JPH0968843A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a color printer capable of easily engaging the projecting parts of a hopper provided in easy-to-see positions with the recessed parts of a toner cartridge and guiding it to the fixed position of the hopper thereby attaching the cartridge to the hopper of a rotary developing device. SOLUTION: In this image forming device provided with the rotary developing device constituted so that plural developing units 51K disposed around a rotary shaft are rotated therewith as a center to displace an arbitrary developing unit to a developing position facing a photoreceptor and attain development, hoppers 58K are provided in the side edge parts of each developing unit 51K and toner cartridges 63K which correspond to the plural developing units 51K and house toner are detachably provided in the hoppers 58K, the projecting parts 61K for guiding the toner cartridge 63K to the fixed position, at the time of attaching the toner cartridge 63K to the hopper 58K are provided in the easy-to-see positions of the hopper 58K and the recessed parts 67K engaged with the projecting parts 61K of the hopper 58K to be guided are provided in the easy-to-see positions of the toner cartridge 63K.

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 printer, and a FAX, and more specifically, a plurality of developing devices arranged around a rotary shaft are rotated about the rotary shaft. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus provided with a rotary developing device configured to perform development by displacing an arbitrary developing device to a developing position facing a latent image carrier.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a latent image carrier is exposed with a color-separated light image, each latent image formed is developed with a developer having a complementary color of the color-separated light, and a plurality of obtained visible images are transferred to the same image. A full-color image forming apparatus such as a full-color copying machine that superimposes and transfers it on paper, or images to be reproduced in different colors are separately exposed on a latent image carrier, and each formed latent image is transferred in a different color. 2. Description of the Related Art A multicolor image forming apparatus is known in which a plurality of visible images obtained by developing with a developer are superposed on the same transfer paper and transferred. In these image forming apparatuses, a plurality of developing units are required to perform development of a plurality of colors. However, if each developing unit is independently configured and arranged side by side around the latent image carrier, the size of the apparatus increases. There was a disadvantage that it would.

Therefore, conventionally, a rotary member is provided so as to be close to the latent image bearing member, and a plurality of developing devices are supported at predetermined positions on the rotary member so that each developing device is supported by the latent image bearing member. A rotary developing device has been developed in which the latent image on the latent image carrier is developed with the developer of each color by sequentially rotating and conveying the developing medium to the opposing developing position.

As one of the above rotary developing devices, a developer accommodating portion to which a developer container is attachable / detachable is provided at a side end portion of the developing device, and the developer is conveyed and collected between the developing device and the developer accommodating portion. A rotary developing device for carrying out the above-mentioned operation using a transport screw as two transport members, wherein a rotary developing device in which a plurality of developing devices are detachably attached to a support provided in the image forming apparatus is proposed. (See Japanese Patent Application No. 6-239607).

By adopting the structure proposed in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application No. 6-239607, it is possible to stabilize the developer replenishing amount in the axial direction of the developer carrier in the developing device and to carry out the development carried by the developer carrier. It is possible to provide a small-sized developing device capable of maintaining a predetermined amount of the agent and having a small cross-sectional occupancy in a cross section perpendicular to the axial direction. Further, even when the frequency of use of each developing device is different, each developing device can be independently attached and detached and replaced, so that it is possible to avoid an increase in running cost as compared with the case where a plurality of developing devices are replaced at once. it can.

Further, as a developer container that can be mounted in the rotary developing device proposed in Japanese Patent Application No. 6-239607, the developer contained therein is developed as the developing device rotates. A developer container configured to be supplied into the container has been proposed (see JP-A-6-301288). By using the developer container having this configuration, it is possible to avoid complication of the apparatus and cost increase without providing another mechanism for supplying the developer from the developer container to the developing device.

Further, as a mounting and dismounting mechanism for mounting and dismounting the developer container having the above-described structure, a guide and a guide groove are provided in the developer accommodating portion and the developer container of each developing device, and when mounting the developing container. An image forming apparatus has been proposed in which the developer container is securely fixed to the developing device by engaging the guide and the guide groove with each other (Japanese Patent Application No. 6-239605).
No.).

