JPH05241442A - Toner cartridge with seal - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a toner cartridge that the number of parts is reduced to the minimum, the peeling force thereof is small and toner is hardly splashed when a seal is opened by fitting plural grip parts to the seal. CONSTITUTION:The grip parts 20 and 21 for peeling are provided in the outside area of the folded seal 22. Then, the developing case part of the toner cartridge is also integrally fused when the cartridge is loaded. Besides, the second grip part 21 is generally hidden and it is not viewed. However, since the grip part 21 appears on the way when the first grip part 20 is pulled in order to peel the seal 22, the seal can be peeled by pulling the grip part 21 thereafter. Since the seal 22 is pulled by holding the grip parts 20 and 21 which successively appear when it is peeled from a toner hopper 10 in such a manner, the part of the seal 22 which is pulled as the result is not made long and the handling of a worker is facilitated.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a toner cartridge with a toner seal applied to an optical writing image forming apparatus such as a laser printer, a copying machine and a facsimile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, in a low-end machine such as an electrophotographic copying machine and a laser printer, a so-called maintenance-free, disposable process cartridge type, which does not require toner replenishment, is mainly used. In addition, even in a system that requires toner replenishment, it is required that toner replenishment can be easily performed while keeping the hands of an operator as little as possible.

In such a process cartridge, if toner accumulates in the developing section, toner spills during transportation and so on, so that toner is not mistakenly sent from the toner hopper side to the developing unit side until the mounting is completed. In many cases, a seal is provided between the toner hopper and the developing device, and the seal is pulled just before use and idled immediately before outputting an image, so that toner is supplied to the developing device side. Also, the toner cartridge itself is generally provided with a seal so that the toner does not leak until it is set in the developing device.

This will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic cross section of a laser printer in which a photoconductor unit and a developing unit can be exchanged. In the laser printer, the recording paper fed from the paper feed cassette 3 in the direction of the registration roller pair is conveyed onto the photoconductor unit 1 with the timing set by the registration roller pair. The photoconductor is rotationally driven counterclockwise as viewed in FIG. 1, and at that time, the surface is uniformly charged by a charging means, and the laser beam from the laser optical system 5 is applied to the photoconductor so that the photoconductor is statically charged. A latent image is formed. This latent image
When passing through the developing unit 2 including the toner cartridge,
A visible image is formed by the toner, and this visible image is transferred onto the recording paper conveyed to the photoconductor unit 1 by the transfer means, and the transferred visible image on the recording paper is fixed by the fixing unit 4.
Is established by. The recording paper ejected from the fixing unit 4 is ejected to a paper ejection section, guided by a paper ejection guide and stored in a paper ejection tray.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the developing unit 2 alone. The developing unit itself is roughly divided into a developing case section 9, a toner hopper section 10, and a waste toner collecting section 11, and these are welded to each other. The developing case portion 9 is provided with a developing roller 6, a developing blade 7, and a charger 8 in order from the toner hopper portion 10 side.

FIG. 3 shows the developing case unit 9 removed from the developing unit alone. Conventionally, when the gripping portion 13 of the folded sealing film 12 is pulled in the peeling direction, the sealing film 12 adhered to the toner hopper 10 is
Are sequentially peeled from the folded side, that is, from the side opposite to the peeling direction, and finally completely peeled from the toner hopper 10.

[0008]

However, in such a conventional method, the length of pulling out the seal tends to be long, the handleability is poor, and a considerable force for pulling and peeling is required. I have a problem.

Particularly in the case of a developing device having a wide developing width, the length of the seal becomes long, and the seal cannot be peeled off by one pulling operation, and it becomes necessary to rehold the seal. At this time, since the picked-up portion is generally in contact with the toner,
There are drawbacks such as soiling the hands of workers.

Further, the longer the peeling length is, the more vividly the seal can fly toward the operator due to the elastic restoring force of the seal itself at the last moment of peeling the seal from the hopper casing. As a result, the toner adhering to the seal may scatter and stain the clothes or the like of the worker. In order to prevent such toner scattering, for example, JP-A-64-7084
In the publication, a structure is disclosed in which both ends of the flexible sheet that is peeled off at the end of the peeling operation are supported, but even in this structure, there is no choice but to grip the portion in contact with the toner.

Further, for example, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Nos. 58-71756, 62-2063, and 62-11.
As known from Japanese Patent Publication No. 0954, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 2-134552, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2-281277, etc., there is a seal winding method, but a mechanical part for winding the seal is required, resulting in cost increase. It was also a factor.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, the present invention provides a toner cartridge having a minimum number of parts, a small peeling force, and no toner scattering when the seal is opened. That is the issue.

