JPH07175390A - Device for recovering waste toner and waste developer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve efficiency in recovering waste toner and waste developer, by means of a simple structure. CONSTITUTION:The device is provided with: a waste developer carry path 26 with a waste developer carry screw 26a which carries the waste developer to a recovering container 27, and a waste toner carry path 29 with a waste toner carry screw 29a which carries the waste toner to the recovering container 27. The waste developer discharged from a waste developer discharge opening 26b made in the waste developer carry path 26 and the waste toner discharged from a waste toner discharge opening 29b made in the waste toner carry path 29 are recovered from the same carry-in opening 27a provided in the top of the recovering container 27.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is provided in an electrophotographic apparatus such as a copying machine for visualizing an electrostatic latent image on the surface of a photoconductor by a developing device containing a two-component developer consisting of toner and carrier. The present invention relates to a waste toner and a waste developer collecting device for collecting the toner remaining on the body and the two-component developer discharged from the developing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in a dry copying machine or the like, a developing device for visualizing (developing) an electrostatic latent image on the surface of a photoconductor with a two-component developer composed of a carrier and a toner is often used. In such a developing device, the toner is consumed by the developing operation, while the carrier remains in the developing device without being consumed. Therefore, the carrier stirred with the toner in the developing device becomes more frequent as the stirring frequency increases.
Peeling of the resin coat layer on the surface and adhesion of the toner to the surface may cause deterioration, which causes the charging performance of the developer to gradually decrease.

Therefore, in addition to the replenishment of the toner consumed by the developing operation, there is provided a device in which a small amount of carrier is replenished in the developing device to suppress the deterioration of the charging performance, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 2-21591. It is disclosed in the official gazette. In the apparatus, the excess developer in the developer tank due to the replenishment of the carrier overflows and is discharged from the developer overflow outlet provided on the wall surface of the developer tank, and is collected in the developer collecting container. By repeating such replenishment and discharge sequentially, the deteriorated developer in the developing tank is
It is replaced with newly supplied toner and carrier, whereby the charging performance is maintained and the deterioration of copy image quality is suppressed.

Further, in an electrophotographic apparatus such as a copying machine equipped with the above-mentioned developing device, as shown in FIG. 9, for example, a developer supplying unit 120 supplies a two-component developer consisting of toner and carrier to the developing device. The two-component developer (waste developer) composed of the toner and the carrier discharged from 108 is carried by the waste developer carrying path 108 a provided on the side wall of the developing device 108 and collected in the developer collecting container 111. On the other hand, the toner (waste toner) remaining on the photoconductor 104 after the toner image formed on the photoconductor 104 charged by the charger 107 is transferred to the sheet is removed by the cleaning device 110, and the waste toner is removed. The toner is conveyed by the conveyance path 110 a and is collected in the waste toner collecting container 112.

Further, as shown in FIG. 10, the waste developer port 1
13a and a waste toner opening 113b are formed, and a waste developer collecting section 113c for collecting the waste developer from the waste developer opening 113a and a waste toner collecting section 113d for collecting the waste toner from the waste toner opening 113b. Some have a waste box 113 with a.

[0006]

However, since the waste toner contains a large amount of paper powder and filler that have fallen off the edge of the paper during transfer, in addition to the toner, the fluidity of the waste toner depends on the developing device. It is smaller than the unused toner present inside. Further, since the toner has a much smaller apparent specific gravity than the carrier, it is necessary to discharge the toner little by little in order to properly collect it in the collection container. From these things, the waste toner is collected little by little in the waste toner collection container 1
12 or when it is collected by the waste toner collecting section 113d,
Since they accumulate in a mountain shape, the inside of the container cannot be used effectively and the collection efficiency of the waste toner is lowered.

Therefore, conventionally, in order to increase the amount of waste toner collected, it is necessary to enlarge the waste toner collection container 112 or the waste toner collection section 113d of the waste box 113. As a result, There is a problem of preventing the miniaturization of the device.

Further, when the photoconductor, the developing device and the like are unitized, the sizes of the waste toner collecting container 112 and the developer collecting container 111 or the waste box 113 are determined according to the life of the photoconductor. In such a case, if the apparatus is downsized, the waste toner recovery container 112 and the developer recovery container 111 or the waste box 113 is used.
Therefore, each recovery container and the like are filled with the waste toner and the waste developer in a short period of time, and the unit needs to be replaced in a short period of time.

Therefore, the life of the photoconductor and the developing device must be replaced while the life of the photoconductor, the developing device and the developer is shortened. There is.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object thereof is to improve the efficiency of collecting waste developer and waste toner and to downsize the apparatus, and An object of the present invention is to provide a waste toner and a waste developer recovery device that can extend the life of the developer.

