JPH056084A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To extremely facilitate the replenishing operation of a toner and the disposing of a waste toner and to enable the effective utilization of parts. CONSTITUTION:A toner cartridge 500 inserted from an insertion window 692 is carried to the opening part of a toner hopper by a carrying mechanism constituted of rollers 610 and 611, etc., the seal of the lower surface of the cartridge is peeled off by an opening roller 680 and the toner is replenished. The empty cartridge is reversely carried to the cartridge storing section of a storing box 550 for the empty cartridge, etc., dropped and stored here. A waste toner storing section is formed on the box 550 for storing the waste toner carried from a cleaning device and supported attachably and detachably to the device main body.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electrostatic latent image forming apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, which has been widely spread, forms a visible image on a recording medium (sheet) using a cursor process (electrophotographic process). This visible image is formed by fine particles called toner stored in the developing device, and the toner is a consumable item consumed every time an image is formed. Therefore, when the amount of toner becomes less than or equal to a predetermined amount, the toner must be replenished each time, which is the most troublesome operation for maintenance of the image forming apparatus. Further, in the one in which the untransferred toner is removed from the photoconductor by the cleaning device in the image forming apparatus and is collected as the waste toner in the waste toner bottle which is the waste toner storage means provided in the apparatus, the waste toner bottle is Waste toner needs to be discarded before it is full. Although various proposals have been made for toner replenishment methods, typical methods include a method of directly replenishing toner to a toner replenishing portion of a developing device, or a toner cartridge containing toner. There is known a method in which the toner is replenished from the toner cartridge and the toner is replenished from the toner cartridge. However, in these methods, when the toner becomes less than a predetermined amount, the operator must replenish the toner each time,
Convenience and operability are extremely poor, and when replenishing toner to the toner replenishment section and when taking out the empty toner cartridge after replenishing toner to the outside of the device, the toner is scattered inside and outside the device to contaminate the device. Or dirty the operator's hands and clothes,
There was a problem that cleanliness, convenience, and operability were extremely poor.

Therefore, in order to improve the operability in maintenance of the apparatus such as replenishing toner and discarding waste toner, the photosensitive drum and a mechanism such as a waste toner bottle and a toner accommodating portion arranged around the photosensitive drum are integrated. The technology for putting the toner into a unit and replacing the unit when the stored toner is consumed has been put into practical use.

[0004]

However, according to this technique, the trouble of replenishing the toner using the cartridge or the like every time the toner is consumed is eliminated, but when the stored toner is exhausted, it still has a life. Even the developing roller, the charger, the cleaning blade, etc., which are being used, are discarded. In other words, too much pursuit of operability in maintenance,
It also throws away many usable parts. Although operability is an extremely important factor for products, it is not preferable to throw away what can still be used in this way, considering the effective use of resources.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus which realizes good operability and enables effective use of parts. is there.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention comprises an electrostatic latent image carrier and a developing means for developing the electrostatic latent image on the electrostatic latent image carrier. Cleaning means for collecting untransferred toner from the electrostatic latent image carrier, waste toner housing means for housing the toner collected by the cleaning means, developer housing means for housing replenishment developer, and A loading section in which the developer accommodating means is loaded, a transfer means for transferring the loaded developer accommodating means to a developer replenishing section, and an empty developing process in which the developer is replenished in the developer replenishing section A transfer means for transferring the developer accommodating means from the developer replenishing portion to a storage means for storing the empty developer accommodating means is provided, and the storage means and the waste toner accommodating means are integrated and detachable from the apparatus main body. It is characterized by having been supported by.

[0007]

According to the present invention, the developer accommodating means loaded in the loading section by the transferring means is transferred to the developer replenishing section, thereby facilitating the loading of the developer accommodating means and at the developer replenishing section. The developer accommodating means emptied by replenishing the developer is transferred from the developer replenishing section to a storage means provided in the apparatus, and the empty developer accommodating means is stored there. As a result, the developer can be replenished by simply loading the developer accommodating means into the main body until the storage means becomes full, saving the trouble of taking out the empty developer accommodating means each time. I was there. Further, this storage means is integrated with the waste toner storage means for storing the toner collected by the cleaning means, and is detachably supported by the main body of the apparatus, so that it becomes unnecessary by use in one disposal operation. The empty developer accommodating means can be discarded.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A digital copying machine (hereinafter referred to as a copying machine) which is an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. In FIG. 1, this digital copying machine comprises a reading device (scanner) 10 which is a document reading means, and a copying device (printer) 90 which executes a series of processes for copying the read document information on paper. .

The electrical components of this digital copying machine will be outlined below with reference to FIG. A reading control circuit 20, a reading drive device 30, an image reading circuit 40, and an image processing circuit 50 are accommodated in the housing of the reading device 10, and the read document information is stored in the housing of the copying device 90. An image information storage device 60 serving as a storage unit, a copying circuit 70, a system control unit 61, and an operating unit 80 serving as an operating unit for performing a key input to the system control unit 61 are accommodated. The information storage device 60 includes an image memory unit 62 and the system control device 61. And
The read control circuit 20, the write drive control circuit 71 included in the copy circuit 70, and the operating device 80 are the system control circuit 6
1 and signal lines L1, L2, and L3 for data transmission with each other.

The reading control circuit 20 receives a signal from the system control circuit 61 via L1, and the scanner motor 31
Rotation speed control, heater control of the fluorescent lamp 32, lighting instruction of the fluorescent lamp 32, control of the filter solenoid 33 for document size detection, scanner power supply cooling fan control, and the like. The image reading circuit 40 converts a reflected light from a document into an analog signal of 80 dpi,
The signals from the CCD 41 are odd (ODD) and even (EVE).
An amplifier 42 that amplifies by dividing into N) (because the time per pixel is very short, it is divided into two according to the performance of the amplifier),
A switching element 43 for synthesizing the ODD and EVEV signals from the amplifier 42 into a serial analog signal, and an amplification degree instruction for correcting the variation in the brightness of the fluorescent lamp 32 from the image processing circuit 50 with the analog signal from the switching element 43. A variable amplifier 44 that amplifies by the data AGC, an A / D converter 45 that converts an analog signal from the variable amplifier 44 into a digital signal, and the like are provided. The image processing circuit 50 includes five gate arrays 51 to 55, a clock generation circuit 56, a ROM 57, a RAM 58, etc. for processing the image signal sent from the image reading circuit 40. The gate array 51 detects light intensity, shading correction, timing control, command control,
Data editing / output, CCD drive clock generation, etc., gate array 52 scaling in main scanning direction, gate array 53
Is in charge of halftone processing, binarization processing, document size detection, gate array 54 is in charge of character / halftone separation, hollow editing, and gate array 55 is in charge of mark area detection. The image memory unit 62 is composed of a memory board and a memory control board. A system control circuit 61 controls the entire system and gives instructions for reading and writing image data. Control of the entire system includes system ready status monitoring, transfer paper size / remaining amount detection, document reading and paper feed start instruction, scanner copy mode and printer copy mode control, etc.
When issuing a write instruction, the remaining amount of memory is ascertained. The copying circuit 70 includes a line driver circuit 72 that receives image data from the image memory unit 62, a laser driver circuit 73 that amplifies an image data signal from the line driver circuit 72, and a semiconductor laser (LD) driven by a laser driver circuit 73. 74, a read drive control circuit 75, a write drive control circuit 71, a drive device 76 and the like. The operation device 80 includes an operation panel 81 provided with a display for displaying various information and input keys, and an operation control circuit 82.

Next, with reference to FIG. 1, which is a front view showing the schematic structure, the schematic structure and operation of the mechanical portion will be described. First, the reading device 10 will be described. The reading device 10 irradiates a document on a contact glass 306 on which a document is placed, a document scale 305 provided on an edge of the contact glass, a document pressure plate 307 that can cover the entire area of the contact glass 306, and a contact glass 306. Fluorescent lamp 301, first to third reflecting light reflected from the document
A lens 308 covered with a cover 309 on which the reflected light from the mirrors 302, 303, 304 and the third mirror is incident, CCD 310 arranged at the image forming position of the lens 308, CC
An image reading plate 311 to which the D310 is attached and which incorporates the A / D converter 45, a substrate 312 on which the image processing circuit 50 is formed, a cooling fan 313 for cooling the inside of the apparatus, and the like are provided. Then, the original is set on the contact glass 306 and the copy start button on the operation panel 81 is turned on.
Then, the optical system such as the fluorescent lamp 301 is moved below the contact glass 306 to scan the original, and the reflected light from the original is imaged on the CCD 310 via the lens 308 and the original information is read. . The original image formed on the CCD 310 is output as an analog signal in synchronization with the clock from the image processing circuit 50, and subjected to signal amplification, signal synthesis, and variable amplification, and then converted into a digital signal by the A / D conversion converter 45. The digital signal is processed by the image processing circuit 50 to be converted into digital recorded image information, which is output to the image information storage device 60 of the copying apparatus 90.