[0013]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the above problems by attaching a plurality of grips to a seal in a toner cartridge having a toner supply opening closed and having a seal having a grip. did.

It is preferable that one of the plurality of gripping portions is provided in a region of the seal which is not the folded back side, and very close to the edge portion near the peeling direction.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The details of the present invention will be described based on the embodiments shown in the drawings.

FIG. 4 corresponds to FIG. 3 showing a conventional example,
1 shows a state where a developing case portion is removed from a developing unit alone of a toner cartridge which is an embodiment of the present invention.

The gripping portions 20 and 21 for peeling off are
It is provided in the outer region of the folded seal 22.
When the toner cartridge is mounted, the developing case portion is also integrally welded, and the second grip portion 21 is usually hidden and invisible. However, when the first grip portion 20 is pulled to peel off the seal, the second grip portion 21 appears in the middle, as will be understood from FIG. 5, and after that, by pulling the second grip portion 21, , Peel off the seal.

FIG. 6 shows a second grip portion 2 for peeling off.
1 shows the developing case unit removed from the developing unit alone in the embodiment in which the mounting position of 1'is different.

The second gripping portion 21 'is provided on the non-folded side of the seal 22 adhered to the toner hopper 10, that is, on the outer surface of the adhesion area and very close to the edge portion near the peeling direction. It is installed. First grip 20
7, the second grip portion 21 'appears just before the completion of peeling, so that the seal is completely peeled off by finally pulling the second grip portion 21'. Since the distance L between the seal edge portion and the second grip portion 21 'is short, the situation in which the seal flies toward the front side due to the elastic restoring force is eliminated.

Further, instead of attaching the plurality of gripping portions as described above, an illustration for teaching a change of handle at the time of peeling off the seal may be printed on the seal surface.
The problems of the present invention can be solved.

When the grip portion 20 of the seal 22 is pulled, the appearance of the illustration 23 on the seal surface is shown in FIG.
Shown in. FIG. 9 shows two examples of illustrations for teaching holding patterns. When the illustration appears, the user will change the sticker at that position and continue the peeling work of the sticker. With such an illustration, the user does not peel off the seal with a single pulling operation, but once removes the seal and then peels it off, so the seal does not inadvertently expand and handling is improved. .. Further, since there is no gripping part in the middle of the seal, the shape of the seal member is extremely simple, and the cost of the seal member itself is reduced. Further, the simple shape prevents the seal from being caught in the developing device when peeled off.

[0022]

In the toner cartridge according to the first aspect of the present invention, since a plurality of gripping portions are attached to the seal, when the seal is peeled off from the toner hopper, the gripping portions that appear in sequence are pulled, and as a result, pulling is performed. The part of the seal provided does not become long, and the handling by the operator is extremely easy. In addition, since the force required for pulling is small, there is an advantage that the seal can be easily peeled off.

According to another aspect of the toner cartridge of the present invention, one of the plurality of gripping portions is provided in a region of the seal which is not folded back, and in the immediate vicinity of the edge portion near the peeling direction. Therefore, even for a seal having a high elastic restoring force, there is no possibility that the seal will forcefully shrink and pop out to the outside at the moment when the peeling of the seal is completed, and the sheet with toner adheres to the worker. This prevents the clothes from being soiled and toner from scattering.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of a laser printer in which a photoconductor unit and a developing unit can be replaced.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a single developing unit.

3A and 3B are diagrams showing a state where a developing case portion is removed from the developing unit alone, FIG. 3A is a perspective view, and FIG.
Is a plan view.

4A and 4B are diagrams showing the developing case unit removed from the developing unit unit of the toner cartridge according to the exemplary embodiment of the invention, FIG. 4A being a perspective view and FIG. 4B being a plan view. ..

5 is a view corresponding to FIG. 4, showing a state in which the seal is being peeled off, and FIG. 5 (a) is a perspective view and FIG.
(B) shows a plan view.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the developing case unit removed from the developing unit unit in the embodiment in which the mounting position of the second gripping unit for peeling is different, and FIG. 6A is a perspective view;
FIG. 6B is a plan view.

FIG. 7 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 6B and shows a state immediately before completion of peeling of the seal.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a state in which an illustration on the seal surface appears halfway when the grip of the seal is pulled.

9 (a) and 9 (b) are diagrams showing examples of illustrations for teaching holding patterns.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Toner Hopper Section 11 Waste Toner Storage Section 20 First Gripping Section 21 Second Gripping Section 22 Seal

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A toner cartridge having a seal provided with a grip and sealing a toner supply opening, wherein a plurality of grips are attached to the seal. 2. One of the plurality of gripping portions is provided in a region of the seal which is not on the folded back side, and in the immediate vicinity of an edge portion near the peeling direction. Item 1. The toner cartridge according to Item 1.