[0011]

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a waste toner / developer developer recovery device comprising a developer tank containing a developer composed of carrier and toner, and a carrier developer containing the carrier in the developer tank. Waste toner and waste developer recovery in which the waste developer discharged from the developing device equipped with a developer replenishing unit that sequentially replenishes and the residual toner on the surface of the photoconductor collected by the cleaning device are collected in the same collection container In the apparatus, a waste developer transport path including waste developer transport means for transporting the waste developer to the recovery container, and a waste toner transport path including waste toner transport means for transporting the waste toner to the recovery container. Is provided, and the waste developer discharged from the waste developer discharge port formed in the waste developer transport path and the waste toner discharged from the waste toner discharge port formed in the waste toner transport path But it is characterized in that it is recovered from the same loading port provided in an upper portion of the collection container.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a waste toner and waste developer collecting device, wherein the waste developer discharge port is above the waste toner discharge port. It is characterized by being formed in.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a waste toner and waste developer recovery device according to the second aspect, wherein the waste developer discharge port is the waste developer discharge port. An opening / closing lid is provided to open and close the container, and the opening / closing lid is opened when the weight of the waste developer conveyed onto the opening / closing lid reaches a predetermined value or more.

Further, in the waste toner and waste developer collecting device according to a fourth aspect, in the waste toner and waste developer collecting device according to the first aspect, the waste developer conveying path and the waste toner conveying path are the same. The waste developer transport means and the waste toner transport means are formed as one transport means while being provided in a straight line, and the waste developer discharge port and the waste toner discharge port serve as one discharge port. It is characterized by being formed.

[0015]

According to the first aspect of the invention, since the waste developer and the waste toner can be dropped to almost the same position in the collection container, the waste toner accumulated in the collection container according to the number of copies. Waste developer can be dropped from above.
As a result, the waste toner pile formed by the waste toner containing paper powder or the like and having reduced fluidity can be destroyed by the waste developer. Therefore, the collection efficiency of the waste toner and the waste developer in the collection container can be improved, so that the collection amount of the waste toner and the waste developer in the collection container having the same volume can be improved.

As a result, since the collection container can be made small, the electrophotographic apparatus such as a copying machine equipped with the waste toner and waste developer collecting apparatus can be downsized.

Further, since the waste toner and the waste developer can be sufficiently recovered even if the recovery container is small in size, when the photoconductor and the developing device are unitized, the life of the photoconductor and the developing device can be changed. The entire device can be downsized. As a result, it is possible to extend the life of the photoconductor, the developing device, and the developer.

According to the structure of claim 2, in addition to the operation of claim 1, the waste developer discharge port is formed above the waste toner discharge port. ,
The waste toner can be collected in the collection container together with the waste toner near the waste toner discharge port. As a result, the waste toner attached to the waste toner conveying path and the waste toner conveying means can be discharged to the collecting container while being scraped off by the waste developer containing the carrier having a large fluidity and a larger specific gravity than the toner. . Therefore, it is possible to improve the cleaning effect on the waste toner transport path and the waste toner discharge port, and to improve the collection efficiency of the waste toner and the waste developer into the collection container.

According to the third aspect of the invention, in addition to the operation of the second aspect, the weight of the waste developer conveyed to the waste developer discharge port is a predetermined value. Since the opening / closing lid that opens when the above conditions are provided, a predetermined amount of waste developer can be collectively discharged from above the waste toner discharge port. As a result, the waste toner collected in the collection container and accumulated in a mountain shape can be destroyed, so that the waste toner and the waste developer can be efficiently collected in the collection container, and the collection efficiency can be improved. .

Further, according to the structure of claim 4, in addition to the operation of claim 1, the waste developer transporting means and the waste toner transporting means are formed by one transporting means, and the waste developer is discharged. Since the outlet and the waste toner discharge port are formed as a single discharge port, the structure of the transport unit and the transport path can be simplified. Accordingly, the pile of waste toner formed by the waste toner can be destroyed by the waste developer with a simple configuration.

[0021]

【Example】

[Embodiment 1] FIG. 1 to FIG.
The explanation is based on the following.

As shown in FIG. 2, a copying machine constructed by applying the waste toner and waste developer collecting device of the present invention includes:
An original placing table 1 is provided on the upper surface portion, and an exposure optical system 2 is provided under the original placing table 1. This exposure optical system 2
Is a light source lamp 3 for scanning an original (not shown) placed on the original placing table 1 while irradiating light, a plurality of reflecting mirrors 5 for guiding the reflected light from the original to the photoconductor 4, and reflection. The lens unit 6 is arranged in the optical path of light.

On the outer periphery of the photoconductor 4, a charger 7 for charging the surface to a predetermined potential, an interimage eraser (not shown), and a developing device for developing the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the photoconductor 4. 8, a transfer charger 9 that transfers the toner image on the surface of the photoconductor 4 to a sheet, a cleaning device 10 that collects the residual toner on the surface of the photoconductor 4, and a charge eliminating device (not shown)
Etc. are provided. Further, a timing roller 11, a feeding roller 12, a paper feed cassette 13, and a paper feed roller 14 for supplying a sheet at a predetermined timing are provided on the paper input side of the photoconductor 4, while the paper output side of the photoconductor 4 is provided. Is provided with a fixing device 15 for fixing the toner image transferred on the paper to the paper.

