially replenish the developing device with toner consumed by development. One of the ways to replenish this toner is
As shown in the figure, a toner replenishment port 2 is provided at a suitable location in the housing 1a of the developing device 1 (generally at the upper end of the housing 1a).
There is a method in which the toner 5 is replenished by making the toner supply port 4 of the toner cartridge 3 (hopper) correspond to the toner supply port 4 of the toner cartridge 3 (hopper). Here, the toner 5 accommodated in the toner cartridge 3 is passed through the toner supply port 4 of the toner cartridge 3 and the toner supply port 2 of the developing device 1 by rotating the toner supply roller 6 of the toner cartridge 3 as necessary. , are sequentially replenished into the housing la of the developing device 1.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) By the way, the above-described toner cartridge 3 is often removed from the developing device 1 because it becomes unnecessary after the toner 5 has been replenished.

Therefore, when the toner cartridge 3 is removed, the toner supply port 2 of the developing device 1 remains exposed. For this reason, in the conventional developing device 1 described above, there is a problem in that the toner 5 is scattered from the exposed toner replenishing port 2 due to the rotation of the agitator built in the developing device 1, and the interior of the copying machine or the like is contaminated. .

Furthermore, exposing the toner 5 in the developing device 1 through the toner replenishing port 2 gives an impression of uncleanliness to the operator, and the image of the developing device 1 is fixed as unclean, which may lead to user maintenance, etc. There is also an increased risk that the process will not be executed in a timely manner.

In addition, as a method to eliminate these problems,
A shutter member biased to close the toner replenishment port 2 is disposed in the developing device l, and when toner replenishment is performed, the toner cartridge 3 is developed! The shutter member may be configured to open against the biasing force in conjunction with the operation of attaching the shutter member to the shutter member 11, and such a shutter mechanism can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art.

However, as described above, if the shutter member is simply given the habit of closing the toner replenishment port, the shutter member is closed in a state in which the shutter member is opened in conjunction with the toner cartridge 3. A reaction force against the habit is applied to the developing device 1.

Therefore, if such a shutter member is disposed carelessly, unnecessary load (external force) will be added to the developing device 1. This causes fluctuations in the positional relationship with the body (such as the body) and the applied pressure, and has an unexpected adverse effect on the image being developed.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a developing unit with a shutter member for opening and closing the toner supply port, and a shutter opening/closing force urging means having a consideration point. The shutter opening/closing force biasing means imparts an opening habit and a closing habit to the shutter member at the point of consideration, while applying the shutter opening/closing force to the open position and the closed position of the shutter member. The shutter opening/closing means for displacing the thinking point of the driving means is arranged at a part separated from the developing device main body.

(Function) According to the present invention, the shutter opening/closing force biasing means provides the shutter member with an opening/closing habit for opening and closing the toner supply port 2; Since the shutter opening/closing force biasing means has a thoughtful point and is disposed in the developing unit main body, the biasing force of the shutter opening/closing force biasing unit does not act on the developing unit as an external force.

Further, this shutter member is given an opening habit and a closing habit to open and close the toner supply port of the developing device by the shutter opening/closing force urging means, so that in the open position and the closed position of the shutter member, No external force is required to hold this shutter member.

Further, since the shutter opening/closing means for displacing the position of the consideration point of the shutter opening/closing force energizing means is disposed at a part separated from the main body of the developing unit, the shutter member faces the open position and the closed position. This shutter opening/closing means does not interfere with the developing device, the shutter member, etc.

(Example) Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

The shutter mechanism of the toner supply port according to the present invention is as follows.

As shown in FIG. 1, the shutter member 10. Shutter opening/closing force biasing means 20. It is composed of a shutter opening means 30, a shutter releasing means 40, and the like.

The shutter member 10 has a shutter surface 11 large enough to close the toner supply port 2 of the developing device 1 (see Figure 2). By pivoting brackets 13 formed on both sides of the shutter surface 11 to the supplementary short shaft 12.

It is supported in a freely openable manner relative to the toner supply port 2.

As shown in FIG. 1, the shutter opening force biasing means 20 includes a stud 21 additionally provided on the bracket 13 of the shutter member 10 and another stud 22 additionally provided on the side of the housing 1a of the developing device 1. The hook is constituted by a tension spring 23 passed between the two. Here, the positions of the respective studs 21 and 22 of the shutter opening force biasing means 20 are such that the shutter member 10 is in the open position (the position shown in FIG. 1).

Release position! The spring 23 is set so as to reach the desired point in a state where the spring 23 is facing a substantially intermediate position (FIG. 4) between the position shown in FIG. 2 and the position shown in FIG.

The shutter release means 30 is composed of a release lever '-31 fixed to the toner cartridge 3 and a protrusion 32 integrally formed on the bracket 13 of the shutter member 10 (FIG. 1). lever 31 and protrusion 3
2 and 2, as shown in FIG. 3, as the toner cartridge 3 is installed, and as shown in FIG. The contact state is maintained until the shutter member 10 is displaced toward the open position, and the contact state is released and the shutter members are separated from each other when the shutter member 10 faces the open position, as shown in FIG. be done.

The shutter closing means 40 includes a closing lever 41.

It is composed of a pin 42. Here, the closing lever 41 is disposed on a side plate (not shown) of a copying machine or the like in which the developing device 1 is installed, for example, at a portion 1 separated from the developing device main body (including the toner cartridge 3 in this embodiment). has been done.

