JPH09258541A - Toner cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a toner cartridge excellent in hermetic salability for toner, a having toner stirring member capable of being rotated at low torque without causing the rough grains of the toner and a packing member, and high in production yield. SOLUTION: The toner cartridge is provided with a toner supplying container 12 in which the stirring member 15 having a stirring blade on a rotary shaft 15a is installed and the packing member 30 is compressed, held and incorporated between a gear part 15a2 disposed in the part exposed from one end of the container 12, of the rotary shaft 15a and a flange 14 attached to one end of the container. The packing member 30 is formed in such a manner that after pieces of manufactured wool felt are milled, they are weighed for each piece, sliced to obtain the same fixed weight and then, punched into a prescribed shape.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a toner cartridge used to replenish toner of a powder developer to a developing device of an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying machine or a printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying machine or a laser beam printer forms a latent image by selectively exposing a uniformly charged photosensitive drum, and the latent image is developed by a developing device. Image development is performed by developing the toner image with a toner which is a powder developer to visualize the toner image and transferring the obtained toner image to a recording medium.

In such an image forming apparatus, the toner must be replenished each time the toner runs out, but the toner cartridge for replenishing the toner to the developing device is roughly classified into two.
There is one kind, one is a so-called replenishment type container that replenishes the toner contained in the toner replenishment container to the toner receiving container in the image forming apparatus main body at one time, and the other one is
This is a so-called stationary (built-in) container in which a toner supply container is mounted in the main body of the apparatus, the container is placed in the main body of the apparatus as it is, and the toner is gradually supplied to the developing device until the toner is used up.

In recent years, the functions required of the image forming apparatus are
Examples include speeding up of the device, increasing the capacity of the toner container, extending the life of the device, increasing the definition of images, and saving energy in the device. Along with the speeding up of the apparatus, the stirring mechanism and toner packing mechanism of the toner cartridge have become more precise, and rigidity and durability have been required. With the increase in capacity and the longer life of toner containers, it is becoming difficult to prevent toner leakage in various tests such as environmental durability tests with the current use of packing members.

Higher definition images require finer toner particles, and measures to prevent toner leakage from inside the cartridge are as follows.
In addition to the current toner packing mechanism, it is necessary to further improve the sealing property. Further, if a fluff of a packing member (felt) or the like is mixed in the toner supply container, it may lead to an image defect, so that it is necessary to pay close attention.

On the other hand, since energy saving of the image forming apparatus has been promoted, various drive system motors are being miniaturized accordingly. Driving a toner cartridge is no exception. Therefore, it is necessary to suppress the rotational torque generated by the stirring mechanism of the toner cartridge as much as possible. The increase of the rotation torque depending on the usage time is not preferable. The above-mentioned toner leakage causes the toner to be densely packed near the agitation shaft and to be caught in the sliding portion, leading to an abnormal increase in the rotational torque. Therefore, it is required that the packing member reliably seal the toner.

In the currently mainstream toner cartridge, at least one end of the agitating member penetrates the housing of the replenishing container to drive the agitating part in the toner replenishing container having the toner discharge opening. It is configured to couple to the device. A general structure of the stirring member has a stirring blade fixed to a stirring shaft and a coupling gear connected to one end of the stirring shaft, which is preferably used.

The coupling gear portion transmits the driving force to the stirring shaft via the drive device outside the supply container and the stirring shaft, and forms a bearing seal structure with respect to the housing of the supply container to ensure hermeticity. Play a retaining role. The seal portion is generally structured such that the packing member is compressed in the axial direction by the coupling gear to be sandwiched between the exposed portion of the stirring shaft and the supply container, and the elastic packing member is Adhesion is obtained by the restoring force generated by compression.

As the packing member, wool felt, foam such as polyurethane and polyethylene, and various rubber sponges are used, and the most preferable one is wool felt.

Conventionally, a wool felt used for a packing member is a wool having a thickness (diameter) of 23 to 25 μm, and is continuously manufactured from a long roll-shaped raw fabric. The raw fabric has, for example, a size. It is formed with a size of 1.8 m × 42 m and a weight of about 60 kg.

