JPH04338989A - Erroneous mounting preventing mechanism for toner cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the erroneous setting of a toner cartridge to the case of a toner replenishing part by identifying the toner cartridge at every toner colors and destinations without changing the shape of the toner cartridge. CONSTITUTION:Second magnets 15 and 15a having different magnetic poles at every toner colors and destinations, are provided on the face of a cap 13 having a common shape for being fitted to the toner cartridge 10, simultaneously, a movable member 7 capable of sliding in the cap direction is provided at a position facing the face of the cap 13 of the toner cartridge 10 setting in the case 4 of the toner replenishing part, and the second magnets 15 and 15a and the first magnets 8 and 8a having the conflicting magnetic poles are provided so as to be opposed each other. On the other hand, a switch 18 connected with the driving source of an image forming device is provided on the case 4, and always in an OFF state. When the specified toner cartridge 10 is set inside the case 4, the movable member 7 is moved by the attraction of the conflicting magnetic poles and the switch 18 is turned on. On the other hand, when the different cartridge 10 is set, the movable member 7 is not moved, but the switch 18 still is in the OFF state, so that the erroneous setting is informed by warning, etc.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mechanism for preventing erroneous installation of a toner cartridge in a toner supply section of a developing device installed in an image forming apparatus.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, toner is applied to an electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of a photoreceptor in an image forming apparatus by a developing device, and a developed toner image is formed on the surface of the photoreceptor. Since the toner in the developing device is gradually consumed by continuous development, a separately prepared toner cartridge is installed in the case of the toner replenishing section to replenish a predetermined amount of toner. There is.

Particularly in image forming apparatuses such as color copiers, cartridges are identified by toner color to ensure that the cartridges are installed in the case of the toner replenishing unit of a predetermined color.

To identify the toner color and each destination of the toner cartridge, for example, the cap fitted on the tip of the toner cartridge has a color similar to the toner color, and the cap has a unique color for identifying the toner color. A ring-shaped protrusion of a certain position and size is provided so that the toner cartridge of the same color matches the toner replenishing part of the specified color when it is fitted into the groove provided on the case side and correctly loaded in the predetermined position. I'm doing it. Therefore, a unique combination of the protrusion on the cap side and the groove on the case side is set and identified for each toner color or destination.

[0005]

[Problem to be solved by the invention] Since toner cartridges are produced in large quantities, the assembly process is automated, and for example, parts feeders that match the shape of the parts are used to supply parts in the assembly process. . Conventionally, toner cartridges are identified by changing the shape of the cap depending on the toner color or destination, but in the assembly process, a special parts feeder, fitting jig, etc. are manufactured to match the shape of the cap. It costs a lot of money to have to do this. In addition, in the assembly process, preparations must be made to replace each part feeder and cap fitting jig for each toner color and destination, resulting in a significant amount of work loss, which is not favorable in terms of efficiency.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve these problems and provide a mechanism for preventing incorrect installation of toner cartridges, which can identify each toner color or destination without changing the toner cartridge assembly process. do.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problem] This object is to provide a toner replenishing section of a developing device having a case into which a toner cartridge can be loaded, in which each case of a plurality of toner replenishing sections is combined with a different magnetic pole or position. a slidable movable member having a first magnet disposed thereon, and opposite magnetic poles facing each of the first magnets on a cap surface of the toner cartridge facing the first magnet mounting surface. A second magnet is provided, and when the toner cartridge is installed, the movable member moves due to mutual attraction between the magnets, thereby turning on a switch connected to the drive source of the image forming apparatus. This is achieved by a mechanism to prevent incorrect installation of the toner cartridge.

[0008]

[Embodiment] An embodiment of the present invention is shown in Fig. 1(a), a side sectional view showing a state in which a magnet is provided in the cap of a toner cartridge, Fig. 1(b), a front view thereof, and Fig. 2, showing a toner replenishing section. A side sectional view showing the structure of the case, a side sectional view showing the toner cartridge installed in the case shown in FIG. 3, a perspective view showing the external appearance of the toner cartridge shown in FIG. This will be explained with reference to a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a developing device. However, the present invention is not limited to this example.

