JPH08185031A - Toner bottle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a toner bottle having a desired toner capacity which can be produced at low production cost by easy selective assembling. CONSTITUTION: At least one relay cylindrical part 2 is serially arranged between a toner discharging cylindrical part 3 forming one end side of a blind cylindrical toner bottle and provided with an aperture 3a at its end face and a bottomed cylindrical part 4 forming the other end side of the blind toner bottle; and they are coupled with each other by the female-male fitting of the inner periphery of an open surface with a male fitting ring respectively provided between the toner discharging cylindrical part 3, the bottom cylindrical part 4 and the realy cylindrical part 2; thereby assembling this toner bottle which is driven to be rotated centering around a shaft center so as to supply toner filling up the inside from the aperture to the outside. In this case, the toner bottle is assembled by selectively setting the toner storing capacity of the toner bottle according to the number of the realy cylindrical parts 2 serially connected between the cylindrical parts 3 and 4.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a toner bottle for supplying toner to a toner hopper in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine.

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2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a toner bottle of this type is entirely formed into a cylindrical body having a bottom, is driven to rotate about an axis, and is filled inside from an opening formed in one end face in the axis direction. The toner was supplied to the toner hopper. Further, in this type of toner bottle, the toner bottle replacement time differs depending on the type of the image forming apparatus incorporated and the usage condition of the customer. Depending on the type of image forming apparatus and the usage conditions at the customer's end, the optimum toner bottle was selected and delivered.

[0003]

However, the usage of the image forming apparatus varies considerably depending on the customer, and in order to meet the needs of the majority of customers who use various image forming apparatuses, a considerable amount of toner is used. It is necessary to prepare the bottle in advance and place it, and the toner bottle has a problem in manufacturing cost.

The present invention has been made in view of the present situation of the toner bottle of this kind as described above, and an object thereof is to easily produce a toner bottle having a desired toner capacity at a low manufacturing cost by a simple selective assembly. It is to provide a toner bottle that can be manufactured.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention according to claim 1 forms a cylindrical body with a bottom as a whole, has an opening at one end face, and rotates about an axis. In a toner bottle that is driven to replenish the toner filled inside from the opening to the outside, one end side of the bottomed cylindrical body is formed, and the opening is provided with a toner discharge cylindrical body portion. A bottom cylinder portion that forms the other end of the bottomed cylindrical body and is detachable from the toner discharge cylinder portion, and is provided between the toner discharge cylinder portion and the bottom cylinder portion. It has a connecting means for connecting with each other.

[0006] Similarly, in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention according to claim 2 forms a tubular body with a bottom as a whole, an opening is provided at one end surface, and is rotationally driven about an axis, In a toner bottle that replenishes the toner filled inside from the opening to the outside, a toner discharge cylinder body portion that forms one end side of the bottomed cylindrical body and the opening is provided on the end surface,
A bottom cylinder portion that forms the other end of the bottomed cylinder body, a relay cylinder portion that is connected in series between the toner discharge cylinder portion and the bottom cylinder portion, and the toner The present invention is characterized in that it has a connecting means which is provided between the discharge tubular body portion, the bottom tubular body portion, and the relay tubular body portion, and connects the mutual.

[0007] Similarly, in order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 2, wherein a unit amount of toner is accommodated in the toner discharge cylinder portion and the bottom cylinder portion. A unit capacity accommodating portion is formed, and the relay cylinder body part forms the unit capacity accommodating portion.

Similarly, in order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 4 is characterized in that, in the invention according to claim 1 or 2, the connecting means performs connection by male and female fitting. It is a thing.

Similarly, in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention according to claim 5 is characterized in that, in the invention according to claim 1 or 2, the connecting means performs connection by screwing. is there.