This roll-shaped wool felt (YAW
Wool felt) original fabric, for example 50cm × 5
After cutting to a size of 0 cm, heat, water (steam) and pressure are applied to shrink, then sliced in the plane direction to a predetermined thickness, then punched into a predetermined packing shape, and a plurality of packing members Is finished.

[0012]

However, since the wool felt is continuously manufactured in a roll shape, there is a directionality of the wool along the flow direction of the roll, and the sliced surface is fluffy and easily frayed. When the wool felt is formed on the packing member and incorporated in the seal portion, the fluff of the wool felt may be mixed in the toner replenishing container and cause white stripes or black spots in the developed image. .

Further, since it is continuously manufactured in a roll shape,
The density of the wool felt stock was high in the vicinity of the center in the plane direction, and there were many variations in the in-plane density. Therefore, the packing member obtained by slicing the wool felt into a certain thickness and punching out has a large variation in the density between the products, and the desired sealing performance cannot be obtained when the packing member is compressed and incorporated into the sealing portion. Many things occur. That is, the yield of the packing member cannot be increased.

Therefore, the inventors of the present invention measure the weight of the packing member, and if the weight of the packing member is a non-defective product, the density of the packing member product will be different when the packing member is compressed and assembled. Regardless of the above, it has been thought that the packing member incorporated therein can have a density that exhibits a predetermined sealing performance, and that a non-defective packing member can be easily obtained.

If the weight of the packing member is too small, the sealing performance will be poor, and the toner will leak out after long-term rotation and use, and if the toner gets caught in the agitation shaft sliding portion of the toner cartridge, the rotational torque becomes abnormal. Rise (10 kgf
cm or more), which causes a serious problem that may damage the copying machine or the like. The toner leakage also causes the toner to adhere to the toner cartridge, and when the user replaces the toner cartridge, the toner is scattered and the surroundings are contaminated. In addition, toner may agglomerate in the sliding portion of the bearing seal portion, so-called coarse particles of toner may be generated, and white stripes and white stripes may occur on the image quality as in the case of mixing wool felt fluff into the toner supply container. It causes black spots.

On the other hand, when the weight of the packing member is too large, the driving torque becomes large and the driving motor is damaged.

The above-mentioned harmful effects become remarkable especially in the following cases.

(1) When the number of rotations of the stirring member is increased in order to improve the toner carrying property. For example, when the peripheral speed of the bearing part is 700 mm / min or more and high speed rotation.

(2) When a large amount of toner is filled in order to extend the life of the toner supply container or the process cartridge. For example, the amount of one-component toner is 200 g or more, and particularly remarkably 350 g or more.

(3) When the compressibility of the packing member is lowered in order to reduce the driving torque of the stirring member during normal use. Especially when using packing material of wool felt at a compression rate of 25% or less.

As one of the packing members handled by the present inventors, for example, the inner diameter is 24 mm, the outer diameter is 30 mm, and the thickness is 2.6.
Although there is a packing member having a design dimension of 5 mm, the present inventors have found that the weight management value of the packing member is 0.168 to 0.206 g from the viewpoint of solving the problem of the packing member performance due to the above weight. Will be submitted.

Conventionally, a wool felt which is continuously manufactured in a roll shape is used, and this is sliced to have the same thickness and punched to form a packing member. Has reached about 25%. Further, the conventional packing member has a problem that it is necessary to perform a weight inspection of all the products.

An object of the present invention is to have a good toner sealing property,
It is possible to provide a toner cartridge that can rotate with a low torque and that has a toner stirring member and a packing member that do not generate coarse particles of toner and that has a high product yield.

