JPH0922173A - Stirring member for developing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To surely fix a stirring blade on a rotary shaft, while reducing the cost by constituting a stirring member so that elastic restraining members are guided to the stirring blade and the attaching part, of the rotary shaft through the use of guiding members, so as to hold-press the stirring blade on the rotary shaft. SOLUTION: The stirring member is provided with the elastic restraining members 21 and the guiding members 31 and constituted so that the base end part 16 of the stirring blade 15 is hold-pressed on the rotary shaft 11 with the elastic restoring force of the members 21. When the elastic restraining members 21 are fitted into the guiding members 31 and pressed, the opening width dimensions w1 of the elastic restraining members 21 are made larger and they can be forced up to the attaching part of the stirring blade 15 and the rotary shaft 11. In this state, when the members 21 are horizontally moved and positioned between the guiding members 31 and stoppers, the members 21 hold-press the base end part 16 of the stirring blade 15 against the stirring blade attaching part, 12 of the rotary shaft 11, in a state that the members 21 are positionally regulated in horizontal and vertical directions. Thus, the stirring blade 15 is surely fixed on the rotary shaft 11.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention includes a rotating shaft rotatably provided in a developing device main body, and a stirring blade having a base end portion attached to the rotating shaft. The present invention relates to a stirring member of a developing device that is stirrable.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional developing device for an image forming apparatus is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, the developing roller 5, the supply roller 7, the toner layer regulating member 6, the agitating member 10P, etc., and the developing device main body 1 that houses these components are generally included.

The developing device main body 1 has a toner containing portion 2 for containing toner (for example, non-magnetic one-component toner T),
The developing roller 5 is disposed in the front opening so as to face the photoconductor 9. The developing roller 5 is rotationally driven in a predetermined direction (for example, a counterclockwise direction in the drawing) by a driving unit (not shown).

The toner layer regulating member 6 is provided so as to be pressed against the outer peripheral surface of the developing roller 5 to charge the toner on the outer peripheral surface to form a thin layer having a predetermined thickness.

The toner layer formed on the outer peripheral surface of the developing roller 5 is supplied to the electrostatic latent image portion (exposure portion) of the photosensitive member 9. The remaining toner that has not been supplied passes through the recovery sheet 8 and is collected in the toner storage unit 2.

The agitating member 10P is disposed in the toner accommodating portion 2 in its width direction (direction orthogonal to the paper surface in FIG. 5, arrow W direction in FIG. 6).
A rotating shaft 11 extending in the direction of the axis and capable of rotating and driving about an axis.
And a predetermined number of sheets attached to the rotary shaft 11 (for example,
By rotating the rotary shaft 11, the toner T in the toner containing portion 2 can be agitated by the agitating blade 15 and conveyed toward the developing roller 5.

In this case, the stirring blade 15 is provided with the toner T.
It is made of a flexible elastic material so that the stirring and carrying of can be performed more efficiently. The stirring blade 15 has a base end portion 16 bonded to the flat surface portion 13 of the stirring blade mounting portion 12 of the rotary shaft 11 via a double-sided tape 19.

[0008]

By the way, in the above conventional developing device, the toner T is generated by the stirring blade 15 of the stirring member 10P.
When the toner is stirred and conveyed, the toner T
From this, a resistance force acts, and a large bending moment acts on the base end portion 16. Therefore, the stirring blade 15 may come off from the rotating shaft 11.

Here, the stirring blade 15 is the rotating shaft 11.
If the toner T is peeled off, the toner T cannot be stirred and conveyed, and the toner T cannot be supplied to the developing roller 5. Further, the stirring blade 15 separated from the rotary shaft 11 is sandwiched between the developing roller 5 and the supply roller 7, and both rollers (5, 5).
7) may be damaged.

In view of the above circumstances, the present invention is to provide a stirring member of a developing device capable of reliably preventing the stirring blade from coming off the rotating shaft while reducing the cost.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention includes a rotating shaft rotatably provided in a developing device main body, and a stirring blade having a base end attached to the rotating shaft. In a stirring member of a developing device configured to stir and convey toner, an elastic locking member is provided that is elastically deformable and can pinch the base end portion of the stirring blade to the rotating shaft. A guide member is provided on the rotary shaft, the guide member being capable of guiding the mounting portion of the stirring blade and the rotary shaft while elastically deforming.

In the case of the present invention having the above-mentioned structure, when the elastic locking member is guided to the mounting portion of the stirring blade and the rotating shaft while being elastically deformed by the guide member, the elastic locking member sandwiches the stirring blade with the rotating shaft. Press. As a result, the stirring blade is securely fixed to the rotating shaft.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The stirring member (10) of the present developing device is shown in FIG.
~ As shown in Fig. 4, the basic structure is the conventional example (Figs. 5 and 6).
The same as the above, except that the elastic locking member 21 and the guide member 31 are provided, and the elastic restoring force of the elastic locking member 21 is used to clamp the base end portion 16 of the stirring blade 15 to the rotating shaft 11. Has been done.

