JPH0720678Y2 - Toner supply device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial field of application) The present invention relates to a toner replenishing device for replenishing toner to, for example, a developing section of an electrophotographic copying machine.

(Prior Art) In the developing section of an electrophotographic copying machine, the toner in the developing section is consumed each time a copy image is formed, so it is necessary to appropriately replenish the toner from the toner replenishing device.

Conventionally, as a means for replenishing toner in the developing unit, there is a method of replenishing the developing unit with toner by using a toner cartridge filled with toner.

This toner replenishment method will be described. The toner cartridge used is one in which the opening formed on the peripheral side of the cartridge body is closed with a sealing material. The toner hopper is mounted at a predetermined position above the toner hopper and one end of the sealing material is pulled from the outside of the apparatus to open the opening of the toner cartridge. Then, the toner cartridge is rotated to direct the opening downward, so that the toner filled in the toner cartridge is dropped into the toner hopper through the opening. Then, the toner in the toner hopper is supplied little by little into the developing unit from the lower part by the rotational driving of the supply roller arranged in the lower part of the toner hopper.

However, in the structure in which the toner is temporarily stored in the toner hopper as described above and the toner is supplied little by little from the lower portion of the toner hopper into the developing unit, the toner is apt to agglomerate and block while being left stationary. .

When the inclination angle of the side wall of the toner hopper is relatively large, when the toner is supplied from the lower part of the toner hopper to the developing unit, the toner does not adhere to the side wall and slides down along the side wall, and the sequential development is performed. When the side wall of the toner hopper has a small inclination angle, the toner is likely to adhere to and stay on the side wall without slipping along the side wall. When the toner is left in the state of adhering to the inner surface of the side wall of the toner hopper in this manner, the toner agglomerates into a lump. If the lump-shaped toner is peeled off from the side wall and supplied into the developing section, there is a drawback that image formation is adversely affected.

On the other hand, for example, in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 62-65666, a toner non-falling prevention member is provided in the toner hopper, and the toner non-falling prevention member is swung along with the rotation of the shaft of the supply roller. Such a toner replenishing device is disclosed.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) In the above-described conventional configuration, the toner contained in the toner non-falling prevention member adheres to the inner surface of the side wall of the member due to the vibration of the toner non-falling prevention member. However, the toner existing between the side wall of the toner non-falling prevention member and the side wall of the toner hopper can be easily dropped by the vibration of the toner non-falling prevention member and the side wall of the toner hopper. Will be compressed between
Due to the compression, the toner easily aggregates to form a lump. These lumps not only have an adverse effect on the formation of an image, but also have the drawback of not being economical because the toner in the gap is not effectively used. Moreover, according to the above configuration, since the toner non-falling prevention member has a structure that intermittently vibrates by engaging and disengaging the cam member provided on the shaft of the supply roller, there is a problem that vibration noise is generated. there were.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks, and an object thereof is to prevent toner from adhering to and agglomerating on the inner surface of the side wall of the toner hopper, thus forming a good image in the developing section. Another object of the present invention is to provide a toner replenishing device that can effectively use the toner in the toner hopper and that does not cause noise that drops the toner adhering to the side wall.

(Means for Solving Problems) A toner replenishing device of the present invention includes a toner scraping member arranged in a toner hopper, and a toner cartridge having an engaging hole and an engaging groove at its tip. The toner scraping member is movable along a side wall of the toner hopper, and includes an engaging portion that engages with an engaging hole and an engaging groove at a tip of the toner cartridge. When the toner cartridge is inserted and arranged in the toner hopper along the moving direction of the scraping member, the toner cartridge enters the engaging hole and abuts against the tip of the toner cartridge so that the toner cartridge is deep inside the toner hopper. Moved to
When the toner cartridge is disengaged from the toner hopper, the toner cartridge is engaged with the engaging groove of the toner cartridge and is moved to the front side of the toner hopper,
Thereby, the above object can be achieved.

