JPH04181967A - Image forming device and toner housing container - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the contamination by splashing of a developer and to automate toner replenishment by providing a means for preventing the disengagement of a toner housing container to be used for preventing the taking out of the attachable and detachable toner container from a device body when a shutter member keeps opening the aperture of the toner housing container. CONSTITUTION:The container body 2 of the toner housing container 1 has the rectangular aperture 3 in the upper part and is formed with a collar 4 on the outside circumference of the aperture 3. The shutter member 5 is provided in the aperture 3. The shutter member 5 is formed as a sheet member for sealing and is hermetically closed by the sheet member 5 for sealing to prevent the leakage of the toner from the aperture 3 before the toner housing container 1 is mounted in a toner supplying device 111. The removal of the toner housing container 1 from the device body 2 is prevented by the means 5 for preventing the disengagement of the toner housing container when the sheet member 5 for sealing opens the aperture 3 of the toner housing container 1 and the toner aperture 3 is not yet closed by the sheet member 5 for sealing. The toner replenishment is automatically executed in this way and the contamination by the splashing of the developer at the time of developer replenishment is prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 1. The present invention generally relates to an image forming apparatus that forms a latent image on an image carrier and develops the latent image with a developing device to form a visible image. The present invention is characterized by a toner supply device that replenishes replenishment developer to a developing device, and a toner storage container.

[Startup I] Conventionally, in an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying apparatus, it is necessary to replenish developer from outside as the developer contained in the developing device is consumed. 1st
An example is illustrated in FIG.

In this example, the electrophotographic copying apparatus includes a latent image carrier 100 such as an electrophotographic photoreceptor, a negative charger 101, and a photoimage exposure 10.
2 to form a latent image, and a developing device 103, 104 converts the latent image into a visible image, that is, a toner image. This copying apparatus is a two-color image forming apparatus, and a developing device located below, for example, a black developing device 104, consumes a large amount of developer, and is equipped with a hopper 105.
As the amount of developer in the hopper 105 decreases, developer is replenished from the hopper 105.

For replenishment developer, for example, in the case of a two-component developer, a lidded opening 107 of a bottle 106 filled with toner is connected to a toner supply port 1 of a hopper 105 built in the apparatus main body.
Connected on 05th. Next, by opening the lid of the lidded spout 107, the toner inside the bottle 106 falls into the hopper 105 yen.

After all the toner in the bottle 106 is replenished into the hopper 105, the bottle 106 is removed from the toner supply port 105a of the hopper 105 by closing the lidded opening 107 of the bottle 106.

The toner replenished into the hopper 105 is transferred to the hopper 10
Stirred by stirring means 105a provided in 5,
A toner detection signal in the developing device 14 causes the toner to be periodically fed to the developer storage section 104a of the developing device, thereby contributing to development.

This method of replenishing toner into the hopper 105 using the bottle 106 requires an increase in the volume of the bottle 106 in the field of high-speed copying machines where an increase in the number of copies and high image quality are required. is required. At this time, in order to increase the capacity of the bottle 106, in order to maintain the toner discharge performance,
It is necessary to increase the height and profile of the bottle. In particular, as the particle size of the toner becomes smaller, the toner discharge performance decreases, and therefore, it is necessary to increase the area of the bottle opening 107.

As described above, in the method of replenishing toner using a bottle, the size of the bottle cannot be avoided, and problems arise in its handling.

Furthermore, even if the area of the bottle opening 107 is increased to increase the toner discharge performance, there is a limit to the size of the bottle opening 107 when handling ease of the bottle is taken into account.

Therefore, as the amount of toner increases, the time required to transfer the toner from the bottle 106 to the hopper 105 becomes longer, which increases the amount of time the copying machine is stopped for toner replenishment, resulting in a stagnation of copying work, which is a problem.

Furthermore, the bottle 106 is inserted into the toner supply port 1 of the hopper 105.
There was also a risk that the main body of the copy form and its surroundings would be stained with toner when it was attached to and removed from the 05a.