[0008]

However, in the developer container attaching / detaching mechanism using the guide and the guide groove, the developer container is provided in the developer container when the developer container is mounted in the developer accommodating portion of the developing device. Although it is necessary to insert the guide into the guide groove of the developer accommodating portion, when the guide and the guide groove are provided near the supply port of the developer container and the developer accommodating portion,
In some cases, the engaging portions of the guides and the guide grooves are hard to see during operation, which makes it difficult to mount the developer container.

In the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application No. 6-239605, when the developer container is mounted in the developer accommodating portion, the developer container is guided to the mounting portion by the exterior portion of the image forming apparatus main body which is easy for the operator to see. , Those that make it easier to mount a developer container have been proposed. However, in the configuration of the rotary developing device, the positions of the developing device and the developer accommodating portion with respect to the exterior portion of the image forming apparatus main body change due to the accuracy of parts and the backlash of the drive gear.
It may be harder to wear.

The present invention has been made in view of the above background, and an object of the invention is to store a developer container provided at a position which is easy to see when the developer container is mounted in the developer container of the rotary developing device. To provide an image forming apparatus capable of easily engaging a guide portion of a portion and a guided portion of a developer container and guiding and mounting the developer container to a predetermined position of the developer accommodating portion. .

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention of claim 1 is one in which a plurality of developing devices arranged around a rotary shaft are rotated about the rotary shaft to perform arbitrary development. Is a rotary type developing device configured to perform development by displacing the developing device to a developing position facing the latent image carrier, and further, providing a developer accommodating portion at a side end portion of each developing device, In an image forming apparatus equipped with a rotary developing device in which a developer container containing a developer corresponding to a developing device is detachably provided in the developer container, in the developer container of the developer container A guide part for guiding the developer container to a predetermined position when the developer container is mounted, is provided at a position where the developer container is easy to see, and a guided part which is guided by being engaged with the guide part of the developer container is provided. The developer container is provided at a position where it can be easily seen. It is.

According to a second aspect of the invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect, a shielding member that is slidable in an attaching / detaching direction at an attaching / detaching position is provided at a developer supply port of the developer container, and the developer accommodating portion is provided in the developer accommodating portion. When mounting the developer container, when mounting the developer container in the developer container, after the developer container is guided to a predetermined position of the developer container, the shielding member is It is characterized in that the developer supply port is opened by sliding.

According to a third aspect of the invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect, the position where the guide portion and the guided portion are provided for each developer accommodating portion and developer container corresponding to each of the plurality of developing devices. It is characterized by different.

In the image forming apparatus of the first aspect, when the developer container is mounted in the developer accommodating portion, first, the guide portion of the developer accommodating portion and the developing device are provided at positions which are easily seen by the operator. Engage while visually checking the guided portion of the agent container. Then, by moving the developer container so that the guided portion of the developer container is guided by the guide portion of the developer container, the developer container is guided to a predetermined position of the developer container. Be positioned.

In the image forming apparatus of the second aspect, the developer supply port of the developer container is normally shielded by the shield member which is slidable in the attachment / detachment direction at the attachment / detachment position. Then, when the developer container is mounted in the developer container, the developer container is guided to a predetermined position of the developer container, and then the shielding member slides to slide the developer supply port. Is released.

According to another aspect of the image forming apparatus of the present invention, since the positions at which the guide portion and the guided portion are provided are different for each developer accommodating portion and each developer container corresponding to each of the plurality of developing devices, the developing portion is different. When the developer container is mounted, the guided member of the developer container is engaged and guided only by the guide portion of the developer accommodating portion corresponding to the developer container.

[0016]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a rotary developing device adopted in a full color printer 1 (hereinafter referred to as a printer) which is an image forming apparatus will be described below. First, the schematic configuration of the printer will be described with reference to FIG. A belt-shaped photoreceptor (hereinafter referred to as "photoreceptor belt") 2 as a latent image carrier is uniformly charged by a charging roller 3 as a charging means, and then image information is formed by a laser optical device 4 as an exposing means. Based on the scanning exposure, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface. Here, the image information to be exposed is monochromatic image information obtained by decomposing a desired full-color image into yellow, magenta, cyan, and black color information. The electrostatic latent image formed on the photoconductor belt 2 is developed by a rotary developing device 5 to be described later with a predetermined developer such as yellow toner, magenta toner, cyan toner and black toner, and the electrostatic latent image is formed on the photoconductor belt 2. A toner image of each color is formed on the.

