JPH0618368Y2 - Image forming device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial field of application) The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a laser printer or a copying machine that uses a powder developer as a consumable item, and more specifically, replenishing the powder developer. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that employs a developer cartridge that can easily perform the above.

(Prior Art) In recent years, a so-called cartridge system has been widely adopted as a method of supplying a developer in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a laser printer that employs an electrophotographic system. This cartridge system uses a developer cartridge in which a powder developer for replenishment is enclosed in a container that has an opening on the lower side and is sealed by a seal member that can be peeled off. This is a system in which the seal member is opened after the mounting, and the powder developer in the container is replenished in the developing device.

When such a method is used, since the replenishing powder developer is stored in a sealed state, the problem that the powder developer is hardened due to humidity during storage does not occur.

Further, at the time of replenishment, it is possible to prevent the concern that the powder developer is dispersed in the room and pollutes the air.

(Technical problem to be solved by the invention) As described above, the cartridge method is excellent in storage stability of the powder developer and in preventing indoor air pollution during replenishment, but it has not been solved yet. There are still problems.

That is, in refilling the powder developer, the seal opening operation relies on manpower. This opening operation is extremely complicated because the number of operations is unexpectedly large.

Further, when the seal opening operation depends on manpower, the strip-shaped seal after opening remains at hand. Since this seal functions as a sealing member that seals the opening of the powder developer container, the powder developer is attached to the portion corresponding to the opening. Therefore, when the seal after opening is left at hand, it is highly likely that the hands and clothes are soiled due to the band-shaped seal member.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to simplify the operation procedure of the seal opening operation of the replenishment powder developer cartridge in the image forming apparatus adopting the cartridge system and prevent the hand and clothes from being soiled by the seal after opening. An object is to provide an improved image forming apparatus.

(Structure of the Invention) In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention forms, as an image forming apparatus, a developer storage space in which a developer is stored, and a housing having an opening at a lower portion of the space, A sealing portion that seals the opening of the housing, a sealing member that is integral with the sealing portion and forms a pulling portion for peeling the opening, and a sealing member that is provided in the housing and that winds a part of the sealing member when opening. In the image forming apparatus having a developer cartridge equipped with a seal winding means for connecting the ends of the pulling parts of the seal member, and a main body for accommodating the developer cartridge therein, a seal winding is applied to the developer cartridge. As a means of taking
A groove-shaped opening provided on both side surfaces of the developer cartridge, a rotation moving mechanism including a rack provided inside the developer cartridge, a seal winding drum rotating on the rack, and a seal winding drum. A cartridge-side operation unit, which is a rotation shaft configured to project to the outside of the developer cartridge, is provided integrally, and the rotation shaft of the take-up drum for operating the cartridge-side operation unit is provided in the main body. A structural feature is that a main body side operation portion having an abutting portion that abuts is provided on a side wall.

(Operation of the Invention) The image forming apparatus of the present invention has the following operations for replenishing the powder developer.

First, the developer cartridge is positioned in the insertion opening of the image forming apparatus main body in which the developing device is positioned.

At this time, the rotary shaft accommodating portion of the take-up drum provided near the insertion opening of the main body side operating portion of the image forming apparatus and the rotary shaft of the developer cartridge side operating portion abut.

Next, the developer cartridge is inserted to a predetermined position where the developing device is located in the image forming apparatus.

The seal take-up means is attached to the operating part of the developer cartridge, and the rotary shaft of the take-up drum is blocked from entering the main body side accommodating part, so that the seal take-up drum is substantially operated by the operating part. Rotate and move on the rack along the groove-shaped opening.

On the other hand, a tension portion for opening the seal member that seals the developer supply opening is fixed to the seal winding drum, so that the seal winds on the winding drum by rotating and moving the seal winding drum. As the seal member is wound up, a tensile force acts on the seal member, and as a result, the seal member that seals the opening is gradually peeled off.

Therefore, by simply mounting the developer cartridge in the main body of the image forming apparatus, the seal member is gradually opened and the developer in the cartridge can be surely supplied into the developing apparatus.