Therefore, instead of replenishing developer using a conventional bottle, Honjo Applicant can be detachably attached to an image forming apparatus equipped with a toner supply device for replenishing developer to the developing device, as shown in FIG. , a container body 2 having an opening 3 for supplying replenishing developer to a toner supply device, a sealing sheet member 5 for closing or opening the opening 3, and a sealing sheet member. 5, and a gear 8 for receiving a driving force from the winding shaft 6. The gear 8 serves as a driving means ( (See Japanese Patent Application No. 2-260016).

With the toner storage container 1'' having such a configuration, the sealing member 5 can be opened and closed automatically, and the amount of developer to be replenished can be increased, the time for replenishing the developer to the developing device can be shortened, and furthermore, the time for replenishing the developer can be increased. This has made it possible to prevent staining due to developer scattering, reduce downtime of the device for developer replenishment, and always obtain high-quality images.

However, even with the toner storage container having such a configuration, when the toner storage container 1° is attached to the apparatus main body and the sealing sheet member 5 opens the opening 3, it may be accidentally removed from the apparatus main body. Sometimes it was taken out. In such a case, the toner in the toner storage container 1° will scatter inside and outside the device, not only staining the device and the user, but also causing image stains, and in some cases, it may be necessary to disassemble and clean the main body of the device. There were times when I did this.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to configure a large-capacity hopper with a removable toner storage container inside an apparatus main body, and to form a sealing sheet that can be automatically rolled up and has an opening in a part of the opening of the toner storage container. By providing a shutter member such as the above-mentioned member, toner replenishment is carried out automatically, and by making it impossible to take out the toner storage container from the main body of the apparatus when the toner supply opening is opened by the shutter member, the developing It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus that can prevent staining caused by scattering of developer due to inadvertent developer replenishment and can always obtain high-quality images.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a large-capacity toner storage container that can be installed and removed within the main body of an image forming apparatus.

The above objects are achieved by the image forming apparatus according to the present invention. In summary, the present invention provides a latent image carrier that forms a latent image;
A developing device that converts the latent image on the latent image carrier into a visible image, and a toner supply device that replenishes developer to the developing device, and a toner storage container containing replenishing developer is used to supply the toner. In an image forming apparatus that is engaged with and integrated with a device to form a toner hopper, the toner storage container closes an opening for supplying replenishment developer from the toner storage container to the toner supply device. Further, when the toner storage container is installed in the apparatus main body and the shutter member opens the opening of the toner storage container, the toner storage container is This image forming apparatus is characterized in that it is provided with a toner storage container separation preventing means for preventing the toner storage container from being removed from the apparatus main body.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a latent image carrier that forms a latent image, a developing device that converts the latent image on the latent image carrier into a visible image, and a system for replenishing the developing device with developer. a toner storage container that is removably attached to an image forming apparatus having a toner supply device and that stores developer to be supplied to the image forming apparatus, an opening for supplying replenishment developer to the toner supply device; and a shutter member for closing or opening the opening, and when the shutter member opens the opening of the toner storage container, it is possible to remove the toner container from the apparatus main body. There is provided a toner storage container characterized in that a member constituting a toner storage container detachment prevention means for preventing the toner storage container from forming is formed.

Next, an image forming apparatus and a toner storage container according to the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.

In this embodiment, the image forming apparatus is assumed to be embodied as a two-color electrophotographic copying apparatus, and as schematically illustrated in FIG. 6, - Wide charger 101. A latent image is formed by light image exposure 102, and developed into a developed image, that is, a toner image, by developing devices 103 and 104. This copying apparatus is a two-color image forming apparatus, and the developing device located below, for example, the black developing device 104, consumes a large amount of developer.
As the amount of developer in a decreases, developer is replenished from the developer replenishment device 110. The developer replenishment device 110 includes a toner supply device 111 and a toner storage container 1 that accommodates replenishment developer and cooperates with the toner supply device 111 to form a hopper, as will be described in detail later.

