JPH05127580A - Toner recovering device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a toner recovering device having a constitution in which the amount of toner recovered can be accurately detected while making the constitution simple and preventing a cost from being high. CONSTITUTION:The device is installed to the housing 1A of a cleaning device arranged on the periphery of a photosensitive body and removing residual toner on the photosensitive body, and recovers the toner removed by the cleaning device; an air permeable material 10 which only air can pass through and discharged toner recovered can not pass through is arranged on the part of a container constituting the accumulation part 6 of the toner.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a toner recovery device, and more particularly to a structure of a storage section for recovered toner.

[0002]

As is well known, in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer, the toner used for the visible image processing of the electrostatic latent image on the photoconductor is removed from the photoconductor. Is being collected. That is, FIG. 9 shows one of the structures of the above-described cleaning device for collecting toner, which cleaning device is, for example, after transfer in the rotation direction of the photoconductor drum A. The fur brush B and the cleaning blade C are provided at corresponding positions.
And a toner collecting member D. The above-mentioned far brush B is scraped in a state where the toner is electrically neutralized by injecting a charge having a polarity opposite to that of the toner by the bias roller E, and is dropped by the flicker F to be collected. And the cleaning blade C
By contacting the surface of the photosensitive drum A, the toner that cannot be removed by the far brush B is scraped off.

On the other hand, the above-mentioned toner collecting member D is composed of, for example, a conveying screw, and conveys the toner collected from the photosensitive drum A to another reservoir. ing.

By the way, since the above-mentioned toner storage portion is constituted by a so-called closed space in which the storage capacity of the toner is limited, the toner storage portion is replaced when the recovered toner becomes full. Alternatively, the structure may be such that it is discarded. In this case, a structure is used in which the replacement time or the disposal time of the reservoir is judged by detecting the weight of the accumulated toner. That is, for example, the bottom plate of the reservoir portion of the toner described above is configured by an elastic member that can expand and contract, and a switch that is operated by the bottom plate that descends when it is full is arranged near the bottom plate, and this switch operates. The designated time is set as the time for replacement or disposal.

[0005]

By the way, in the structure of the toner storage section described above, since the recovery toner transfer path communicating with the cleaning device described above is provided, the open state to the atmosphere is maintained. It is set so that air is mixed in with the recovery toner. Therefore, as the amount of deposited toner increases, the air in the reservoir is also compressed, and as a result, the toner is composed of the above-mentioned elastic member even though the toner is not full. There is a risk that the bottom plate may be deformed to activate the switch.

In order to avoid such a situation, it is conceivable to provide an air bleeding mechanism such as a vacuum pump in the reservoir. However, if such a structure is adopted, the installation location is restricted. However, there is a possibility that the structure may become large, and the cost of the device may be increased.

Therefore, the present invention is based on the conventional toner described above.
In view of the problem in the recovery device, it is an object of the present invention to obtain a toner recovery device having a simple structure and a structure capable of accurately detecting the amount of recovered toner without increasing the cost.

[0008]

In order to achieve this object, the present invention is attached to a cleaning device which is arranged around a photosensitive member and removes toner remaining on the photosensitive member. Toner removed by cleaning device
A device for recovering the waste toner, characterized in that a part of the container forming the reservoir of the toner is provided with a breathable material that allows only the air to pass without passing the recovered waste toner. I am trying.

The invention also provides that the breathable material is comprised of high density polyethylene non-woven fibers.

Furthermore, the present invention is characterized in that the breathable material is integrated by regularly or irregularly dispersing the adhesive around the atmosphere communicating portion formed in a part of the container. I am trying.

Further, the present invention is attached to a cleaning device which is arranged around the photoconductor and removes the toner remaining on the photoconductor, and the toner removed by the cleaning device is attached to the cleaning device. A device for collecting, which is connectable to the transporting section of the waste toner from the cleaning device, and is made of a foldable and breathable material capable of passing only air without passing through the waste toner. A feature is that a toner storage container is provided.

[0012]

According to the present invention, the waste toner introduced into the container
And, of the air mixed in with this, the air is discharged to the outside according to the pressure increase in the container, and only the toner is stored inside, so that the full state of the toner in the container can be detected. It can be detected only by the weight of the toner.

