JPH08137226A - Toner supply device for image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To prevent toner from being stuck and from being leaked form the hole of a casing at the time of storage by providing a closing part which can move between a closing position to close the opening part of a toner bottle and an opening position to open it in the casing. CONSTITUTION: The circular closing part 22 is formed at a position opposed to the opening part 14 of the toner bottle 11 in the front casing 20a, and is supported through a belleville spring part 23. The closing part 22 can be moved repulsively between the position to close the opening part 14 of the toner bottle 11 and the position to open the opening part 14 by the spring part 23. Since the opening part 14 of the toner bottle 11 is closed by the closing part 22 provided in the casing, a hole 16 need not be closed by a seal or a slide shutter. In the case the opening part 14 of the toner bottle 11 is closed at the time of production, the spring part 23 is only deformed downward by pushing the closing part 22 in the closing direction.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cylindrical toner bottle which is held substantially horizontally in a horizontal direction and which is rotated to discharge the toner contained in the opening, and the toner discharged from the toner bottle is developed. The present invention relates to a toner replenishing device for an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a copying machine, and a facsimile, which has a toner conveying unit that conveys the toner to a collecting port of the apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Toner replenishing devices of the above type are known. This type of toner replenishing device generally uses a screw conveyor as a conveying means. However, there is a problem that the screw conveyor takes up a relatively large space and the degree of freedom in designing the transfer path is poor.

Therefore, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 48-41751 discloses a toner replenishing device which conveys toner by an endless conveyor. The toner replenishing device for the endless conveyor has the advantage that the conveying means is thin and the endless conveyor can be freely arranged within the same plane.

[0004]

However, in the toner replenishing device described above, since the drive of the endless conveyor is obtained from the drive shaft penetrated from the outside, the drive shaft and the drive shaft driven by the drive shaft can be driven even if the conveying means itself is thin. There is a problem that the advantage is lost by the drive transmission member that transmits the.

Further, in the above-mentioned toner replenishing device, there is a problem that it is difficult to install the conveying means on the front side of the image forming apparatus due to the drive transmission member and the like.

The present inventor first applied for a toner replenishing device capable of solving such a problem. In this toner replenishing device, since the winding transmission member travels by the rotation of the toner bottle, it is possible to convey the toner contained in the toner bottle using the winding transmission member without using the penetrating drive shaft.

By the way, in the toner replenishing device, there is a possibility that moisture may enter the toner in the toner bottle during storage and the toner may be fixed, or the toner may leak from the hole of the casing. Therefore, there is a method of closing the hole with a seal and peeling the seal at the time of use. However, there is a problem that toner is leaked from the hole at the time of setting operation because the seal is forgotten and the seal is peeled before setting.

In view of the above situation, the present invention provides a toner replenishing device capable of preventing moisture from entering the toner in a toner bottle during storage and sticking the toner, or leaking toner from a hole in a casing. It is intended to be provided.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a cylindrical toner bottle which is held substantially horizontally in a horizontal direction and which is rotated to discharge the toner contained in the opening thereof. In a toner replenishing device of an image forming apparatus having a toner carrying means for carrying the toner discharged from a toner bottle to a collecting port of a developing device, the toner carrying means is a winding transmission member wound around at least two cars. And a casing that surrounds the winding transmission member and rotatably connects the toner bottle, and moves between a closed position that closes the opening of the toner bottle and an open position that opens the toner bottle. It is characterized in that a possible closure is provided.

Further, in order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a spring portion around the closing portion, and the elastic force of the spring portion moves the closing portion between the closed position and the open position. It is also characterized by being held at each position.

Further, in order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a protrusion at the opening of the toner bottle, and an engaging portion for engaging the protrusion is provided at the closing portion of the casing, so that the toner bottle is rotated by the rotation of the toner bottle. The closing portion is urged by the spring portion to move from the closing position to the opening position.

Further, in order to achieve the above object, the present invention is characterized in that holding means is provided for holding the closing portion moved from the closing position to the opening position by the rotation of the toner bottle at the opening position by magnetic force. There is.

[0013]

According to the above construction, the toner conveying means is composed of the winding transmission member wound around at least two wheels, and the casing surrounding the winding transmission member and rotatably connected with the toner bottle. Since the casing is provided with a closing part that is movable between a closed position for closing the opening of the toner bottle and an opening position for opening the opening of the toner bottle, the opening of the toner bottle can be opened by the closing part provided on the casing when not in use. It can be closed to prevent toner leakage and toner becoming moist.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an image forming system of an image forming apparatus equipped with a toner replenishing device according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a drum-shaped photosensitive member as an image bearing member. When the photosensitive member 1 is rotationally driven in the clockwise direction, its surface is charged by a charger 2 and its charged portion is shown in the figure. An electrostatic latent image is formed by the optical writing L of the optical writing unit that is not provided. This latent image is developed by the developing device 3 to become a toner image and moves to the transfer portion. On the other hand, the transfer paper 9 is fed from the paper feeding device 7 through the registration rollers 8 in synchronization with the toner image, and the toner image is transferred to the transfer paper 9 under the action of the transfer device 4. Transfer paper 9 on which the toner image is transferred
Is transported to a fixing device (not shown) by the transporting means 5, and after fixing, is discharged to the outside of the machine or the like.