Next, the copying machine 90 will be described. In FIG. 1, the photosensitive drum 140, which is an image carrier, is rotated clockwise. A transfer charger 350 is provided in the vicinity of the top of the photoconductor drum 140 so as to face it to form a transfer portion. Between this transfer unit and a paper tray 349 for horizontally storing transfer paper, which is horizontally provided on the upper portion of the apparatus,
A conveyance path including the conveyance guide plate 383, the first relay roller pair 327, and the intermediate roller pairs 328 and 329 is formed. This paper tray 349 has a pickup roller 32.
4, a paper feed roller 325 and a reverse roller 326 are arranged to form a paper feed device 390. Further, a registration roller pair 330 is provided near the transfer portion of the transport path.
Further, a conductor separating / conveying belt 351 is provided between the transfer section and the sheet discharge port, and a fixing heater of about 700 W is provided inside,
A fixing device including a Teflon-coated fixing roller 335 and a pressure roller 334 is provided. A cleaning device 130 is provided on the right side of the photosensitive drum 140.
Below the cleaning device 130, a waste toner bottle 340 for containing the toner removed from the surface of the photoconductor drum 140 is provided. A discharge lamp 341 and a charger 342 having a grid 343 are provided on the upper left side of the waste toner bottle 340 so as to face the surface of the photosensitive drum 140. The charger 342 is connected to a high voltage generator for negative voltage and uniformly charges the surface of the photosensitive drum 140 to minus 600 volts.
The photoconductor drum 140 is formed with an exposure section to which a laser beam from a writing optical system unit 385 that is horizontally provided in the lower part of the apparatus is irradiated. In the writing optical system unit 385, the semiconductor laser 7 not shown here is shown.
4 (see FIG. 2), a cylinder lens, and a polygon mirror 344, f driven to rotate by a polygon mirror motor 345.
A −θ lens (not shown), a reflection mirror 346, etc. are provided. Above the writing optical system unit 385, there is provided a developing device including a developing device 100 having a magnet roller 102 facing the upward moving area of the surface of the photosensitive drum 140, and a toner hopper 101. In the developing device 100, as shown by the reference numeral in FIG. 5, in addition to the magnet roller 102, the magnet roller 102
A developing doctor 105 that controls the amount of the upper developer, a separator that guides the developer that is regulated by the developing doctor 105 and returned to the lower portion, and is provided with a rectifying plate 109, and a shaft of the magnet roller 102 in the developing device 100. A conveying member 103 that stirs the developer in a direction perpendicular to the developer, a mixing stirring member 104 that mixes the toner replenished from the toner hopper 101, which is a toner replenishing unit, with the developer are provided.
The lower part of the toner hopper 101 is opened to the developing device 100, a toner replenishing roller 108 is provided in this opening, and an agitator 106 for stirring the toner inside is provided. Then, the upper portion thereof opens upward, and this opening (hereinafter referred to as a hopper opening) serves as a toner replenishing unit to which the cartridge 500 containing toner is mounted. An empty cartridge storage box 550 is provided on the front side of the toner hopper 101 in the plane of the drawing. The empty cartridge storage box 550 constitutes an empty cartridge storage section for storing the empty cartridge 500 by replenishing the toner in the toner hopper 101 (see FIG. 6). .

On the upper wall of the copying machine 90, paper trays 347 and 348 and pickup rollers 314 and 3 are provided inside.
19, paper feeding rollers 315, 320, reverse rollers 316,
Optional (optional) paper feeding device 39 including 321 and the like
1, 392 are arranged. Then, the paper feeding device 3
91 is provided with a third relay roller pair 317, and the sheet feeding device 392 is provided with a second relay roller pair 322. Each of the paper trays 349, 348, 347 is freely drawn out, and a set detection sensor and a size detection sensor (not shown) are also provided. The transfer paper in the tray is raised to a position where it comes into contact with the pickup rollers 324, 314, 319.

A first relay sensor 318, a second relay sensor 323, and a registration sensor 331 are provided in order to detect the transport status of the transfer paper in the transport path.

FIG. 3 shows a detailed structure of the write drive control circuit 71 in FIG. Each of the above sensors is connected to the CPU via the input gate arrays 701 and 702 in FIG.
It is taken in by 703. The sensor groups 390a, 391a, 392a in the sheet feeding devices 390, 391, 392 connected to the input gate array 701 include a sheet size detection sensor, a paper end detection sensor, a tray set detection sensor, and a connection detection sensor. The first and second relay sensors 318 and 323 and the door open sensor 704 of the sheet feeding device 390 are also connected. Input gate array 7
The sensor group 705 connected to the No. 02 is an optical sensor 352 which is a toner density sensor, an insertion sensor related to a storage box such as an empty cartridge, a drum vertical eye sensor related to replacement of a photoconductor sheet, an electrometer, and a sheet leading edge sensor. Etc. are included. An actuator group 707 connected to the output gate array 706 includes a relay clutch for feeding and feeding, an intermediate clutch, a registration clutch, each cartridge-related actuator described later, a main motor, a cleaning blade solenoid, and a toner replenishing solenoid. ,
A polygon motor 345, a fixing heater 336, a charging high-voltage power supply circuit, a transfer high-voltage power supply circuit, an erasing lamp 341, a toner concentration sensor, and the like are included. Paper feeding devices 390, 39
1,392 actuator groups (backup solenoid, paper feed clutch, tray lock solenoid, and lifting motor) are connected to the output port of the CPU 703 via serial / parallel receivers 708 to 710.

In the above configuration, the semiconductor laser 74 in the writing optical system unit 385 corresponds to the digital recording image information which is a 1-bit (recording / non-recording) binary signal per pixel in the laser driver circuit 73. The laser light emitted from the semiconductor laser 74 is reflected by the polygon mirror 344, passes through the f-θ lens (not shown), is reflected by the reflection mirror 346, and is irradiated onto the photosensitive drum 140 to form an image. To be done. The polygon mirror 344 is rotationally driven at a constant speed by a polygon motor 345, and the above-mentioned laser light is scanned in a horizontal direction which is a direction perpendicular to the moving direction of the photosensitive drum 140.

The surface of the photoconductor drum 140 has a charger 34.
2 is uniformly charged to minus 600 volts. When the laser beam emitted based on the digitally recorded image information is applied to the uniformly charged surface of the photoconductor, the photoconductive phenomenon causes the charge on the surface of the photoconductor to pass through the conductive layer of the photoconductor drum 140 to be a device. It flows to the ground and disappears. Here, the laser is not turned on in a portion where the original density is low (the binarization signal is a non-recording level), and the laser is turned on in a portion where the original density is high (the binary signal is a recording level). As a result, the portion of the surface of the photoconductor drum 140 corresponding to the light density portion of the original has a potential of approximately minus 600 volts, and the dark portion of the original has a potential of approximately minus 100 volts, which corresponds to the light and darkness of the original. An electrostatic latent image is formed. This electrostatic latent image is developed by a developing device, and the photosensitive drum 14
A toner image is formed on the surface of 0. The toner in the developing device 100 is negatively charged by stirring, the magnet roller 102 in the developing device 100 is biased to about −450 V by the developing bias generator, and the surface potential of the photosensitive drum 140 is equal to or higher than the developing bias. And a toner image corresponding to the original image is formed.

On the other hand, the transfer paper has three paper trays 34.
9, 348, 347 is selected and fed, conveyed, and sent out to the transfer portion by the registration roller 330 at a predetermined timing, and is formed on the photosensitive drum 140 by the action of the transfer charger 350. The transferred toner image is transferred. The transfer paper on which the toner image has been transferred is attracted to the conveyor belt 351 and separated from the surface of the photosensitive belt. After that, the transfer paper passes between the fixing roller 335 and the pressure roller 334 to fix the toner, the transfer paper is separated by the separation claw 333, and is discharged onto a paper discharge tray (not shown). Then, the surface of the photosensitive drum 140 after the toner image is transferred onto the transfer paper is prepared for the next uniform charging after the residual toner is removed by the cleaning value 130.

The outline of the operation of the toner and agent replenishing mechanism will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. In FIG.
The developing device 100 uses the magnet roller 1 to remove the toner in the apparatus.
02 and the agent are supplied to the photoconductor drum 140 to visualize the latent image on the photoconductor. The consumed toner is supplemented by supplying the toner stored in the toner hopper 101a into the developing device 100 by the toner replenishing roller 108. In addition, the agent deteriorates as the number of copies increases, so that the agent needs to be replaced, and this is automatically performed in the apparatus of the present invention. New agent required for replacement is agent hopper 101
It is stored in b and is supplied to the developing device by the agent replenishing roller 107. In FIG. 4, in the present replenishment mechanism,
A loading section 690 on the front side of the image forming apparatus main body by the user
The cartridge 500 inserted into the
3, first transport roller 610, second transport roller 611, third
The transfer roller 612 moves to the toner / agent replenishment position above the hopper 101, removes the cartridge seal 504 that seals the cartridge 500 at the replenishment position, and replenishes the toner and agent into the hopper 101. The cartridge 500 that has become empty after the replenishment is completed, before the replenished toner is consumed and the next cartridge is inserted, moves from the replenishment position to the empty cartridge stacking portion 551 (see FIG. 6) of the empty cartridge storage box 500. Be transferred.
The automatic exchange of the agent using the supplemented agent will be described in detail later. Further, the replacement timing when the empty cartridge stacking unit 551 is full of empty cartridges 550 will also be described later. The empty cartridge storage box 550 in the present embodiment is formed by integrating the empty cartridge accumulating portion 551, the waste toner accommodating portion 561, and the photoconductor sheet accommodating portion 599 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 67. Since the toner agent replenishing mechanism of the apparatus main body and the cartridge 500 are the same as those in which only the empty cartridge accumulating section 551 and the waste toner accommodating section 561 shown in FIG. In the description of FIG. 5, a view showing the shape of the empty cartridge storage box 550 set in the apparatus main body as shown in FIG. 30 (FIG. 4, FIG. 5, FIG. 8, FIG. 19 to FIG. 25)
Will be explained.