The waste toner and waste developer recovery device is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, a waste developer transport path 26 for transporting waste developer discharged from the developing device 8 and a waste toner transport path 29 for transporting waste toner discharged from the cleaning device 10.
And a collection container 27 for collecting the waste developer and the waste toner.

The developing device 8 has a container-shaped developing tank 16 in which a developing roller 17 composed of a magnet roller and a stirring roller 18 are rotatably arranged. . The developer accommodated in the developing tank 16 is composed of a carrier and a toner, and the carrier composed of a magnetic material has a resin coating layer on the surface for suppressing the adhesion of the toner. When the carrier and the toner are stirred by the stirring roller 18, the toner is frictionally charged.
The developing roller 17 attracts the carrier by magnetic force, forms a magnetic brush and conveys the carrier, so that the toner attached to the carrier by the Coulomb force is supplied to the photoconductor 4 and is attracted to the electrostatic latent image of the photoconductor 4. Then, development is performed.

A developer replenishing opening 16c is formed in the upper wall portion 16a of the developing tank 16, and the replenishing opening 16c is formed.
A developer supply unit (developer replenishing section) 20 is fitted to c from above. Further, below the replenishment opening 16c, there are provided conveying rollers 19 for conveying the developer supplied from the developer supplying unit 20 to the stirring roller 18 and the developing roller 17 side of the developing tank 16. .

The developer supply unit 20 contains a two-component developer (hereinafter simply referred to as a developer) in which toner is mixed in a carrier at a predetermined ratio, and is provided below the developer supply unit 20. The developer flows down according to the driving time of the developer replenishing roller 21, and is supplied into the developing tank 16.

On the other hand, the side wall portion 16b of the developing tank 16 is provided with a container-shaped waste developer recovery container 22 having an opened side surface. Then, the waste developer discharge opening 2 for communicating the developer tank 16 with the waste developer recovery container 22 is provided on the side wall portion 16b.
3 is formed, and an opening / closing mechanism portion 25 for opening / closing the waste developer discharge opening 23 is provided along the side surface of the side wall portion 16b. Further, at the bottom of the waste developer recovery container 22, a waste developer discharge opening 22a is formed for discharging the collected waste developer to the outside, and the waste developer rotating in the direction of arrow B (FIG. 4) is formed. The agent discharge screw 24 is provided. That is, the waste developer collected in the waste developer collecting container 22 is conveyed by the waste developer discharging screw 24 and is conveyed from the waste developer discharging opening 22a to the waste developer conveying unit provided under the developing device 8. It is discharged to the path 26.

As shown in FIG. 3, the waste developer transport path 26 serves as waste developer transport means for transporting the waste developer discharged from the waste developer discharge opening 22a of the waste developer recovery container 22. The waste developer carrying screw 26a is provided. That is, the developer discharged from the waste developer recovery container 22 is transported in the direction of arrow L by the waste developer transport screw 26a rotating in the direction of arrow C,
Through the waste developer discharge port 26b formed at the end of the waste developer transport path 26 in the transport direction, the waste toner discharged from the cleaning device 10 and the waste toner are collected through the carry-in port 27a formed in the upper part of the collection container 27. It is designed to be loaded into the container 27.

The waste toner discharging operation of the cleaning device 10 will be described later. The waste developer discharging screw 24 and the waste developer carrying screw 26a are driven in conjunction with each other by a waste developer discharging gear (not shown), and are drive-controlled by a control device 37 described later.

In the cleaning device 10, as shown in FIG. 1, in order to discharge the toner remaining on the surface of the photosensitive member 4 scraped off by the cleaning blade 10a to the outside, the waste toner is collected at the bottom of the waste toner collecting portion 10b. A toner discharge opening 10c is formed and a waste toner discharge screw 28 is provided. That is, the waste toner collecting unit 10
The waste toner collected in b is conveyed by the waste toner discharge screw 28, and the waste toner discharge opening 10 is discharged.
The toner is discharged from c to the waste toner conveyance path 29 provided at the bottom of the cleaning device 10.

As shown in FIG. 3, the waste toner carrying path 29 has a waste toner carrying screw as a waste toner carrying means for carrying the waste toner discharged from the waste toner discharging opening 10c of the waste toner collecting section 10b. 29a is provided. That is, the waste toner discharged from the waste toner collecting section 10b is conveyed in the direction of arrow R by the rotation of the waste toner conveying screw 29a in the direction of arrow D, and reaches the end of the waste toner conveying path 29 in the conveying direction. Through the formed waste toner discharge port 29b, the waste developer discharged from the developing device 8 is carried into the collection container 27 through the carry-in port 27a formed in the upper part of the collection container 27.