[0010]

According to the first aspect of the invention, one end of the bottomed cylindrical toner bottle is formed, and the toner discharge cylinder portion having an opening at the end face and the other bottomed cylindrical end are formed. By connecting the bottom cylindrical body which is detachable to the toner discharging cylinder with the connecting means provided between the toner discharging cylinder and the bottom cylindrical body, the whole is formed into a bottomed cylinder. Toner having a toner storage capacity determined by the shape size of the toner discharge cylinder portion and the bottom cylinder portion and being driven to rotate about the shaft center to replenish the toner filled inside from the opening to the outside. The bottle is assembled.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a toner discharge cylinder portion having one end of a bottomed cylindrical toner bottle and an opening provided at an end face, and the other end of the bottomed cylindrical toner bottle. At least one relay cylinder portion is arranged in series with the bottom cylinder portion forming the side, and the connection means is provided between the toner discharge cylinder portion, the bottom cylinder portion, and the relay cylinder portion, respectively. By assembling the toner bottles with each other, the toner bottle is rotatably driven about the shaft center to replenish the toner filled in the inside from the opening to the outside. In this case, the toner storage capacity of the toner bottle is selectively set according to the number of relay cylinders connected in series between the toner discharge cylinder and the bottom cylinder to perform assembly.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a toner bottle having a bottomed cylindrical toner bottle having one end formed with an opening at an end face thereof, and the other end of the bottomed cylindrical toner bottle. At least one relay cylinder portion is arranged in series with the bottom cylinder portion forming the side, and the connection means is provided between the toner discharge cylinder portion, the bottom cylinder portion, and the relay cylinder portion, respectively. By assembling the toner bottles with each other, the toner bottle is rotatably driven around the shaft center to replenish the toner filled in the inside from the opening to the outside. In this case, the toner discharge cylinder portion and the bottom cylinder portion form a unit volume accommodation portion for accommodating a unit amount of toner, and the relay cylinder portion forms a unit volume accommodation portion. Depending on the number of relay cylinders connected in series between the discharge cylinder and the bottom cylinder, the toner storage capacity of the toner bottle is set to an integral multiple of the unit amount of toner for assembly. .

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the operation of the first or second aspect of the invention, the toner discharge cylinder portion, the bottom cylinder portion, or the relay cylinder portion are connected to each other by male and female fitting. Be done.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, in the operation of the first or second aspect of the invention, the toner discharge cylinder portion, the bottom cylinder portion, or the relay cylinder portion are connected to each other by screwing.

[0015]

【Example】

[First Embodiment] A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is an exploded explanatory diagram showing a first configuration of the present embodiment, FIG. 2 is an assembly explanatory diagram showing a first configuration of the present embodiment, and FIG. 3 is an assembly explanatory diagram showing a second configuration of the present embodiment. Is.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, a toner discharge cylinder portion 3 having an opening 3a formed at an end surface, a cylindrical shape having open end surfaces, and a male fitting ring 2a formed at one end side. And the bottom tubular body portion 4 having the male fitting ring 4a formed on one end side thereof. In the first configuration mode, the male fitting ring 2a corresponds to the toner discharging tubular body portion 3. The male fitting ring 4a is press-fitted to the inner periphery of the open surface, and the male fitting ring 4a is press-fitted to the inner periphery of the open surface on the other end side of the relay tubular portion 2, so that the entire body is provided as shown in FIG. It has a cylindrical bottom shape.

Further, in the second configuration mode of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, two relay cylinder parts 2 are used, and the first relay cylinder part 2 is used.
The male fitting ring 2a of the relay barrel portion 2 is press-fitted into the inner periphery of the open surface of the toner discharge barrel portion 3, and the inner periphery of the open surface of the other end of the first relay barrel portion 2 is The male fitting ring 2a of the second relay tubular body 2 is press-fitted into the second relay tubular body 2
The male fitting ring 4a of the bottom tubular body portion 4 is press-fitted onto the inner periphery of the open surface on the other end side of the.

In this embodiment, the toner discharge cylinder portion 3 and the bottom cylinder portion 4 are formed to be thin, and the toner storage amount of the toner bottle is determined by the volume of the relay cylinder portion 2.
The volume of the relay cylinder portion 2 is set to, for example, a capacity that accommodates a unit amount of toner, and with this unit amount of toner, it is normally possible to form an image on 5000 sheets.