Photoreceptor belt 2 rotating in the direction of arrow A in the figure
The toner images of the respective colors formed above are sequentially superimposed and transferred for each single color of yellow, magenta, cyan and black onto the intermediate transfer belt 6 which rotates in the direction B in the figure in synchronization with the photoconductor belt 2. The yellow, magenta, cyan, and black images superposed on the intermediate transfer belt 6 are transferred onto a transfer paper 10 as a transfer material which is conveyed from a paper feed table 7 through a paper feed roller 8 and a registration roller 9 to a transfer section. , Are collectively transferred by the transfer roller 11. After the transfer is completed, the transfer paper is fixed on the fixing device 1.
It is fixed by 2 and a full color image is completed.

The toner on the photoconductor belt 2 that has not been transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 6 is removed from the photoconductor belt 2 by the photoconductor cleaner 13. The transfer paper 10
The toner on the intermediate transfer belt 6 that has not been transferred onto the
The intermediate transfer belt cleaner 14 removes the intermediate transfer belt 6 from the intermediate transfer belt 6.

Next, the rotary developing device 5 used in the printer will be described. As described above, the photoconductor belt 2
A rotary type developing device (also referred to as a revolver type developing device or a rotary type developing device in the vicinity of the above.
Say. ) 5 are arranged. In the developing device 5, a casing 50 forming a rotating body is rotatably provided around a rotating shaft, and the casing 50 is rotated in the direction of arrow C by a drive mechanism (not shown). The casing 50 has a shape that divides the developing device into four parts, and the developing devices 51Y, M, C, and
K is formed.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing the black developing device 51K together with the photosensitive belt 2. The developing devices 51C, 51M, and 51Y for the other colors have the same configuration as the developing device 51K for black, and therefore their description is omitted. A cylindrical developing roller 5 as a developer carrying member is formed in the opening 51a formed above the developing unit 51K at the developing position in FIG. 2 so as to face the photoconductor belt 2.
2K is arranged so as to rotate in the same direction as the photosensitive belt moving direction (direction of arrow D in the figure) with the photosensitive belt 2 at a predetermined peripheral speed ratio. Further, below the developing roller 52K,
A supply roller 53K as a toner supply member made of an elastic material such as polyurethane foam slides on the developing roller 52K and has a predetermined peripheral speed ratio to the developing roller 52K in the same direction (arrow E in the figure). Direction). The opening 5 is provided on the downstream side of the supply roller 53K in the moving direction of the developing roller 52K.
In the vicinity of 1a, a blade 5 made of a thin metal plate such as stainless steel having a thickness of about 0.1 mm or an elastic body such as urethane rubber
4K is provided such that the vicinity of one end thereof is in contact with the developing roller 52K. Further, the developing device 51K is provided with a charge removing brush 55K and toner carrying screws 56K and 57K as a developer carrying means for carrying and circulating toner between the developing device and a hopper as a developer accommodating portion described later. ing.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, a hopper 58K as a developer accommodating portion for accommodating toner is integrally provided at the front side end of the developing device 51K. The hopper 58K is provided with a replenishment port 59K for replenishing toner into the developing device 51K, and guide grooves 60K that engage with guides of a toner cartridge as a developer container described later are provided on outer wall surfaces on both sides thereof. Is provided. Further, the inner surface of the side wall portion formed so as to extend upward from both sides of the replenishment port 59K is engaged with a guided portion of a toner cartridge, which will be described later, when the toner cartridge is mounted, so that the cartridge is placed at a predetermined position. 2 as a guidance section to guide you to
The four convex portions 61K are provided at positions that are easy for the operator to see. Further, a stopper 62K is swingably provided on the side wall of the hopper 58K.

The toner cartridge 63K as the developer container has a structure as shown in FIG.
By the rotation operation of the developing device 5, the toner contained in the toner container 41K is replenished to the hopper 3K from the replenishment port 64K. Further, the toner cartridge 63K is provided with a shutter 65K as a shielding member that is slidable in the attachment / detachment direction at the attachment / detachment position of the toner cartridge 63K, and guides 66K that slidably guide both side ends thereof. A portion that engages with the guide groove 60K of the hopper 58K is formed on the opposite side of the guide 66K from the shutter 65K side. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, on the outer surface of the side wall of the toner cartridge 63K, a concave portion 67K as a guided portion which is guided by engaging with the convex portion 61K of the hopper 58K is provided at a position where it is easy for the operator to see. .

