JPH0844180A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate the positioning of a toner bottle unit at the time of attaching and to prevent a seal member provided at the connecting part of the toner bottle unit and a developing device from being turned over. CONSTITUTION:As a positioning engaging member mutually engaging at the time of attaching the toner bottle unit 8 and positioning the unit 8 for a copying machine main body, a projecting engaging part 10d is formed on the upper supporting plate 10b of a fixed bracket 10 so that it can be viewed by an operator, and an engaging hole 11e is formed at the upper supporting plate 11a of an open/close bracket 11 so as to engage to the projecting engaging part 10d from an upper side. A height to the upper end of the projecting engaging part 10d is set to be much higher than the thickness of the seal member 4d on the upper surface of the toner hopper 4a. The toner bottle unit 8 is moved downward from a position apart from the toner hopper 4a further than the height of the projecting engaging part 10d, and is engaged and attached while viewing the projecting engaging part 10d and the engaging holde 11e.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a facsimile or a printer, and more specifically, a developer replenishing unit for replenishing a developing device with a developer is attached to or detached from the main body of the image forming apparatus. The present invention relates to a freely provided image forming apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in the image forming apparatus of this type, when the developer in the developing device is consumed and runs out, the developer is discharged from the developer discharge port of the developer replenishing unit for replenishing the developer to the developing device. The developer is continuously supplied by supplying the developer through the developer receiving port. Since the developer storage container used for this developer replenishing unit is located in the vicinity of the side of the developing device and is arranged in the side plate of the image forming apparatus main body, in terms of layout,
A large developer container could not be used. In particular, in order to reduce the size of the device in line with the trend of space saving in recent years, the width of the device is further reduced, and the space for a small developer storage container is becoming smaller.

In order to save space as described above, it has been proposed to arrange a toner bottle, which is a large-capacity cylindrical developer container, in parallel with the front surface of the side plate of the main body of the image forming apparatus (for example, See JP-A-3-2881). This toner bottle has an opening on the peripheral surface on one end side and is provided with a spiral groove extending in the axial direction along the inner peripheral surface, and the toner bottle is rotated along the spiral groove by the rotation of the toner bottle. Is conveyed to the opening portion side, and the toner is sent out from the opening portion to the developing device side to be replenished. Since there is a risk of toner spilling when attaching or detaching such a toner bottle, it is preferable to open or close the opening as necessary. However, since the opening is formed on the peripheral surface of the cylindrical toner bottle and the toner bottle is rotated to replenish the toner from the opening, the rotation of the toner bottle causes the toner to rotate. It has been difficult to open and close the plug provided at the opening.

Further, the applicant of the present invention, as a developer replenishing unit, a developer accommodating container having a container body and a stopper for sealing the opening of the container body, and holding the developer accommodating container,
An image forming apparatus provided with a container holding unit having a developer discharge port corresponding to the developer receiving port of the developing device, and a plug opening / closing means for opening / closing the plug of the developer storage container held by the container holding unit. (See, for example, Japanese Patent Application No. 5-314245). In this case, after the developer holding container is held in the container holding unit, the stopper of the container main body is opened and the developer is put into the developing device from the developer storing container through the developer discharge port and the developer receiving port. To replenish.

[0005]

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application No. 5-314
In the image forming apparatus proposed by No. 245, the container holding unit is on the front surface of the developing device, and when the developing device is attached to or detached from the image forming apparatus main body for maintenance or the like, it is necessary to attach or detach the container holding unit accordingly. There is. When such a container holding unit is attached to the developing device, it is difficult to understand the positional relationship between the container holding unit and the developing device, and it may be difficult to attach the container holding unit. Further, when the container holding unit is attached, there is a risk that the seal member provided on either the container holding unit or the developing device may be flipped over at the connecting portion between the container holding unit and the developing device.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and a first object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of easily performing positioning when mounting a developer replenishing unit. A second object is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of preventing the seal member provided at the connecting portion between the developer replenishing unit and the developing device from being turned over when the developer replenishing unit is attached.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above first object, the invention of claim 1 is such that a developer replenishing unit for replenishing the developing device with a developer is detachable from the main body of the image forming apparatus. In the image forming apparatus, the positioning replenishing member that engages with each other when the developer replenishing unit is attached to position the developer replenishing unit with respect to the main body of the image forming apparatus. Further, the image forming apparatus main body is provided at a position where it is easily visible.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned second object, the invention of claim 2 provides a developer replenishing unit for replenishing the developing device with a developer, which is detachably attached to the main body of the image forming apparatus.
In an image forming apparatus in which a seal member for sealing a connecting portion between the developing device and the developer replenishing unit is provided in one of the developing device and the developer replenishing unit, they are mutually engaged when the developer replenishing unit is attached. A positioning engaging member for positioning the developer replenishing unit with respect to the main body of the image forming apparatus is provided along the direction in which the connecting portion of the developer replenishing unit is substantially perpendicular to the sealing surface of the seal member. It is characterized in that it is provided so as to move and be connected to the connecting portion of the developing device.