Further, according to the present invention, by folding the above-mentioned container, a space for storing can be saved so much.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The details of the embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a schematic structure of a cleaning device to which a toner recovery device according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied. The cleaning device 1 is a toner removed from a photoreceptor. A housing 1A having a space for accommodating the toner is provided. Inside the housing 1A, a cleaning blade 3 and a pair of toner conveying screws -4, 5 which are in contact with the photosensitive drum 2 are arranged. Has been done. The above-described toner transfer screws -4 and 5 are arranged in the respective spaces with the partition wall 1B formed in the housing 1A in between, and the lead direction is set to the opposite direction. As shown in FIG. 2, the toner transport screw-4 located in one space transports the toner toward the hole 1B1 provided in the partition wall 1B, and the toner transport screw 5 located in the other space. Is configured to convey a toner to a reservoir section 6 of the toner described later.

The toner storage section 6 described above is provided to detect that the toner is full by accommodating the toner overflowing from each space, and is shown in FIG. As shown, the toner introducing port 1 formed on the side wall of the toner conveying screw in the axial direction opposite to the hole 1C.
It is composed of a space portion connected to A1.

The bottom of the toner storage section 6 is formed by attaching an elastic member 8 such as rubber, and
Vent holes 6A are formed in the upper part.

In the vicinity of the bottom portion described above, a fullness detection sensor 9 that is activated by being pressed when the bottom portion is lowered
And the breathable material 10 is provided in the above-mentioned vent hole 6A so as to cover the vent hole 6A.
That is, the breathable material 10 is made of a material having a function of blocking passage of a toner and allowing only air to pass, and specifically, a sheet material made of a high-density polyethylene nonwoven fabric is used. The sheet material of the high-density polyethylene non-woven fabric used as the material 10 has the adhesive 10A dispersed around the vent hole 2A as shown in FIG. After being applied, the air holes 2A are overlaid and integrated.

It is considered that it is functionally better to apply the above-mentioned adhesive to the entire surface in order to cope with the change in the shape of the ventilation hole 6A. However, with such a setting, the ventilation surface can be secured. In addition, it is unavoidable that setting the coating range one by one according to the shape of the ventilation hole will be disadvantageous in terms of parts management and manufacturing. Therefore, the coating conditions are set to those shown in Table 1. ing.

[0020]

[Table 1]

In consideration of the fact that the waste toner becomes 2 to 3 μm when the particle diameter of the unused toner in a copying machine or the like is 7 to 9 μm, the breathable material 10 described above is used. The size of the weave is set so that the passage of only the air can be blocked by the passage of the toner.

Examples of the high-density polyethylene nonwoven fabric as described above include "Divec sheet" manufactured by DuPont.
(Trade name) is available. Using this sheet, an experiment was conducted on air permeability, and the results shown in Table 2 were obtained. This experiment was conducted by forming the above-mentioned high-density polyethylene non-woven fabric into a bag shape and depressurizing it with the toner accommodated inside.

[0023]

[Table 2]

As is clear from the above-mentioned experiment, it is understood that the breathable material 10 returns to the original state from the expanded state within 10 seconds after the pressure reduction and the air permeability is secured.

That is, this phenomenon is as shown in FIG.
The pores of the breathable material 10 are smaller than the particle size of the toner-T, so that the passage is blocked and only the air is allowed to pass therethrough, whereby the air that expands inside is discharged to the outside. It is believed to be obtained because it can.

Since this embodiment has the configuration as described above,
In FIG. 5, the amount of the toner introduced into the housing 1A increases, and the toner that has entered the other space from one space is evenly distributed in the space by the toner transport screw 5. Will be distributed.

On the other hand, part of the toner that has entered the other space described above enters the toner storage section 6, and the amount thereof is increased to increase the amount of deposition. Then, as the amount of deposition increases, the air mixed inside is compressed, and this air passes through the ventilation holes 6A, and the ventilation member 1
When the toner is discharged to the outside by 0, only the toner is accumulated in the storage portion 6 and the amount of bending of the elastic member 8 at the bottom changes according to the weight, and when the toner becomes full, the elastic member 8 causes the full detection sensor 9 will be activated.

On the other hand, in the above-mentioned structure, the toner storage portion is attached to the cleaning device, but the toner storage portion itself may be made of the above-mentioned breathable material.