The toner image on the latent image carrier 100 is transferred onto a transfer material P by a transfer charger 105. The transfer material P is separated from the latent image carrier 100 by a separation charger 106 and then conveyed to a fixing device (not shown), where the toner image is made into a permanent image. After the residual toner on the latent image carrier 100 is removed by a cleaner 107, the latent image carrier 100 is subjected to the next image forming process.

14 to 16 show an embodiment of a toner storage container used in the image forming apparatus of the present invention. In this embodiment, assuming that the developer used in the developing device 104 is a two-component developer, the toner storage container 1 stores toner T as a replenishment developer. A box-shaped container body 2 whose cross section is approximately rectangular for the purpose of
has. The container body 2 has a rectangular opening 3 in the upper part as shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, and a collar 4 is formed around the outer periphery of the opening 3. A shutter member 5 is provided in the opening 3. In this embodiment, the shutter member 5 is a sealing sheet member, and the toner storage container 1 is connected to the toner supply device 1.
11, the opening 3 is sealed with the sealing sheet member 5 to prevent toner from leaking.

In this embodiment, the sealing sheet member 5 is attached to the container body 2, as can be well understood with reference to FIGS. 15 and 16.
A flange 4 around the opening 3 is used to close the entire area of the opening 3.
It has a closing sheet part B which is thermally welded by, for example, heat sealing, and a take-up sheet part A which is integrally connected to the closing sheet part B. One end of the take-up sheet section A is connected to one end of the closing sheet section B, and the other end of the take-up sheet section A is connected to the other end of the closing sheet section B while overlapping the closing sheet section B. Then, it passes through the opening 4a formed in the collar 4 and is fixed to the winding means 6.

The winding means 6 is a roller, and its both end support shafts 6a are
It is rotatably held by a bearing 7 formed on the side of the container body 2, and a gear 8 is integrally provided on one side of the roller 6 for the purpose to be explained later. .

Furthermore, at the end of the closing sheet part B to which the take-up sheet part A is connected, there are provided two containers spaced apart from each other, preferably at a distance about the same as the width of the opening 3 of the container body. One end of the ribbon-shaped connecting sheet portion C is fixed, and the other end of the connecting sheet portion C is connected to one end of the sealing sheet portion. The sealing sheet portion and the connecting sheet portion C are
It passes through an opening 4b formed in the collar 4 opposite to the opening 4a, and is folded and stored in the side of the container body 2 (see Fig. 15), and the terminal end of the sealing sheet part is It is fixed to the back side of the collar 4 by heat welding.

The sealing sheet member 5 may be made of any visible material, but is preferably made of a plastic film such as a nylon sheet.

Furthermore, in the present invention, a sensor opening 10 for detecting the state of the shutter member 5 is formed in a part of the flange 4 of the container body 2 for the purpose to be explained later.

In this embodiment, on the side of the image forming apparatus, there are shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 6, a toner container stand, that is, a toner container stand, which can swing freely between a closed position and an operating position opened to a horizontal position (the state shown in FIG. 6) with respect to the apparatus main body 200, is shown in FIG. A replenishment door 11 is provided, and a pair of toner container platform rails 12 are arranged on the upper surface of the toner container platform 11 in a horizontal working position, aligned in the insertion direction of the toner storage container 1. The toner container stand 11 is arranged adjacent to the toner supply device 111 of the developing device 104, and the toner container stand rail 12 is arranged adjacent to the upper opening 111a of the toner supply device 111.
It is aligned with the rail 112 provided in the.

Therefore, when the toner storage container 1 is inserted into the apparatus main body 200 along the toner container rail 12 with the collar 4 facing down, the collar 4 fits the toner container rail 12. , Subsequently, the toner storage container 1 is guided to the rail 112 of the toner supply device 111 provided at the back of the toner container stand 11, and the opening 3 of the toner storage container 1 is aligned with the opening 111a of the toner supply device 111. is set to the position that matches. FIG. 6 shows a state in which the toner storage container is set inside the image forming apparatus.