The same components as those of the conventional example (FIGS. 5 and 6) are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be simplified or omitted.

The elastic locking member 21 is elastically deformed so that the base end portion 16 of the stirring blade 15 is attached to the stirring blade mounting portion 12 of the rotating shaft 11.
It is configured to be able to be clamped in. For example, the elastic locking member 2
An elastic material 1 is formed in a U-shaped cross section.

The opening width dimension w1 of this elastic locking member 21
As shown in FIG. 1, the stirring blade mounting portion 12 of the rotary shaft 11
It is selected to be shorter than the width dimension w0 of the stirring blade (15, 15) attached to the attachment portion 12 by the thickness of the elastic deformation by the thickness of the base end portion (16, 16). In addition, the pinching portion (22L, 22L of the elastic locking member 21
As shown in FIG. 4A, the length L1 of R) is
Is selected to be larger than the height dimension L0 of the stirring blade mounting portion 12 of FIG. 4, and the tip end of the stirring blade mounting portion 12 is for locking with the flat surface portion 13B of the stirring blade mounting portion 12 below in FIG. 4C. The protrusion 23 is formed.

The guide member 31 is a member for guiding the elastic locking member 21 to the mounting portion of the stirring blade 15 and the rotating shaft 11 while elastically deforming the elastic locking member 21, and the stirring blade mounting portion 1 of the rotating shaft 11 is provided.
2 is provided in the upper flat portion 13U in FIG. Further, the guide member 31 is provided on the plane portion 13U of the rotary shaft 11.
There is provided a stopper 41 that cooperates with the elastic locking member 21 to regulate the position of the elastic locking member 21 in the axial direction of the rotating shaft 11.

Specifically, the guide member 31 has a tip end portion 32 having a width sandwiched in order to easily fit the elastic locking member 21. When the elastic locking member 21 is fitted and pressed on the guide member 31, the opening width dimension w1 of the elastic locking member 21 is expanded and the stirring blade 15 is pressed, as shown in FIGS. 4 (A) and 4 (B). It is possible to push into the mounting portion of the rotary shaft 11 and the rotary shaft 11.

In this state, the elastic locking member 21 is moved to the position shown in FIG.
(B) When it is laterally moved in the right direction and positioned between the guide member 31 and the stopper 41 as shown in FIG. 4C, the elastic locking member 21 is positioned in the left-right direction and the up-down direction in the figure. The base end 16 of the stirring blade 15 in a regulated state
Is clamped on the stirring blade mounting portion 12 of the rotating shaft 11. As a result, the stirring blade 15 is securely fixed to the rotating shaft 11.

According to this embodiment, however, the elastic locking member 21 and the guide member 31 are provided, and the elastic locking member 21 is attached to the stirring blade 15 and the rotary shaft 11 by using the guide member 31. The stirring blade 15 can be securely fixed to the rotating shaft 11 because the stirring blade 15 is pressed against the rotating shaft 11 by being guided to.

Further, since the tip end portion 32 of the guide member 31 is sandwiched between the widths, the elastic locking member 21 can be easily fitted on the guide member 31, and the stirring blade 15 can be fixed more quickly and easily.

Further, since the stopper 41 is provided, the elastic locking member 21 can be surely regulated in the axial direction of the rotary shaft 11 by the stopper 41 and the guide member 31, and the stirring blade 15 can be rotated more reliably. It can be fixed to the shaft 11.

Further, the pressing portion (22 of the elastic locking member 21
Since the locking projections 23 are provided at the respective end portions of L, 22R), it is possible to more reliably prevent the rotation shaft 11 from slipping out. As a result, the stirring blade 15 can be more reliably fixed to the rotating shaft 11.

[0024]

According to the present invention, the elastic locking member and the guide member are provided, and the elastic locking member is guided to the mounting portion of the stirring blade and the rotary shaft by using the guide member to rotate the stirring blade. Since the pressure is applied to the shaft, the stirring blade can be reliably fixed to the rotating shaft while reducing the cost.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view for explaining an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is likewise a side sectional view for explaining the overall structure of the developing device.

FIG. 3 is also a diagram for explaining attachment of stirring blades.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a method of pinching the stirring blade and the rotary shaft using an elastic locking member.

FIG. 5 is a side sectional view for explaining the conventional configuration of the developing device.

FIG. 6 is likewise a perspective view for explaining a conventional configuration of the stirring member.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Developing Device Main Body 10 Stirring Member 11 Rotating Shaft 15 Stirring Blade 16 Base End 21 Elastic Locking Member 31 Guide Member

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A structure including a rotary shaft rotatably provided in a developing device main body and a stirring blade having a base end portion attached to the rotary shaft so that toner can be stirred and conveyed in the developing device main body. In the stirring member of the developing device, an elastic locking member that elastically deforms to clamp the base end portion of the stirring blade to the rotating shaft is provided, and the stirring blade is elastically deformed. A stirring member for a developing device, wherein a guide member that can guide the mounting portion of the rotary shaft and the rotary shaft is provided on the rotary shaft.