On the other hand, after the transfer, the toner remaining on the photoconductor 1 is cleaned by the cleaning device 6, and the residual charge is removed by a static eliminator (not shown) to prepare for the next image formation.

The developing device 3 is composed of a toner and a carrier.
In a device that uses a component developer, the toner is replenished to the developing device 3 by the toner replenishing device 10 when the toner is consumed and the ratio of the toner and the carrier changes due to the use.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the toner replenishing device 10 of the present invention develops a cylindrical toner bottle 11 containing toner and a toner discharged from the toner bottle 11. The toner transport means 13 transports the toner to the toner supply port 12 of the apparatus 3. When the toner bottle 11 is set in the main body of the image forming apparatus, the toner bottle 11 is held substantially horizontally and horizontally, and the toner bottle 11 is configured to discharge the toner from the opening 14 by rotating in the arrow direction. In this case, a gear 15 is provided on the peripheral surface of the toner bottle 11, and the gear 15 meshes with a drive gear of the main body of the image forming apparatus (not shown),
The toner bottle 11 is rotated in the arrow direction.

The toner conveying means 13 comprises a chain 19 as a winding transmission member wound around the sprockets 17 and 18, and a casing 20 surrounding the chain 19 and rotatably connected to the toner bottle 11. It is configured. The sprocket 17 is attached to the opening 14 of the toner bottle 11, and the sprocket 18 is incorporated in the casing 20. As shown in FIG. 3, the casing 20 includes a front casing 20a and two rear casings 20b and 20c, and is formed so as to surround the vicinity of the outside of the loop of the chain 19 incorporated therein. .

With the above-described structure, the toner conveying means 13 conveys the toner discharged from the opening 14 of the toner bottle 11 to the vicinity of the sprocket 18 by the chain 19, and from the hole 16 formed in the casing 20 to the toner supply port. Replenishing to the developing device 3 via 12. At this time, when the toner bottle 11 is rotated to move the toner inside and discharge it from the opening 14, the sprocket 17 is rotated by the rotation.
Rotates to drive the chain 19. Therefore, drive transmission means such as a gear train for transmitting drive to the sprocket 17 is not required, and the rotation of the toner bottle 11 and the traveling of the chain 19 are completely synchronized.

When the toner replenishing device 10 having the above-mentioned structure is new, a method of closing the hole 16 with a seal 21 shown in FIG. 2 so that the toner does not leak from the hole 16 of the casing 20 and the toner does not harden due to moisture. There is. Then, at the time of use, the toner supply device 10 may be set in the main body of the image forming apparatus after the seal 21 is peeled off. However, with this method, there is a risk of forgetting to peel off the seal, and the seal is peeled off before setting.
There is also a possibility that the toner may leak from No. 6. As another method, it is possible to cover the hole 16 with a sliding shutter and automatically open and close it with a cam at the time of setting. In this method, toner does not leak from the hole 16 during the setting operation, but there is a problem that the cost becomes too high.

Therefore, in the present invention, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a circular closing portion 22 is formed in the front casing 20a at a position facing the opening portion 14 of the toner bottle 11, and the closing portion 22 is a dish. It is supported via the spring portion 23. The closing portion 22 is elastic between the position where the disc spring portion 23 closes the opening 14 of the toner bottle 11 shown by the solid line in FIG. 4 and the position where the opening 14 shown by the chain line in FIG. 4 is opened. It is possible to move to. The closing part 22
A sealing member such as a sponge may be provided on the surface facing the opening 14 so that the opening 14 is securely closed. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the closing portion 22 and the disc spring portion 23 may be such that the connecting portion of the closing portion 22 and the disc spring portion 23 is bent at an acute angle when it is opened.

In the toner replenishing device 10 thus constructed, the toner bottle 11 is provided by the closing portion 22 provided in the casing 20.
Since the opening 14 can be closed, it is not necessary to close the hole 16 with a seal or a slide shutter. Then, when closing the opening 14 of the toner bottle 11 at the time of manufacturing, pressing in that direction only causes the disc spring portion to deform with the pecon. However, it is difficult to move the closing portion 22 from the closing position to the opening position. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, a handle 24 is provided on the outside of the closing portion 22.
The opening 14 of the toner bottle 11 may be opened via the. At this time, a chuck 25 that engages with the handle 24 may be provided to hold the closing portion 22 in the open position.