As shown in FIG. 5, the developing device 2 disposed in the image forming apparatus 1 includes a case 4 for mounting a cylindrical toner cartridge 10 on the upper right side of the developing device housing 2a. A predetermined amount of toner is supplied into the developing device 2 by the toner cartridge 10 provided with the section 3 and mounted thereon. The toner is conveyed along a predetermined conveyance path within the developing device 2, and the electrostatic latent formed on the surface of the photoreceptor 6 adjacent to the developing sleeve roller 5 provided at the left end of the developing device 2 with a predetermined interval. Toner is applied to the image via the developing sleeve roller 5, and a developed toner image is formed on the surface of the photoreceptor 6, which rotates in the direction of the arrow. Since the toner in the developing device 2 is sequentially consumed by continuous development, when a predetermined number of times of development is reached, the separately prepared toner cartridge 10 is installed and toner is replenished into the developing device 2. A uniform and good toner image can be obtained.

As shown in FIG. 4, the toner cartridge 10 includes a toner container 11 shaped like a tea cylinder, which is closed with a knob 12 that fits into one end of a cylindrical tube made of cardboard, for example. It is composed of a cap 13 that is fitted into the other open end, a sheet 14 that seals an opening 11a provided in a rectangular shape in the longitudinal direction of the toner container 11, and the toner contained in the toner container 11. There is.

[0011] Then, the sheet 14 has the opening 11
a, and then folded back in the direction of the knob 12, one end of which is superimposed and adhered onto the sheet 14 adhered to the surface of the toner container 11 with a seal 14a indicating the opening direction. After a certain amount of toner is stored in the toner container 11 to which the knob 12 and the sheet 14 are attached, the cap 13 is fitted and fixed integrally to form the toner cartridge 10 as a unit. The toner cartridge 10 configured in this manner is inserted into the cap 1 while peeling off the seal.
After the toner is inserted into the case with the third side first and set in a predetermined position, the toner is supplied into the developing device 2 through the opening 11a opened by rotating the knob 12. There is.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a mechanism for preventing erroneous installation when the toner cartridge 10 is installed in the case 4 of the toner supply section 3 as follows.

That is, as shown in FIGS. 1(a) and 1(b), the cap 13 that is fitted onto the toner cartridge 10 is made of plastic having a common shape by removing the ring-shaped protrusion for identification, unlike the conventional cap. For example, N is placed in the center of the cap 13 to identify the toner color and destination in the molded product.
A round (any shape) permanent magnet 15a with a polar magnetic field
A ring-shaped permanent magnet 15 having an N pole of the same magnetic field concentrically with the magnet 15a is placed on the same plane and the cap is placed so that the surface of each magnet (hereinafter referred to as a second magnet) 15, 15a is exposed. It is inserted when molding 13. By changing the magnetic poles of the second magnets 15, 15a and combining them, it is possible to identify the toner cartridge 10 by toner color or destination in a number of ways.

[0014] For this identification, the magnetic poles may be changed and combined, and the positions may be changed and combined as long as the outer shape of the cap 13 is not changed.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, the case 4 has a cylindrical case body 4a in which the toner cartridge 10 is mounted, and a case side wall 4b attached to the right end surface of the case body 4a. It is configured. The case 4a is provided with an abutment surface 4c against which the front surface of the cap 13 of the toner cartridge 10 is abutted, and a circular abutment surface 4c adjacent to the right side of the abutment surface 4c is slidable in the longitudinal direction of the case 4b. The movable member 7 of the mold can be mounted with a rotation stopper. The movable member 7 is a lightweight member made of, for example, a plastic material, and as shown in the figure, the movable member 7 is a lightweight member, and each of the second magnets is placed at a position facing each of the second magnets 15, 15a inserted into the cap 13. First magnets 8, 8a having magnetic poles opposite to those of magnets 15, 15a (in the case of the above example, the S poles) are inserted when the movable member 7 is molded. Then, the right end of the spring 9 was positioned on the front surface 7a of the flange of the movable member 7, and the spring 9 was inserted and positioned using a detent (not shown) provided in the cylindrical portion at the right end of the case body 4a as a reference. Thereafter, the case side wall 4b is integrally attached to a predetermined position on the side end surface of the case 4a while pressing the movable member 7 toward the abutment surface 4c by the case side wall 4b. Therefore, the movable member 7 is connected to the case 4.
Due to the pressing force of the spring 9 located between the movable member 7 and the right side surface of the joint forming the abutment surface 4c of a, the case side wall 4b is spaced apart from the abutment surface 4c by a predetermined distance.
is in contact with the left side of the And the case side wall 4b
A switch 18 consisting of a fixed contact piece 17 and a movable contact piece 16 is provided in a part of the upper part of the case 4a. through the flange surface 7 of the movable member 7
It is placed so as to face A. The switch 18 is connected to, for example, a switch that turns on and off the drive source of the image forming apparatus, and the switch 18 is always in the OFF state when the toner cartridge 10 is not installed in the case body 4a. It has become.