Moreover, since the wound seal member remains on the winding drum as it is, there is no possibility that the peeled seal member may stain hands or clothes.

(Embodiment) The present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the relationship between the developer cartridge and the image forming apparatus main body.

Developer cartridge housing 4 generally designated by 2
Is a substantially box-shaped container, and an opening 6 is provided on the lower side thereof along the longitudinal direction. And housing 4
For example, toner powder is filled in the internal space of the toner as a powder developer. The opening 6 has a seal member 10 described later.
The seal member 10 is unsealed when it is attached to the developing device (not shown) of the image forming apparatus main body 12.

On the upper surface side of the housing 4 of the developer cartridge 2, there is provided a seal winding means indicated by 20 as a whole.

The seal take-up means 20 is composed of a seal take-up drum 22 and a rotation moving mechanism 24 for rotating and moving the take-up drum 22.

The take-up drum 22 is provided with gears 26a and 26b at both ends thereof. Further, the moving mechanism 24 has a groove-shaped opening 30a through which the rotary shafts 28a and 28b of the winding drum 22 are inserted.
Side wall portions 32a and 32b having 30b and the side wall portion 32
a and 32b have racks 34a and 34b mounted on the upper surface of the housing 4 along inner surfaces of the a and 32b, respectively.

The gears 26a and 26b of the winding drum 22 are accumulated in the racks 34a and 34b in a rack-and-pinion relationship, respectively.

In such a configuration, the side wall portion 32 of the rotary movement mechanism 24
Rotating shaft 28 of winding drum 22 protruding from a and 32b
Reference characters a and 28b act as an operating portion on the developer cartridge 2 side, and the side wall portion 32 is attached to the rotary shafts 28a and 28b.
If a pressing force is applied along the direction of the groove-shaped openings 30a, 30b provided in a, 32b, the gears 26a, 26b and the racks 34a, 34b of the take-up drum 22 will be accumulated. A moment with the part as a fulcrum is applied to the rotating shaft. Due to such a moment, the winding drum 22 rotates about the rotation shafts 28a and 28b, and can move on the racks 34a and 34b in accordance with the rotation movement.

The rotating shaft 28, which is the operating unit on the developer cartridge 2 side.
The pressing force specifically applied to a and 28b is the first
A part of the insertion opening 14 of the image forming apparatus main body 1 shown in the figure is used. That is, the shape of the insertion opening 14 substantially matches the sectional shape of the developer cartridge. Therefore, the side wall portion 3
Rotating shaft 28 projecting outward from 2a and 32b, respectively
The a and 28b come into contact with the shaded portions 40a and 40b adjacent to the insertion opening 14 of the main body 12.

In such a state, the developer cartridge 2 is attached to the main body 12
When it is attached to a predetermined position inside the main body 12 through the insertion opening 14 of the rotary drum 28,
a, 40b and is prevented from entering the inside of the main body together with the developer cartridge 2, and as a result, the take-up drum 22 relatively moves on the racks 34a, 34b provided on the upper surface of the housing 4 of the developer cartridge 2. In addition, the vehicle moves while rotating to a position in front of the back position in the figure.

In FIG. 1, the rod-shaped member 50 is provided at both ends in the longitudinal direction of the side wall portions 32a, 32b located at the upper portion of the housing 4, and the upper corner portions thereof are bridged, respectively. Reference numeral 52 is a tension member for guiding the seal member 10 to the winding drum 22 through the opening 6 of the housing 4.

Therefore, the seal member 1 that seals the opening 6 of the housing 4
0 abuts on the rod-shaped members 50 and 52 which are tension members,
It is bent and fixed to the winding drum 22. And
When the winding drum 22 is rotationally moved along with the mounting operation of the developer cartridge 2 to the main body 12, the sealing member 10
Are sequentially wound around the winding drum 22, and the openings 6 can be sequentially opened at the same time.