Therefore, in the first configuration mode shown in FIG.
In the toner bottle, a unit amount of toner capable of forming an image for 5000 sheets is stored, and in the second configuration mode shown in FIG.
An amount of toner capable of forming an image of 10,000 sheets is stored in the toner bottle. Further, as the number of relay cylinders 2 connected between the toner discharge cylinder 3 and the bottom cylinder 4 is increased, the amount of toner contained in the toner bottle is increased by an integral multiple of the unit amount. You can

The present embodiment thus constructed is incorporated in the toner replenishing device of the image forming apparatus, and the amount of toner corresponding to the number of the selected relay cylinders 2 is set in the bottomed cylindrical main body. Is filled, and the main body is driven to rotate about the shaft center, and the toner in the main body is replenished to the toner hopper (not shown) from the opening 3a.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the relay cylinder portion 3
Is formed to have a capacity capable of accommodating a predetermined amount of toner, and the number of relay cylinders 2 connected between the toner discharge cylinder 3 and the bottom cylinder 4 is selected to obtain a desired toner amount. It is possible to easily and efficiently assemble the toner bottle accommodating the toner bottle with the toner discharge cylinder portion 3, the relay cylinder portion 2, and the bottom cylinder portion 4 by press fitting. .

[Second Embodiment] A second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 is an assembly explanatory diagram showing a first configuration of the present embodiment, FIG. 5 is an assembly explanatory diagram showing a second configuration of the present embodiment, and FIG. 6 is an assembly explanatory diagram showing a third configuration of the present embodiment. Is.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the bottom cylinder portion 4A is formed in the axial direction longer than the bottom cylinder portion 4 of the first embodiment, and the toner discharge cylinder portion is formed. A capacity for accommodating a unit amount of toner is set by 3 and the bottom cylinder portion 4A. The configuration of the other parts of the present embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment already described, and therefore a duplicate description will not be given.

In the first configuration mode of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the male fitting ring 4a of the bottom cylindrical body portion 4A is press-fitted to the inner periphery of the open surface of the toner discharging cylindrical body portion 3. As a result, a toner bottle containing a unit amount, that is, an amount of toner capable of forming an image of 5,000 sheets is assembled.

Further, in the second configuration mode of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the male fitting ring 2a of the relay tubular body portion 2 is
The male fitting ring 4a of the bottom tubular body portion 4A is press-fitted to the inner periphery of the open surface of the toner discharge tubular portion 3, and the male fitting ring 4a of the bottom tubular portion 4A is press-fitted to the inner periphery of the open surface of the other end side of the relay tubular portion 2. Has been done.

Furthermore, in the third configuration mode of this embodiment,
As shown in FIG. 6, two relay cylinder parts 2 are used, and the male fitting ring 2 a of the first relay cylinder part 2 is press-fitted onto the inner periphery of the open surface of the toner discharge cylinder part 3. The second relay cylinder part 2 is attached to the inner periphery of the open surface of the other end of the first relay cylinder part 2
Male fitting ring 2a is press-fitted, and the male fitting ring 4a of the bottom tubular body 4A is press-fitted to the inner periphery of the open surface on the other end side of the second relay tubular body 2. .

As described above, in the present embodiment, in the first configuration mode shown in FIG.
A unit amount of toner capable of forming an image for one sheet is stored, and in the second configuration mode shown in FIG.
An amount of toner capable of forming an image for 0 sheets is stored, and
In the third configuration mode shown in FIG.
An amount of toner capable of forming an image for one sheet is stored. Further, as the number of relay cylinders 2 connected between the toner discharge cylinder 3 and the bottom cylinder 4A is increased, the toner storage amount in the toner bottle is increased by an integral multiple of the unit amount. You can

The present embodiment thus constructed is incorporated in the toner replenishing device of the image forming apparatus, and a unit corresponding to the number of the selected relay cylinders 2 is provided in the bottomed cylindrical main body. The toner is filled with an integral multiple of the amount, and the main body is rotationally driven around the shaft center, and the toner in the main body is supplied to the toner hopper (not shown) from the opening 3a.

As described above, in this embodiment, the toner discharge cylinder portion 3 and the bottom cylinder portion 4A are set so that a unit amount of toner is stored, and the relay cylinder portion 3 has a unit amount of toner amount. It is set to be housed. Then, based on a toner bottle containing a unit amount of toner formed by the toner discharge cylinder portion 3 and the bottom cylinder portion 4A, the toner discharge cylinder portion 3 and the bottom cylinder portion 4A are connected to each other. By selecting the number of the relay cylinder portions 3, a toner bottle containing an amount of toner that is an integral multiple of the unit amount is set to the toner discharge cylinder portion 3 and the relay cylinder portion 2.
By press-fitting the bottom cylinder portion 4 and the bottom cylinder portion 4 with each other, it is possible to easily and efficiently assemble at a low manufacturing cost.