According to a third aspect of the invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the second aspect, the moving distance of the developer replenishing unit along the direction substantially perpendicular to the sealing surface of the sealing member which is moved prior to the connection. Is longer than the thickness of the seal member.

[0010]

In the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, an operator visually engages the positioning engaging members provided on the developer replenishing unit and the image forming apparatus main body, respectively, to form an image on the developer replenishing unit. It can be attached to the main body of the device.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the developer replenishing unit is mounted on the main body of the image forming apparatus by engaging a positioning engaging member that allows a worker to position the developer replenishing unit with respect to the main body of the image forming apparatus. Attach to. At the time of this attachment, the connecting portion of the developer replenishing unit moves along a direction substantially perpendicular to the seal surface of the seal member and connects to the connecting portion of the developing device, so that the seal surface of the seal member at the time of connection is increased. The force acting in the opposite direction can be made sufficiently small or zero.

Particularly, in the image forming apparatus according to the third aspect, the moving distance of the developer replenishing unit along the direction substantially perpendicular to the sealing surface of the sealing member which is moved prior to the connection is set to the sealing member of the sealing member. By making it longer than the thickness, the connecting portion of the developer replenishing unit is moved in a direction along the sealing surface of the seal member before the connecting portion of the developer replenishing unit is moved in a direction substantially perpendicular to the sealing surface of the sealing member. Even when it is moved to, the connecting portion of the developing replenishing unit or the developing device not provided with the seal member does not come into contact with the end portion of the seal member.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an electrophotographic copying machine (hereinafter referred to as a copying machine) which is an image forming apparatus equipped with a toner bottle unit holding a toner bottle will be described below. FIG. 1 is a front view showing a schematic configuration of a copying machine according to this embodiment. The photoconductor 1 as an image carrier rotates in the direction of arrow A and is uniformly charged by the charging device 2.
Then, the original placed on the contact glass (not shown) is scanned with light from a light source (not shown), and reflected light 3 from the original is reflected by an optical system (not shown) including a mirror, a lens, and the like. An electrostatic latent image is formed by forming an image on the photoconductor 1 that is charged in the same manner. The electrostatic latent image on the photoconductor 1 is
The toner image is developed by the developing device 4. And
The transfer / separation device 5 transfers the toner image on the photoconductor 1 to the transfer paper fed in the direction of arrow B. The transfer paper is separated from the surface of the photoconductor 1, conveyed to a fixing device (not shown) and fixed, and then discharged. Further, the toner remaining on the photoconductor 1 after the transfer is removed by the cleaning device 6 and is prepared for the next image forming operation.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a developer replenishing unit including a toner bottle 7 as a developer accommodating container and a toner bottle unit 8 as a container holding unit holding the toner bottle 7, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the bottle unit 8, and FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view of the toner bottle unit 8. Note that, in FIG. 1, the toner bottle 7 and the toner bottle unit 8 are indicated by a two-dot chain line. A fixing bracket 10 is fixed to the copying machine body side plate 9, and an opening / closing bracket 11 is fixed to the fixing bracket 10 with a fixing screw 12.
It is screwed on. A cylindrical convex portion 11b is formed on the upper support plate 11a of the opening / closing bracket 11, and an opening 11d is formed on the lower support plate 11c. The upper support arm 13a of the casing 13 of the toner bottle unit 8 holding the toner bottle 7 containing toner in a substantially horizontal direction has an opening 13b rotatably engaged with the convex portion 11b of the opening / closing bracket 11. On the other hand, a cylindrical pin 14 that is rotatably engaged with the opening 11d of the lower support plate 11c of the opening / closing bracket 11 is fixedly provided on the lower support arm 13c of the bottle unit.