[0024]

The above object can be achieved by the toner cartridge according to the present invention. In summary,
According to the present invention, in a toner cartridge that stirs and stores the stored toner, a toner replenishment container that has an opening at a predetermined position and stores the toner, a stirring unit that stirs the toner in the toner replenishment container, and the toner replenishment An agitating member having a drive transmitting portion exposed from an end of the container and transmitting a driving force to the agitating portion; and an exposing portion of the agitating member sandwiched between the toner replenishing container and the exposing portion of the agitating member. In a toner cartridge having a packing member for sealing, wherein the packing member is made of wool felt,
The wool felt is manufactured for each sheet, and the packing is obtained by compressing the wool felt, measuring the weight of each sheet, and slicing into a thickness having a predetermined same weight, and then forming a predetermined shape. A toner cartridge characterized by being formed by punching.

[0025] Preferably, the wool felt is produced by alternate longitudinal-transverse lamination, and the fibers of the wool are entangled without orientation. Wool felt has a diameter of 19-21μ
Made of wool of m, the density is 0.20 ~ 0.35g / cm
³ and the variation in the weight of wool felt within each leaf is within ± 8%. Wool felt has a compression ratio of 50
It can be up to 60%. The packing member may be compressed and sandwiched between the stirring member and the toner supply container in a range of 7% or more and 40% or less. The packing member can be ring-shaped. further,
The wool felt can be sliced on both sides to a thickness that gives a given, uniform weight.

[0026]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, a toner cartridge C according to an embodiment of the present invention has a grip member 17, and the grip member 17 is mounted on a cartridge mounting portion of a developing device serving as a cartridge mounting means. The cartridge is a so-called stationary (built-in) cartridge that is left standing and gradually supplies toner to the developing chamber of the developing device until the toner is used up.

As shown in the exploded perspective view of FIG. 2, the toner cartridge C includes a toner supply container 12, a flange 13,
14, a stirring member 15, a cap 16 and the handle member 17 described above.

As shown in FIG. 2, the toner supply container 12 is a cylindrical member, and has two notches 12 at both ends.
b. The toner supply container 12 is provided with a slit-shaped toner discharge opening 12a extending in the longitudinal direction on the peripheral surface thereof. In this embodiment, the toner replenishing container 12 has an inner radius of 55 mm, a wall thickness of 0.8 mm, and an inner length in the axial direction (the inside of the container 12 when the flanges 13 and 14 are attached to both ends of the container 12). The longitudinal length of the space) is 297.5 mm
The cylinder is adopted. The length of the toner discharge opening 12a is approximately equal to the inner length of the container 12 and is 296 mm, and the length in the lateral direction is 7 mm.

It is preferable that the toner replenishing container 12 obtains the inner diameter accuracy and the circularity of the cylinder with high accuracy in relation to the stirring member 15 described later. Therefore, the toner supply container 1
A thermoplastic resin is most preferable as a material constituting 2, and acrylonitrile-styrene-butadiene copolymer (ABS) and polyester among them are easy to obtain mechanical precision and are relatively inexpensive, and mechanical properties for drop test and the like. It is particularly preferable because it has high strength. Next to this, a high impact polystyrene resin (HIPS) can also be preferably used. As the constituent material of the toner supply container 12, paper, aluminum, or the like can be used in addition to the thermoplastic resin.

Toner discharge opening 12 of the toner supply container 12
As shown in FIG. 1, a is sealed by a seal member 12c. Preferably, a film-shaped flexible sheet is used for the seal member 12c. This seal member 12
c is temperature / humidity fluctuation, atmospheric pressure fluctuation, vibration,
The toner is fixed to the toner replenishing container 12 with sufficient strength to prevent the occurrence of toner leakage even when it is dropped and the like, and has strength that allows peeling. At the start of use of the toner cartridge C, the seal member 12c is peeled by the operator starting to pull it from the peeling end 12c1.

The flanges 13 and 14 are used for the toner supply container 1
It is attached to both ends of 2. The flanges 13 and 14 are made of acrylonitrile-styrene-butadiene copolymer (AB
S), polyester, high impact polystyrene resin (HI
It is manufactured by injection molding of a thermoplastic resin such as PS).