First, the cartridge 50 used in this embodiment.
0 will be described. FIG. 9 is a perspective view thereof. The cartridge 500 has a cartridge upper plate 501 at the top.
And the bottom is constituted by the cartridge lower plate 503, and
A side portion connecting the upper portion and the bottom portion is constituted by a cartridge film 502, and is internally partitioned by a partition made of a double film made of the same material as the cartridge film 502, and a toner accommodating portion and a developer accommodating portion ( Hereinafter, this is referred to as an agent storage section). Each of the left and right brim portions of the cartridge upper plate 501 extending outward from the side surface is formed with a guide wing portion 501a extending further outward from the front end to substantially the center in the front-rear direction. A timing groove 501b is formed on the upper surface of the cartridge upper plate 501 from the front end to the rear end substantially at the center in the left-right direction. The cartridge film 502 needs to be soft, and for example, a film member such as a polyester film or an elastic member such as polyurethane rubber is used. This is to enable storage in an empty cartridge container 551 (see FIG. 6) in a state in which the vertical direction is collapsed, as described later. Cartridge lower plate 503
A pair of guide wings 503a extending further outward at the same position in the front-rear direction are formed at regular intervals on each of the left and right brim portions extending outward from the side surface. A timing groove 503b is formed on the upper surface of the pair of guide wings 503a formed on the left flange. In addition, the guide wing portion 503a formed on the left collar portion
The distance from the outer end surface of the cartridge film 502 to the left side surface of the cartridge film 502 is equal to the guide wing portion 503a formed on the right collar portion.
Is larger than the distance from the outer end surface of the cartridge film 502 to the right side surface of the cartridge film 502. Further, an opening is formed in a portion of the lower cartridge plate 503 surrounded by the lower edge of the cartridge film 502, and this opening serves as an outlet for toner and agent. This opening is for the toner storage portion 502a,
A toner seal and a developer are stored in the agent storage portion 502b and are sealed by a cartridge seal 504. The cartridge seal 504 has a seal removing mechanism, which will be described later, when the cartridge 50 is mounted on the hopper opening 124.
Since it is located on the right flange portion side of 0, for example, after the adhesive is applied to the flange portion of the cartridge lower plate 503, the right flange portion of the front, rear, left and right flange portions is started to be attached to the left flange portion. After that, the free end is extended to the outer end of the right flange 503a, and the edge of the free end is bonded to the right flange.

In this example, the cartridge upper plate 50
1. The cartridge lower plate 503 has a plate thickness of 3 mm, and the total height of the cartridge 503 is set to 86 mm. Also, an empty cartridge housing portion 551 described later
The cartridge lower plate 503, which is the bottom of the cartridge lower plate 503, does not have a problem such that a member other than the cartridge lower plate 503 of the cartridge 500 that guides the cartridge lower plate 503 just before the drop does not occur when the cartridge lower plate 503 falls. It is desirable to set the side surface and the upper surface so that the upper cartridge 500 portion can be projected.

The weight ratio of the toner to the agent contained in the cartridge 500 is preferably in the range of 1: 1 to 3: 1. This is because, in the apparatus according to the present invention, the agent exchange is automatically performed according to the loading of the cartridge 500 each time the toner runs out. Therefore, all the toner in the cartridge 500 must be consumed before the end of the agent life. In this embodiment, 150 g of the agent is stored in the cartridge, and the life of this agent is about 10,000 sheets. Therefore, the toner amount is assumed to be the amount consumed for obtaining 8,000 copies for safety. The toner amount consumed varies depending on the original black portion area. The toner amount consumed is 150 g when the original black portion area is 3% on average and 45 g when the original black portion area is 9% on average.
It will be 0 g. Therefore, the weight ratio of toner and agent consumed is
The ratio is 1: 1 when the original black area is 3% on average, and 3: 1 when the original black area is 9% on average. Generally, since the area of the black portion of the original is 3% to 9%, the preferable storage ratio of the toner and the agent is 1: 1 to 3: 1 as described above. still,
In this example, there are 120 toner and 120 toner containing portions, respectively.
It has a volume of 0 cc and 100 cc.

Next, the mechanism of the apparatus main body for replenishing the toner and the developer will be described. 4 is a perspective view thereof, FIG. 8 is a left side view thereof, and FIG. 5 is a front view of the vicinity of the developing device 100. The apparatus main body includes a cartridge 500 formed on an exterior portion (hereinafter referred to as a front exterior portion) 690 on the front of the apparatus.
A cartridge insertion portion including an insertion window 692 for insertion, a toner / developer replenishing portion including the hopper 101 located on the rear side of the apparatus, and an opening / closing means for the cartridge 500 having an opening roller 680 disposed on the right side of the opening of the hopper. A sealing member storage section (see FIG. 5) including a seal storage box 681 arranged to face the roller 680, the hopper 1.
01 and the front exterior part 690, there is provided an empty cartridge storage part 550 including an empty cartridge storage box 550, a transfer means having a lower transfer belt 603, a lower transfer rail 631 and the like. And the front exterior part 69
In addition to the insertion window 692, a window 694 for inserting / removing the empty cartridge storage box 550 is also formed at 0.

Inside the front exterior portion 690, a lower portion is rotatably supported by a horizontal shaft 693b parallel to the exterior portion, and the insertion window door 693 that can cover the entire insertion window 692 in a closed state.
Is provided. The insertion window door 693 is normally in a closed state by being given a turning force in a closing direction by an unillustrated urging means, and the insertion window door 693 is pushed inside the device against the turning force so that the insertion window door 693 becomes horizontal. It can be rotated up to about 90 degrees around the shaft 693b. And
In the closed state, a projecting plate 693b having a projecting portion extending to the outside from the leading edge is provided on the upper part of the surface of the insertion window door 693 that faces the inside of the device (hereinafter, the inner surface) (FIG. 8). reference).

A door sensor 70 having a light emitting element and a light receiving element is provided above the insertion window 692 on the inner surface of the front exterior portion 690.
1, a lock release solenoid 700, and a lock mechanism including a lock plate 700a fixed to the plunger thereof are provided. The door sensor 701 is an insertion window door 6
It is attached at a position where the protruding portion of the protruding plate 693b is interposed between the light emitting element and the light receiving element with 93 closed.
In the lock mechanism, if the plunger is pulled out with the insertion window door 693 closed, the lock plate 700a will move to the protruding plate 6 described above.
93b is engaged from the side opposite to the front exterior part 690, and if the plunger is sucked, the lock plate 700a will move to the protruding plate 6 described above.
It is attached at a position where it does not engage with 93b.

As shown in FIG. 5, a seal member 662 is attached to the upper surface of the peripheral portion of the hopper opening of the toner replenishing portion to prevent a gap between the upper surface of the peripheral portion and the lower surface of the collar portion of the cartridge 500. It is set up. Further, as shown in FIG. 8, a hopper guide portion 660 extending from the peripheral portion is formed on the front exterior portion 690 side from the hopper opening portion, and the cartridge 500 is placed on the hopper opening portion from the hopper opening portion on the device back side. Cartridge abutment wall 6 for positioning
61 is provided.

The unsealing roller 680 of the unsealing means is shown in FIG.
0 and FIG. 11, the cartridge 5 includes an upper and lower roller 680 having a constant length corresponding to the gap between the front and rear guide vanes 503a on the right side.
The lower roller 680 is a cylindrical roller made of an elastic material, and the upper roller 680 is a roller having irregularities so that the seal member 504 for sealing 00 can be pulled securely. The rotary shafts of both rollers 680 are rotatably supported by a link mechanism that allows the distance between the two shafts to be changed, and can be driven by an unsealing motor 705 (not shown). In this link mechanism, a spring that constantly applies a biasing force for making the axial distance between the vertical rotation shafts at least a distance that allows the guide vanes 503a to pass between the pair of upper and lower rollers, and a spring to which this spring is attached. A pinch solenoid 704 for opening is connected between the pair of upper and lower rollers so as to hold the seal member 504 for sealing the cartridge 500 between the pair of upper and lower rollers against the force of force.

The seal accommodating box 681, which is the accommodating member for accommodating the sealing member, is mounted on the cartridge 50 by the opening roller 680.
It has a receiving port for receiving the seal member 504 removed from the zero opening.