The waste toner discharging screw 28 and the waste toner carrying screw 29a are driven in conjunction with each other by a waste toner discharging gear (not shown), and are drive-controlled by a controller 37 described later.

The waste developer discharge port 26b is disposed above the waste toner discharge port 29b, and the waste developer discharge port 26b and the waste toner discharge port 29b are formed on the upper surface of the recovery container 27. They are arranged on the alternate long and short dash line A, that is, on the same straight line that passes through the center of the carried-in port 27a. The waste developer discharge port 26b and the waste toner discharge port 29b form one discharge port 32, and the waste developer and the waste toner are carried into the recovery container 27 through the carry-in port 27a via the discharge port 32. It As a result, the waste toner and the waste developer can fall to almost the same position in the collection container 27.

An open / close lid 30 is provided on the waste developer discharge port 26b. The opening / closing lid 30 is biased in the arrow X direction by a spring 31 provided at the end of the waste developer discharge port 26b. The biasing force of the spring 31 is such that the waste developer has a predetermined weight on the opening / closing lid 30, for example, 0.5.
If more than g is accumulated, the opening / closing lid 30 is set to move in the arrow Y direction, that is, the opening / closing lid 30 is opened. That is, the waste developer is collected in a predetermined weight in a collecting container 27.
The waste toner piled up in the collection container 27 is efficiently destroyed because the waste toner piles up.

However, the weight of the waste developer deposited on the opening / closing lid 30 is preferably about 0.5 g to 2.0 g. this is,
If it is less than 0.5 g, the pile of waste toner accumulated in the collecting container 27 is hard to be broken, and if it is more than 2.0 g, the spring strength of the spring 31 for urging the opening / closing lid 30 needs to be increased. This is because this causes a problem that the cost for manufacturing the device increases.

Therefore, the waste toner carried from the waste toner carrying path 29 is carried into the collecting container 27 from the carry-in port 27a via the discharge port 32, while the waste developer carried from the waste developer carrying path 26 is carried. Is a collection container 2 from the carry-in port 27a through the discharge port 32 together with a predetermined weight by the opening / closing lid 30.
It is supposed to be loaded into 7.

Further, the rotary shaft 29c of the waste toner carrying screw 29a is formed to be thin in the vicinity of the discharge port 32, whereby the waste developer discharged from the waste developer discharge port 26b is discharged to the discharge port 32. It is easy to carry it into the carry-in port 27a via the.

The opening / closing mechanism 25 is shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), a plate-shaped shutter 33 slidably arranged along the side surface of the side wall portion 16b, and a shutter 3 for guiding the sliding operation of the shutter 33.
Guide plates 34 provided at positions on both sides of 3
And a tip end of the plunger 35a is composed of an ejection solenoid 35 connected to the shutter 33.

That is, when the discharge solenoid 35 is in the non-energized state (OFF), the plunger 35a is held at the advanced position, whereby the shutter 33 causes the discharge opening 23.
Is held in a closed state that covers from the side. On the other hand, when the discharge solenoid 35 is energized (ON), the plunger 35a
Retreat, whereby the shutter 33 retreats from the position covering the developer discharge opening 23, and the developer discharge opening 23 is switched to the open state. In this open state, the developer in the developer tank 16 passes through the developer discharge opening 23 and the waste developer collecting container 2
2 is forcibly discharged from the developing tank 16.

Next, the copy operation in the copying machine having the above-mentioned structure will be described. Power switch (not shown) is ON
Then, the warm-up process is first performed. After this is completed, the copy start switch 36 described later will be described.
When is turned on, the light source lamp 3 of the exposure optical system 2 scans the original placed on the original placing table 1. The light reflected from the original at this time is applied to the photoconductor 4 via the reflecting mirror 5 and the lens unit 6, and an electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the photoconductor 4 which is charged to a predetermined potential by the charger 7. It is formed.

Next, the electrostatic latent image is developed by the toner supplied from the developing device 8. The toner image on the surface of the photoconductor 4 is transferred to the paper supplied from the paper feed cassette 13 by the transfer charger 9, and is thermally fixed on the paper by the fixing device 15. As a result, a copy image corresponding to the original image is formed on the sheet.

In order to control such a series of copying operations, as shown in FIG. 5, a control device 37 composed of a microcomputer is provided in this copying machine, and the control device 37 is provided with the copy start switch. An ON operation signal of 36 is input. Further, a copy counter 38 for counting the cumulative number of copying operations is further provided, and this count value (hereinafter referred to as copy count value) n is also input to the control device 37.

When the copying operation as described above is repeated, the toner in the developer accommodated in the developing tank 16 of the developing device 8 is gradually consumed, and the ratio of the toner to the carrier, that is, the toner concentration decreases. I will do it.

