JPH0421879A - Developing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To efficiently execute the stirring and the carrying of toner in the inside of a toner container by forming the supporting part of a second stirring member with respect to a first stirring member with the aid of giving play. CONSTITUTION:The supporting part which is freely rotated consists of the shaft part 6a of the first stirring member 6 and the hole part 7a of the second stirring member 7. The play of the hole part 7a of the stirring member 7 with respect to the shaft part 6a of the stirring member 6 is sufficiently secured. Therefore, the stirring member 7 is not only freely rocked with respect to the stirring member 6 but also has the degree of freedom in all direction. Due to that, the rotating locus of the stirring member 6 need not be specially allowed to come near the neighborhood of the bottom surface of the toner container 8 and developer in the container 8 can be uniformly stirred and carried. Thus, the toner is carried without being coagulated and being left in the developer container.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a developing device using electrophotographic technology, particularly a stirring means for stirring a developer in a developer container and transporting the developer to a developer carrier. The invention relates to a developing device having the following.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, electrophotographic devices such as laser beam printers
As shown in the figure, it is comprised of a photosensitive tram 2 as a latent image carrier, a developing sleeve 4a as a developer carrier, a developer container (hereinafter referred to as a toner container) 8, and the like. - In the toner container 8, a developer stirring means consisting of a first stirring member 6 and a second stirring member 7 is arranged, and when the first stirring member 6 rotates in the direction of arrow C, the second stirring member The member 7 is a toner container 8
It is configured to reciprocate along the bottom surface. By evenly stirring and transporting the toner in the toner container 8 (particularly the toner near the bottom of the toner container), the amount of residual toner is significantly reduced.

[Problem to be solved by the invention] However, in the above conventional example, the second stirring member 7 (a member that moves reciprocatingly) or the first stirring member 6 (a member that moves rotatably) is fitted and supported at the shaft portion. It is configured(
For example, a hole with a diameter of 3.2+Il+a is formed in the second stirring member 7, and is fitted into the shaft of the first stirring member 6 with a diameter of 3II11). As a result, the following problems occurred.

(1) In order to evenly stir the toner in the toner container, the first stirring member 6 must be brought sufficiently close to the bottom of the toner container 8, but when it comes closest, the second stirring member 7 There was a problem in that the toner would stick to the developing screen 4a by stepping on it, making it difficult to convey the toner to the developing screen 4a side. In addition, when the amount of toner is sufficiently large, the toner is not stepped on by the second stirring member 7, but the first stirring member 7 receives a force from the toner in the direction of arrow P.
The rotational torque of the developing device and the rotational torque of the driving source of the developing device are increased, which causes pitch unevenness in the image. The above phenomenon is noticeable when the first stirring member 6 is closest to the bottom surface of the toner, but the same tendency exists even at other positions. On the other hand, if the first stirring member 6 is not brought too close to the bottom surface of the toner container 8, toner will remain in the portion where the first stirring member 6 does not move, or residual toner will remain, and the user must replenish the toner manually. I had to either have them do it, or if it was a process cartridge type, have them shake the process cartridge.

(2) Also, since the second stirring member is supported by fitting into the first stirring member, the moving speed of the second stirring member becomes a slow and smooth sinusoidal curve as shown in Figure 10. . Therefore, when the second stirring member is configured in a plate shape, toner may accumulate on the second stirring member and not be transported to the developing sleeve. I wanted to,
The user had to manually replenish the toner, or if it was a process cartridge type, have the process cartridge shaken.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and provide a developing device equipped with a developer stirring means that can transport toner without agglomerating the toner or leaving toner in the developer container. .

[Means for Solving the Problems] According to the present invention, the above object includes: a developer container; a first stirring member rotatably disposed in the developer container with a center on an end side; A second stirring member rotatably supported on one end side at the other end side of the second stirring member, and the other end side of the second stirring member is rotated by rotation of the first stirring member. In the developing device disposed so as to be slidably moved on the inner wall surface of the developer container, the rotatable support portion of the second stirring member relative to the first stirring member described in J- is formed with a predetermined play. is achieved by being done.

[Operation] According to the present invention, the rotatable support portion of the second stirring member with respect to the first stirring member has a predetermined play. Therefore, when the second stirring member receives a drag from the developer, it moves to release the drag due to the play, thereby reducing the load on the first stirring member. Also, it does not cause the developer to aggregate.

Further, since the motion transmitted from the first stirring member to the second stirring member is not smooth due to the play, no developer is deposited on the second stirring member -L.

[Example] The first to fourth embodiments of the present invention are illustrated in the first to fourth embodiments of the attached drawings.
This will be explained using FIGS. 8 through 8.

<First Embodiment> First, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4.

In FIG. 1, ■ indicates a process cartridge, which is a photosensitive drum 2 as a latent image carrier, a charging means 3, a developing device 4, a cleaning means 5, a developer container 8 (hereinafter referred to as a toner container), etc. It has an integrated process means and is used in a detachable configuration in the image forming apparatus shown in FIG.

The stirring means according to the present invention is composed of a first stirring member 6 and a second stirring member 7, as shown in FIG. On the other hand, the swingable second stirring means is configured to reciprocate in the direction of arrow B.

In the device of this embodiment, the rotatable support portion is composed of the shaft portion 6a of the first stirring member 6 and the hole portion 7a of the second stirring member 7, and the second stirring member 7 is connected to the shaft portion 6a of the first stirring member 6. The hole 7a has sufficient play. Therefore, the second stirring member 7 is not only swingable relative to the first stirring member 6, but also has degrees of freedom in all directions. Therefore, it is no longer necessary to move the rotation locus of the first stirring member 6 particularly close to the bottom surface of the toner container 8.