The empty cartridge storage box 113, which is the empty cartridge storage section, has a cartridge 50 at the top.
It has an opening for receiving 0 and is configured to be attachable to and detachable from the apparatus main body. This empty cartridge storage box 5
Details of 50 will be described later.

The above-mentioned transfer means are shown in FIGS. 4, 8 and 10.
As shown in FIG. 4, first to third transport rollers 610, 611 driven by a transport motor 702 (see FIG. 4) capable of rotating in the forward and reverse directions.
612, the lower conveyance belt 603, and the cartridge 500
Of the first upper conveyance rail pair 632 and the second upper conveyance rail pair 633 capable of supporting the lower surface of the guide upper blade 501a of the cartridge upper plate 501 and supporting the lower cartridge upper plate 501 from below. Guiding part 503
a lower conveyance rail 631 capable of supporting the cartridge lower plate 503 from below by contacting the lower surface of a, and the hopper guide 6
60 and an insertion window door 693.

In FIG. 10, the third transfer roller 612 is provided.
Is provided on the output shaft of the transport motor 702, the drive is transmitted from the output shaft to the first transport roller 610 through the transmission belt 613, and the second transport roller 611 is connected to the first transport roller 610.
Drive is transmitted from the shaft of 10 via the second transmission belt 614, and drive is transmitted to the lower conveyance belt 603 via the third transmission belt 615. Then, the first to third transport rollers 6
10, 611 and 612 are arranged on the upper surface of the cartridge upper plate 501 at positions that can face the timing belt groove 501a (FIGS. 4 and 9).
It is a timing pulley that meshes with. As shown in FIG. 14, the second conveyance roller 611 in the inside is supported by a bearing 654 supported by the body side plate so as to be vertically movable, and a downward pressure is applied by a pressure spring 652. The lower conveyor belt 603 is provided with belt pulleys 601 and 602.
A timing belt having both teeth rotatably supported by the timing belt groove 503, the lower teeth of which are formed on the upper surface of the guiding blade portion 503a of the cartridge lower plate 503.
It is arranged at a position where it can mesh with b. As shown in FIG. 10, the rollers 610, 611, 612 and the belt 603 are driven so that the output shaft of the carry motor 702 rotates in the direction of arrow A so that the cartridge 500 can be carried to the rear side of the apparatus. When the output shaft of 702 rotates in the opposite direction, the cartridge 500 is driven so that it can be conveyed to the front side of the apparatus. After that, the conveyor belt 121 rotates as shown in FIG.
When 00 is transported to the rear side of the apparatus, the forward transport is called forward rotation, and the rotation of the transport motor 702 at this time is called forward rotation. The position of the belt roller 601 on the front side of the first conveyor roller 610 and the lower conveyor belt 603 disposed on the most front side is such that the operator can easily pull the device when the cartridge 500 is inserted through the insertion window 692. It is desirable to set so that the front end of the cartridge 500 reaches these while the rear end of the cartridge 500 is outside the device so that it is not necessary to put a hand inside and push the entire cartridge 500 into the device.

Each of the upper transport rails 632 and 633 is a rail having an L-shaped cross section, which is composed of a vertical portion and a horizontal portion extending from the lower end to the transport path side of the cartridge 500,
The left and right sides of the conveyance path of the cartridge 500 are paired with each other. The first transport rail 632 is provided above the empty cartridge stacking unit 551 of the storage box 550 for storing empty cartridges, the front end of the first transport rail 632 extends below the first transport roller 610, and the rear end thereof is the second transport. It extends to the front of the roller 611. Then, the first upper transfer rail 63
The horizontal portion 2 is set so that the flange portion of the cartridge upper plate 501 and the guide vane portion 501 are placed (see FIG. 15), and the gap between the upper surface of the horizontal portion at the front end and the lower portion of the first transport roller 610. Is arranged so that the flange portion of the cartridge upper plate 501 and the guide vane portion 501a can pass through. The second transport rail 633 is provided above the empty cartridge storage portion 551 and the hopper 101, and the rear side end portion guides the gap between the upper surface of the horizontal portion and the lower portion of the first transport roller 610 and the flange portion of the cartridge upper plate 501 and the guide. The wing portion 501a is positioned so that the wing portion 501a can pass therethrough, and is inclined downward from the end portion toward the front side to reach the lower side of the second transport roller 611, and further from here, below the first transport rail 632 to the empty cartridge. It is arranged so as to extend above the central portion of the housing portion 551. As shown in FIG. 17, the horizontal portion of the second transport rail 633 may have the flange portion of the cartridge upper plate 501 and the guide wing portion 501a placed on the device front surface side region 633a of the rail 633, and the device rear surface side region 633b. It is set so that the flange portion of the cartridge upper plate 501 and the guide wing portion 501a can be placed thereon. Also, the former area 633a
Is set to be the same as the length from the rear end of the guide vane 501 to the rear end of the flange of the cartridge upper plate 501. Also, as shown in FIG. 4 or FIG.
A base end of a branching leaf spring 640 having a free end inclined upward on the rear side of the apparatus is fixed to the lower surface of the rear end of the first transport rail 632. This branching leaf spring 640 is used for the second conveyance of the cartridge 500 in the reverse conveyance.
The cartridge upper plate 501 guided by the upper transport rail 633 is continuously guided by the second upper transport rail 633 under the first upper transport rail 632.

The lower transfer rail 631 is also a rail having an L-shaped cross section, which is composed of a vertical part and a horizontal part extending from the lower end thereof to the transfer path side of the cartridge 500, and above the empty cartridge accommodating part 551. The cartridge 500 is provided in a pair at the left and right sides of the transport path of the cartridge 500 at a position closer to the rear surface of the apparatus than the central portion of the storage section 551. And in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, the horizontal portion is set so that the flange portion of the cartridge upper plate 501 and the guide vane portion 501 are placed, and the gap between the upper surface of the cartridge upper plate 501 and the lower surface of the lower transport belt 551 is set to the flange of the cartridge upper plate 501. The arrangement height is set so that the portion and the guide wing 501a can pass through. Further, the length of the rail 631 in the front-rear direction is set to be the same as the front-rear spacing of the guide wings 503a of the cartridge lower plate 503 as shown in FIG. 18, and the arrangement position is as shown in FIG. In the reverse conveyance of the cartridge 500, when the front and rear gaps of the guide wings 503a of the cartridge lower plate 503 face the rail 631 and the cartridge lower plate 503 starts to drop, the cartridge 500 is moved to the empty cartridge storage portion 551. It is set so as to be located substantially at the center in the front-rear direction. In this reverse conveyance, the gap between the guide vanes 503a of the lower cartridge plate 503 is set to the rail 631.
When the first conveyance roller 610, the lower conveyance belt 603, and the cartridge 500 are opposed to each other, the positional relationship in the conveyance direction is such that reverse conveyance is possible.
Since the insertion window door 693 is retracted from above the opening of the empty cartridge storage portion 551 to support the cartridge 500 from below, the cartridge 500 starts falling into the empty cartridge storage box 550, and further reverse transport is performed. Is never done. Further, the position of the second upper transport rail with respect to the lower transport rail 631 is set so that the cartridge upper plate also starts to drop at the position where the cartridge lower plate starts to drop.

In order to detect the carrying state of the cartridge 500, the empty cartridge storage box 550 described above is used.
A cartridge passage detection filler 703a that is pushed down by the lower surface of the front flange portion of the cartridge 500 passing therethrough is provided on the conveyance path between the hopper and the opening of the hopper (see FIG. 4). This cartridge passage detection filler 7
As shown in FIG. 13, 03a is attached to the tip of a swing arm 703c fixed to a rotating shaft 703b to which a clockwise rotating force is applied by a spring coil or the like (not shown). The unsealing roller 68 is attached to the rotary shaft 703b.
A cartridge opening detection filler 703d whose tip is pushed to the right side of the apparatus by the seal member 504 which is removed from the lower surface of the cartridge 500 at 0 is also attached. The clockwise rotation force balances with the rotation moment due to the weight of the swing arm 703c and the like when both the detection fillers 703a and 703d are free, and the lower end of the cartridge opening detection filler 703d is balanced. It is set so as to be interposed between the light emitting element and the light receiving element of the butting and opening sensor 130.

Next, the operation of the above toner replenishing mechanism will be described. 19 to 25 are left side views showing the state of the toner replenishing mechanism in each operation state,
FIG. 7 is a timing chart from the insertion of the cartridge 500 into the apparatus to the opening of the cartridge, and FIG. 37 is a timing chart from the start of reverse transfer to the storage in the empty cartridge accumulating portion 551.

First, the cartridge 500 is inserted into the insertion window 692.
The operation of inserting from the above to the position of replenishing toner etc. will be described. The insertion window door 693 of the insertion window 692 is normally in a locked state because the unlock solenoid 700 is turned off by the unlock solenoid control, and the unlock solenoid 700 is turned on when the cartridge 500 needs to be inserted at the time of toner near end. Will be unlocked.