A toner concentration sensor 39 for detecting the change in the toner concentration is arranged in the developing tank 16, and the drive control of the developer replenishing roller 21 based on the toner concentration sensor 39 is further performed by the control device 37. Done.
That is, when it is detected that the detection signal from the toner concentration sensor 39 has dropped to the lower limit value of the proper range required for development, driving of the developer replenishing roller 21 is started. As a result, the developer in the developer supply unit 20 is replenished in the developing tank 16 and the toner concentration in the developing tank 16 increases. Then, when it is detected that the toner density reaches the upper limit value of the appropriate range, the driving of the developer replenishing roller 21 is stopped. By such control, the toner concentration in the developing tank 16 is maintained within the proper range.

The toner contained in the developer replenished as described above is agitated with the developer in the developer tank 16 together with the carrier, is controlled to a constant charge amount, and is supplied to the photoconductor 4 for development. used. On the other hand, the carrier in the developer does not decrease and is repeatedly used. Therefore, the carrier gradually deteriorates due to stirring by the developing roller 17 and the stirring roller 18 and contact with the photoconductor 4. As the carrier deteriorates in this way, it becomes impossible to impart a predetermined charge amount to the toner, resulting in deterioration of image quality.

However, as described above, the developer replenished from the developer supply unit 20 with the decrease in the toner concentration contains the carrier in addition to the toner. By replacing the deteriorated carrier in the tank 16, the above-mentioned deterioration of the charging performance can be suppressed. Therefore, the developer replenishing roller 2
By replenishing the developer from No. 1, it is possible to maintain the toner density and the chargeability of the carrier.

For this purpose, the above-mentioned developer supply unit 2
The controller 37 also controls the replenishment / discharge of replenishing the developer from 0 and discharging the developer in the developing tank 16.

The developer discharged from the developing tank 16 with the supply of the developer from the developer supply unit 20 is conveyed by the waste developer discharge screw 24 driven by the controller 37, and the waste is discharged. The waste developer is discharged from the waste developer discharge opening 22a formed at the bottom of the developer recovery container 22 to the waste developer transport path 26. Then, this developer is conveyed in the direction of arrow L by the waste developer conveying screw 26a which is driven in conjunction with the waste developer discharging screw 24, and is collected from the carry-in port 27a via the waste developer discharging port 26b and the discharging port 32. The waste developer is collected in the container 27.

On the other hand, residual toner (waste toner) collected from the surface of the photosensitive member 4 by the cleaning blade 10a.
Is collected by a waste toner collecting section 10b provided in the lower part of the cleaning device 10 and is conveyed by a waste toner discharging screw 28 provided in the waste toner collecting section 10b and driven by the control device 37. Waste toner discharge opening 10c provided in the lower part of the collecting unit 10b
Is discharged to the waste toner conveying path 29 from the. Then, this waste toner is conveyed by the waste toner conveying screw 29a, and is collected in the collecting container 27 from the carry-in port 27a via the waste toner discharge port 29b and the discharge port 32.

By the way, as the waste toner, in addition to the powdered toner having a particle size of 5 to 12 μm, the paper powder dropped from the edge of the paper,
In addition, since it contains a large amount of filler such as clay (talc), talc, and kaolin, the fluidity is smaller than that of an unused toner. Also, the apparent specific gravity of the toner itself is
Since it is about 0.3 to 0.4 g / cc and the particle size is very small, the waste toner is collected little by little in the collection container 2.
It is necessary to discharge to 7 and collect. from these things,
If the waste toner is discharged little by little into the collection container 27, the waste toner accumulates in a mountain shape, so that the collection efficiency of the waste toner in the collection container 27 is reduced.

However, in the structure according to the present embodiment, the waste toner and the waste developer are collected in the same collecting container 27, and the waste developer transport path 26 is, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, It is disposed above the waste toner transport path 29, and the waste developer discharge port 26b is the waste toner discharge port 29b.
Above the above, and on the same straight line, that is, on the alternate long and short dash line A shown in FIG.
As a result, since the waste developer can be dropped from the waste toner collected in the collection container 27, the mountain formed by the waste toner can be destroyed. Therefore, the recovery amount of the waste toner and the waste developer in the recovery container 27 can be increased, so that the recovery efficiency of the recovery container 27 can be improved.

Further, since the waste developer discharge port 26b is provided with the opening / closing lid 30 which is opened when a predetermined weight of waste developer is accumulated, the waste toner in which a large amount of waste developer is accumulated in a mountain shape is formed. Can be dropped from above. As a result, the pile of waste toner can be more effectively destroyed, and the collection efficiency of the collection container 27 can be improved.

Further, since the waste toner and the developer can be sufficiently recovered even if the recovery container 27 is small, the life of the photoconductor 4 and the development device 8 can be reduced when the photoconductor and the development device are unitized. Accordingly, the entire device can be downsized. As a result, it is possible to extend the life of the photoconductor 4, the developing device 8, the developer and the like.