A filling port 13b for filling the toner is provided on one side of the one flange 13. Toner filling port 1
A rib 13c having a cross shape is formed on 3b.
A shaft hole 1 for pivotally supporting the stirring member 15 is provided at the center of 3c.
3d is formed. Further, on the outer surface of the flange 13 on the other side, the projections 13a1 and 13a2 and the locking recess 13e are formed.
Is provided.

A hole 14b for inserting the stirring member 15 is formed on one side of the other flange 14, and the outer peripheral surface of the gear portion 15a2 of the stirring member 15 is supported around the hole 14b. There is provided a ring-shaped groove portion 14c for this. A claw portion 14d for locking the ring-shaped rib 15a3 of the gear portion 15a2 is provided in a part of the groove portion 14c.
Protrusions 14a1 and 14a are provided on the outer surface of one side of the flange 14.
2 are provided.

The flanges 13 and 14 are seal members 12c.
The toner replenishing container 12 to which is attached is fitted and coupled to both ends. As this bonding method, hot melt adhesion is particularly preferable because it is simple and can obtain sufficient adhesion and adhesive strength.

As shown in FIG. 2, the stirring member 15 includes a stirring shaft 15a and a stirring blade 15b attached to the stirring shaft 15a. The stirring member 15, like the flanges 13 and 14, is manufactured by injection molding of a thermoplastic resin such as acrylonitrile-styrene-butadiene copolymer (ABS), polyester, or high impact polystyrene resin (HIPS).

The stirring shaft 15a is, for example, a rod-shaped member having a substantially H-shaped cross section, and the flange 1 is provided at one axial end thereof.
A fitting portion 15a1 for fitting in the shaft hole 13d of No. 3 is formed, and the gear portion 15a for coupling with the drive system is formed at the other end.
2 is formed, and the ring-shaped rib 15a3 is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the gear portion 15a2. Stirring shaft 15a
The stirring blade 15 is provided on one side surface of the recess of the H-shaped rod.
A plurality of caulking bosses 15a4 for attaching b are provided along the longitudinal direction.

The stirring blade 15b is composed of a rectangular piece protruding from one side of the rectangular plate in the longitudinal direction, and has a plurality of auxiliary blades 15b2 along the side, and the inlet slit 1 on the other side.
It has a plurality of main wing portions 15b1 along the other side formed by a rectangular cutout 15b4 having 5b3. A plurality of caulking holes 15b5 are provided along the longitudinal direction on the side of the auxiliary blade 15b2 of the stirring blade 15b.
The stirring blades 15b are attached to the stirring shaft 15a by fitting and caulking the plurality of caulking bosses 15a4 provided on the stirring shaft 15a into the plurality of caulking holes 15b5.

The cap 16 is for closing the filling hole 13b after filling the toner replenishing container 12 with the toner from the toner filling port 13b of the flange 13, and is made of a material such as low density polyethylene, high density polyethylene or polypropylene. , Preferably of low density polyethylene, formed into a cylindrical shape with a bottom. By press-fitting the cap 16 into the filling port 13b, the filling port 13b is sealed, and toner leakage from the filling port 13b is prevented.

The holding member 17 has a notch 1 on one side of the cylindrical body.
7a1, inside of which locking pawl 17a2 and rib 17a3
The rib 17a3 is formed with a step portion 17a4. On the other side of the grip member 17, the grip portion 1
7b, movable lever 17c and lock protrusion 1 on it
7c1 is provided. By holding the cap 16 press-fitted into the flange 13 inside the gripping member 17 and pressing the gripping member 17 against the flange 13, the gripping member 1
7 is locked to the flange 13.