As shown in FIG. 7, the toner supply device 111 includes an automatic winding drive for winding up the sealing sheet member 5 of the toner storage container 1 onto the winding roller 6 adjacent to the rail 112 on one side. Means 120 are provided.

Referring to FIG. 7, in this embodiment, the sealing sheet member automatic winding drive means 120 includes a support plate 122 swingably supported on a support shaft 1.21.
22 is biased in the direction of the arrow (clockwise) in FIG. 7 by a tension spring 123. Tension spring 123 of support plate 122
A drive gear 125 is attached via a rotating shaft 124 to the side where the rotating shaft 124 is attached, and a gear 126 identified on the rotating shaft 124, an idler 127 loosely fitted to the support shaft 121, and a drive source (not shown). It is rotated counterclockwise in the direction of the arrow by a gear train consisting of a pinion 128 connected to. on the other hand,
A spring plate 129 is attached to the other side of the support plate 122. The spring plate 129 engages with the action piece 9 fixed to the side of the toner storage container 1 when the toner storage container 1 is inserted into the toner supply device 111 and installed at a predetermined position, and the support plate 122 is rotated counterclockwise against the tension spring 123. As a result, the drive gear 125 meshes with the gear 8 of the toner storage container 1, and drives the gear 8 clockwise in the direction of the arrow in FIG.

The drive gear 125 has a torque limiter 130 between it and the drive shaft 124, so that it will idle even if an abnormal load is applied to the drive source and the entire drive system at the end of automatic winding. Even if the torque limiter is provided in the take-up roller gear 8, the effect is the same, but since the toner storage container 1 is a consumable part and may be discarded after use, the drive means 1 is
Providing it on the 20 side is more advantageous in terms of cost.

With the above configuration, when the toner storage container 1 is set so that the opening 3 matches the toner supply device opening l11a in the image forming apparatus, and rotational force is transmitted to the gear 8 of the toner storage container 1, Winding up of the seal member 5 for sealing is started.

That is, when the roller 6 rotates, the take-up sheet part A is first wound up by the roller 6, whereby the closing sheet part B is peeled off from the adhesive surface of the container body 2, and subsequently wound up by the roller 6. Next, the connecting sheet portion C is pulled out into the opening 3 of the container body 2. The position of the connecting sheet portion C in the opening 3 is detected by a detection means 140, which will be described later, and a signal to stop winding the sealing sheet member 5 is sent to the roller drive source. Winding stops. At this point, toner is supplied from the toner storage container 1 to the toner supply device 111.

The toner supply device 111 includes stirring rollers 115 and 116 and a magnet roller 117, and supplies a predetermined amount of toner to the developer storage section 104 in response to a toner replenishment signal from the developing device.
feed to a. On the other hand, when the supply of toner from the toner storage container l to the toner supply device 111 is completed, the winding of the sealing sheet member is started again, the sealing sheet portion is brought over the toner storage container opening 3, and the container body 2
Winding ends when the opening 3 of the toner storage container is sealed, and the opening 3 of the toner storage container is again covered with the sealing sheet member 5.

In this state, the toner storage container 1 is taken out from the apparatus main body 200, and the toner container stand 11 is returned from the horizontal position to the closed position (FIG. 6 - dot-dashed line position).

O of the roller drive source for automatic feeding of sealing sheet members
Detection of N and OFF is performed by the detection means 140 shown in FIGS. 8 and 9. The detection means 140 may have any configuration, but in this embodiment, it includes a photo sensor 141 and a sensor arm 1 rotatably supported by a rotation support shaft 142.
It consists of 43. The tip of the sensor arm 143 normally comes into contact with the sealing sheet member 5 to turn off the photosensor 143, but the tip of the sensor arm 143 normally contacts the sealing sheet member 5 to turn off the photosensor 143. (see also) reaches the position of the sensor arm 143, the sensor arm 143 swings and falls into the notch 5a (5b), and the photo sensor 143 is set to QN, and the automatic feeding of the sealing sheet member is stopped by that signal. The stop signal is canceled after a predetermined time has elapsed by a control device (not shown), and the drive source is energized again to wind up the sealing sheet member 5. Such photosensor 141 and sensor arm 14
Since the detection means 140 including 3 is well known to those skilled in the art, further detailed explanation will be omitted.

