JPH08160747A - Developer carrying device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To suppress the height of a toner carrying part to be low, to thin a toner storage part and to lower the height of a printer main body by carrying developer by the vertical movement of a planar carrying plate. CONSTITUTION: The planer carrying plate 33 is constituted so that its right end is circularly moved in a direction shown by an arrow B by a crank shaft 32 and its left end is linearly moved in a direction shown by an arrow C along an inclined surface 21a because the sction in an up-and-down direction is regulated by a regulation member 34. By the lateral movement of the plate 33, toner 19 is diffused and carried in the direction of a developing roller 15 through plural holes 33a and the like. Since the height of the toner carrying part of the plate 33 can be suppressed to be low by providing a developer carrying device with the crank shaft 32 driven to be rotated, the plate 33 whose one end is rotatably supported by the shaft 32 and which is provided with the plural holes 33a and the regulation member 34 restricting the action of the opposite end of the plate 33 to one end supported by the shaft 32 in a vertical direction to a surface in such a way, the toner storage part 21 is thinned.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an optical printer, a copying machine,
The present invention relates to a developer transport device that transports a developer in an image forming apparatus that uses an electrophotographic method such as plain paper fax.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A developer replenishing device in a conventional image forming apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a conventional image forming apparatus, and FIG.
Is a configuration diagram of a conventional process unit, FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a conventional process unit, and FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a conventional developer supply device.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 1 is a main body of a printer which is an image forming apparatus, and 2 is a paper cassette for accommodating paper 3. The paper 3 is fed one by one from the paper cassette 2 by the paper feed roller 4, and is fed by the transport roller 5 and the paper feed roller 4.
It is sandwiched between and is sent out to the paper transport path 6. This printer has means for feeding paper one by one in addition to the paper cassette 2, and 7 is a manual feed tray, which is a paper 8 for manual feeding.
Is to be stably conveyed to the manual paper feed port 9.
It is sandwiched between the transport roller 5 and the paper feed roller 4, and is transported in the same manner as the paper 3 in the paper cassette 2.

Reference numeral 10 denotes a front end detection sensor arm which transmits the passage of the front end of the paper 3 to an optical sensor (not shown), and controls the time for writing an image at the image transfer portion downstream of the paper 3 in the conveying direction. . Reference numeral 11 denotes a process unit that is configured so that main components for image formation described below are integrated and can be attached to and detached from the main body 1.

The process unit 11 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. The outer frame structure of the process unit 11 includes an upper frame body 11a and a lower frame body 11b.
Reference numeral 12 denotes a photoconductor in which a photosensitive layer such as selenium (Se) or an organic photoconductor (OPC) is applied on a thin film on the outer peripheral surface of the drum, and is rotatable by a fixed shaft 12a provided on the lower frame 11b. It is pivotally supported. A charging device 13, an exposure optical system 14, a developing roller 15, a transfer roller 16 and a cleaning blade 17 shown in FIG. 3 are provided on the peripheral surface of the photoconductor 12 in the order of the rotation direction of the photoconductor 12 shown by an arrow A. There is.

The charger 13 is composed of a charging brush 13a made of conductive rayon or the like and a conductive plate 13b made of a metal plate, and the charger 13 is supplied to the charger 13 by a high voltage power source (not shown) inside the main body 1. Apply a high voltage of about 1.2kV to the photoconductor 1
The surface of No. 2 is uniformly charged to about -700V. A laser beam 14a is emitted from the exposure optical system 14, and an electrostatic latent image corresponding to an image signal is formed on the photoconductor 12 by the laser beam 14a. The developing roller 15 is a developing roller shaft 15.
A conductive member 15b such as urethane is formed on the outer peripheral surface of a, and is rotatably supported by the lower frame 11b. The developing blade 18 has a conductive member 18b such as silicon formed at the tip of a blade plate 18a, and is clamped and fixed by a plate spring 18d to a fixed plate 18c fixed to the lower frame 11b. Is pressed through the toner 19 which is a developer. The replenishing roller 20 has a conductive member 20b such as urethane formed on the outer peripheral surface of the replenishing roller shaft 20a, is rotatably supported by the lower frame 11b, and supplies the toner 19 to the surface of the developing roller 15. are doing.