Further, in this embodiment, there is provided a removal prohibiting means for prohibiting removal of the toner bottle 7 held in the toner bottle unit 8 when the cap inner plug 72 is opened. The removal prohibiting means are engaged with each other when the toner bottle unit 8 holding the toner bottle 7 is attached to the copying machine main body, and the engagement is released when the cap inner plug 72 of the toner bottle 7 is opened. To prevent this, the toner bottle unit 8 and the engaging member provided on the main body of the copying machine are used. As the engaging member on the toner bottle unit 8 side, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a constricted portion 14a is formed by cutting off a part of the pin 14 on the toner bottle 8 side along the central axis thereof. Are formed. Further, as an engaging member on the copying machine main body side, a circular opening 10a having substantially the same diameter as the pin 14 is formed in the fixed bracket 10.
Furthermore, when the pin 14 is engaged with the opening 10a, a notch 10b having a width that allows the necked portion 14a of the pin 14 to pass through is formed.

When attaching the toner bottle unit 8 to the opening / closing bracket 10, the toner bottle unit 8 is attached.
The pin 14 of the pin 14 is passed through the cutout portion 10b of the lower support plate 11c of the opening / closing bracket 10 so that the pin 14
Is inserted into the opening 11d, and the convex portion 11b of the upper support plate 11a of the opening / closing bracket is inserted into the opening 13b of the upper support arm 13a of the toner bottle unit 8, whereby the toner bottle unit 8 is opened / closed.
It is rotatably supported in a horizontal plane with a line connecting the centers of the convex portion 11b of 0 and the opening 11d as a rotation center axis. By being supported in this manner, the toner bottle unit 8 has a left end portion of the toner bottle unit 8 pulled out to the front side of the copying machine so that the toner bottle 7 can be attached and detached. It is rotatable between a toner replenishment position (solid line in FIG. 2) as a developer replenishment position where toner can be replenished from the bottle 7 to the toner hopper 4a of the developing device 4. In FIG. 2, the toner bottle unit 8 removed from the copying machine body side plate 9 side is indicated by a two-dot chain line. FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view of the toner bottle 7, the toner bottle unit 8 and the like when the toner bottle unit 8 is at the toner replenishment position.

As shown in FIG. 4, the toner bottle 7 has a cylindrical container body 71 and a toner discharge port 71a formed at the center of the container body 71 on the front end side (right side in the figure).
Inner cap 7 as a stopper that can be detachably attached to
It is composed of two. On the inner peripheral surface of the container body 71, a spiral projection 71b that is spirally wound is formed. In addition, the bottom wall 7 is provided at the center of the cap inner plug 72 so that it can be picked up by a collet chuck described later.
A projecting portion 72b projecting from the 2a side toward the outside of the bottle (right side in FIG. 4) is formed.

The toner bottle unit 8 also includes
Rotational drive means 15 is provided for rotating the container body 71 of the toner bottle held in a substantially horizontal direction around its center line. The rotation driving means 15 includes a motor 16, a gear group 17 that is rotationally driven by the motor 16, a gear 18 a that meshes with a final gear of the gear group 17, and a container body 71.
And a cylindrical rotation transmitting member 18 in which an opening into which the opening convex portion 71e on the toner ejection port 71a side is inserted is formed. Here, the rotation transmission member 18 is rotatably held in a toner bottle stopper 19 which is fixedly held in the casing 13 of the toner bottle unit 8, and is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the rotation transmission member 18. By engaging the engaging concave portion 18b with the engaging convex portion 71c formed on the end surface of the container body 71 on the toner discharge port side, the rotation transmitting member 18 and the container body 71 are integrally rotated. be able to.