In the present invention, the engagement groove is continuous with the engagement hole at the front end of the engagement hole, and is formed on the outer circumference of the toner cartridge in a range extending from the engagement hole to a half circumference. It may have been.

(Embodiment) An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

The toner replenishing device of the present invention is installed in, for example, an electrophotographic copying machine. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the toner replenishing device is provided with a toner hopper 1, a toner scraping member 2 provided in the toner hopper 1, and a lower portion of the toner hopper 1. A supply roller 4 such as a sponge roller is provided.

The toner hopper 1 has a slanted longitudinal side wall 10,
10 and the side wall that is erected between the side walls 10 and 10
12 and 13, and both side walls 10 as going upward,
The interval between 10 is large. A toner supply port 14 is formed at the upper end of the toner hopper 1, and the toner cartridge 3 is inserted from a side opening of a housing (not shown) arranged above the toner hopper 1 to allow the toner supply port 14 to receive toner. Can be dropped into the toner hopper 1. A toner dropping port 15 is formed at the lower end of the toner hopper 1. The supply roller 4 is disposed in the toner drop opening 15 with a small gap, and the shaft 4a of the supply roller 4 is rotatably supported between the side wall portions 12 and 13 at both end portions. Then, the toner supplied into the toner hopper 1 is gradually supplied to the developing unit (not shown) by the rotation of the supply roller 4. Both side walls 1
A guide groove 16 having a rectangular cross-section is provided along the longitudinal direction of the toner hopper 1 on the upper inner surface of 0 and 10, and the upper end of the end side wall 13 on the outer side (front side) is slightly curved downward. There is.

The toner scraping member 2 is provided at the upper end of the scraping main body 20 having a flat plate shape formed in a trapezoidal shape in a side view, which is substantially the same as the cross-sectional shape of the toner hopper 1 except for the lower end. It has an engaging portion 22 and projections 25, 25 projectingly provided on the upper surface side of the scraping body 20. The toner scraping member 2 is inserted and arranged in the toner hopper 1 in the vertical direction along the lateral direction of the toner hopper 1, and the protrusions 25, 25 on both sides are provided in both guide grooves of the toner hopper 1. In the state that it is inserted in 16, 16, scraping body 20
Both side edges 20a, 20a closely face and oppose the inner surfaces of both side walls 10, 10. In this proximity state, both side edges 20a of the scraping body 20 are
May be close to the inner surfaces of both side walls 10 and 10, and both side edges 20a may be connected to both side walls 10 and 1 with a slight gap.
It may be close to the inner surface. The both projections 25, 25 are guide grooves 1
It is formed into a prismatic shape so that it can be engaged with 6, and both protrusions 25, 25
The toner scraping member 2 is movable in the longitudinal direction of the toner hopper 1 with its lower surface placed on the upper surfaces of the guide grooves 16, 16.

Engagement portion 22 provided at the upper end of the toner scraping member 2
Includes an extending portion 22a protruding from the position slightly lower than the upper end of the scraping main body 20 toward the outside of the toner hopper 1, and an engaging protrusion 22b protruding upward from the tip of the extending portion 22a. A groove 23 having an upper opening is formed between the engaging projection 22b and the upper end of the scraping body 20.