Further, since the waste developer discharge port 26b is formed above the waste toner discharge port 29b, the waste developer can be collected in the collection container together with the waste toner near the waste toner discharge port 29b. it can. As a result, the waste toner attached to the waste toner conveying path 29 and the waste toner discharge port 29b can be discharged to the collecting container 27 while being scraped off by the waste developer containing the carrier having a larger fluidity and a larger specific gravity than the toner. it can.

Therefore, it is possible to improve the cleaning effect on the waste toner conveying path 29 and the waste toner discharge port 29b, and improve the efficiency of collecting the waste toner and the waste developer into the collecting container 27.

Further, since the waste developer discharge port 26b is provided with the opening / closing lid 30 which is opened when the weight of the waste developer conveyed to the waste developer discharge port 26b exceeds a predetermined value. A predetermined amount of waste developer can be collectively discharged from above the waste toner discharge port 29b. As a result, the waste toner collected in the collection container 27 and accumulated in a mountain shape can be efficiently destroyed, so that the waste toner and the waste developer can be efficiently collected in the collection container 27, and the collection efficiency can be improved. Can be improved.

In this embodiment, the developer discharge opening 23 for discharging the developer from the developing tank 16 is provided at the side wall portion 1 of the developing tank 16.
6b, the opening and closing mechanism 25 for opening and closing the opening and closing lid 30 provided to cover the developer discharge opening 23 is configured to forcibly discharge the developer, but the invention is not limited to this. For example, the developer may be discharged from the developer discharge opening 23 by overflow.
Further, the developer discharge opening 23 may be provided in the bottom wall portion of the developing tank 16. However, in this case, it is necessary to provide a mechanism for forcibly discharging the waste developer as in this embodiment.

[Embodiment 2] Another embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. The same members as those in the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted. The same applies to the following examples.

The waste toner and waste developer collecting apparatus according to this embodiment is the waste developer transport path 26 shown in FIG. 3 of the first embodiment.
Further, instead of the waste toner carrying path 29, as shown in FIG. 6, a waste developer carrying path 41 and a waste toner carrying path 42 are provided.

The waste developer transport path 41 is disposed on the upper surface of the waste toner transport path 42, and the waste developer discharge port 41a.
Is also formed on the upper surface of the waste toner transport path 42. As a result, the waste developer transported in the arrow L direction by the waste developer transport screw 43 rotating in the waste developer transport path 41 in the arrow C direction is discharged to the waste toner transport path 42 from the waste developer discharge port 41a. To be done.

Further, the waste toner carrying path 42 is provided with a waste toner carrying screw 44 for carrying the waste toner. The waste toner conveying screw 44 rotates in the arrow D direction and conveys the waste toner in the arrow R direction. The waste toner carrying screw 44 has a first waste toner carrying screw portion 44a from a point a where the waste toner of the waste toner carrying path 42 is carried into the waste toner carrying path 42 to a confluence point b of the waste developer discharge port 41a. And a second waste toner conveying screw portion 44b from the confluence point b to a point c in the vicinity of the waste toner discharge port 42a.

The second waste toner conveying screw portion 44b
Are formed such that the screw pitch is larger than that of the first waste toner carrying screw portion 44a. That is, the second waste toner carrying screw portion 44b is configured such that, when the carry amount of the first waste toner carrying screw portion 44a is "1", the carry amount of the second waste toner carrying screw portion 44b is "1.3-2. It is formed so as to be 0 ″. This is because the first waste toner carrying screw portion 44a needs to carry only the waste toner, but the second waste toner carrying screw portion 44b needs to carry the waste developer in addition to the waste toner. This is because it is necessary to increase the carry amount of the waste toner carrying screw portion 44b.

In general, the waste toner having a low fluidity and a high hygroscopic property easily adheres to the inner surface of the waste toner conveying path 42 and the surface of the waste toner conveying screw 44, and therefore, the waste toner in the waste toner conveying path 42. Clogged, and the efficiency of conveying the waste toner was reduced.

However, according to the above configuration, from the confluence point b of the waste toner transport path 42 with the waste developer discharge port 41a,
Since the waste toner is transported together with the waste developer, the waste toner hardly adheres to the inner surface of the waste toner transport path 42 and the surface of the waste toner transport screw 44, and the transport efficiency can be improved.

Further, since the waste toner and the waste developer are collected in the collecting container 27 in a mixed state, the waste toner is not accumulated in a mountain shape. Thereby, the collection container 2
The collection efficiency of waste toner and waste developer in 7 can be improved.

The mixture of waste toner and waste developer is
Since the waste toner that has adhered to the waste toner transport path 42 is transported while being scraped off, the cleaning effect on the waste toner transport path 42 and the waste toner discharge port 42a can be improved.

The waste toner carrying screw 44 is also used.
Is a waste developer discharge port 41a in the waste toner transport path 42.
Is formed so that the amount of conveyance from the opening 42b to the waste toner discharge port 42a is larger than the amount of conveyance to the opening 42b of the waste toner conveyance path 42. The transport efficiency can be maintained even if the amount increases. As a result, even when the waste developer is added to the waste toner in the waste toner transport path 42 and the total transport amount increases, the waste toner can be efficiently transported.