A container body 71 of the toner bottle 7 is also provided.
A ring-shaped engagement protrusion 71d is formed on the outer peripheral portion of the toner ejection port 71a side, and the toner bottle unit 8 has an engagement claw 20a that engages with the engagement protrusion 71d.
A locking member 20 that is rotatable around the support shaft 20b is attached. The engagement member 20 is released from the engagement position where the engagement claw 20a engages with the engagement protrusion 71d of the container body 71 to inhibit the toner bottle 7 from being removed from the toner bottle unit 8 and the engagement. By doing so, the toner bottle 7 can be rotated with respect to an allowable position where the toner bottle 7 can be removed. Further, a spring (not shown) is attached as a biasing member for biasing the locking member 20 so as to rotate to the prohibited position. Here, when the locking member 20 is rotated to the prohibited position, the toner bottle 7 is moved to the toner bottle unit 8
Therefore, the holding operation of the toner bottle 7 in the toner bottle unit 8 is performed by rotating the locking member 20 to the allowable position.

Further, the toner bottle unit 8 includes
A cap inner plug 72 is attached to the toner discharge port 71a of the container body 71 of the toner bottle 7 held in the bottle unit 8.
A cap inner plug attaching / detaching unit 21 is provided as a cap opening / closing unit that holds the cap inner plug 72 removed from the toner ejection port 71a at a close position separated from the toner ejection port 71a by a predetermined distance. The cap inner plug attaching / detaching means 21 is used for the protrusion 7 of the cap inner plug 72.
A collet chuck 22 as a plug holding member for picking and separating 2b as necessary, and a collet chuck 22.
A cam mechanism 23 as a stopper holding member driving mechanism that opens and closes the toner discharge port 71a by moving the cap inner stopper 72 picked up in step 2 together with the collet chuck 22 to the opening position or the closing position.

The collet chuck 22 has a core 24 slidably held by the boss portion 19a of the toner bottle stopper 19, a shaft 25 slidably fitted in the core 24, and a tip of the shaft 25. Side 2 (toner bottle side), which is fixed to one end and has flexibility
6. (Hereinafter, margin)

The cam mechanism 23 is interposed between the step portion 19b of the toner bottle stopper 19 and the flange portion 24a of the core 24 and serves as a biasing member for biasing the core 24 toward the toner bottle 8 side. It is composed of a cylindrical coil spring 27, a roller 28 attached to the other end of the shaft 25, and a guide member 29. At the tip of the toner bottle stopper 19, when the toner bottle unit 8 is removed or retracted, the core 24 is locked to lock the inner cap 72 of the collet chuck 22.
Locking claw 19c as a movement restricting member that restricts the movement of the
Are formed. Further, the guide member 29 is provided with a guide cam portion 29a for guiding the roller 28 when the toner bottle unit 8 is rotated to the attachment / detachment position or the toner replenishment position, and when the toner bottle unit 8 is attached to the copying machine main body. And a lock claw releasing portion 29b as a movement restriction releasing member for pushing up the lock claw 19c formed at the tip of the toner bottle stopper 19 to release the movement restriction of the collet chuck 22. This guide member 29, as shown in FIG.
It is fixed to.

The procedure for mounting the toner bottle 7 in the copying machine having the toner bottle unit 8 having the above structure is as follows. First, the toner bottle unit 8 is rotated to the attachment / detachment position shown by the one-dot chain line in FIG.
The toner bottle 7 is held in the toner bottle unit 8 by inserting the front end side where the toner discharge port 71 a of the above is formed into the toner bottle unit 8. Next, when the toner bottle unit 8 is rotated to the toner replenishment position shown by the solid line in FIG. 2, the roller 28 is moved along the guide cam portion 29a of the guide member 29 in accordance with this rotation operation.
The position shown in (a) moves to the position shown in FIG. 7 (a), and at the same time, the collet chuck 22 slides from the position shown in FIG. 6 (b) to the position shown in FIG. 7 (b). Here, the shaft 25, which is a part of the collet chuck 22, and the knob 26 slide toward the position shown in FIG. 72 also slides integrally to compress the cylindrical coil spring 27, and eventually the cap inner plug 72 moves to the opening position as shown in FIG.
a is opened, the toner bottle 7 and the toner hopper 4a of the developing device 4 are communicated with each other, and the attachment of the toner bottle 7 is completed.