Next, the mounting operation for mounting the toner cartridge 63K on the hopper 58K will be described with reference to FIGS. In addition, in FIG. 6, FIG. 7 and FIG.
The explanatory view indicated by the division symbol (a) is a plan view seen from above in mounting. Further, the explanatory view shown by the division symbol (b) is the hopper 58K and the toner cartridge 63.
It is a front sectional view of K. In order to mount the toner cartridge 63K having the above-described configuration on the hopper 58K, first, as shown in FIG. 5, the convex portion 6 formed at a position where the hopper 58K is easily seen.
1K is engaged with a recess 67K formed in the toner cartridge 63K at the same easy-to-see position. In this manner, in the initial stage of the mounting operation of the toner cartridge 63K, the convex portion 61K provided at a position that is easy for the operator to see.
Since it suffices to engage the concave portion 67K with the concave portion 67K, the initial mounting operation of the toner cartridge 63K becomes easy. Also,
Since the hopper 58K itself for mounting the cartridge 63K is provided with a convex portion as a guide portion for engaging the concave portion 67K of the toner cartridge 63K and guiding the cartridge 63K to a predetermined mounting position, the cartridge 63K is provided.
It is possible to avoid a situation in which the position of the developing device and its hopper 58K relative to the exterior portion fluctuates and it becomes difficult to mount the cartridge 63K as in the case where K is guided by the exterior portion of the printer body.

Further, in FIG. 5, the planes are shown so as to vertically intersect at all the ridge lines, but in reality, the convex portions 61K of the hopper 58K and the toner cartridge 63 are shown.
Since the corner of the K concave portion 67K represented by the ridge is formed into a curved surface, the convex portion 61K and the concave portion 67K naturally engage with each other even when the positions of the convex portion 61K and the concave portion 67K are slightly displaced when the toner cartridge 63K is mounted. It is like this.

As shown in FIG. 6, when the convex portion 61K and the concave portion 67K start to engage with each other, the guide 66K of the toner cartridge 63K is guided by the guide groove 60K of the hopper 58K.
, The shutter 65K does not slide, and shields the supply port 64K. When the toner cartridge 63K is further pushed from the state of FIG. 6 and the state as shown in FIG. 7 is reached, the guide 66K starts to engage with the guide groove 60K, and the shutter 65K also comes into contact with the abutment portion near the supply port 59K of the hopper 58K. At the end, the supply port 64K of the toner cartridge 63K starts to be opened. When the toner cartridge 63K is further pushed and the state shown in FIG.
The K supply port 64K is completely opened, and the hopper 5
The stopper 62K provided on the side wall of the 8K engages with the notch 68K provided on a part of the guide 66K of the toner cartridge 63K to fix the toner cartridge 63K to the hopper 58K, and the inside of the hopper 58K and the toner cartridge. It communicates with the inside of 63K.

A seal member 69K is provided around the supply port 64K of the toner cartridge 63K to prevent the toner from leaking.

Next, an erroneous setting prevention mechanism for preventing erroneous toner supply to each developing device will be described.
As shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B, the protrusions 61K and 61C are provided at different positions in the hopper 58K of the black developing device 51K and the hopper 58C of the cyan developing device 51C. ing. The black toner cartridge (not shown) and the cyan toner cartridge (not shown) are also provided with corresponding recesses. Therefore, the black toner cartridge can be mounted only on the hopper 58K of the black developing device 51K, and the cyan toner cartridge can be mounted only on the hopper 58C of the cyan developing device 51C. Note that the magenta and yellow toner cartridges also have different convex and concave positions so that they can be installed only in the hoppers of the corresponding developing devices 51M and 51Y.