In this embodiment, the disposition position of the waste developer transport path 41 on the upper surface of the waste toner transport path 42 is not particularly limited, but the waste developer discharge port 41a of the waste developer transport path 41 is not limited.
Is as much as possible on the waste toner supply side of the waste toner conveying path 42,
That is, it is preferable to provide the cleaning device 10 on the waste toner collecting part b (FIG. 1) side. This is because the waste developer can improve the cleaning effect in the waste toner conveyance path 42 and can mix the waste toner and the waste developer more uniformly. As a result, the collection efficiency of the waste toner and the waste developer collected in the collection container 27 can be improved.

[Embodiment 3] The following description will discuss still another embodiment of the present invention with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8.

The waste toner and waste developer collecting apparatus according to the present embodiment is replaced with the waste developer carrying path 26 and the waste toner carrying path 29 shown in FIG. 1 of the first embodiment as shown in FIG. By using the transport path 51 in which the waste developer transport section 51a for transporting the waste developer and the waste toner transport section 51b for transporting the waste toner are integrated, the waste toner and the waste developer are collected in the recovery container 27. It is designed to be collected.

The waste developer carrying section 51 is provided in the carrying path 51.
A conveying screw 52 having different screw pitch shapes on the a side and the waste toner conveying portion 51b side is provided. Therefore, the waste developer transport portion 51a of the transport screw 52
The waste developer carrying screw portion 52a on the side and the waste toner carrying screw portion 52b on the side of the waste toner carrying portion 51b are formed so that their carrying directions are opposite to each other. That is, each of the conveying screws simultaneously rotates the conveying screw 52 in the direction of the arrow D to simultaneously remove the waste developer by the arrow L.
Direction, and the waste toner can be conveyed in the direction of arrow R.

Further, the waste toner carrying screw portion 52
A drive gear 54 is connected to the end of b opposite to the waste toner conveying direction. The drive gear 54 meshes with a drive gear (not shown) of the waste toner discharge screw 28 of the cleaning device 10 and is drive-controlled by the control device 37.

A discharge port 53 for discharging the transported waste developer and waste toner to the recovery container 27 is formed in the lower center of the transport path 51. Therefore, the waste developer and the waste toner transported by the transport screw 52 as described above are collected through the discharge port 53.
It is supposed to be collected in 7.

Further, as shown in FIG. 8, the peripheral edge portion 53b of the discharge port 53 on the waste toner conveying side is aligned with the waste toner conveying direction so that the waste toner falls vertically to the bottom surface of the collecting container 27. It is formed to be almost vertical. On the other hand, the peripheral portion 53a of the discharge port 53 on the waste developer transport side is formed to be inclined downward at approximately 45 ° with respect to the transport direction. As a result, the waste developer can be accurately dropped near the top of the collection container 27 where the waste toner is piled up. In addition, the peripheral portion 53 of the waste developer transport side described above.
The inclination angle of a is preferably about 35 ° to 45 °.

Further, by using the transport path 51 in which the waste developer transport section 51a for transporting the waste developer and the waste toner transport section 51b for transporting the waste toner are integrated, the apparatus can be simplified. This makes it possible to reduce the size of the device,
It is possible to reduce the manufacturing cost of the device.

Further, the peripheral edge portion 53a of the waste developer carrying side 53a of the discharge port 53 is arranged so as to drop the waste developer onto the waste toner collected in the collecting container 27.
By being provided so as to be inclined toward the b side, the waste developer can be more accurately dropped near the top of the mountain of waste toner in the collection container 27. Accordingly, the pile of waste toner formed by the waste toner can be more accurately destroyed by the waste developer with a simple configuration. As a result, the collection efficiency of the waste toner and the waste developer in the collection container 27 can be improved.

[0078]

As described above, the waste toner and waste developer collecting device according to the first aspect of the present invention includes the waste developer conveying path provided with the waste developer conveying means for conveying the waste developer to the collecting container.
A waste toner transport path provided with a waste toner transport means for transporting waste toner to a collection container is provided, and the waste developer discharged from the waste developer discharge port formed in the waste developer transport path and the waste toner. The waste toner discharged from the waste toner discharge port formed in the transport path is collected from the same carry-in port provided at the upper part of the collecting container.

As a result, the waste developer can be dropped onto the piles of the waste toner formed by the waste toner containing paper powder or the like and the fluidity of which is lowered, and the piles can be destroyed.

Therefore, the efficiency of recovering the waste toner and the waste developer in the recovery container can be improved, so that the recovery amount of the waste toner and the waste developer in the recovery container can be improved.

As described above, the waste toner and waste developer collecting device according to the second aspect of the present invention is configured such that the waste developer discharge port is formed above the waste toner discharge port.