FIG. 3 shows the detailed structure of the bearing portion of the toner cartridge. When the stirring member 15 is inserted into the toner replenishing container 12 from the insertion port 14b of the flange 14 and strongly pressed, the fitting portion 15a1 at one end of the stirring member 15 is fitted into the shaft hole 13d of the flange 13, and the stirring member 15 The ring-shaped rib 15a3 provided on the gear portion 15a2 at the other end of the ring locks with the claw portion 14d of the flange 14 (so-called patching stop) and becomes immovable in the rotational direction. As a result, the ring-shaped packing member 3 as a toner leakage prevention seal member
0 is sandwiched and assembled while being compressed between the stirring member gear portion 15a2 and the flange 14.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG.
An annular rib 14e is provided on the flange 14 inside the packing member 30. The purpose of the annular rib 14e is to sandwich the packing member 30 with the ring 14c of the flange 14 to prevent the packing member 30 from being rotated together by the rotation of the stirring member 15, and to prevent the packing member 30 from rotating. The purpose is to prevent the fluff generated from the felt from entering the toner supply container 12 as much as possible.

The space of the seal portion between the stirring member gear portion 15a2 for compressing and sandwiching the packing member 30 and the flange 14 has a certain degree of variation in size, and the stirring member 15 and the flange 14 are the same as described above. Since the thermoplastic resin is injection-molded as described above, the contact surfaces of these packing members 30 have fine irregularities to some extent.

According to the present invention, wool felt is used for the packing member 30 used in such a seal portion, and in particular, the wool felt is manufactured for each sheet, and after the wool felt is compressed, it is separated for each sheet. A major feature is that the weight of the wool felt is measured, the wool felt is sliced in the surface direction to a thickness that is the same weight according to the weight, and then the wool felt is die-cut into a packing shape.

The wool felt produced for each of the above-mentioned sheets is put into a mold having a flat inner space of, for example, 50 cm square, and the weighed wool is alternately laminated vertically and horizontally, and the laminate is pressed to form a sheet. The wool felt was molded into a shape and obtained one by one.

According to the wool felt produced for each sheet as described above, the fibers of the wool are intricately entangled without having a certain directionality, and the density is not only between the sheets but also within each sheet. Can be made uniform and variation in weight can be suppressed. Therefore, the packing member 30 thus formed can be made to have the entire felt surface densely kept, to prevent fraying and fluffing.

As described above, keeping the felt surface of the packing member 30 dense is very advantageous for surely sealing the toner in the toner cartridge C because the toner to be sealed is a very fine particle of several μm. Is. For example, when a toner sealing property for a long time is required, such as an evaluation test that is harsher than normal use, for example, a durability drive torque test under high temperature / high humidity environment, or even momentarily when a drop test is performed. When the toner sealing property is required, a remarkable difference is seen from the case of the packing member using the conventional YAW felt.
Although a slight toner leakage was observed in the packing member made of felt, it was not recognized in the packing member according to the present invention.

Further, since the packing member 30 has an excellent toner sealing property, the toner is less likely to be caught in the shaft seal portion, and the influence on the durable drive torque value is minimized.
It can also be used as a shaft seal member for future high-speed machines.

The fiber diameter of wool is preferably about 9 to 21 μm which is relatively thin in order to make the wool felt dense. In addition, it is preferable that the variation in the weight of the wool felt in each sheet is within ± 8%.

The wool felt produced for each sheet is
It is used after being compressed by applying heat, water (steam) or pressure according to the usual method for manufacturing wool felt products. The fibrils shrink the wool fibers intricately intertwined with each other to increase the bulk density of the wool and give the wool felt a certain amount of firmness. It is appropriate that the wool felt has a fineness of about 50 to 60%.

The bulk density (apparent density) of the wool felt after shrinking is 0.20 g / cm ³ or more and 0.35 g / c.
m ³ or less is preferable, and more preferably 0.25 g / cm ³ or more and 0.30 g / cm ³ or less. The formula for calculating the bulk density of wool felt is according to JIS L3201 (long wool felt).

Wool felt has a bulk density of 0.35 g / c
When it exceeds m ³ , when the packing member 30 is compressed and sandwiched by the seal portion between the gear portion 15a2 of the stirring member and the flange 14, the packing member has a considerably high density, which is sufficient for the seal portion. Although it can provide airtightness, it tends to have high rotational torque. The bulk density of wool felt is 0.
If it is less than 20 g / cm ³ , the packing member 30 incorporated in the seal portion easily absorbs variations in dimensional accuracy and surface roughness, but since the density becomes low, it is difficult to maintain hermeticity for a long period of time. In the end, permanent distortion occurs and the hermeticity rather deteriorates. Also, wool felt fluff is likely to occur.