From the following J-, the degree of margin in the design of the rotation locus (rotation radius, rotation center) of the first stirring member 6 for evenly stirring and conveying the developer (hereinafter referred to as toner) in the toner container 8. or spread. Further, when the amount of toner is sufficiently large, even if the first stirring member 6 comes closest to the toner container 8, the plate portion 7b of the second stirring member 7 does not step on the toner, and the first stirring member 6 Since the second stirring member 7 escapes within the range of play between the shaft portion 6a and the hole 7a of the second stirring member, fluctuations in the rotational torque of the stirring means can be reduced, and problems such as image L pitch unevenness caused by this can be eliminated.

Further, when the amount of toner is small, play between the shaft portion 6a of the first stirring member 6 and the hole portion 7a of the second stirring member 7 (here, in particular, the plate portion 7b of the second stirring member 7 Because of the approximately horizontal play), the reciprocating motion of the knee stirring member 7 is not a gentle and smooth motion as shown in FIG. 4, but a sharp speed difference occurs. Therefore, even if the second stirring member 7 is plate-shaped, the toner accumulated on the plate portion 42 can be dropped into the vicinity of the developing sleeve 4a by rapid movement, and the toner can be removed without bothering the user. It is possible to use up the toner in the container 8 evenly.

Although the rotatable support portion in this embodiment has a relationship between the round shaft diameter 6a of the first stirring member 6 and the round hole diameter 7a of the second stirring member 7, the relationship is not limited thereto, and a square hole may be used. Also,
The first stirring member 6 may be a hole and the second stirring member 7 may be a shaft.

Furthermore, although this embodiment uses a process cartridge, the present invention is not particularly limited to this, and may be separate from all process means.

The same applies to the following examples.

<Second Embodiment> Next, regarding the second embodiment of the present invention, using FIG.
explain. Note that the same parts as those in the first embodiment are given the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

This embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that the shape of the hole of the second stirring member 7 is an elongated hole substantially perpendicular to the plate portion of the second stirring member 7, as shown in FIG. According to this embodiment, the design margin for the rotation locus (rotation radius, rotation center) of the first stirring member 6 can be expanded to evenly stir and convey the toner in the toner container 8, and the amount of toner can be sufficiently increased. At times, the plate portion of the first stirring member 7 or the toner may be stepped on. Therefore, fluctuations in the rotational torque of this stirring mechanism can be reduced.

<Third Embodiment> Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described using FIG. 6. Note that the same reference numerals are given to the same parts as in the first embodiment, and the explanation thereof will be omitted.

This embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that the shape of the hole of the second stirring member 7 is elongated in a direction substantially horizontal to the plate portion of the second stirring member 7, as shown in FIG.

According to this embodiment, especially when the amount of toner is low and the second stirring member 7 moves back and forth near the bottom surface of the toner container 8, the reciprocating movement of the second stirring member 7 causes a sudden speed difference. It comes to give birth. Second, for this reason, the toner on the plate portion of the stirring member 7 may fall near the developing screen 4a due to the sudden movement.

<Fourth Embodiment> Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described using FIGS. 7 and 8. Note that the same reference numerals are given to the same parts as in the first embodiment, and the explanation thereof will be omitted.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, a support member 9 rotatably attached to the first stirring member 6 is provided, and a second stirring member 7 is further attached to the free end of the support member 9. It is installed. At this time, by ensuring sufficient play between the second stirring member 7 and the supporting member 9, the same effects as in the first embodiment can be achieved. Note that the hole shape may be an elongated hole shape. Furthermore, play may be provided between the first stirring member 6 and the support portion of the support member 9.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, the second stirring member is rotatably supported at one end of the rotating first stirring member, and the second stirring member is caused to reciprocate. In the stirring means, by forming the supporting portion of the second stirring member with play relative to the first stirring member, it is possible to efficiently stir and transport the toner inside the toner container.

Furthermore, with a simple component configuration, it is possible to reduce load fluctuations in the rotational torque of the stirring means, eliminate pitch unevenness, etc. on the image, and achieve high image quality. The spatula allows efficient use of the 1-toner in the toner container without bothering the user.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a device according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a first stirring member and a second stirring member of the device shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. Fig. 1 is a sectional view showing a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus incorporating the apparatus; Fig. 4 is a diagram showing changes in the moving speed of the second stirring member of the apparatus in Fig. 1;
tS5 is a sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a second embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a third embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a fourth embodiment of the present invention. 8 is a sectional view showing the schematic structure of the device; FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the schematic structure of the first stirring member and second stirring member of the device in FIG. 7; FIG. 9 is a sectional view showing the schematic structure of the conventional device; FIG. 10 is a diagram showing changes in the moving speed of the second stirring member in the apparatus shown in FIG. 9. 6...First stirring member 7...Second stirring member 8...Developer container Patent applicant Canon Co., Ltd. Agent

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) A developer container, a first stirring member rotatably arranged around one end in the developer container, and one end rotatably supported at the other end of the first stirring member. a second agitating member, the other end of the second agitating member being arranged to slide on the inner wall surface of the developer container as the first agitating member rotates. A developing device, wherein a rotatable support portion of the second stirring member relative to the first stirring member is formed with a predetermined play. (2) The rotatable support portion of the second stirring member is a long hole formed in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction in which the end of the second stirring member rubs against the inner wall of the developer container. Claims (
1) The developing device according to item 1). (3) The rotatable support portion of the second stirring member is a long hole formed in a direction substantially parallel to the direction in which the end of the second stirring member rubs against the inner wall of the developer container. Claims (
1) The developing device according to item 1). (4) The developing device according to any one of claims (1) to (3), wherein the first stirring member and the second stirring member are rotatably supported via a support member.