The above-mentioned image forming operation is carried out after the mounting of the toner bottle 7 is completed, but when a sensor (not shown) detects that the amount of toner in the toner hopper 4a is below a predetermined amount, the detection result is obtained. The motor 16 is driven based on Then, the rotation transmission member 18 is rotationally driven by the drive of the motor 16 via the gear group 17 and the gear 18a, and the engagement concave portion 18b and the engagement convex portion 71c of the container main body 71 are engaged with each other to cause the container main body 71 to move. It is driven to rotate integrally with the rotation transmission member 18 around the center line. When the container body 71 of the toner bottle 7 rotates around its center line, the toner in the container body 71 is guided by the spiral projection 71b and gradually conveyed to the toner ejection port 71a side, and is eventually ejected from the toner ejection port 71a. . The toner discharged from the toner discharge port 71a passes through the toner bottle stopper 19 and the toner drop openings 19d and 13d as the developer discharge ports formed in the casing 13 and is supplied into the toner hopper 4a.

When the toner in the container body 71 of the toner bottle 7 runs out, the toner bottle 7 is removed from the toner bottle unit 8 and replaced with a new one. To remove the toner bottle 7, the toner bottle unit 8 is rotated to the attachment / detachment position shown by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. With this rotation, the roller 28 moves along the guide cam portion 29a of the guide member 29 as shown in FIG.
6A to the position shown in FIG. 6A, and at the same time, the shaft 25 and the knob 26 together with the cap inner plug 72 are shown in FIG. 6B from the position shown in FIG. 7B. Slide towards the position. At this time, the core 24 urged by the cylindrical coil spring 27 also slides integrally, and eventually, as shown in FIG.
By sliding 2 to the closed position, the toner discharge port 71a is closed. In addition, the flange portion 2 of the core 24
Immediately after the contact portion 4a comes into contact with the tip of the toner discharge port 71a, the knob portion 26 bends outward so that the knob portion 26 releases the knob 72 from the cap inner plug.

Further, the developing device 4 is used for maintenance and the like.
When removing the toner from the copying machine main body, it is necessary to remove the toner bottle unit 8 or retract it to a position where the developing device 4 can be attached and detached. In the copying machine of this embodiment, the fixing bracket 1 that fixes the toner bottle unit 8 to the side plate 9 of the copying machine main body together with the opening / closing bracket 11 by releasing the screwing by the fixing screw 12.
Can be removed from scratch. Here, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, only when the toner bottle unit 8 is in the attachment / detachment position, the pin 14 is formed so that the constricted portion 14a of the pin 14 can pass through the cutout portion 10b of the fixing bracket 10.
Is fixed to the casing 13 of the toner bottle unit 8, so that the pin 14 is engaged with the opening 10a of the fixing bracket 10 to fix the toner bottle unit 8 unless the toner bottle unit 8 is in the attachment / detachment position. It cannot be attached to and detached from the bracket 10. Further, when the toner bottle unit 8 is at the attaching / detaching position,
In (b), the cap inner plug attaching / detaching means is configured so that the cap inner plug 72 of the toner bottle 7 is closed when the toner bottle unit 8 is removed from the main body of the copying machine in the direction of the arrow. The toner bottle unit 8 can be attached and detached only when the cap 72 of the bottle 7 is in the closed position.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6B, when the toner bottle unit 8 holding the toner bottle 7 is removed from the copying machine main body in the direction of the arrow, the core 24 is locked by the lock claw 19c of the toner bottle stopper 19. The tip of the is locked, making it impossible to move the collet chuck 22,
The cap opening operation of the cap inner cap 72 is prohibited. When the toner bottle unit 8 is attached to the main body of the copying machine, see FIG.
In the cap inner plug attaching / detaching means 21 of (b), as shown by a two-dot chain line, the lock claw 19 of the toner bottle stopper 19
In c, the lock claw releasing portion 2 of the guide member 29 on the copying machine main body side
By the contact of 9b, the lock of the core 24 is released, and the collet chuck 22 can be moved.