The toner cartridge 3 that is inserted and disposed above the toner hopper 1 has a cartridge body 30 formed in a cylindrical shape.
A substantially disk-shaped tip closing plate 31 provided at the tip of the cartridge body 30, a disk-shaped rear end closing plate 32 provided at the rear end opening of the cartridge body 30, and the rear end closing plate. It has a handle 33 fixed to 32. Cartridge body 30
An opening 34 is formed on the peripheral side surface of the cartridge 34 so as to be elongated along the longitudinal direction of the cartridge body 30, and the opening 34 is closed by a sealing material 35. Engagement grooves 37 are formed around the tip of the cartridge body 30 over substantially half the circumference, and the tip closing plate 31 is cut out at a position near one end of the engagement grooves 37 to form an engagement hole 36. Has been formed. A small engaging groove 39 is formed on a side portion of the engaging hole 36 so as to be continuous with the engaging groove 37. The engagement groove 37 is formed from the position of the opening 34 of the cartridge main body 30 over substantially half the circumference, and the engagement hole 36 is formed in the outer peripheral portion of the cartridge main body 30 at the position opposite to the opening 34. The width dimension of the engaging portion 22 provided in the toner scraping member 2 is set to be smaller than the opening width dimension of the engaging hole 36 provided in the toner cartridge 3, and the engaging hole 36 and the engaging portion of the toner cartridge 3 are engaged with each other. When the toner cartridge 3 is moved to the side of the member 2 for scraping off the toner in a state where the toner cartridge 22 and the toner cartridge 22 face each other,
When the engaging portion 22 is easily inserted into the engaging hole 36 and then the toner cartridge 3 is rotated, the engaging protrusion 22b at the tip of the engaging portion 22 moves while engaging in the engaging groove 37. like,
The dimensions of the engagement protrusion 22b and the engagement groove 37 are set respectively.

Next, the toner cartridge 3 is added to the toner supply device of the present invention.
The operation of mounting the will be described.

As shown in FIG. 3, the handle 33 provided at the rear end of the toner cartridge 3 is held by hand, and the opening 34 of the toner cartridge 3 is directed upward.
Is inserted from the side opening of the housing disposed above the toner hopper 1. With the opening 34 facing upward, the engagement hole 36 of the toner cartridge 3 is located on the lower side. While inserting the toner cartridge 3, seal material 35
The rear end is pulled and the seal material 35 is gradually peeled off to open the opening 34. At this time, the toner scraping member 2 is located on the front side in the toner hopper 1, and the engaging portion 22 of the toner scraping member 2 is aligned with the engaging hole 36 of the toner cartridge 3 and It passes through the joint hole 36 and is inserted into the engagement groove 37. When the toner cartridge 3 is further inserted into the back side in this state, as shown in FIG. 4, the toner scraping member 2 moves toward the back side end side wall 12 side of the toner hopper 1 and comes into contact therewith. When the toner scraping member 2 is moved, both side edges 20 of the toner scraping member 2 are moved.
Since a and 20a are close to the inner surface of the side wall 10 of the toner hopper 1, the toner adhering to the inner surface of the side wall 10 is scraped off by the toner scraping member 2 and drops below the toner hopper 1.

The toner scraping member 2 is the end side wall 12 of the toner hopper 1.
Then, the handle 33 is turned to rotate the toner cartridge 3 by about 180 degrees. The toner scraping member 2
The engaging projection 22b moves from the position of the engaging hole 36 into the engaging groove 37, and the extending portion 22a comes into contact with the final edge 37a of the engaging groove 37. By this operation, the opening 34 of the toner cartridge 3 is directed downward, and the toner is dropped and supplied from the opening 34 into the toner hopper 7.

In such a state, the electrophotographic copying machine is operated, and the developing device develops the electrostatic latent image on the photoconductor with toner to form a copied image.

When the copy image is formed a predetermined number of times and the toner in the toner cartridge 3 is exhausted and the toner cartridge 3 is replaced with another toner cartridge 3, first, the handle 33 is held and the The toner cartridge 3 is rotated in the opposite direction. Then, the toner cartridge 3 rotates with the engagement projections 22b engaged with the engagement grooves 37, and the engagement projections 22b are engaged with the small engagement grooves 39. In this state, as shown in FIG. 5, pulling the handle 34 toward you,
The toner scraping member 2 is moved at the same time as the toner scraping member 2 is engaged with the tip of the toner cartridge 3, and the toner scraping member 2 is attached to the inner surface of the side wall 10 of the toner hopper 1 by the movement of the toner scraping member 2. The toner is scraped again. When the toner cartridge 3 is pulled out from the toner hopper 1, the opening 34 faces upward, and a small amount of toner attached to the inner surface of the toner cartridge 3 does not drop and scatter. After that, the toner cartridge 3 is slightly rotated so that the engaging hole 36 is aligned with the engaging portion 22. When the toner cartridge 3 is pulled out in this state, the engagement between the toner cartridge 3 and the toner scraping member 2 is released, and the toner cartridge 3 can be completely pulled out from the toner replenishing device.