Thus, the closing portion 22 provided on the casing 20 can prevent the toner from leaking and the toner from getting wet, and the structure is simple, so that the cost is extremely low. In this case, when the toner replenishing device 10 is inserted straight in the axial direction of the toner bottle, after the grip 24 is engaged with the chuck 25 on the back side, the device is slightly returned by the force of the spring and the closing portion 22 is opened. It may be moved and held at a position. Alternatively, the chuck 25 may be moved toward the toner replenishing device 10 set in the main body of the image forming apparatus to grasp the grip 24 and move the closing portion 22 to the open position.

By the way, in the above embodiment, if the toner replenishing device 10 is set in the image forming apparatus main body and then the closing portion 22 is forgotten to be moved to the open position, the problem that the toner cannot be replenished remains. Therefore, in another embodiment shown in FIG.
2 can be automatically moved to the open position, which will be described.

In FIG. 7, the opening 14 of the toner bottle 11 is provided with a cam portion 26 formed in a substantially triangular shape. On the other hand, the closing portion 22 on the casing 20 side is formed into an inner lid shape that fits into the opening 14 of the toner bottle 11, and the closing portion 22 is formed with an engaging portion 27 with which the cam portion 26 is engaged. There is.

In the toner replenishing device 10 having such a structure, the cam portion 26 is engaged with the engaging portion 27 when it is not in use. Here, the toner replenishing device 10 is set in the image forming apparatus main body and the toner bottle is set. When 11 rotates, the disc spring portion 23 is biased outward by the rotation of the cam portion 26, and the closing portion 22 is forcibly pushed out and moved to the open position.

Further, it is preferable that the closing portion 22 is held at the open position after being moved to the open position. As the holding means, as shown in FIG. 8, a magnetic plate 28 is provided on the closing portion 22 and a magnet 29 is provided on the main body of the image forming apparatus, respectively.
The magnetic plate 28 may be configured to be attracted to the magnet 29 when 2 is moved to the open position.

[0029]

According to the structure of the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to prevent the toner leakage and the toner from being moistened by the closed portion provided in the casing, and the structure is simple, so that it is very inexpensive.

According to the structure of claim 2, the closing portion can be elastically moved between the closing position and the opening position by the spring portion, and the closing portion can be held at both positions.

According to the third aspect of the invention, the closing portion can be automatically moved from the closing position to the opening position by rotating the toner bottle.

According to the structure of claim 4, after the closing portion is moved to the open position, it can be securely held at the position.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an image forming system of an image forming apparatus including a toner replenishing device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a toner replenishing device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the toner replenishing device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional explanatory view showing a main part of an embodiment of the toner supply device according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a modified example of the closing portion of the toner supply device.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of moving the closing part from the closed position to the open position.

FIG. 7 is a sectional explanatory view showing a main part of another embodiment of the toner supply device according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a holding unit that holds the closing portion in the closed position.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Photoconductor 2 Charging device 3 Developing device 10 Toner replenishing device 11 Toner bottle 12 Toner replenishing port 13 Toner conveying means 19 Chain 20 Casing 22 Closing part 23 Disc spring part 22 Bellows part 26 Cam part 27 Engaging part 29 Magnet

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A cylindrical toner bottle, which is held substantially horizontally in a horizontal direction and discharges toner stored in an opening when rotated, and a toner discharged from the toner bottle to a collecting port of a developing device. In a toner replenishing device of an image forming apparatus having a toner conveying means for conveying, the toner conveying means surrounds the winding transmission member wound around at least two wheels, and the toner bottle rotates around the winding transmission member. A toner that is composed of a casing that is freely connected and that is provided with a closing part that is movable between a closing position that closes the opening of the toner bottle and an opening position that opens the toner bottle. Supply device. 2. The toner replenishing device for an image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a spring portion is provided around the closing portion,
A toner replenishing device, wherein the closing portion is moved between the closing position and the opening position by the elastic force of the spring portion and is held at each position. 3. The toner replenishing device for an image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a protrusion is provided at an opening of the toner bottle, and an engaging portion with which the protrusion engages is provided at a closing portion of the casing. A toner replenishing device, wherein the closing portion is urged by the spring portion by the rotation of the toner bottle to move from the closing position to the opening position. 4. The toner replenishing device for an image forming apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising holding means for holding the closing portion moved from the closing position to the opening position by the rotation of the toner bottle at the opening position by magnetic force. A toner replenishing device.