Further, in this embodiment, the shutter 30 as an opening / closing member which can be opened and closed between the toner dropping openings 19d and 13d of the toner bottle unit 8 and the toner receiving port 4b as the developer receiving port of the toner hopper 4a. An opening / closing mechanism is provided as an opening / closing member driving unit that operates to close the shutter 30 prior to the operation of removing the toner bottle unit 8. FIG. 8 shows an opening / closing mechanism of the shutter 30 configured to open / close the shutter 30 as the toner bottle unit 8 moves to the toner supply position (FIG. 8A) or the attachment / detachment position (FIG. 8B). It is a top view. Here, the mounting portion of the shutter 30 is partially transparent. Shutter 3
Reference numeral 0 has a cylindrical convex portion 30a, and the convex portion 30a is rotatably attached to a support hole 13e (see FIG. 4) formed in the casing 13 of the toner bottle unit 8. As a result, the shutter 30 can rotate about the convex portion 30a. Further, an opening / closing lever 30c is formed on the side opposite to the part where the opening 30b for dropping toner is sandwiched across the convex portion 30a of the shutter 30. A spring (not shown) is also provided as a biasing unit that biases the shutter 30 in the closing direction. The fixing bracket 10 fixed to the main body 9 of the copying machine is provided with a shutter opening / closing claw 10c that abuts and presses the opening / closing lever 30c when the toner bottle unit 8 is rotated to the toner supply position. ing.

When the toner bottle unit 8 is rotated in the direction of arrow C and set to the toner replenishing position in the opening / closing mechanism of the shutter 30 having the above-described structure, the shutter opening / closing claw 9a fixed to the side plate 9 of the main body of the copying machine opens / closes the opening / closing lever. 30c is pressed, whereby the shutter 30 rotates in the direction of arrow D, and the toner dropping openings 19d and 13d and the shutter 3 are pressed.
The 0 openings 30b coincide with each other, and the toner can be supplied. On the other hand, when the toner bottle unit 8 is rotated in the direction of arrow E and moved to the attachment / detachment position, the shutter opening / closing claw 9a is formed.
Is released from the opening / closing lever 30c, and the shutter 30 is indicated by arrow F
The toner dropping openings 19d and 13d are closed by rotating with a biasing force of a spring (not shown).

Further, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the upper support plate 10b of the fixed bracket 10 is used for positioning when mounting the toner bottle unit 8.
A convex engaging portion 10d serving as a positioning engaging member is formed at a position visible to the operator.
The opening / closing bracket 1 is engaged with the d from above.
An engaging hole 11e as a positioning engaging member is formed at a position where the operator can visually recognize the first upper support plate 11a. Further, the height from the upper surface of the upper support plate 10b of the fixed bracket 10 to the upper end of the convex engaging portion 10d is set sufficiently higher than the thickness of the seal member 4d provided on the upper surface of the toner hopper 4a. When the toner bottle unit 8 is attached to the main body of the copying machine, the toner bottle unit 8 is set to a height equal to or higher than the height of the convex engaging portion 10d.
The convex engaging portion 1 is moved downward from a position separated from a.
0d and the engaging hole 11e are visually engaged and attached.

As described above, according to the copying machine of this embodiment, the operator has the convex engaging portion 10d and the engaging hole provided on the opening / closing bracket 11 on the toner bottle unit 8 side and the fixing bracket 10 on the apparatus body side, respectively. Since the toner bottle unit 8 can be attached to the apparatus main body by visually engaging with 11e, the toner bottle unit 8 can be easily attached and the toner bottle unit 8 can be reliably positioned with respect to the apparatus main body. be able to.

Further, according to the copying machine of the present embodiment, the toner bottle unit 8 is separated from the toner hopper 4a by the height equal to or higher than the height of the convex engaging portion 10d, and is substantially perpendicular to the sealing surface of the sealing member 4d. By moving the seal member 4d downward along the direction and connecting to the toner hopper 4a, the force acting in the direction along the seal surface of the seal member 4d at the time of connection can be made sufficiently small or zero. It is possible to prevent turning over.

Further, according to the present embodiment, the height of the convex engagement portion 10d of the toner bottle unit 8 is set higher than the thickness of the seal member 4d, so that the toner bottle unit 8 is fixed to the seal member 4d. The connecting portion of the toner bottle unit 8 may come into contact with the end portion of the seal member 4d when moving in the lateral direction in the drawing (direction along the seal surface of the seal member 4d) to the upper side in the direction substantially perpendicular to the seal surface. Since it disappears, it is possible to further prevent the sealing member 4d from being turned up.