According to the present invention, when the sealing sheet member 5 opens the opening 3 of the toner storage container 1 and the toner opening 3 is not yet closed by the sealing sheet portion of the sealing sheet member 5, The toner storage container detachment prevention means 50 makes it impossible to remove the toner storage container l from the apparatus main body 200. Next, the toner storage container detachment preventing means 50 will be explained.

Referring to FIG. 1, toner storage container detachment prevention means 50
has a lock arm 52 swingably attached to the main body 200 of the apparatus with a pin 51.

The lock arm 52 has a tension spring 57 connected to one end thereof, and is normally biased clockwise in FIG. Further, the lock arm 52 is connected via a link 54a to a plunger 54 of a solenoid 53 attached to the device body 200, and when the solenoid 53 is energized, it rotates around the bottle 51 against the tension spring 57. It is swung counterclockwise (in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 1).

Further, the toner storage container detachment prevention means 50 includes a solenoid 5
It has a locking member 55 that engages with the tip of the lock arm 52 which is swung by applying force to the lock arm 52. In this example,
The lock arm 52 is a plate-like member, and therefore, the locking member 55 is formed with a groove 56 having a width that allows the lock arm 52 to engage.

FIG. 2 shows the operating state of the toner storage container detachment prevention means 50, in which the solenoid 53 is energized and the lock arm 52 is activated.
is engaged with the locking member 55, and the opening of the toner container stand 11, that is, the toner supply door is prevented, and therefore, it is impossible to remove the toner storage container 1 from the apparatus main body 200.

FIG. 3 shows an inoperative state of the toner storage container detachment prevention means 50, in which the solenoid 53 is not energized, and therefore the lock arm 52 is moved by the tension spring 57 to the locking member 55.
Toner supply door 1
1 is openable, and the toner storage container 1 can be removed from the apparatus main body 200 at any time.

The ON/OFF control of the solenoid 53 is performed by a photosensor 70 (FIG. 5) provided in the toner supply device 111. To further explain with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11, in this embodiment, the collar 4 of the toner storage container 1
When the toner storage container 1 is installed in the toner supply device 111 for toner replenishment, the sensor opening hole 10 formed in the portion is used to detect the photo sensor 7 of the toner supply device 111.
0 to correspond to the position.

Now, as shown in FIG.
A toner storage container is installed in 1, and a sealing sheet member 5
As the winding of the connecting sheet portion C starts, the connecting sheet portion C
is pulled out to the opening 3 of the container body 2 and winding of the sealing sheet member 5 is stopped, at which point toner is supplied from the toner storage container 1 to the toner supply device 111.

In this state, the sensor opening 1o is not closed by the sealing sheet member 5, so the photosensor 7o does not operate, and as shown in FIG. The solenoid 53 remains energized, thus preventing the toner container base 11, that is, the toner supply door from opening, and thus preventing the toner storage container 1 from opening.
cannot be removed from the device main body 200.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG.
When the supply of toner to the toner supply device 111 is completed, the winding of the sealing sheet member 5 is started again, the sealing sheet portion is brought over the toner storage container opening 3, and the opening of the container body 2 is The winding process ends when the portion 3 is sealed, and the toner storage container opening 3 is again covered with the sealing sheet member 5.

In this state, the sensor opening 1o is closed by the sealing sheet member 5, and the photosensor 70 is activated, and as shown in FIG. is canceled. This allows the toner container stand 11, that is, the toner replenishment door, to be opened, and therefore, the toner storage container 1 can be removed from the apparatus main body 200.