The compression ratio of the packing member 30 incorporated in the seal portion is determined by the size of the space between the stirring member 15 and the flange 14 and the size, particularly the thickness, of the packing member 30 before being assembled, but in general, It is preferable that the compression rate is used in the range of 7 to 40%.

Wool felt produced in this way is manufactured by Tokko SS Felt (trade name; Fujiko Co., Ltd.).
(Manufactured by the company) and has the above-mentioned various performances.

According to the present invention, the packing material 30 is manufactured by measuring the weight of the wool felt manufactured for each individual sheet, slicing the wool felt into a thickness having the same weight, and die-cutting. If the packing member 30 has the same weight, the same bulk density can be realized in the packing member 30 and the same sealing performance can be obtained when the packing member 30 is assembled by being compressed. Therefore, the product management of the packing member 30 may be performed by weight.

As an example, for example, the packing member 3
When the design dimension of 0 is an inner diameter of 24 mm, an outer diameter of 30 mm, and a thickness of 3.0 mm, the weight range of 0.168 to 0.206 g is controlled.

The upper limit of the weight control value of this packing member is
It was set as follows. The initial torque of the stirring shaft driving torque (stirring torque) of the toner cartridge C needs to be set to a predetermined value or less so as not to damage the torque limiter operating value of the driving motor on the copying machine main body side and the transmission gear. is there. It is the weight of the packing member 30 (felt weight) and the amount of toner compaction that occurs during the product transportation of the toner cartridge that affects the driving initial torque due to the variable factors. The latter toner-consolidated component reduces the driving initial torque of the toner cartridge as compared with when the toner is loosened because the toner is compressed by the end portion of the toner supply container 12 during vibration during product transportation and during long-term storage. Because it raises.

The drive torque of the toner cartridge is to be a combination of the drive torque value in the state of an empty cartridge containing no toner before the replenishment container 12 is filled with the toner and the drive torque due to the toner compaction. You can Therefore, the drive torque control value for an empty cartridge is
It is obtained by subtracting the drive torque for toner compaction from the drive torque of the cartridge containing toner.

First, the influence of the toner compaction that occurs during the transportation of the product on the initial drive torque was determined. The transportation state of the toner cartridge was simulated by a tapping test.
In this tapping test, the toner cartridge is placed vertically on the test stand, and the test stand is vibrated up and down to compress the toner in the toner cartridge to the end part, which creates a transportation state in a pseudo manner. It is possible to reproduce the vertical transportation state of the toner cartridge in time. In order to determine the influence of the toner pressure on the initial driving torque, the bulk density of the toner in the toner cartridge was changed by the tapping test, and the initial driving torque was measured.

The relationship between the toner bulk density and the toner cartridge driving initial torque is as shown in FIG.
It can be seen from FIG. 4 that the toner bulk density and the toner cartridge drive initial torque value can be expressed in a proportional relationship, and the maximum influence of the toner compaction that occurs during product transportation on the drive initial torque (increase in the initial torque) is 5 kgf ( kg
To be precise, f is kgf · cm. Hereinafter, the same) is assumed.

Next, the relationship between the felt weight and the driving torque of the empty toner cartridge was obtained. The packing member 30 was gradually changed from a light felt weight to a heavy felt weight, and the driving torque of the empty toner cartridge was measured. The relationship between the weight of the packing member and the empty toner cartridge drive torque is as shown in FIG.

It can be seen from FIG. 5 that the empty toner cartridge drive torque and the weight of the packing member can be expressed in a proportional relationship, and the upper limit 9 kg of the main body side torque limiter is assumed.
5 kgf, which is the influence of the above toner compaction, is subtracted from f, and the remaining 4 kgf has a margin of 1 kgf, which is an allowable value for the empty toner cartridge drive torque. Therefore,
The weight of the packing member when the torque is 3 kgf minus the margin of 1 kgf is the upper limit value, which is 0.206 g from FIG.