In the above embodiment, the seal member 4d is attached to the connecting portion of the toner hopper 4a of the developing device 4, but in the present invention, the seal member is attached to the connecting portion of the toner bottle unit 8 with the toner hopper 4a. It is also applicable to cases.

In the above embodiment, the copying machine is provided with the shutter 30 and the opening / closing mechanism for the toner dropping openings 13d and 19d of the toner bottle unit 8. However, the present invention is provided with the shutter 30 and the like. It is also applicable to other copying machines.

[0036]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, an operator visually engages the positioning engaging members provided on the developer replenishing unit and the apparatus main body to engage the developer replenishing unit with the apparatus main body. Since the developer replenishing unit can be attached, the developer replenishing unit can be easily attached, and the developer replenishing unit can be reliably positioned with respect to the apparatus main body.

According to the second aspect of the invention, the connecting portion of the developer replenishing unit moves along a direction substantially perpendicular to the sealing surface of the seal member and is connected to the connecting portion of the developing device. Since the force acting on the sealing member in the direction along the sealing surface can be made sufficiently small or can be made zero, there is an effect that the sealing member can be prevented from turning over.

In particular, according to the third aspect of the invention, before the connecting portion of the developer replenishing unit is moved along the direction substantially perpendicular to the sealing surface of the seal member, the connecting portion of the developer replenishing unit is sealed by the seal member. Even when it is moved in the direction along the seal surface, the connecting portion of the developing replenishing unit or the developing device, which is not provided with the seal member, does not come into contact with the end portion of the seal member, so that the seal member is more securely turned up. The effect is that it can be prevented.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a schematic configuration of a copying machine according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a toner bottle unit of the copying machine.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the toner bottle unit.

FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view of the toner bottle unit.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of an attachment pin of the toner bottle unit and an opening of a fixing bracket with which the pin engages.

FIG. 6A is a partial cross-sectional plan view showing the relationship between the collet chuck and the guide member with the cap inner plug closed.
FIG. 3B is a partial cross-sectional side view of the toner bottle unit in the same state.

FIG. 7A is a partial cross-sectional plan view showing the relationship between the collet chuck and the guide member in a state where the cap inner plug is opened.
FIG. 3B is a partial cross-sectional side view of the toner bottle unit in the same state.

8A and 8B are plan views of a shutter opening / closing mechanism.

[Explanation of symbols]

 4a Toner hopper 4b Toner receiving port 4d Seal member 7 Toner bottle 8 Toner bottle unit 10 Fixed bracket 10a Opening 10d Convex engaging part 11 Opening / closing bracket 11a Upper support plate 11b Convex part 11e Engaging hole

Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification number Office reference number FI technical display area G03G 21/16

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An image forming apparatus in which a developer replenishing unit for replenishing a developer to a developing device is detachably attached to an image forming apparatus main body, and the developer replenishing unit is engaged with each other when the developer replenishing unit is attached. An image characterized in that a positioning engagement member for positioning the developer replenishing unit with respect to the image forming apparatus main body is provided at a position where the developer replenishing unit and the image forming apparatus main body are easily visible. Forming equipment. 2. A developer replenishing unit for replenishing the developing device with a developer is detachably provided to the image forming apparatus main body.
In an image forming apparatus in which a seal member for sealing a connecting portion between the developing device and the developer replenishing unit is provided in one of the developing device and the developer replenishing unit, they are mutually engaged when the developer replenishing unit is attached. A positioning engaging member for positioning the developer replenishing unit with respect to the main body of the image forming apparatus is provided along the direction in which the connecting portion of the developer replenishing unit is substantially perpendicular to the sealing surface of the seal member. An image forming apparatus, which is provided so as to move and be connected to a connecting portion of the developing device. 3. The moving distance of the developer replenishing unit along the direction substantially perpendicular to the sealing surface of the sealing member, which is moved prior to the connection, is longer than the thickness of the sealing member. The image forming apparatus according to item 2.