First, the cartridge 500 is inserted into the insertion window door 6 at the tip thereof by the procedure described above.
When 93 is pushed into the apparatus while being inserted, the insertion window door 693 rotates around the lower horizontal shaft 693a as shown in FIG. Partly covering the opening of the portion 551,
The cartridge 500 is prevented from dropping into the opening of the empty cartridge stacking portion 551, and together with the lower transport rail 631, a transport path for supporting the cartridge lower plate 501 from below when transporting the cartridge 500 onto the hopper opening is formed. . At the beginning of the rotation of the insertion window door 693, the tip of the projecting plate 693a attached to the upper portion of the inner surface of the insertion window door 693 comes out between the light emitting element and the light receiving element of the door sensor 701, and the door sensor 701 is turned on. Then, the door open state is detected (in FIG. 37).

A fixed time T has passed since the door open was detected.
After 1, the forward rotation of the transport motor 702 for transporting the inserted cartridge 500 is started, whereby
Thereafter, even if the operator does not push the cartridge 500, the cartridge upper plate 501 is driven by the first transport roller 610 and the cartridge lower plate 503 is driven by the lower transport belt 601, so that the cartridge 500 is pulled into the apparatus. To go. In addition, the inserted cartridge 500
The cartridge upper plate 501 reaches the first conveying roller 610, and the cartridge lower plate 503 lowers the lower conveying belt 6.
03 is reached at the same time, and the upper part and the bottom part are respectively subjected to a carrying force, and even a cartridge whose side part is made of a film-like member or an elastic member is integrally carried, and the transfer state is Stabilize.

First, the cartridge lower plate 503 is guided by the insertion window door 693 and the lower transport rail 631 (see FIG. 16), and the cartridge upper plate 501 is guided by the first upper transport rail 632 (see FIG. 30). When the cartridge upper plate 501 that has moved toward the rear side of the apparatus reaches the branching leaf spring 640 provided on the first upper transport rail 632, the cartridge upper plate 501.
Presses down the leaf spring 640 for branching and is further conveyed,
It hits the lower part of the transport roller 611. The cartridge upper plate 501 receives a carrying force from the first carrying roller 610, whereby the pressing spring 652 applies downward pressure to push the second carrying roller 611 upward. The pushed-up second conveying roller 611 engages with the timing belt groove 501b of the cartridge upper plate 501 to give a conveying force (FIG. 20).

While being conveyed, it is conveyed to the opening of the hopper, and when its tip (the traveling direction of the cartridge 500) reaches the cartridge passage detection filler 703a, the abutting and opening sensor 130 is turned on, and the trailing end is conveyed further. After passing through the cartridge passage detection filler 703a, the butting and opening sensor 130 is turned off (in FIG. 37). During this time, the rear end of the cartridge 500 is the insertion window door 6
By exiting 93, the free end of the insertion window door 693 pivots upward to close the insertion window 692 and close the door sensor 70.
Set 1 to OFF. This butt open sensor 130
At the time of FF (in FIG. 37), the cartridge 500
Is almost conveyed to a position where the tip of the toner abuts against the cartridge abutment wall 661 on the hopper opening which is the toner replenishment position, but the conveyance motor 702 is normally rotated for a certain period of time for the sake of further certainty (in FIG. As a result, the lower surface of the inclined plate of the cartridge abutting wall 661 is lowered to form a wedge-shaped gap that becomes narrower toward the rear side of the apparatus, as described above. The position in the transport direction is regulated and the hopper 1
Pressed on 01. Also, the rear end is below the conveyor belt 60.
Since it is pressed by 3, the cartridge bottom 50
3 comes into close contact with the hopper 101 and stops (FIG. 21). Around the opening of the hopper 101, a hopper opening sealing member 66
2 (see FIG. 5), hopper and cartridge 500
The space between them is sealed. Therefore, when the cartridge 500 is on the hopper 101, the toner does not scatter, and it is possible to prevent the toner scatter with a simple configuration. After the fixed time T2, the driving of the carry motor 702 is stopped, and the process shifts from the carrying operation of the cartridge 500 to the opening operation of the cartridge 500.

The cartridge upper plate 501 separated from the first transport roller 610 is further transported by the transport force of the second transport roller 611 and reaches the third transport roller 612, and the roller 6
When the toner is conveyed to the replenishment position of the toner and the agent by the conveyance force of 12 (FIG. 21), the conveyance guide of the cartridge upper plate 501 is the second upper conveyance rail 633. When the rear end of the cartridge upper plate 501 passes through the second transport roller 611, the roller returns to its original position again due to the pressure of the pressure spring 652.

Further, in the above, the conveyance of the cartridge 500 has been mainly described centering on the cartridge upper plate 501, but during this period, the lower cartridge plate 503 is lower than the lower conveyor belt 6.
03, a cartridge insertion door 693, a conveyance rail lower portion 631, and a hopper guide 660 guide the conveyance force to convey the cartridge upper plate 501 at the same speed.

Next, the opening operation of the cartridge 500 will be described with reference to FIGS. 10, 11 and 37. In the opening operation of the cartridge 500 on the hopper opening,
First, at the timing when the abutting and opening sensor 130 is turned off (in FIG. 37), it is confirmed by the output of the door sensor 701 that the window door 693 for inserting the cartridge 500 is closed, and the door unlock solenoid 700 is turned on.
FF is performed, whereby the opening / closing of the insertion window door 693 is locked. Further, the unsealing pinch solenoid 704 is turned on and the unsealing roller 680 is used to guide the wing portion 501 of the cartridge upper plate 501 of the seal member 504 on the right side of the cartridge 500.
While holding the free end existing in the gap a, the opening motor 705 is turned on to start the rotational driving of the opening roller 680, and the removal of the seal member 504 on the lower surface of the cartridge 500 is started. As a result, the seal member 504 is gradually removed to open the opening of the cartridge 500, and the tip of the seal member 504 is opened and the opening detection filler 130 is opened.
When it reaches b, the abutting and opening sensor 130 is turned on, and further, the opening operation is continued, and the cartridge 500 and the opened seal member 504 are completely separated. The tip portion of the seal member 504 is housed in the seal stacking portion 681. Then, when the rear end of the seal member 504 passes through the unsealing detection filler 130b, the butted unsealing sensor 130 is turned off.
It becomes FF (in FIG. 37). Since this indicates that the opening has been completed, the opening pinch solenoid 70
4 and the opening motor 705 are turned off, and the opening roller 680
Is returned to the retracted position and the opening operation is completed.

By opening the cartridge seal 504 of the cartridge 500, the toner and the agent contained in the cartridge 500 are replenished in the respective accommodating portions 101a and 101b of the hopper 101. When all the stored items are replenished in the hopper 101, the cartridge upper plate 501
The rear end can be lowered to the second upper transport rail 633. (FIG. 22).

The toner and the agent replenished to the hopper 101 as described above are replenished to the developing device 100 by the toner and agent replenishment control described later. In addition, a state flag indicating the state of the above series of operations is set and reset (1 or 0) in the non-volatile RAM during and after the series of operations.
However, this makes it possible to continue the operation even if the power supply is interrupted during the process execution.

In this way, when the replenished toner is consumed as the copying operation progresses and the toner in the hopper 101 becomes empty, the toner and the agent are replenished from the cartridge again, but before the new cartridge is inserted, The empty cartridge 500 on 101 is transferred to the empty cartridge stacking unit 551.

Next, the cartridge 50 on the opening of the hopper.
The operation of storing 0 in the empty cartridge stacking unit 551 will be described with reference to FIGS. 23, 24, 25, and 38. This operation starts at the time of toner near end, after first storing the near end state in the nonvolatile RAM. It is sufficient that the empty cartridge 500 itself is retracted from the hopper opening portion before the next cartridge is inserted at the toner near end or the like, but in the present embodiment, the empty cartridge 500 has a lid of the hopper opening portion. From the viewpoint of preventing the toner from scattering into the apparatus by playing a role, the empty cartridge 5 from the hopper opening portion is waited until the toner near end in which the next cartridge 500 needs to be inserted.
The reverse transportation to the empty cartridge stacking unit 551, which is the retracting operation of 00, is started.

First, the opening pinch solenoid 704 is also turned off so as not to interfere with the transportation of the cartridge 500.
Then, the unsealing roller 680 is also retracted to secure the transport path, and the transport motor 702 is rotated in the reverse direction to start the reverse transport of the cartridge 500. Transport unit and cartridge 50
After the timing in consideration of the sleep rate and the like with 0, the rear end of the cartridge 500 (the end on the insertion window 692 side) reaches the cartridge passage detection filler 703a to turn on the butting and opening sensor 130, and further reverse conveyance is performed. The entire cartridge 500 is a cartridge passage detection filler 703.
When passing through a, the abutting and opening sensor 703 is turned off.

During this time, the upper cartridge plate 501 and the lower cartridge plate 503 are conveyed to the front side of the machine body. The cartridge plate 501 is guided and conveyed on the conveying rail 2 (633), but is always guided to the lower side of the conveying rail 1 (632) by the action of the branch spring (FIG. 23).
Further, the lower cartridge plate 503 is a hopper guide 66.
0, guided by the lower transportation rail 631 and transported at the same speed as the upper cartridge plate 501. The upper cartridge plate 501 and the lower cartridge plate 503 reach the dropping positions on the empty cartridge accumulating portion 551 (FIG. 24).