Although an example of a color printer is shown in the above embodiment, the present invention can be applied to other image forming apparatuses such as color copying machines. In the above example, the guide groove 60 is provided near the supply port 59K of the hopper 58K.
K is provided, and a guide 66K provided near the supply port 64K of the toner cartridge 63K is formed so as to be guided by engaging with the guide groove.
The guide groove 60K is provided in the guide 66K without providing K.
The present invention can also be applied to a case where a portion that engages with is not formed. In the above example, the convex portion 61K is provided on the hopper 58K side and the concave portion 67K is provided on the toner cartridge 63K side.
However, a concave portion may be provided on the hopper 58K side and a convex portion may be provided on the toner cartridge 63K side.

[0029]

According to the invention of claim 1, the guide portion of the developer accommodating portion and the guided portion of the developer container that are engaged when the developer container is mounted in the developer accommodating portion are provided. Since it is provided at a position that is easy for the operator to see, there is an effect that the operation when mounting the developer container in the developer accommodating portion becomes easy. Further, a guide portion that engages with the guided portion of the developer container and guides the developer container to a predetermined mounting position is provided in the developer accommodating portion itself in which the developer container is mounted. The situation in which the position of the developing device and the developer accommodating portion with respect to the outer casing fluctuates and it becomes difficult to mount the developer container as in the case of guiding the developer container by the outer casing of the image forming apparatus main body. The effect is that it can be avoided.

According to the invention of claim 2, when the developer container is mounted in the developer container, the developer container is guided to a predetermined position of the developer container and then the shield is provided. Since the member slides to open the developer supply port, it is possible to prevent the developer from leaking when the developer container is mounted.

According to the invention of claim 3, when the developer container is mounted, the guided member of the developer container is engaged only with the guide portion of the developer accommodating portion corresponding to the developer container. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the wrong type of developer from being replenished to the developing device.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of a color printer to which the invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view of a developing device in the printer.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the developing device.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a toner cartridge attached to the developing device.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing how a toner cartridge is attached to the developing device.

FIG. 6A is a plan view of a hopper and a toner cartridge of the developing device before mounting. FIG. 3B is a sectional view of the hopper and the toner cartridge.

FIG. 7A is a plan view of a hopper and a toner cartridge of the developing device being mounted. FIG. 3B is a sectional view of the hopper and the toner cartridge.

FIG. 8A is a plan view of a hopper and a toner cartridge of the developing device after mounting. FIG. 3B is a sectional view of the hopper and the toner cartridge.

FIG. 9A is a side view of a hopper of the black developing device.
FIG. 6B is a side view of the hopper of the cyan developing device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Full Color Printer Main Body 2 Photosensitive Belt 3 Charging Roller 4 Laser Optical Device 5 Rotary Development Device 6 Intermediate Transfer Belt 7 Paper Feeding Stage 8 Paper Feeding Roller 9 Registration Roller 10 Transfer Paper 11 Transfer Roller 12 Fixing Device 13 Photosensitive Cleaner 14 Intermediate Transfer belt cleaner 51 Developing device 52 Developing roller 53 Supply roller 54 Blades 56, 57 Toner conveying screw 58 Hopper 59 Replenishing port 60 Guide groove 61 Convex portion 62 Stopper 63 Toner cartridge 64 Replenishing port 65 Shutter 66 Guide 67 Recessed portion 68 Notched portion 69 Seal member

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of developing devices arranged around a rotation axis,
A rotary developing device configured to rotate about the rotation axis to displace an arbitrary developing device to a developing position facing a latent image carrier to perform development, and a side end portion of each developing device. In an image forming apparatus including a rotary type developing device in which a developer accommodating portion is provided, and a developer container accommodating a developer corresponding to the plurality of developing devices is detachably provided in the developer accommodating portion. A guide part for guiding the developer container to a predetermined position when the developer container is attached to the developer accommodating part, the guide part of the developer accommodating part being provided at a position where the developer accommodating part can be easily seen. An image forming apparatus, wherein a guided portion which is engaged with and guided by is provided at a position where the developer container can be easily seen. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the developer replenishing port of the developer container is provided with a shield member which is slidable in the attaching / detaching direction at the attaching / detaching position, and the developer container is provided in the developer accommodating portion. Upon mounting, the developer container is guided to a predetermined position of the developer accommodating portion, and then the shielding member is slid to open the developer supply port. Image forming apparatus. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the positions where the guide portion and the guided portion are provided are different for each developer accommodating portion and each developer container corresponding to each of the plurality of developing devices. An image forming apparatus characterized by.