JPH0535791U - Powder hopper - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] To provide a powder hopper capable of preventing toner stored inside from blocking. [Structure] A large number of gas ejection holes 30 for ejecting high-pressure air upward are provided near the lower end of the hopper body 10. High-pressure air is ejected from each gas ejection hole 30 along the inner peripheral surface of the hopper main body 10 to aerate the toner 20 in the vicinity of the inner peripheral surface of the hopper main body 10 to prevent blocking of the toner 20. It

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a powder hopper that stores powder such as toner used in an image forming apparatus when the powder is manufactured. To a powder hopper that can be discharged to.

[0002]

[Prior Art]

 In image forming apparatuses such as electrophotographic copying machines and printers, toner is attached to the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum, the electrostatic latent image is developed, and the toner image is transferred onto paper. To form an image. The toner is usually used in a state of being mixed with a carrier made of powdered ferrite. When manufacturing such a developer, it is necessary to measure the toner and the carrier and mix them both quantitatively. Therefore, in the developer manufacturing facility, powder such as toner or carrier is once stored in the powder hopper and discharged from the lower end cut gate to the next step.

[0003] The powder hopper usually has a conical shape with a large cross-sectional area at the upper part and a smaller cross-sectional area at the lower part. Therefore, powder adheres to the inner peripheral surface of the lower end, When the powder aggregates and solidifies, the powder may be blocked immediately above the cut gate. When this blocking phenomenon occurs, it becomes difficult to discharge the powder from the cut gate at the lower end of the hopper body. For this reason, a knocker, a vibrator or the like that gives vibration to the powder hopper is provided to vibrate the powder hopper, thereby eliminating the blocking that occurs at the lower end of the powder hopper.

[0004]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 However, if strong vibration is applied to the powder hopper by a knocker, a vibrator, etc., the powder inside may be hardened. In particular, when powder such as toner with high adhesiveness or cohesiveness is stored in the hopper, the powder is hardened by the vibration of the knocker, the vibrator, etc., and the blocking phenomenon caused by the powder is promoted. May occur.

The present invention solves such a problem, and an object thereof is to provide a powder hopper capable of discharging powder having high adhesiveness and cohesiveness without blocking.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 The powder hopper of the present invention stores powder inside and discharges the powder from the lower end, and a hopper main body near the lower end thereof, with appropriate intervals in the circumferential direction. It is provided with a large number of gas ejection holes from which gas is ejected upward along the inner peripheral surface of the hopper main body, and means for supplying high pressure air to each gas ejection hole. By that, the above-mentioned object is achieved.

[0007]

[Action]

 In the powder hopper of the present invention, high pressure air is ejected from each gas ejection hole provided in the vicinity of the lower end of the hopper body, and the high pressure air is ejected upward along the inner peripheral surface of the hopper body. As a result, the powder near the inner peripheral surface of the hopper body is aerated.

[0008]

【Example】

 An embodiment of the present invention will be described below. The powder hopper of the present invention is used, for example, to store toner used in an image forming apparatus.

As shown in FIG. 1, the powder hopper of the present invention has a conical hopper body 10 having a large cross-sectional area at the upper part and a smaller cross-sectional area at the lower part. The hopper body 10 has an opening at the upper end covered with a lid 11, and the lid 11 is connected to the lower end of a powder supply pipe 13 to which the toner 20 is supplied.

The peripheral surface 12 of the hopper body 10 has a constant steep inclination angle except for the lower end portion and the vicinity thereof, and near the lower end portion thereof, a buffer portion 12a having a gentle inclination angle is formed. ing. The buffer portion 12 is provided with a large number of gas ejection holes 30 at equal intervals in the circumferential direction. Each of the gas ejection holes 30 penetrates the buffer portion 12a so as to be directed to the central portion of the inner peripheral surface of the peripheral surface 12 of the hopper main body 10 above the buffer portion 12a, and the axial center thereof is the hopper main body portion. It is almost along the inner peripheral surface of 10. An annular passage 40 surrounding each gas ejection hole 30 is provided on the outer peripheral portion of the buffer portion 12a. A connecting pipe 51 communicates with the annular passage 40, and the connecting pipe 51 has an annular shape. An air supply device 50 for supplying high-pressure air to the passage 40 is connected. This air supply device 50 intermittently supplies high-pressure air from the connecting pipe 51 into the annular passage 40 at appropriate time intervals so that the high-pressure air is jetted into the annular passage 40 in a pulsed manner. Is becoming

A cut gate 14 that can be opened and closed is provided at the lower end of the hopper main body 10, and the toner 20 stored in the hopper main body 10 is discharged to the next step by the cut gate 14. It

In the powder hopper of the present invention having such a configuration, the toner 20 is supplied from the powder supply pipe 13 with the cut gate 14 blocked, and the toner 20 is stored in the hopper body 10. To be done. Then, the cut gate 14 is appropriately opened, so that a predetermined amount of toner 20 is sequentially discharged. When the toner 20 inside the hopper body 10 adheres to the inner peripheral surface of the peripheral surface portion 12 when the toner 20 is discharged, or when the toner 20 aggregates in a lump just above the cut gate 14, High-pressure air is intermittently supplied from the air supplier 50 through the connecting pipe 51 into the annular passage 40. When the high pressure air is intermittently supplied into the annular passage 40, the high pressure air from the gas ejection holes 30 provided in the buffer portion 12a of the peripheral surface portion 12 of the hopper body 10 is absorbed by the high pressure air in the hopper body 12. It is jetted along the inner peripheral surface located above the portion 12a. The high-pressure air ejected from each gas ejection hole 30 causes the toner 20 in the vicinity of the inner peripheral surface of the hopper body 10 to undergo air-relation, and the toner adhering to the peripheral surface 12 is separated from the peripheral surface 12. The lumps of the toner 20 aggregated in the peripheral surface portion 12 are crushed and the blocking is eliminated. Moreover, the high pressure air ejected from each gas ejection hole 30 enters the toner, the fluidity of the toner is improved, and the toner is smoothly discharged from the cut gate 14. Since the inner peripheral surface of the buffer portion 12a in which each gas ejection hole 30 is formed is not provided with a protrusion, the toner 20 smoothly flows even though the buffer surface 12a has a gentle inclination. To do.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and for example, by inclining the axis of each gas ejection hole 30 in the same direction, the high pressure air ejected from each gas ejection hole 30 can be generated. A vortex of high-pressure air may be formed by inclining the inner peripheral surface of the hopper body 12. In this case, the fluidity of the toner is further improved.

[0014]

[Effect of the device]

 In the powder hopper of the present invention, the high-pressure air is blown upward from the plurality of gas ejection holes provided in the vicinity of the lower end of the hopper main body in this manner, and the powder near the inner peripheral surface of the hopper main body is air-powdered. It is possible to reliably prevent the powder from being blocked in the hopper body.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view showing an example of a powder hopper of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Hopper body 12 Circumferential surface 14 Cut gate 20 Toner 30 Gas ejection hole 40 Annular passage 50 Air supply device

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Kouji Okuda 1-228 Tamazukuri, Chuo-ku, Osaka Mita Kogyo Co., Ltd. (72) Naoki Yamane 1-2-2 Tamatsukuri, Chuo-ku, Osaka Mita Within Kogyo Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A hopper body for storing powder therein and discharging the powder from the lower end, and a hopper body provided in the vicinity of the lower end of the hopper body at appropriate intervals in the circumferential direction. The powder hopper comprises a large number of gas ejection holes from which gas is ejected upward along the inner peripheral surface of the hopper body, and a means for supplying high-pressure air to each gas ejection hole.