At this time, the guides for the cartridge upper plate 501 and the cartridge lower plate 503 are lost (FIGS. 17 and 18), but each can drop, but for a certain period of time (T2 in FIG. 38), the conveyance motor 702 reverses. The rotation is continued so that the toner drop start position is surely reached. This fixed time T2 is set to be longer than the time until the cartridge 500 falls due to its own weight at the drop position and the time after the cartridge 500 passes through the abutment opening sensor 703 and is conveyed to the drop position (considering the sleep rate and the like). There is.
When the above operation is completed, the counter for counting the empty cartridges 500 in the empty cartridge stacking unit 551 on the nonvolatile RAM is incremented (+1).

Since a new cartridge 500 can be inserted from this point, the door lock release solenoid 70
0 is turned on to unlock the insertion window door 693.
At this point, the toner near end display is started.

The empty cartridge 500 has a plate-like member at the top and bottom and a film-like member or an elastic member at the side. (FIG. 25). Therefore,
An empty cartridge 50 that had a total height of 86 mm before it dropped.
0 has a total height of about 10 mm in a crushed state, which enables efficient storage in space.

Next, the automatic agent exchange system in this embodiment will be described. FIG. 27 shows the photosensitive drum 140.
FIG. 28 is an enlarged view of the surroundings, and FIG. 28 is a diagram showing a disposition state of the toner recovery pipe. 26 and 27, the developing device comprises a developing device main body 100 and a hopper portion 101, and the hopper portion 101 includes the toner hopper 101a and the agent hopper 10.
It is divided into 1b. First, the toner and the agent replenished from the cartridge 500 are respectively stored in the toner hopper 101.
a and the agent hopper 101b are replenished. The replenished toner is agitated by the agitating member 106 and replenished to the developing device 100 by the toner replenishing roller 108. The toner concentration in the developing device 100 is controlled by the amount of the replenished toner. This is, for example, as shown in Figure 1.
This is performed by reading the density of a predetermined reference image formed on the photoconductor drum 140 with a reflective optical density sensor (P sensor) 352. On the other hand, for the agent, the agent replenishing signal causes the agent replenishing roller 107 to rotate,
Supply to the developing device 101. The agent supply roller 107 and the toner supply roller 108 have different cross-sectional shapes. Since the agent replenishing roller 107 is intended to replenish a large amount of agent from the hopper to the developing device 100 in a short time, the roller has one or more deep grooves. On the other hand, the toner replenishing roller 108 has a shallow groove because it is intended to replenish little by little. It is also possible to change the replenishment amount by changing the number of rotations with the same roller shape. The toner replenishing roller 108 and the agent replenishing roller 107 are connected to the electromagnetic clutches 180 and 181 via the couplings 150 and 151, respectively.
Transmission is transmitted by ON / OFF of 0 and 181 (see FIG. 26). Further, the agent replenishing roller 107 may be a shutter-shaped one instead of a roller-shaped one as long as the replenishment amount per unit time can be controlled.

The replenished agent and toner are mixed and stirred by the stirring member 10.
4 is mixed and conveyed to the magnet roller 102 by the conveying member 103. The developer and the toner attached to the magnet roller 102 are regulated to a certain amount by the developing doctor 105, and the remaining ones are carried to the photoconductor drum 140. During that time, the flow straightening plate 109 and the conveying screw 110 stir left and right to form a uniform developer in the developing device 100.

Photoreceptor drum 14 remaining after transfer to paper
The toner on 0 is cleaned by the magbrush cleaning device 130. The toner cleaned by the agent attached on the magnet roller 120 is collected by the bias roller 112 to which a voltage is applied and then collected by the bias blade 122. The recovered toner is recovered by a recovery screw 113 as shown in FIG. 28 through a recovery pipe 114 into a waste toner container 561 formed in an empty cartridge container box 550. The toner stored in the discharged toner storage portion 561 is not reused and is discarded together with the cartridge storage box 550. The conveying member 111, the rectifying plate 118, the conveying screw 121, and the cleaning device doctor 119 function similarly to the conveying member 103, the rectifying plate 109, the conveying screw 110, and the developing doctor 105 of the developing device 100, respectively.

The agent recovery screw 115 is used when the agent in the cleaning device 130 is recovered, and the agent is recovered in the agent recovery tank 117 through the agent recovery pipe 116 by the rotation of the agent recovery screw 115. Agent recovery tank 1
The capacity of 17 is 7,000 cc, which is equivalent to 750,000 copies. The larger the capacity of this tank, the better,
There is a space problem, and at least 750cc or more, copy 8
A size equivalent to 10,000 sheets is required. It should be noted that the capacity of the agent recovery tank 117 is not enough to obtain a satisfactory copy even if necessary replacement parts are properly replaced. If the capacity is set to accommodate the total amount, this agent recovery tank 117 will be used until the life of the copying machine main body is reached.
The replacement work can be omitted.

The same agent is used in the developing device 100 and the cleaning device 130. In this example, the agent weight of the cleaning device 130 is 150 g, and that of the developing device 100 is 300 g. The amount of the agent contained in the cartridge 500 is 150 g. That is, when exchanging the agent, first, 150 g of the agent is discarded from the cleaning device 130 to the agent recovery tank, then about 150 g of the agent in use is sent from the developing device 100 to the cleaning device 130, and subsequently, the developing device 100 supplies the cartridge 500 to 150 g of the agent. Add new agent.
Repeat this. In this example, the photosensitive drum 14
Carrier is attached to the cleaning device 130 and the magnet roller 12 of the cleaning device 130 is attached.
Collect at 0. This is done by controlling the potential of the photosensitive drum 140 and the bias of the developing magnet roller 102 so that the toner adheres to the photosensitive drum 140.
It is to be attached on the surface 40. At that time, the photoconductor potential is 0 V, and the developing magnet roller bias 112 is -40.
It is about 0V. If + DC is added during the transfer (350), the cleaning device 130 can easily collect the agent.
The same effect can be obtained by PTC (charge removal before transfer). The cleaning device bias is about + 400V. In this way, in the system in which the agent is adhered onto the drum and conveyed to the cleaning device, a mechanism such as a pipe is not particularly required, and the cost can be reduced.

The ratio of the weight of the agent in the developing device 100 and the weight of the agent in the cleaning device 130 is 2: 1, and the amount of the agent in the developing device 100 is larger. This is because the agent used in the developing device 100 is reused in the cleaning device 130, so that the deterioration of the agent in the developing device 100 is reduced and the high-speed developing system can be supported. In other words, it is necessary to start many developing agents at high speed. In this method, the ratio of 2: 1 is 300 g and 150 g, but if the cleaning agent is increased to 300 g, it becomes 1: 2.
1 is also possible. However, in this example, since the space is saved, the amount of the cleaning device agent is 150 g.

Next, the replenishment of the agent and the toner from the agent hopper 101 to the developing device 100 after the cartridge 500 is inserted will be specifically described. First, when the toner runs out, the cartridge 500 is replaced. When the cartridge 500 is set at the upper part of the opening of the hopper, the agent exchange system operates. Specifically, at the time when the inserting operation of the cartridge 500 is completed, that is, the timing when the above-mentioned abutting and opening sensor 703 is turned off (in FIG. 37).
Then, the developer and toner supply roller 110 for the developing device 386
The main drive motor, which is the drive source for 107 and 108 and the agitator 103, is turned on, a delay time until the motor starts is provided, and the agent recovery clutch is turned on (see FIG. 39).
By rotating the agent recovery screw 115, all the developer in the cleaning device 130 is recovered into the agent recovery tank 117 through the agent recovery pipe 116. When the agent in the cleaning device 130 has been recovered by rotating for 30 seconds, the agent recovery clutch is turned off to stop the agent recovery screw 115, and at the same time, the photoreceptor potential is 0V.
The developer is attached to the photosensitive drum 140 with a developing mag roller bias of −400V to remove the developer.
It is conveyed from the developing device 100 to the cleaning device 130 by rotation of 0. At the same time when the transportation of the agent to the cleaning device 130 is completed, the agent replenishment clutch is turned on to turn on the developing device 10.
Replenish the drug within 0. At the same time, the toner replenishment clutch is turned on to replenish the developing device 100 with toner. If both the agent supply clutch and the toner supply clutch are turned off,
Turn off the main drive motor. The agent supply roller 1
Depending on the shapes of 07 and the toner replenishing roller 108, if the time for replenishing the agent and the time for replenishing the toner are the same, the agent replenishing clutch and the toner replenishing clutch can be made one and can be shared as the agent toner replenishing clutch.