The lower limit of the weight control value of the packing member was set as follows. In the toner cartridge C, the packing member 30 plays a role of preventing the toner from leaking from the inner side of the shaft. However, the leak of the toner from the inner side of the shaft contaminates the surroundings by the scattering of the toner when the user replaces the toner cartridge. Not only that, the leaked toner is caught in the sliding portion near the shaft portion, which causes the rotation failure of the stirring shaft 15a, which causes abnormal increase of the rotation torque. This overload is applied to the stirring shaft rotating motor on the main body of the copying machine and causes trouble.

Therefore, the stirring shaft 15a was rotated by an amount corresponding to the toner consumption time of the toner cartridge, and the relationship between the leakage of toner from the shaft portion and the weight of the packing member was examined during that period. As a result, the weight of the packing member is at least 0.
With 168 g, it was confirmed that the toner did not leak. Therefore, the lower limit of the packing member weight is 0.168
g.

The packing member 30 has the following dimensions.
If the weight range is within the range of 0.168 to 0.206 g, the stirring member is rotated at a low torque when it is assembled into the seal portion between the stirring member gear portion 15a2 and the flange 14 by compression. It is possible to obtain a desired bulk density in the packing member 30 that is possible and that can prevent toner leakage from the inside of the bearing for a long period of time, and excellent sealing performance can be exhibited.

As described above, according to the present invention, the packing member 30 manages products by weight, but this weight range is very narrow.

Conventionally, since the YAW wool felt continuously manufactured in a roll shape used for the packing member is used, the variation in the density and the variation in the weight of the same wool felt are large, and the wool felt is sliced into a certain thickness. do it,
The punched packing member has a large variation in the density between products, and when compressed and assembled in the seal portion, the desired sealing performance cannot be obtained, which causes an increase in driving torque or leakage of toner. Therefore, in order to prevent this in advance, 100% of the weights of packing member products are inspected, and those exceeding the upper limit of 0.206 g in felt weight management are rejected and 100% are sorted. However, this work is inefficient because it requires much labor and cost.

In the present invention, with regard to the wool felt used for the packing member 30, the felt original fabric is manufactured in a single sheet,
The packing member formed by punching has a felt weight standard value range of 0.168 to 0.0.1 since it is obtained by changing the slice thickness according to the weight of each sheet.
Even if it is as narrow as 206 g, it is possible to easily satisfy the weight specification range. Therefore, the packing member can be obtained with a dramatically improved yield, and the sorting operation by the weight of the packing member 30 is not necessarily required, and the production of non-defective products is very efficient.

FIG. 6 shows the weight distribution of the packing member product according to the present invention. As the wool felt, Tokko SS felt (Fujiko Co., Ltd.) was used. As shown in FIG. 6, in the packing member made of Tokko SS felt, the yield of non-defective products is 95% or more of the entire product, excluding the amount that does not satisfy the weight standard value range of 0.168 to 0.206 g. .

On the other hand, in the packing member made of the conventional YAW felt, as shown in FIG.
The yield of non-defective products, excluding those that do not satisfy the range of 0.206 g, is 75% of the total product (defect product 25
%).

According to the invention, the wool felt used has, for example, a bulk density of 0.28 g / cm ³ and a shrinkage of 55.
%, But this shrinkage ratio is lower than the shrinkage ratio of general fibers, so that the packing member can be given an appropriate cushioning property. Therefore, the deformation of the wool felt itself can be suppressed to a minimum, and a machine such as a shooter machine can be used without trouble in an automatic assembly line or the like.

In the present invention, for the toner cartridge C provided with the packing member 30 formed as described above,
389 g of toner was filled in the toner supply container 12,
While the toner is not reduced, the seal member 12c that seals the toner discharge opening 12a of the container 12 is not peeled off.
The stirring member 15 was rotationally driven via the coupling gear part. Although continuous rotation was performed for 30 hours at a rotation speed of 10.8 rotations per minute, no toner leaked from the shaft seal portion of the stirring member 15 and no increase in rotation torque of the stirring member was observed.