Next, the unsealing and winding means of the seal member 10 will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the unsealed state of the seal member 10 of the developer cartridge 2, and is a cross-sectional view of a portion where the seal member 10 is located so that the states before and after unsealing of the seal member 10 can be easily understood. Is shown as. Incidentally, the developer cartridge 2 shown by the solid line in the drawing shows the mounting state to the main body, and the developer cartridge 2 shown by the two-dot chain line shows the state before mounting.

First, the mounting state of the seal member 10 from the developer cartridge 2 shown by the chain double-dashed line will be described.

The seal member 10 is formed of a long film member. Then, in order to seal the supply opening 6 located below the developer cartridge 2, the position of A in the figure (from the end of the supply opening 6 on the opposite side to the insertion side of the developer cartridge 2 from the insertion side end). It can be attached and detached up to the position of B in the figure which is a part.

Then, the seal member adhered to the position B is again folded back to the position A. The seal member 10 folded back at the position A is bent upward at this position.

The seal member 10 bent upward is at the C position,
That is, it is bent in the lateral direction by the rod-shaped member 50, and finally it is bent at the position D, that is, in the U-shape by the rod-shaped member 52, and its end is fixed to the winding drum 22.

Of the seal member 10, only the area between A and B is first applied so as to seal the opening 6. Then, the remaining non-adhesive portion acts as a pulling portion for peeling off the adhesive-treated A → C portion.

Now, the developer cartridge 2 (two-dot chain line in the figure) is indicated by an arrow 60.
Consider a case where the image forming apparatus main body 12 is inserted into the main body 12 through the insertion opening 14 in the direction.

At this time, first, the rotary shafts 28a and 28b of the winding drum 22 are
(Hereinafter collectively referred to as “28”) respectively protrudes outward from the side wall portions 32a and 32b (hereinafter collectively referred to as “32”) of the developer cartridge 2, so that the take-up drum 2
2 is prevented from being inserted into the main body 12.

Under such a circumstance, the developer cartridge 2 is attached to the main body 1
2, the rotary shaft 2 of the winding drum 22
A pressing force to the left in the figure acts on 8. On the other hand, the take-up drum 22 has pinion gears 26a, 26b (hereinafter collectively referred to as 26) which are integrated with racks 34a, 34b (hereinafter collectively referred to as 34) provided on the upper surface of the housing 4 at both ends thereof. (Referred to as) is provided. As a result, the pressing force acting on the rotary shaft 28 is equal to the pinion gear 26.
The rotating momentum having the accumulated portion of the rack 34 and the rack 34 as a fulcrum acts on the winding drum 22. The pressing force or the rotation moment acting on the rotating shaft 28 is the winding drum 22.
Is rotated along the rack on the upper surface of the housing 4 of the developer cartridge 2 and moved from the right side to the left side in the drawing.
It will act as an acting force.

In this case, the seal member 10 fixed to the take-up drum 22 as the take-up drum 22 rotates and moves to the left side in the drawing is moved in the direction of the arrow 62 at the position of the take-up drum 22. The winding force acts as a pulling force in the direction of arrow 64 on the seal member 10 between DC in the drawing, and further as a pulling force in the direction of arrow 66 between CA in the drawing. Between AB, the pulling force in the direction of arrow 68 acts on the seal member 10 as well.

As a result, the above-described winding drum 22 rotates and moves, whereby the seal member 10 adhered between AB in the drawing can be peeled off from B in the drawing toward A in the drawing.

Here, the following points should be noted in the peeling operation of the seal member 10. That is, the seal winding drum 2
The point 2 is that the upper surface of the housing 4 moves from the right side to the left side in the drawing while rotating itself.

First, pay attention to the rotation operation of the winding drum 22. The winding drum 22 rotationally moves on the rack 34 provided on the upper surface of the housing 4 by the rotational force of the pinion gear 26. Therefore, the rotational movement amount is equal to the length of the rack 34 when the diameter of the pinion gear 26 and the drum 22 are considered to be the same, ignoring the increase in the drum radius caused by the seal member 10 being wound around the drum peripheral surface. It will be the amount. Therefore, the amount of the seal member 10 that is peeled off only by this rotational movement amount is half the length of the opening in the longitudinal direction, considering that the seal member 10 is folded back at the end between AB.
That is, the amount is (1/2).