As a result, in addition to the effects of the first aspect, even if the waste toner containing paper powder and having a low fluidity that easily absorbs humidity adheres to the waste toner transport path and the waste toner transport means, the fluidity is reduced. It is possible to collect the waste toner and the waste developer in the collection container while scraping the waste toner by using the waste developer containing a carrier having a large size and a specific gravity larger than that of the toner.

Therefore, it is possible to improve the cleaning effect on the waste toner conveying path and the waste toner discharge port, and to improve the collection efficiency of the waste toner and the waste developer into the collection container.

In the waste toner and waste developer collecting device of the invention of claim 3, the waste developer discharge port is provided with an opening / closing lid for opening and closing the waste developer discharge port as described above. The opening / closing lid is configured to open when the weight of the waste developer conveyed on the opening / closing lid reaches a predetermined value or more.

As a result, in addition to the effect of the second aspect, the waste toner collected in the collecting container and accumulated in a mountain shape can be destroyed by a large amount of the waste developer, so that the efficiency can be improved in the collecting container. The waste toner and the waste developer can be collected well, and the collection efficiency of the collection container can be improved.

As described above, in the waste toner and waste developer collecting device of the present invention, the waste developer conveying path and the waste toner conveying path are provided on the same straight line, and the waste developer conveying means is provided. And the waste toner conveying means are formed as one conveying means, and the waste developer discharge port and the waste toner discharge port are formed as one discharge port.

As a result, in addition to the effect of the first aspect, the pile of the waste toner formed by the waste toner can be destroyed by the waste developer with a simple structure.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a waste toner and waste developer recovery device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a copying machine including the waste toner and waste developer collecting device shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a main part in the vicinity of a joint between a waste developer transport path and a waste toner transport path of the waste toner and waste developer recovery device of FIG.

4 is a view showing an opening / closing mechanism of a waste developer recovery container provided in the waste toner and waste developer recovery device shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. Figure (b)
[Fig. 3] is a cross-sectional view taken along the line I-I of Fig. 4A.

5 is a control block diagram of the copying machine shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of a main part in the vicinity of a joint between a waste developer transport path and a waste toner transport path in a waste toner and waste developer collecting device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram of a main part in the vicinity of a joint between a waste developer transport path and a waste toner transport path in a waste toner and waste developer recovery device according to still another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged view of the vicinity of the discharge port of the waste developer transport path shown in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a schematic configuration diagram of a conventional waste toner and waste developer recovery device.

FIG. 10 is a schematic configuration diagram of a conventional waste toner and waste developer recovery device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 4 Photoconductor 8 Developing Device 10 Cleaning Device 16 Developing Tank 20 Developer Supply Unit (Developer Replenishing Section) 26 Waste Developer Conveying Path 26a Waste Developer Conveying Screw (Waste Developer Conveying Means) 27 Collecting Container 27a Carrying In 29 Waste Toner transport path 29a Waste toner transport screw (waste toner transport means) 30 Open / close lid 41 Waste developer transport path 41a Waste developer discharge port 42 Waste toner transport path 42a Waste toner discharge port 43 Waste developer transport screw (waste developer transport screw) 44) Waste toner transport screw (waste toner transport means) 51 Transport path 52 Transport screw (transport means) 53 Discharge port 53a Waste developer transport side peripheral portion

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Seiko Uwakawa 22-22 Nagaike-cho, Abeno-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Within Sharp Corporation (72) Inventor Shoichi Fujita 22-22 Nagaike-cho, Abeno-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Inside the company

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. Waste development discharged from a developing device provided with a developing tank for accommodating a developer composed of a carrier and a toner, and a developer replenishing section for successively replenishing a carrier developer containing a carrier to the developing tank. In a waste toner and waste developer collecting device for collecting the developer and the residual toner on the surface of the photoconductor collected by the cleaning device in the same collecting container, a waste developer conveying means for conveying the waste developer to the collecting container. And a waste toner transport path having waste toner transport means for transporting the waste toner to the collection container. The waste developer discharge port formed in the waste developer transport path. The waste developer discharged from the waste toner and the waste toner discharged from the waste toner discharge port formed in the waste toner transport path are collected from the same carry-in port provided at the upper part of the collecting container. And a waste toner and waste developer recovery device. 2. The waste developer discharge port is formed above the waste toner discharge port.
The waste toner and waste developer recovery device described. 3. The waste developer discharge port is provided with an opening / closing cover for opening and closing the waste developer discharge port, and the opening / closing cover is provided with a weight of the waste developer conveyed onto the opening / closing cover. The waste toner and waste developer collecting device according to claim 2, wherein the waste toner and the waste developer collecting device is opened when a predetermined value or more is reached. 4. The waste developer carrying path and the waste toner carrying path are provided on the same straight line, and the waste developer carrying means and the waste toner carrying means are formed as one carrying means. The waste toner and waste developer collecting device according to claim 1, wherein the waste developer discharge port and the waste toner discharge port are formed as one discharge port.