In addition, for the agent replenishment and the toner replenishment, the clutch is intermittently turned on to perform the intermittent replenishment, whereby smooth stirring in the axial direction of the magnet roller 102 can be performed. However, in this case, there is a drawback that the time until the end of the replenishment operation is long. Further, a shutter can be used instead of the agent replenishing roller 107 and the toner replenishing roller 108. In this case, the agent replenishment clutch ON time and the cleaning agent replenishment (recycle motor reverse rotation) time are shortened, and a fixed number of copies is made. The agent is replenished while waiting later. Further, the replenishing agent to the cleaning device 130 may be directly replenished to the cleaning device 130 without going through the developing device 100. During the above series of operations and at the end of the operations, a status flag indicating the status is set and reset (1 or 0) in the non-volatile RAM, and it is possible to continue the operation even when the power is interrupted during the execution of the processing. Made of

Next, the empty cartridge accumulating portion 551 described above.
A storage box 550 for storing an empty cartridge and the like, which is formed with the waste toner storage portion 561 and can be attached to and detached from the apparatus main body, will be described.

Next, the empty cartridge accumulating portion 551 described above.
An empty cartridge storage box 550, which is formed and has a removable structure, will be described. In addition to the empty cartridge 500, replacement boxes and the like in the apparatus, which have been retracted from a predetermined automatic operation position, are stored in the box detachable from the apparatus main body. The box can be removed from the device at one time. In addition to the above-described empty cartridge 500, the untransferred toner removed from the surface of the photoconductor by the cleaning device 130 is discarded without being reused by the developing device 386 as the replacement part of this type. There is transfer toner (exhausted toner).

An empty cartridge storage box 550 in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 29, 30 and 31. 551 is an empty cartridge stacking unit, and in this example, ten empty cartridges 500 can be accommodated. As described above, the cartridge 500 has about 360 g.
Since the toner is stored, it is possible to obtain about 8,000 copies with standard use. Therefore, about 80,000 copies can be obtained before the empty cartridge stacking unit 551 becomes full. The total height of the empty cartridge stacking unit 551 is set to 110 mm. Empty cartridge stacking unit 55
Regarding No. 1, for example, in an apparatus having a slow copy speed, the amount of toner used is small and the loading cycle of the cartridge 500 is long, so that the number of accommodated cartridges may be five.
In this case, the total height of the empty cartridge stacking unit 551 can be set to, for example, 60 mm, and it is possible to provide an empty cartridge stacking unit whose total height is lower than that of the cartridge 500 containing the developer. Also, 5 in the figure
Reference numeral 59 is a handle when the main body is attached. Waste toner container 56
1 is divided into a large room 537 and a small room 538 by a partition wall 565. The waste toner discharged from the cleaning device 130 is first carried into the small chamber 538 through the carry-in port 569. Since the carry-in port 569 is provided above the sending member 563, the waste toner is sent to the sending member 5.
It falls to the vicinity of 63 by its own weight and accumulates. The accumulated waste toner is sent from the small chamber 538 to the large chamber 537 by the rotation of the sending member 563. Small room 538 is large room 5
Since it is provided above 37, the feeding member 56
3 does not receive a rotational load due to the weight of the waste toner sent in. With the above configuration, it is possible to dispose the waste toner storage unit, which improves storage efficiency by compressing and storing the waste toner, separately from the cleaning device 130.

By the way, as will be described later, the waste toner is generated in proportion to the amount of toner used under standard use. On the other hand, the empty cartridge 500 naturally occurs in proportion to the amount of toner used. Therefore, when the volume of the waste toner storage unit is set appropriately, the empty cartridge stacking unit 551 and the waste toner storage unit 561 can be filled almost at the same time. . However, since the amount of waste toner generated varies depending on the transfer efficiency, it is necessary to set the waste toner capacity assuming the worst transfer rate. In this example, 360 g of toner is accommodated in the cartridge 500, and 10 cartridges are replenished with 3600 g of toner. If the worst transfer rate is 70%, 1080 g of waste toner is discharged. Although it has a volume of 3600 cc, it is compressed to a compression ratio of 2.5 and accommodated, so the volume is 1400 cc. Therefore, the accommodation volume of the large room 537 is set to 1450 cc, and the accommodation volume of the small room 538 is set to 50 cc.

In addition, an empty cartridge storage box 55
0 is provided with a lock mechanism and a shutter mechanism.
First, the lock mechanism will be described. FIG. 32 shows the details of the lock mechanism of the storage box 550 such as an empty cartridge. Under conditions other than the predetermined conditions, it is provided to prevent the empty cartridge storage box 550 from being taken in and out from the viewpoint of preventing the toner from scattering outside the apparatus. First, when the empty cartridge storage box is inserted, the lock solenoid 707 of the empty cartridge storage box 550 is turned on prior to the insertion, whereby the lock member 70 is turned on.
7a rotates in the clockwise direction around the fulcrum 707b (indicated by the alternate long and short dash line in the figure), and the empty cartridge storage box 550 can be inserted. When the empty cartridge storage box 550 is inserted, the empty cartridge storage box sensor 706 provided at a predetermined position of the main body detects that it has been inserted to the predetermined position (FIG. 8). By the detection signal, the storage box lock solenoid 707 for empty cartridges is turned off.
Then, the lock member rotates counterclockwise around the fulcrum 707b (solid line in the figure), and enters the notch 558 of the storage box 550 for empty cartridges and locks. When it can be taken out, it can be taken out by the same operation as when it can be inserted.

Next, the shutter mechanism of the opening will be described. It is desirable to provide a shutter mechanism for closing the empty cartridge accommodating portion 551 in the empty cartridge storage box 550 from the viewpoint of preventing toner scattering, as in the above case, in order to close the empty cartridge accumulating portion 551. 29 and 33 show the structure of the mechanism.
This will be described with reference to FIGS. 30, 34, 35, and 36. As shown in FIG. 29, the shutter shaft 552 is the shutter groove 5 of the side wall 566 of the storage box 550 for storing empty cartridges.
55 (see FIG. 34B) is slidably provided, and one end of a shutter sheet 553 is attached. Before inserting the storage box 550 such as an empty cartridge, the shutter shaft 552 is located on the handle 559 side, and the shutter sheet 553 is wound around the shutter sheet shaft 554.
As shown in FIG. 34, a leaf spring 695 is provided in the machine body so that the shutter shaft 552 of the empty cartridge storage box 550 interferes when the empty cartridge storage box 550 is taken in and out.

FIG. 34 (a) is a view showing a state in which a storage box 550 for storing an empty cartridge or the like is inserted into the main body by a considerable amount.
When the empty cartridge storage box 550 is further inserted, the shutter shaft 552 interferes with the plate spring 695 of the main body, but the shutter shaft 552 does not move with respect to the empty cartridge storage box 550 and is inserted while bending the plate spring 696. When the storage box 550 such as an empty cartridge is completely inserted, the leaf spring 695 does not interfere with the shutter shaft 552 and returns to its original state due to elasticity (FIG. 34).
(B)).

Next, an empty cartridge storage box 55
The operation when 0 is taken out will be described. When the storage box 550 such as an empty cartridge is taken out, the shutter shaft 552 again interferes with the leaf spring 695 of the main body (FIG. 35 (a)), but this time, before the leaf spring 695 is bent, the shutter shaft 552 forms the shutter groove 555. It slides (FIG. 35D), and the shutter sheet 553, one end of which is attached to the shutter shaft 552, closes the empty cartridge stacking portion 551. The shutter shaft 552 that has reached an inner wall 557 (see FIG. 29c) of the storage box 550 such as an empty cartridge has a concave portion 552a provided on the shaft and a convex portion 555a provided on the shutter groove 555.
Are fixed by fitting (FIG. 36 (e)). By further pulling out the storage box 550 such as an empty cartridge, the shutter shaft 552 bends the leaf spring 696 of the main body and is taken out of the main body (FIG. 36 (f)). The opening of the empty cartridge stacking portion 551 of the taken-out empty cartridge storage box 550 is completely closed by the shutter sheet 553 (FIG. 33).

[0068] According above the empty cartridge, etc. housing box 550 of this example, if the waste at the time when either one for empty cartridge collecting section 551 and the waste toner storage portion 561 becomes substantially the full simultaneously becomes full, It is possible to discard the two unwanted material accommodating means at the same time by a single operation, without wasting the accommodating portion. Further, for example, if the capacity is set as described above, the maintenance work of the user regarding the toner used in the apparatus main body is to insert a cartridge every time 8,000 copies are obtained and obtain 80,000 copies. At that time, it suffices to simply discard the storage box 550 such as an empty cartridge, and the operability is extremely improved. Further, regarding the photoconductor, a long-life photoconductor having a life of about 10 times that of the conventional one has been realized although the price is high due to the recent technological advances. Such a photoconductor is mounted on a high-speed, high-quality, high-priced device. Therefore, if this long-life photosensitive member is used in the apparatus main body to which the storage box 550 such as the empty cartridge storage box 550 of this example (first type) can be applied, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus in which maintenance work is further reduced.