Reference numeral 21 designates a lower frame 11b, and toner 1
The toner storage unit for accommodating 9 and the agitator 22 are the agitator shaft 22a and the blades 22b formed on the agitator shaft 22a.
The toner 19 in the toner storage portion 21 is rotatably supported by a developing roller by an agitator 22 and a replenishing roller 20.
It is fed onto the photoconductor 12, and is triboelectrically charged into a uniform thin layer state by the pressing force of the developing blade 18 and conveyed onto the photoconductor 12.

By applying a negative potential of about -300 V to the developing roller 15 carrying the toner 19 on its surface and applying a negative charge to the toner 19 in advance, the laser beam 14a on the photoconductor 12 is irradiated to charge the toner. Toner only on the part where there is no 1
9 is attached, and development is performed by a so-called negative-positive process.

In FIG. 5, reference numeral 23 denotes an opening / closing lid that is opened / closed when the toner 19 is replenished to the toner storage portion 21, and is slidably supported by the outer frame structure of the process unit 11. A toner replenishment container 24 for containing the toner 19 is used when replenishing the toner storage unit 21 when the toner 19 is exhausted. Reference numeral 24a denotes a protrusion formed by a part of the toner supply container 24, and a hook 25 formed by a part of the outer frame structure.
The toner supply container 24 is connected to the process unit 11 by being fitted into the process unit 11. Reference numeral 26 is a film that seals the toner 19 in a toner supply container 24 to prevent it from spattering outside, and is peeled off when the toner is supplied.

The transfer roller 16 has a conductive member 16b such as urethane formed on the outer peripheral surface of a transfer roller shaft 16a and is rotatably supported by the main body 1. The toner image formed by the toner 19 attached to the photoconductor 12 is +1 on the transfer roller 16.
By applying a high voltage of about kV, transfer is performed by the transfer roller 11 on the surface of the sheet 3 conveyed by the sheet feeding roller 5. The cleaning blade 17 does not completely transfer the sheet 3 and removes the toner 19 remaining on the photoconductor 12.

The photoconductor 12, the charger 13, the developing roller 15, the cleaning blade 17, etc., which are the main parts in the process unit 11, generally have a shorter life than the main body 1 of the printer and need to be replaced regularly. Process unit 11
We are working to reduce the maintenance labor by integrating it into and replacing it together. At the time of replacement, the process unit 11 can be replaced by opening the cover 27 shown in FIG.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 28 denotes a fixing device for fixing the sheet 3 on which the toner image has been transferred. The fixing device 28 is composed of a heat roller 28a and a pressure roller 28b having a heat source inside and heats the toner image on the sheet 3. With the nip rotation between the roller 28a and the pressure roller 28b, fixing is performed by pressure and heat. 29 is a switching claw for switching the discharge direction of the sheet 3 on which the image is fixed,
The discharge direction is switched to the face-down roller 30 at the solid line position and to the face-up roller 31 at the broken line position.

The operation of the developer transport in the process unit will be described below.

In FIG. 6, first, both ends of the agitator shaft 22a are rotatably supported on the side surface of the toner storage unit 21, and a gear 22c provided at one end receives a rotational driving force from the main body 1 so that the agitator 22 moves in the direction of arrow D. It's spinning. The wing 22b supported by the agitator shaft 22a is provided with a plurality of holes 22d. The toner 19 is conveyed to the developing roller 15 and the replenishing roller 20 by the rotation of the agitator 22. Here, since the agitator 22 is a rotating body, the toner storage unit 21 needs to have a height equal to or larger than the rotation diameter B shown in FIG.

[0016]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional configuration, since the paper cassette 2 is located on the bottom surface of the main body 1 of the printer, there is a limit to the miniaturization of the installation area. Although it is necessary to lower the height of the toner storage unit 1, the height of the toner storage unit 21 is high, so that the height of the main body 1 is increased by the protruding dimension C of the toner storage unit 21 as shown in FIG. .