FIG. 6 shows the structure in this case. In this case, one of the toner conveying screws 5 shown in FIG. 1 is arranged in the pipe 11, and the extension direction in the pipe 11 is arranged. An angle piece 12 is attached to one end of the.

As shown in FIG. 7, a hole 12A for inserting the pipe 11 is formed on one side of the angle piece 12, and a peripheral portion of the hole 12A is made of resin for flatness. The ring 13 is integrated.

On the other hand, the angle piece 12 is fitted with a bag body 14 forming a toner storage portion. That is, as shown in FIG. 8, the bag body 14 is foldable using a breathable material composed of a high-density polyethylene nonwoven fabric as in the above-described embodiment, and a part of its surface, that is, On the surface of the angle piece 12 facing the hole 12A, the hole 1 of the same shape as the hole 12A of the angle piece 12 is formed.
4A is formed, and a resin plate 15 having rigidity for maintaining flatness is integrated with the peripheral portion thereof.

The bag body 14 is mounted by engaging the respective sides of the angle piece 12 with the hooks 16 and 17 provided on the surface of the bag body 14 opposed thereto. In addition, in FIG. 8, the range indicated by hatching on both edges of the surface facing each side of the angle side 12 indicates the application range of the adhesive.

In the present structure, the bag body 14 is mounted on the angle side 12 so that the bag body 14 constitutes a toner storage portion, and the toner is conveyed by the toner transport screw 5 toward the inside. Will be introduced. The air mixed with the toner inside is discharged to the outside due to the characteristics of the material of the bag unit 14, and unnecessary pressure expansion inside is prevented.

[0034]

As described above, according to the present invention, the breathable material capable of maintaining the trapped condition of the recovered toner by allowing only the air to pass therethrough is provided in the toner reservoir, so that it is mixed with the toner. Even if the pressure of the generated air is increased by being compressed inside the reservoir, the air can be smoothly discharged to the outside. Therefore, the toner reservoir is set to the state where only the toner is accumulated. can do. Therefore, the judgment can be made only from the accumulated amount of the toner full detection toner in the recovery section, and the replacement of the full toner storage section or the disposal time can be judged by the simple structure.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the structure of a cleaning device to which a toner recovery unit according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram for explaining the structure of the toner recovery device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the main structure of the toner recovery device shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram for explaining the operation of the main part structure shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram for explaining the operation of the toner recovery device shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram for explaining a partially modified example of the toner recovery device shown in FIG.

7 is a perspective view showing a main structure of the toner collecting device shown in FIG.

8 is a perspective view for explaining the structure of a bag body attached to the main part shown in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram for explaining an example of a toner recovery structure.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Cleaning Device 2 Photoreceptor Drum 4, 5 Toner Conveyor Screw 6 Toner Reservoir 9 Full Detection Sensor 10 Breathable Material 14 Bag

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Satoshi Ishikawa 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo, Ricoh Co., Ltd. (72) Junko Tomita 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo -In stock company Ricoh (72) Inventor Kazuhisa Sudo 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo-In stock company Ricoh Company (72) Hidenobu Endo 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo-Shares Within Ricoh Company (72) Inventor Kenzo Tatsumi 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo, Stock Company Ricoh Company (72) Inventor Shinji Matsumoto 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Tokyo-Ricoh Company Within

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A cleaning device which is disposed around a photoconductor and removes the toner remaining on the photoconductor, and collects the toner removed by the cleaning device. The toner of the present invention is characterized in that a breathable material is arranged in a part of a container constituting a reservoir of the toner, which allows only the air to pass through without passing the recovered waste toner. Recovery device. 2. The toner collecting device according to claim 1,
A toner recovery device in which the breathable material is composed of high density polyethylene non-woven fibers. 3. The toner collecting apparatus according to claim 1,
The breathable material is a toner recovery apparatus in which an adhesive is regularly or irregularly dispersed and integrated with the surroundings of an atmosphere communicating portion formed in a part of the container. 4. A cleaning device which is disposed around the photoconductor and removes the toner remaining on the photoconductor, and collects the toner removed by the cleaning device. Of the above-mentioned cleaning device, which is connectable to a transporting portion of the waste toner from the cleaning device, and is a foldable breathable material which allows only air to pass through without passing through the waste toner. A toner collecting device, characterized in that a container for use is provided.