JPH04171468A - Electrophotographic recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a compact, low-priced electrophotographic recording device by connecting the toner hopper part of a developing part to a discharge toner recovery part through a flexible partition member. CONSTITUTION:A discharge toner 3 scraped off by a cleaner blade 5 is sent by a discharge toner carrier coil A6 into a discharge toner carrier coil B8 positioned at the thrust direction end part of a sensitized body 9, and dropped onto a flexible partition member 1 fitted in the toner hopper part 13 of a developing part 12 through the discharge toner carrier coil B8. In this case, the flexible partition member 1 gradually presses a fresh toner 4 by the self-weight of the discharge toner 3. An agitator and a toner supply roller existing so far can be thereby dispensed with, and this results in obtaining a compact, low-priced electrophotographic recording device.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field] The present invention relates to the structure of an electrophotographic recording device.

[Summary of the Invention] The present invention provides an electrophotographic recording device having a toner hopper section of a developing section and a waste toner collecting section, in which the toner hopper section and the waste toner collecting section are connected via a flexible partition member. By connecting the two, the aim was to obtain a small and low-cost electrophotographic recording device.

[Prior Art] As shown in FIG. 2, in a conventional electrophotographic recording apparatus, fresh toner 4 is stored in a toner hopper section (prior art) 23 of a developing section (prior art) 22, and discharged toner 3 is stored in a toner hopper section (prior art) 23 of a developing section (prior art) 22. The waste toner reservoir section 20 of the collection section (prior art) 19 is provided with a separate reservoir section.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the above-mentioned prior art, the fresh toner 4 contained in the toner hopper section (prior art) 23 in FIG. A mechanism for the agitator 24 is required for this purpose, which increases costs. Furthermore, since the discharged toner reservoir section 20 and the toner hopper section (prior art) 23 must be provided separately, this is a factor that hinders miniaturization.

As described above, the above-mentioned conventional technology has the problem φ that it is difficult to reduce the size and cost.

Therefore, the present invention solves such problems and divination.
The purpose is to provide a small and low cost electrophotographic recording device.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The electrophotographic recording apparatus of the present invention is characterized in that the toner hopper section of the developing section and the waste toner collecting section are connected via a flexible partition member.

[Function 1] According to the above configuration of the present invention, the flexible partition member is pushed and deformed by the pressure of the collected waste toner, and the fresh toner in the toner hopper section of the developing section is pressed toward the developing roller side. Also, the agitator and toner supply roller in the prior art can be eliminated.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of an electrophotographic recording apparatus according to the present invention. The outline will be explained below along with the electrophotographic process with reference to FIG.

The photoreceptor 9 is exposed to a sixth exposure section 15 which is given a predetermined surface potential by corona discharge from the main charger 14.
A latent image for forming an image is written. By exposure, the potential of the surface of the photoreceptor 9 decreases, and in the next step, charged fresh toner 4 adheres to that portion. The toner hopper section 13 of the developing section 12 is almost completely filled with fresh toner 4 at the start of use. The Frenschtoner 4 is charged by the bias voltage applied to the developing roller 2 and the charging blade 16 attached so as to be in contact with the developing roller 2, and rotates in the direction of the arrow while attached to the surface of the developing roller 2. , photoreceptor 9
The latent image area is developed.

The fresh toner 4 developed on the latent image portion of the photoreceptor 9 is
The image is transferred onto the printing paper 10 by the transfer charger 17 .

However, the transfer efficiency is not 100%, and since the oppositely charged toner may adhere to areas where a latent image is not formed, the toner remains attached to the surface of the photoreceptor 9. Therefore, the above-mentioned toner is transferred to the photoreceptor 90 as the discharged toner 3.
It is necessary to remove it from the surface. A cleaner blade 5 is attached as a scraping mechanism for this purpose.

The waste toner 3 scraped off by the cleaner blade 5 is sent to the waste toner transport coil B8 at the end of the photoreceptor 9 in the thrust direction by ○, and then passes through the waste toner transport coil B8 to the developing unit 12. The toner is dropped onto the flexible partition member 1 installed in the toner hopper section 13 of. Here, the flexible partition member 1 gradually pressurizes the fresh toner 4 due to its own weight of the discharged toner 3.

In the prior art, as shown in FIG. 2, when the fresh toner 4 is gradually depleted, the inside of the toner hopper portion (prior art) 23 becomes hollow. When it becomes hollow, the developing roller 2
The supply of fresh toner 4 to the printer was insufficient, resulting in a problem of print power fading. To prevent this,
It was necessary to add an agitator 24 and a toner supply roller 25.

However, according to the present invention, the fresh toner 4 can be pressurized via the flexible partition member 1 by the weight of the discharged toner 3 in FIG. 1, so that the agitator in FIG. 24 and toner supply roller 2
5 can be abolished.

[Effect of the Invention 1] As described above, according to the above structure of the present invention, it is possible to eliminate the discharged toner reservoir 20, the agitator 24, and the toner supply roller 25 in FIG. 2 according to the prior art. Therefore, a compact and low-cost electrophotographic recording device can be provided.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an electrophotographic recording apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a sectional view of an electrophotographic recording device according to the prior art. l... Flexible partition member 2... Developing roller 3... Wandering toner 4... Fresh toner 5... Cleaner blade 6... Discharged toner conveying coil A 7... Discharged toner conveying motor 8.・Discharged toner conveying coil B 9 ・Photoreceptor 10 ・Print paper 11 ・Transfer toner 12 ・・Developer section 13 ・Toner hopper section 14 ・Main charger 15 ・Exposure section 16 ・...Charging blade 17...Transfer charger 18...Discharged toner collection section 19...Discharged toner collection section (prior art) 20...Discharged toner reservoir section 21•Discharged toner collection roller 22...Development Part (prior art) 23. - Toner hopper part (prior art) 24... Agitator 25... Toner supply roller and above Applicant Seiko Epson Corporation Representative Patent attorney Kizo Suzuki Department (1 person in chemical engineering) No. 1 Figure 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] An electrophotographic recording device having a toner hopper section of a developing section and a discharged toner collection section, characterized in that the toner hopper section and the discharged toner collection section are connected via a flexible partition member. Device.