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a developer transporting device capable of reducing the height of the printer main body by reducing the thickness of the toner storage portion.

[0018]

In order to achieve the above object, a developer transporting device of the present invention is a flat plate having a crankshaft which is driven to rotate and a crankshaft whose one end is rotatably supported and which has a plurality of holes. And a regulation member that is provided on the end side opposite to the one end supported by the crankshaft and that restricts the movement of the conveyance plate in the plane vertical direction.

[0019]

With the above-described structure, the developer carrying device according to the present invention carries the developer (toner) by the lateral movement of the flat carrying plate, so that the height of the toner carrying portion can be kept low. In addition, the toner storage unit can be made thinner, which in turn makes it possible to reduce the height of the printer body.

[0020]

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

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a process unit equipped with the developer conveying device according to one embodiment of the present invention, which is mounted on the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 3, and FIG. 2 is a developer conveying according to this embodiment. It is a perspective view of an apparatus. Here, FIGS.
The same components as those of the conventional developer replenishing device described above are assigned the same reference numerals and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, 32 is a crankshaft,
Both ends are rotatably supported on the side surface of the toner storage unit 21, and receive a rotational driving force by a gear 32a provided at one end, and the crankshaft 3
2 is rotating in the direction of arrow D. Reference numeral 33 denotes a flat plate-shaped conveying plate having a plurality of holes 33a, which is located on the inclined surface 21a of the toner storage unit 21 which is inclined so as to descend toward the developing roller 15, and one end on the developing roller 15 side is the crankshaft 32. It is rotatably supported by the support portion 33b. 34 is a transport plate on the side opposite to the developing roller 15.
The operation in the vertical direction (vertical direction) at the other end of 33
The restriction member is provided so as to project inside the toner storage unit 21 so as to be restricted by the 21a.

The operation of the developer transporting device of this embodiment having the above-described structure will be described below.

First, the conveying plate 33 has its right end circularly moved in the direction of arrow B by the crankshaft 32, and its left end is restricted in vertical movement by the restricting member 34, so that it is in the direction of arrow C along the inclined surface 21a. Make a linear motion. By the lateral movement of the transport plate 33, the toner 19 is diffused and transported in the direction of the developing roller 15 through the plurality of holes 33a and the like.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the crankshaft 32 that is rotationally driven, the flat transport plate 33 having one end rotatably supported by the crankshaft 32 and having the plurality of holes 33a, and the crank. A transport plate 33 supported by the shaft 32 and opposite to the one end.
Since the height of the toner transport portion of the transport plate 33 can be suppressed to a low level by including the regulating member 34 that restricts the operation in the direction perpendicular to the surface of the toner storage unit 21, the toner storage unit 21 can be made thin, and thus the printer main body 1 The height of can be lowered.

[0026]

As described above, according to the constitution of each of the claims, the developer conveying device of the present invention can convey the developer by the lateral movement of the thin flat plate conveying member. As a result, the height of the developer transport portion can be suppressed to a low level, the developer storage section can be made thin, and the height of the image forming apparatus main body mounted can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a process unit having a developer transport device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a developer carrying device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a conventional image forming apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a conventional process unit.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a conventional process unit.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a conventional developer supply device.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 ... Process unit, 12 ... Photoconductor, 15 ... Developing roller, 19 ... Toner, 20 ... Replenishing roller, 21 ... Toner storage section, 21a ... Inclined surface, 32 ... Crank shaft, 33 ... Conveying plate, 33a ... Hole, 34 … Regulating member.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A developer storage unit for storing a developer, a crankshaft that is driven to rotate, a crankshaft that is laterally movable in the developer storage unit, and one end of which is rotatably supported by the crankshaft. And a flat plate-shaped carrying member for carrying the developer. 2. The developer carrying device according to claim 1, wherein the carrying member is provided with a plurality of holes. 3. The regulating member for limiting the movement of the conveying member in the direction perpendicular to the plane is installed on the end side of the conveying member opposite to the one end supported by the crankshaft. The developer transport device described. 4. The developer carrying device according to claim 3, wherein the crankshaft is installed on the side of a developer carrying member carrying a developer.