FIG. 12 shows another embodiment of the toner storage container detachment prevention means 50. As shown in FIG. According to this embodiment, a plunger 62 is provided in the main body 200 of the apparatus and is moved in and out by a solenoid 61, and is able to freely engage with an engaging member 63 provided on the toner container stand 11. The solenoid 61 is operated in response to a signal from the photosensor 70 described above, and controls the opening timing of the toner container stand 11, as in the above embodiment.

FIG. 13 shows still another embodiment of the toner storage container detachment prevention means 50. According to this embodiment, the fan-shaped gear 65 is integrally provided with the toner container stand 11 with the rotation center axis of the toner container stand 11 as the center of rotation, and the apparatus main body 200
It is configured to mesh with a drive gear 66 provided in the. The drive gear 66 is operated in response to a signal from the photo sensor 70 described above, and controls the opening and closing of the toner container stand 11, as in the above embodiment.

1.251 As explained above, the image forming apparatus according to the present invention has a large capacity hopper configured with a removable toner storage container inside the apparatus main body, and a part of the opening of the toner storage container is provided. By providing a shutter member such as a sealing sheet member that can be automatically rolled up and having an opening, toner replenishment is performed automatically, and when the toner supply opening is open, the toner storage container cannot be removed from the main body of the apparatus. This has the effect of preventing staining due to developer scattering due to inadvertent developer replenishment and making it possible to always obtain high-quality images. Further, the toner storage container of the present invention is configured to be detachable from an image forming apparatus, and has a large storage capacity for replenishing developer, making it extremely convenient to use.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a toner storage container detachment prevention means constructed according to the present invention. 2 and 3 are front views seen from inside the main body of the apparatus, illustrating the operation of the toner storage container detachment prevention means. FIG. 4 is a side partial perspective view of the image forming apparatus for explaining attachment of the toner storage container to the apparatus main body. FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating the relationship between the toner container stand and the toner supply device. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 7 is a perspective view of automatic winding means for a sealing sheet member which is a shutter member of a toner storage container. 8 and 9 are perspective views of the sealing sheet member drive control detection means. 10 and 11 are perspective views of the toner storage container seen from below. FIGS. 12 and 13 are perspective views of another embodiment of the toner storage container detachment prevention means constructed according to the present invention. FIG. 14 is a perspective view of a toner storage container used in the image forming apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 15 is a sectional view of the toner storage container, and FIG. 16 is a perspective view showing the structure of a sealing sheet member which is an embodiment of the shutter member. FIG. 17 is a configuration diagram showing a conventional toner replenishing device. FIG. 18 is a configuration diagram showing a conventional toner storage container. 1: Toner storage container 2: Container body 5: Shutter member 6: Take-up roller 8: Gear 10: Sensor opening hole 11: Toner container stand 50: Toner storage container detachment prevention means 70: Photo sensor 111: Toner supply device agent Patent Attorney Akira KurahashiFigure 8Figure 9 (2o0 Figure 14Figure 17Figure 18 Figure 1'

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1) A latent image carrier that forms a latent image, a developing device that converts the latent image on the latent image carrier into a visible image, and a toner supply for replenishing the developing device with developer. In the image forming apparatus, a toner hopper is formed by engaging and integrating a toner storage container containing replenishing developer with the toner supply device, wherein the toner storage container removes the toner from the toner storage container. The supply device includes a shutter member for closing or opening an opening for supplying replenishment developer to the supply device, and the toner storage container is installed in the main body of the device, and the shutter member An image forming apparatus characterized in that, when the opening of the storage container is open, a toner storage container removal prevention means is provided for preventing the toner container from being removed from the apparatus main body. 2) An image comprising a latent image carrier that forms a latent image, a developing device that converts the latent image on the latent image carrier into a visible image, and a toner supply device that supplies developer to the developing device. In a toner storage container that is removably attached to a forming device and stores a developer to be supplied to the image forming device, an opening for supplying replenishing developer to the toner supplying device, and closing the opening. and a shutter member for opening or closing the toner container, and when the shutter member opens the opening of the toner container, the toner container is configured to prevent the toner container from being removed from the apparatus main body. A toner storage container characterized in that a member constituting a separation preventing means is formed.