In the above embodiment, the toner cartridge C is used.
Describes the toner replenishing container 12 having a cylindrical shape, but the present invention is not limited to this. Regardless of the form of the toner replenishing container or the stirring member, such as a toner replenishing container having a shape other than a cylindrical shape, The same effect can be obtained by applying the present invention to a portion of the bearing portion where leakage of toner from the inside of the toner cartridge is prevented and high sealing performance is required. Further, the present invention can be applied to the toner supply portion of the process cartridge.

[0074]

Since the toner cartridge of the present invention is constructed as described above, it has the following effects.

(1) Since the packing member is manufactured by using the wool felt manufactured for each sheet, the surface of the wool felt of the packing member is dense, and the simple shaft seal portion structure using the packing member is used. It is possible to prevent toner from leaking from the inside of the bearing of the toner supply container of the toner cartridge.

(2) Since it is possible to prevent the toner from leaking from the inside of the bearing, it is possible to prevent the toner from being caught in the sliding portion of the bearing, and to prevent an abnormal increase in the rotating torque.

(3) Since the wool felt manufactured for each individual sheet is sliced to have the same weight and used for manufacturing the packing member, the packing member having the above-mentioned sealing performance can be easily obtained. The product yield of packing members is improved.

(4) Since a wool felt member having a dense surface is used, deformation of the felt itself can be suppressed, and a machine such as a shooter machine can be used without trouble in an automatic assembly line or the like.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a toner cartridge of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the toner cartridge of FIG.

3 is a cross-sectional view showing details of a bearing portion of the toner cartridge of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing the relationship between toner bulk density and drive torque in a toner cartridge.

FIG. 5 is a graph showing the relationship between the weight of the packing member used in the present invention and the drive torque of the empty toner cartridge.

FIG. 6 is a graph showing a weight distribution of a packing member product according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a graph showing a weight distribution of a conventional packing member product.

[Explanation of symbols]

 12 Toner Supply Container 13 One Flange 13b Toner Filling Port 14 The Other Flange 15 Stirring Member 15a Stirring Shaft 15a3 Ring Rib 15b Stirring Blade 17 Grasping Member 30 Packing Member

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A toner cartridge for agitating and feeding the stored toner, which has an opening at a predetermined position, a toner replenishing container for storing the toner, a stirring unit for stirring the toner in the toner replenishing container, and the toner. An agitating member having a drive transmitting portion that is exposed from an end portion of the replenishing container and that transmits a driving force to the agitating portion, and an exposing portion of the agitating member sandwiched between the toner replenishing container and the exposing portion of the agitating member. And a packing member for sealing the packing member, wherein the packing member is made of wool felt, the wool felt is manufactured for each sheet, and the packing is for each sheet after the wool felt is compressed. The toner cartridge is characterized in that the toner cartridge is formed by slicing into a predetermined thickness and then slicing into a predetermined shape. Di. 2. The toner cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the wool felt is manufactured by alternating vertical and horizontal lamination, and the fibers of the wool are entangled without orientation. 3. The wool felt has a diameter of 19 to 21 μm.
The toner cartridge according to claim 1, which is made of wool. 4. The wool felt has a density of 0.20 to 20.
The toner cartridge according to claim 1, which has a weight of 0.35 g / cm ³ . 5. The toner cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the variation of the weight of the wool felt in each sheet is within ± 8%. 6. The wool felt has a compression ratio of 50 to 60.
%, The toner cartridge according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5. 7. The packing member is compressed and sandwiched between the stirring member and the toner replenishing container in a range of 7% or more and 40% or less. 6
Toner cartridge. 8. The toner cartridge of claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7, wherein the packing member has a ring shape. 9. The wool felt is sliced on both sides to a predetermined thickness so as to have the same weight.
5, 6, 7 or 8 toner cartridges.