As shown in FIG. 6, the closing lever 41 is rotatably supported by a support shaft 43 provided on the side plate. Further, the closing lever 41 is biased to rotate in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 6 by the elasticity of a spring 44 wound around the support shaft 43. The normal rotation of the closing lever 41 due to this rotational behavior is prevented by one end 41a of the closing lever on the base side coming into contact with a stopper 45 formed by bending a part of the side plate.

On the other hand, the pin 42 has its end extended into the rotation path of the closing lever 41 and the bracket 1 of the shutter member 10.
3 has been supplemented. here.

As shown in FIG. 1, the closing lever 41 is closed when the shutter member 10 is in the open position, that is, when the toner cartridge 3 is installed in the developing device 1.
1 so that it is rotated clockwise and separated from the pin 42. Also, stopper 45
The positional relationship between this and the one end 41a of the closing lever is such that when the shutter member 10 faces the closing position, the point of the spring 23 is displaced toward the closing position, and the closing lever 41 is stopped at a position away from the pin 42. It is set as follows.

The shutter mechanism configured as described above operates as follows.

When the toner cartridge 3 is removed from the developing device 1, the toner supply port 2 of the developing device 1 is closed by the shutter surface 11 of the shutter member 10, as shown in FIG. In this state, when the installation operation of the toner cartridge 3 is started, as shown in FIG.
First, the release lever 31 comes into contact with the protrusion 32.Next, when the toner cartridge 3 approaches the developing device 1, the protrusion 32 is pushed by the release lever 31, as shown in FIG. Reach a point of consideration. When the spring 23 is moved beyond the consideration point toward the open position, the shutter member 10 is retracted to the open position by the elasticity of the spring 23, and as shown in FIG.
The toner supply port 2 of is opened. As a result, the toner supply port 4 of the toner cartridge 3 corresponds to the toner supply port 2 of the developing device 1, and toner 5 is replenished as necessary (
(see Fig. 11), at this time, the protruding piece 32 is opened L/A-3
1 and the closing lever 41 is pushed by the tip of the opening lever 31, so that the pin 42 is separated from the closing lever 41 (see FIG. 11iii and FIG. 7).

On the other hand, when the replenishment of the toner 5 is completed and the removal operation of the toner cartridge 3 from the developing device 1 is started, the closing lever 41 is reversed as shown in FIG. 8 as the opening lever 3t is retracted. Rotate clockwise. As a result, the side chain lever 41 pushes up the pin 42, the point of the spring 23 is displaced toward the closed position of the shutter member 10, and the toner supply port 2 of the developing device 1 is closed by the shutter surface 11 of the shutter member 10. (Fig. 9 and 1)
(See figure 0).

As described above, in this shutter mechanism, the shutter member 10 is held in the open position and the closed position by its own opening and closing habits, and the shutter opening means 30 and the shutter closing means 40 are separated from the developing device 1. Ru. Therefore, in this shutter mechanism, the shutter member 10 that opens and closes in conjunction with the mounting operation of the toner cartridge 3 is disposed in the toner supply port 2 of the developing device l without applying any external urging force to the shutter member 10. can do.

(Effects of the Invention) According to the present invention, since the toner replenishment port of the developing device is closed by the shutter member except when toner is replenished, the inside of the copying machine etc. is contaminated due to toner scattering, and filth is caused by toner exposure. This impression can be removed.

Further, since the shutter member is opened and closed in conjunction with the mounting operation of the toner cartridge, it is possible to reliably prevent operator errors such as replenishing toner with the shutter member closed.

Furthermore, since no external force is applied to the developing device, 'l11. The shutter member can be provided without impairing the reliability of the copying device.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 2 is a side view of the embodiment of the present invention, Figs. 2 to 5 are schematic side views showing the process of installing the toner cartridge in the developing device in the above embodiment, and Fig. 6 is a shutter closing in the above embodiment. 7 to 10 are schematic side views showing the process of removing the toner cartridge from the developing device in the above embodiment, and FIG. 11 is a schematic sectional view of the conventional developing device and toner cartridge. be. 1... Developing device, 2... Toner supply port, 3... Toner cartridge, 4... Toner supply port. 5... Toner 10... Shutter member. 11... Shutter surface, 12... Short axis, 20...
Shutter opening/closing force biasing means, 21. 22... Stud, 23... Spring, 30... Shutter opening means, 31... Opening lever 32... Projection, 40...
・Shutter closing means, 41... Closing lever, 42.
...Pin, 43...Spindle, 44...Spring, 45...
・Stopper%4 figure

Claims (1)

[Claims] A shutter mechanism for opening and closing a toner replenishment port of a developing device that receives toner from a toner cartridge as needed, the shutter mechanism having a shutter surface large enough to close the toner replenishment port, and having a shutter surface large enough to close the toner replenishment port, and The shutter member is supported so as to be openable and closable, and the thought point is reached when the shutter member faces a substantially intermediate position between the open position and the closed position, and the shutter member is displaced closer to the open position than the thought point. Shutter opening/closing force biasing means is disposed in the developing device main body so as to cause the shutter member to face the open position in a state in which the shutter member is closed, and to face the shutter member in the closed position in a state in which the shutter member is displaced closer to the closed position than the desired point. shutter opening means for displacing the point of the shutter opening/closing force biasing means toward the open position in conjunction with the mounting operation of the toner cartridge in the developing device main body; A shutter closing means for displacing the point of the shutter opening/closing force energizing means toward the closed position in conjunction with the detachment operation of the toner cartridge is disposed at least at a portion separated from the developing device main body. A shutter mechanism for the toner replenishment port in a developing device.