On the other hand, the winding drum 22 horizontally moves on the rack 34 from the position D to the position C in the figure while rotating. This amount of movement in the horizontal direction is also an amount that matches the length of the rack 34,
Is the length. As a result, the amount of the seal member 26 peeled off only by this horizontal movement amount is the same amount (1/2) as the amount peeled off by the rotational movement amount.

Therefore, in the present invention, the sticking portion of the seal member 10 is exactly moved by rotating and horizontally moving the take-up drum 22 on the rack 34 in accordance with the operation of mounting the developer cartridge 2 on the main body of the image forming apparatus. It is possible to obtain the amount of peeling necessary for opening.

Thus, the toner stored in the developer cartridge 2 is put into the predetermined position of the developing means in accordance with the mounting operation.

As described above, regarding the developer cartridge applied to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the case where the winding drum for winding the seal member rotates and moves on the upper surface of the housing of the developer cartridge has been described. Apart from such a constitution, as shown in FIG. 3, this winding drum may be rotationally moved near the opening of the developer cartridge.

In this form, in the above-mentioned example, the seal winding means 2
The seal take-up means 70 employing the same rack-and-pinion mechanism as that of 0 is provided below the developer cartridge 72, that is, at the position where the developer replenishing opening 74 is located.

Then, attach the developer cartridge 72 to the main body with an arrow 75.
When inserting in the direction, a pressing force is applied to the rotary shaft 78 of the seal winding drum 76 in the same manner as in the above-described embodiment.

With this pressing force, the seal winding drum 76 is rotationally moved this time, and the seal member that directly seals the opening of the developer cartridge 72 is opened.

Thus, similarly to the above-described example, the seal is opened in association with the inserting operation of the developer cartridge 72, and the developer inside the cartridge 72 can be put into the developing device (not shown).

In this aspect, the groove portion 82 provided on the side wall portion 80.
It is desirable that a seal member 84 for further preventing the powder developer from spilling is attached to the groove portion 82.

Further, in the example described above, the rotary shaft 28a of the winding drum 22,
Although a pressing force is applied to 28b, the pressing force may be directly applied to the winding drum 22 in a form that does not hinder the winding of the seal member.

(Advantages of the Invention) As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to automatically open the seal member of the developer storage unit with the mounting operation of the replacement member with a simple configuration.

Moreover, the unsealed seal member is automatically wound up on the winding drum provided on the replacement member.

As a result, the operation of introducing the developer into the developing means can be made extremely simple, and there is no fear of soiling the operator's hand or clothes.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view for explaining an image forming apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an opening means of a seal member in the apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the other specific example. The reference numbers in the figure represent the following contents. 2 ... Developer cartridge 4 ... Housing 6 ... Opening 10 ... Sealing member 20 ... Seal winding means 28a, 28b ... Rotating shafts 40a, 40b ..

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A housing having a developer accommodating space for accommodating a developer therein, having an opening at a lower portion of the space, a sealing portion for sealing the opening of the housing, and the sealing portion being integral with each other. And a seal member for forming a pulling portion for peeling it off, and a seal winding provided on the housing and connected to an end of the pulling portion of the seal member for winding a part of the seal member at the time of unsealing. And a groove provided on both side surfaces of the developer cartridge as seal rewinding means for the developer cartridge. -Shaped opening and a rack provided inside thereof, a rotational movement mechanism, a seal winding drum that rotationally moves on the rack, and the seal winding A cartridge-side operating portion, which is a rotary shaft configured to project to the outside of the developer cartridge, is provided integrally with the cartridge drum, and the main body is provided with a cartridge-side operating portion for operating the cartridge-side operating portion. An image forming apparatus comprising: a main body side operation unit having an abutment portion on a side wall that abuts a rotating shaft.