[0016] The case main body 4a configured as described above
When the specified toner cartridge 10 is installed and set with the front surface of the cap 13 abutting against the abutment surface 4c, each of the first magnets 8, 8a and each of the second magnets 15 , 15a, the movable member 7 moves in the direction of the cap 13 against the spring 9, and when it reaches a predetermined position, the contact piece 1
6 is pushed by a protrusion provided on the flange surface 7aI and comes into contact with the fixed contact piece 17, turning on the switch 18.
and each of the first magnets 8, 8 of the movable member 7
a represents each second magnet 15, 15a of the cap 13;
It comes into contact with the object and adheres to it with a predetermined attractive force.

If the toner cartridge 10 of a different toner color or destination is installed, the magnetic poles (or positions) of the first magnets 8, 8a and the second magnets 15, 15a are changed. The movable member 7 does not move and remains in contact with the surface of the case side wall 4b since the movable member 7 does not move and there is no mutual attraction. Therefore, since the switch 18 is in the OFF state and the drive source of the image forming apparatus remains cut off, the user can immediately recognize the attachment by issuing a warning on the panel display or the like in the same way as with the switch.

Since the caps 13 having the same shape are used in this way, the toner cartridge 10 can be assembled without changing the process even if the toner color or destination changes, and the toner container 11 can be filled with toner. After the cap 13 is stored, the specified cap 13 is fitted, and the assembly is completed. Also, when molding the cap 13, if the second magnets 15, 15a are identified by different combinations of magnetic poles, a common mold can be used, which is very convenient in terms of efficiency.

Although the embodiment of the present invention uses magnets for identification, it is not limited to magnets; for example, a bar code for identifying each toner color or destination may be attached to the cap 13 and provided on the case 4 side. Alternatively, the driving source of the image forming apparatus may be turned on or off by reading the information using a sensor.

[0020]

[Effects of the Invention] The toner cartridge installation prevention device according to the present invention allows toner cartridges identified by toner color and destination to be assembled without changing the assembly process, which greatly improves the efficiency of the assembly process. Along with this improvement, the cost of equipment was also significantly reduced.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1(a) is a side sectional view showing a state in which a magnet is provided on the cap of a toner cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 1
(b) is a front view of the same. FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing the structure of a case of a toner supply section according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a side sectional view showing a state in which a toner cartridge is installed in the case. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the toner cartridge. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a developing device installed in the image forming apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

2...Developing device 3...Toner supply section
4... Case 4a... Case body 4b... Case side wall 4c... Abutment surface 6... Photoreceptor 7... Movable member 8, 8a... First magnet
7a...Flange surface 9...Spring 10...Toner cartridge 13...Cap
15, 15a...Second magnet 18...Switch

Claims (1)

[Claims] Claims: 1. In a toner replenishment section of a developing device having a case into which a toner cartridge can be loaded, a first magnet configured to have a different magnetic pole or position for each of the cases of the plurality of toner replenishment sections. A slidable movable member is provided, and each of the first magnets is provided on a cap surface of the toner cartridge facing the first magnet mounting surface.
a switch that is connected to a drive source of the image forming apparatus by disposing a second magnet having opposite magnetic poles facing the magnet, and moving the movable member due to mutual attraction between the magnets when the toner cartridge is installed; A mechanism for preventing incorrect installation of a toner cartridge, characterized in that the toner cartridge is turned ON.