According to the above configuration, when the cartridge 3 is put into or taken out of the toner replenishing device, the toner scraping member 2 can be moved to cleanly scrape off the toner adhering to the inner surface of the side wall 10 of the toner hopper 1. The structure for moving the toner scraping member 2 can be simplified, and no special driving means is required.

When the toner cartridge 3 is attached to the toner replenishing device, the engaging portion 22 of the toner scraping member 2 is surely aligned with the engaging hole 36 provided at the tip of the toner cartridge 3 so that the toner cartridge Positioning indicators may be provided on the periphery of the end closing plate 32 and on the outer surface of the end side wall 13 of the toner hopper 1.

(Embodiment 1) As shown in FIG. 6, the toner scraping member 2 is provided with a horizontal member 26 having projections 26a at both ends, and the side wall 10 of the toner hopper 1 extending from both ends of the horizontal member 26. A rod-shaped sliding contact member 27 having a U-shaped cross section that is bent downward along the inner surface may be provided. The sliding contact member 27 is the side wall 10 of the toner hopper 1.
A through hole 28 is formed between the sliding contact member 27 and the cross member 26 and is arranged close to the inner surface. The sliding contact member 27 and the horizontal member 26 may be integrally formed of a synthetic resin material, or the sliding contact member
Only 27 may be formed as a member different from the cross member 26, for example, a metal material or a resin material having a little elasticity, rubber or the like.

In this embodiment, when the toner scraping member 2 is moved in the longitudinal direction of the toner hopper 1 as described above, the sliding contact member 27 moves along the inner surface of the side wall 10 of the toner hopper 1. The sliding contact member 27 can scrape off the toner attached to the inner surface of the side wall 10. Moreover, even if a large amount of toner remains in the toner hopper 1, the horizontal material
Since the toner moves through the through hole 28 formed between the sliding contact member 27 and the sliding contact member 27, the toner is not pushed to one side in the toner hopper 1 when the toner is scraped off, and There is an advantage that the movement resistance of the scraping member 2 is also small.

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 7 to FIG. 10 show still another embodiment. In this embodiment, the toner scraping member 2 is the horizontal member 29.
and a mesh member 29b which is attached to the lower end surface of the horizontal member 29a and through which toner can pass. In this embodiment, a worm gear 11 is installed between the end side wall 12 on the front end side and the end side wall 13 on the rear end side of the toner hopper 1 so as to be rotatable in the forward and reverse directions. Threaded portion 21 provided on the side portion of the cross member 29a of the member 2
As shown in FIG. 8, the worm gear 11 is engaged with the worm gear 11 so that the worm gear 11 can be screwed and retracted in the longitudinal direction. The worm gear 11 is installed on one side of both side walls 12 and 13 so as not to hinder the dropping of the toner into the toner hopper 1. A drive gear 17 is fixed to the end of the worm gear 11 protruding from the end side wall 12, and the toner scraping member 2 is reciprocated in the longitudinal direction of the toner hopper 1 by rotating the drive gear 17 forward and backward. It is configured to be mobile. The drive gear 17 may be configured to be driven by a predetermined amount only when the power switch of the electrophotographic copying machine is turned on, and driven by a predetermined amount only when a signal instructing replacement of the toner cartridge 3 is issued. It may be configured as follows.