FIG. 7 is an assembly explanatory view showing another structure of the toner discharge cylinder portion and the bottom cylinder portion of this embodiment, and the toner discharge cylinder portion and the bottom cylinder shown in FIG. 4 which have already been described. In the body portion, the low cylinder portion 4A stores a unit amount of toner, but in the example shown in FIG. 7, the toner discharge cylinder portion 3B and the bottom cylinder portion 4 are included.
The axial lengths of B are substantially equal to each other, and the toner discharge cylinder portion 3
B and the bottom cylindrical body portion 4B each contain toner in an amount of about half the unit amount. In the present embodiment, even when the toner discharge cylinder portion 3B and the bottom cylinder portion 4B having the configurations shown in FIG. 7 are used, as already described, the toner bottle containing the toner amount which is an integral multiple of the unit amount. Can be assembled.

[Third Embodiment] A third embodiment of the present invention will be described. This embodiment is a toner bottle composed of two components, a toner discharge cylinder portion and a bottom cylinder portion, and is already shown in FIG.
A toner discharge cylinder portion and a bottom cylinder portion similar to those of the second embodiment described with reference to FIG. That is, in this embodiment, the toner discharge cylinder is formed thin, and the bottom cylinder has a basic bottom cylinder having an axial length for accommodating a unit amount of toner and a basic axial length. A first bottom cylinder part twice the bottom cylinder part, and a first bottom cylinder part whose axial length is three times the basic bottom cylinder part ...
And prepare and place multiple bottom cylinder parts. Then, by selecting the bottom cylinder portion that satisfies the required toner storage amount and press-fitting the male fitting ring of the selected bottom cylinder portion to the inner periphery of the open surface of the toner discharge cylinder portion. A toner bottle having a desired toner storage capacity is assembled.

The present embodiment thus constructed is incorporated in the toner replenishing device of the image forming apparatus, and the toner corresponding to the selected bottom cylinder is filled in the bottomed cylindrical main body. The main body is driven to rotate about its axis, and the toner in the main body is supplied from the opening 3a to the toner hopper (not shown).

As described above, according to this embodiment, the bottom cylinder portion selected according to the required toner storage amount is press-fitted into the toner discharge cylinder portion, so that the target toner storage amount can be reduced. The toner hopper can be simply and efficiently assembled with two components at low manufacturing cost.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view showing another first example of the connecting means of the present invention, and FIG. 9 is an explanatory view showing another second example of the connecting means of the present invention. In the above description of each embodiment, the case where the connecting means performs connection by male and female fitting has been described.
The present invention is not limited to these examples, and FIG.
As shown in FIG.
a and 10b are formed and connected by screwing these screws 10a and 10b, or as shown in FIG. 9, concave portions 11 and convex portions 12 are formed respectively on the connected portions to be connected to each other, and these concave and convex portions are formed. It is also possible to connect by fitting.