Next, an empty cartridge storage box 55
The control regarding the replacement of 0 will be described. First, the relationship between toner consumption and the amount of waste toner that determines the replacement time will be described. The relationship between the number of copies (CV) and the amount of toner consumed is almost proportional although it has a certain width. This constant width occurs because the dark areas of the document are not constant. Further, the untransferred toner (waste toner) on the photoconductor more accurately follows the toner consumption amount than the number of copies. However,
The generated amount greatly differs depending on the transfer efficiency. For example, if the transfer charger becomes dirty over time, the transfer efficiency deteriorates and the waste toner generation rate increases (generally, the efficiency is 70 to 8).
0%). It is desirable to set the volume of each accommodating portion provided in the accommodating portion 550 such as an empty cartridge in consideration of two parameters, that is, the increase of the amount of waste toner and the consumption of toner due to the increase of the CV. In this embodiment, the amount of waste toner generated within a certain period is predicted from the copy speed of the apparatus main body and the number of copies normally taken during a certain period, for example, one month. Volume (determined in consideration of the size and layout of the entire device)
From this, it is possible to predict the replacement time of the empty cartridge storage box 550 in consideration of the waste toner compression rate at the entrance of the waste toner storage section. Then, the total amount of toner that is replenished while the amount of waste toner that fills the waste toner storage portion is generated is determined in consideration of the worst transfer rate. Then, the total number of the cartridges 500 for replenishing the total amount of the replenishment toner is obtained, and the volume of the empty cartridge accumulating portion is set so that all of them can be accommodated.

In this embodiment, when the number of empty cartridges is 10 or when the discharged toner bottle is full, an empty cartridge storage box 550 is provided.
Display a message requesting replacement. The fullness of the waste toner container is detected by a piezoelectric sensor or the like. If at least one of these is the case and the storage box (550) such as an empty cartridge is not pulled out, the lock is released (lock solenoid (MFP lock SOL) 7
(Turning on 07), and a predetermined display is performed.

[0071]

According to the present invention, the developer accommodating means loaded in the loading section by the transfer means is transferred to the developer replenishing section, which facilitates loading of the developer accommodating means and replenishes the developer. The developer accommodating means emptied by replenishing the developer in the section is transferred from the developer replenishing section to the storage means provided in the apparatus, and the emptied developer accommodating means is transferred to the storage means. By storing the developer, the developer can be replenished by simply loading the developer accommodating means into the main body until the storage means becomes full. Since the above is omitted, the operability of toner replenishment can be significantly improved. Further, this storage means is integrated with the waste toner storage means for storing the toner collected by the cleaning means, and is detachably supported by the apparatus main body, so that it becomes unnecessary by use in one disposal operation. Since the empty developer accommodating means and the like can be discarded, the maintenance work of the user can be significantly reduced, and only unnecessary materials are discarded, so that effective use of resources is possible.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a schematic configuration of a digital copying machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an electric component section of the digital copying machine shown in FIG.

3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a write drive control circuit 71 in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view for explaining the outline of a toner replenishing mechanism of the digital copying machine of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing a configuration near a hopper opening of the toner replenishing mechanism.

FIG. 6 is a left side view showing a configuration near a hopper opening of the toner replenishing mechanism.

FIG. 7 is a diagram of the configuration near the opening of a hopper of the toner replenishing mechanism as viewed from above the left side of the apparatus.

FIG. 8 is a left side view showing a state where a cartridge is set on a hopper opening of the replenishing mechanism.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a cartridge used in a digital copying machine.

FIG. 10 is a front view showing a configuration near the opening roller of the toner replenishing mechanism.

FIG. 11 is a plan view showing the positional relationship between the unsealing roller and the cartridge.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a drive system of a cartridge transport mechanism.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing a structure of a butting and opening sensor of the toner replenishing mechanism.

FIG. 14 is a left side view of a support mechanism of a second transport roller 611 in the transport mechanism.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a positional relationship between an upper first transport rail 632 and a cartridge in the transport mechanism.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a positional relationship between a lower transport rail 631 and a cartridge in the transport mechanism.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing the positional relationship between the upper first transport rail 632 and the cartridge in the transport mechanism at the start of dropping the cartridge.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing the positional relationship between the lower transport rail 631 and the cartridge in the transport mechanism at the start of dropping the cartridge.

FIG. 19 is a left side view showing a state in which the cartridge is being inserted.

FIG. 20 is a left side view showing a state where the cartridge is being conveyed onto the hopper opening.

FIG. 21 is a left side view showing a state in which the cartridge reaches the hopper opening.

FIG. 22 is a left side view showing a state where the cartridge has finished supplying toner and the like on the opening of the hopper.

FIG. 23 is a left side view showing a state immediately after the reverse conveyance of the cartridge is started.

FIG. 24 is a left side view showing a state in which the cartridge reaches the cartridge stacking unit.

FIG. 25 is a left side view showing a state where the cartridge has dropped into the cartridge stacking unit.

FIG. 26 is a perspective view of a developing device of the copying machine.

FIG. 27 is a schematic configuration diagram in the vicinity of a photoconductor of the copying machine.

FIG. 28 is a plan view of a developer transport system in the copying machine.

FIG. 29 is a view showing an empty cartridge storage box of the copying machine, in which (a) is a front view thereof, (b) is a left side view thereof, and (c) is a view seen from the upper left side thereof.

FIG. 30 is a perspective view of the box.

FIG. 31 is a perspective view of the box seen from another direction.

32A is a left side view of the lock mechanism of the box, and FIG. 32B is a view seen from above.

FIG. 33 is a perspective view showing a state in which the opening of the box is closed.

FIG. 34A is a left side view showing a part of the shutter mechanism of the box at the time of pulling out the box,
FIG. 7B is a left side view of the same processing in the advanced state.

FIG. 35 (c) is a left side view of the same processing advanced state, and FIG. 35 (d) is a left side view of the same processing further advanced.

FIG. 36 (e) is a left side view showing a part of the shutter mechanism of the box during the box insertion process;
Is a left side view of the same processing progressed state.

FIG. 37 is a timing chart of control when a cartridge is inserted in the copying machine.

FIG. 38 is a timing chart of control in transferring the cartridge storage unit in the copying machine.

FIG. 39 is a timing chart of control when the cartridge is opened in the copying machine.

[Explanation of symbols]

500 Cartridge 501 Cartridge Plate Upper 501a Cartridge Plate Upper Blade 501b Cartridge Plate Upper Timing Belt 502 Cartridge Film 502a Toner Housing 502b Cartridge Plate Lower Timing Belt Groove 504 Cartridge Seal 504a Cartridge Seal Holding Part 510a Knob 550 Empty Cartridge Storage Box 551 Empty Cartridge stacking unit 552 Shutter shaft 552a Shutter shaft recess 553 Shutter sheet 554 Shutter sheet shaft 555 Shutter groove 555a Shutter groove protrusion 556 Maintenance free pack side wall 557 Maintenance free pack inner wall 558 Notch 559 Handle 561 Waste toner storage 562 Drive gear 563 Feeding member 564 Shaft 565 Partition wall 566 Partition mylar 567 Large room 568 Small room 569 Toner carry-in port 599 Photoconductor sheet accommodating portion 640 Branch spring 651 Bearing 652 Pressure spring 660 Hopper guide 661 Hopper abutting wall 662 Hopper opening seal member 680 Opening roller 681 Cartridge seal accumulating portion 690 Main body front exterior 691 Cartridge loading portion 692 Cartridge Insertion window 693 Cartridge insertion door 694 Maintenance-free pack insertion window 695 Leaf spring 700 Door lock SOL 701 Door open sensor 702 Cartridge transport motor 703 Pushing and opening sensor 704 Pinch SOL 705 Opening motor 706 Empty cartridge storage box 707 Empty cartridge, etc. Storage box lock solenoid 707a Lock member 707b Support point

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification code Internal reference number FI Technical indication location G03G 21/00 111 6605-2H 113 6605-2H (72) Inventor Keisuke Hayashi Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo 1-3-6, Ricoh Co., Ltd.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An electrostatic latent image carrier, developing means for developing an electrostatic latent image on the electrostatic latent image carrier, and cleaning means for recovering untransferred toner from the electrostatic latent image carrier. A waste toner containing means for containing the toner collected by the cleaning means, a developer containing means for containing a replenishing developer,
A loading section in which the developer accommodating means is loaded; a transfer means for transferring the loaded developer accommodating means to a developer replenishing section;
A storage means is provided for transferring the empty developer accommodating means, which has been emptied by replenishing the developer in the developer replenishing section, to a storage means for storing the empty developer accommodating means. An image forming apparatus, characterized in that the waste toner accommodating means and the waste toner accommodating means are integrated and are detachably supported by the apparatus main body. 2. An agent storage means for storing a cleaning agent deteriorated by the cleaning means, and a means for transferring the deteriorated cleaning agent from the cleaning means to the agent storage means. 1. The image forming apparatus of 1. 3. A state in which the total number of empty developer accommodating containers stored in said storage means has reached an upper limit that can be stored in said storage means, and an amount of toner stored in said waste toner storage means can be stored. 2. A control means is provided for detecting any one of the upper limit and the upper limit of the above, and determining the replacement timing of the integrated storage means and waste toner accommodating means. Image forming device. 4. The capacity of the agent accommodating means is set to a capacity capable of accommodating the total amount of the deteriorated cleaning agent generated in the cleaning device before it becomes unusable due to the life of the image forming apparatus main body. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2.