In this embodiment, in addition to the advantage that the toner on the both side walls 10 and 10 of the toner hopper 1 can be scraped off by the side edges of the mesh member 29b, the toner contained in the toner hopper 1 is removed by the mesh member 29b. By passing it, there is an advantage that blocking can also be prevented.

(Effect of the Invention) As described above, in the toner replenishing device of the present invention, the toner scraping member movable along the side wall of the toner hopper is arranged in the vicinity of the side wall of the toner hopper. An engaging portion provided on the dropping member detachably engages with the toner cartridge. Therefore, when the toner cartridge is moved to the back side or the front side, the toner scraping member can reciprocate in the toner hopper in association with the movement to scrape off the toner adhering to the side wall of the toner hopper.

Therefore, regardless of the inclination angle of the side wall of the toner hopper, it is possible to prevent the toner from adhering and accumulating on the inner surface of the side wall to form a lump of toner. As a result, a good image can be formed in the developing section. Further, it is not necessary to increase the inclination angle of the side wall of the toner hopper so that the toner does not adhere and stay, and the shape of the toner hopper is not restricted.

Further, since the toner can be scraped off by the operation of mounting the toner cartridge to the toner hopper and the operation of removing the toner cartridge from the toner hopper, the toner attached to the inner surface of the side wall of the toner hopper can be removed. No special means and no special operation are required for scraping off the toner, and the configuration and operation required for scraping off the toner can be greatly simplified.

Further, since the toner adhering to the inside of the side wall of the toner hopper is scraped off, the entire amount of the toner in the toner hopper can be used and the toner in the toner hopper can be effectively used.

Further, in the present invention, when the toner adhering to the side wall of the toner hopper is scraped off, the toner scraping member is
Since it is configured to move to the back side or the front side in conjunction with the movement of the toner cartridge and is not configured to generate periodic vibration noise, generation of noise such as the periodic vibration noise is prevented. can do.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a toner hopper according to an embodiment of the present invention and a toner cartridge arranged above the toner hopper, and FIG. 2 is an engaging portion of a toner scraping member of the toner cartridge. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the toner scraping member is inserted into the hole, FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a state where the toner scraping member is inserted into the toner replenishing device at the tip of the toner cartridge, and FIG. FIG. 5 shows a state in which the engaging portion of the toner scraping member is engaged with the engaging hole of the toner cartridge and the toner cartridge is pulled out. FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the same, FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a main part of another embodiment, FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a main part of another embodiment, FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the main part, and FIG. , FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view thereof. 1 ... toner hopper, 2 ... toner scraping member, 3
... Toner cartridge, 10 ... Side wall, 11 ... Worm gear, 21 ... Threaded part, 22 ... Engagement part.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (56) Reference JP-A-59-34564 (JP, A) JP-A-57-204070 (JP, A) JP-A-54-20740 (JP, A) JP-A-54- 136337 (JP, A) Actual Open Sho 52-65546 (JP, U) Actual Open Sho 53-57849 (JP, U)

Claims (2)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A toner scraping member provided in a toner hopper, and a toner cartridge having an engaging hole and an engaging groove at a tip thereof. The toner scraping member is provided on a side wall of the toner hopper. The toner cartridge is provided with an engaging portion that is movable along the engaging hole and the engaging groove at the tip of the toner cartridge. When it is inserted and arranged along the moving direction of the toner cartridge, it enters the engaging hole, abuts against the tip of the toner cartridge, and is moved to the inner side of the toner hopper,
A toner replenishing device that engages with the engaging groove of the toner cartridge and moves toward the front side of the toner hopper when the toner cartridge is removed from the toner hopper. 2. The engagement groove is continuous with the engagement hole at an end portion of the engagement hole on the front side, and is formed on the outer periphery of the toner cartridge in a range extending from the engagement hole to a substantially half circumference. The toner replenishing device according to claim 1, wherein the utility model is registered.