[0035]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the toner discharge cylinder body portion having the opening at the end face and the bottom cylinder body portion detachable from the toner discharge cylinder body portion are provided. By connecting them to each other by the connecting means provided between the bottom cylinder parts, the whole is formed into a bottomed cylinder shape, and is driven to rotate about the shaft center to the outside of the toner filled inside from the opening. A toner bottle for replenishing the toner is assembled. For this reason, one of the two component parts is manufactured by manufacturing one of the toner discharge cylinder part and the bottom cylinder part in the same shape and manufacturing the other in a plurality of shapes having different lengths in the axial direction. Depending on the selection, it becomes possible to assemble toner pots having different toner storage capacities efficiently and easily at low manufacturing cost. According to the second aspect of the present invention, a toner discharge cylinder portion that forms one end side of the toner bottle and has an opening on the end surface, and a bottom cylinder body that forms the other end side of the bottomed cylindrical toner bottle. At least one relay cylinder part is arranged in series between the toner discharge cylinder part, the bottom cylinder part, and the relay cylinder part. By doing so, a toner bottle is assembled which is rotationally driven about the shaft center and replenishes the toner filled inside from the opening to the outside. For this,
Only by selecting the number of relay cylinders, which is one of the three components connected in series between the toner discharge cylinder and the bottom cylinder,
It becomes possible to assemble toner bottles having different toner storage capacities easily with low manufacturing cost with high manufacturing efficiency. According to the third aspect of the present invention, a toner discharge cylinder portion that forms one end side of the toner bottle and has an opening at the end surface, and a bottom cylinder body that forms the other end side of the bottomed cylindrical toner bottle. At least one relay cylinder part is arranged in series between the toner discharge cylinder part, the bottom cylinder part, and the relay cylinder part. By doing so, a toner bottle is assembled which is rotationally driven about the shaft center and replenishes the toner filled inside from the opening to the outside. In this case, since the toner discharge cylinder portion and the bottom cylinder portion form a unit capacity for accommodating a unit amount of toner, and the relay cylinder portion forms the unit capacity, By simply selecting the number of relay cylinders, which is one of the three components connected in series with the bottom cylinder, a toner bottle with a toner storage capacity that is an integral multiple of the unit capacity can be manufactured efficiently and easily. It can be assembled at low manufacturing cost. According to the invention of claim 4, in addition to the effect obtained by the invention of claim 1 or claim 2, since the connecting means is a male-female fitting, connection and disconnection at the time of assembly can be easily performed. In addition, it becomes possible to manufacture the connecting means at a low manufacturing cost. According to the invention of claim 5, in addition to the effect obtained by the invention of claim 1 or claim 2, since the connecting means is screwed, it is possible to easily perform connection and disconnection during assembly. At the same time, the connecting means can be manufactured at a low manufacturing cost.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded view showing the first configuration of the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an assembly explanatory diagram showing a first configuration of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an assembly explanatory diagram showing a second configuration of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an assembly explanatory diagram showing a first configuration of a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an assembly explanatory diagram showing a second configuration of the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an assembly explanatory diagram showing a third configuration of the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an assembly explanatory view showing another configuration of the toner discharge cylinder portion and the bottom cylinder portion of the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view showing another first example of the connecting means of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory view showing another second example of the connecting means of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Relay cylinder part 2a Male fitting ring 3, 3B Toner discharge cylinder part 3a Opening 4, 4A, 4B Bottom cylinder part 4a Male fitting ring

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Nobuto Yokokawa 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Stock company Ricoh Co., Ltd. (72) Yoshiko Ishii 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Shares In Ricoh Company (72) Inventor Masako Suzuki 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Stocks Ricoh Company (72) Inventor Iwa ▲ ▼ Yukiko Icco 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Stocks Company Ricoh

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A toner which forms a bottomed tubular body as a whole, has an opening at one end surface thereof, and is driven to rotate about an axis, and replenishes the toner filled inside from the opening to the outside. In the bottle, one end side of the bottomed tubular body is formed, and the toner discharge tubular body portion in which the opening is provided on the end surface, and the other end side of the bottomed tubular body is formed, and the toner discharge tubular body is formed. And a bottom cylinder part that is detachable from the toner discharge part, and is provided between the toner discharge cylinder part and the bottom cylinder part.
A toner bottle having a connecting means for connecting the both. 2. A toner which forms a bottomed tubular body as a whole, is provided with an opening at one end surface thereof, and is rotationally driven about an axis, and replenishes the toner filled inside from the opening to the outside. In the bottle, one end side of the bottomed tubular body is formed, and a toner discharge tubular body portion in which the opening is provided on an end surface, and a bottom tubular body portion forming the other end side of the bottomed tubular body, At least one relay cylinder part is connected in series between the toner discharge cylinder part and the bottom cylinder part, and between the toner discharge cylinder part, the bottom cylinder part and the relay cylinder part. A toner bottle, which is provided in each of the above-mentioned two, and has a connecting means for connecting each other. 3. The toner discharge cylinder portion and the bottom cylinder portion form a unit volume accommodation portion that accommodates a unit amount of toner, and the relay cylinder portion forms the unit volume accommodation portion. The toner bottle according to claim 2, wherein the toner bottle is 4. The toner bottle according to claim 1, wherein the connecting means performs connection by male and female fitting. 5. The toner bottle according to claim 1, wherein the connecting means connects by screwing.