JPH10161408A - Toner supplying device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress whirling when an auger is rotated and to prevent the occurrence of a twist and deflection in the axial direction of the auger by adopting such a constitution that the winding wire of the auger is wound on the outer periphery of a connector. SOLUTION: One end of the auger 3 is fitted and connected to the outer periphery of the connector 8 and the winding wire of an end part, is rigidly joined to a restraining groove. Therefore, the twisting degree of the auger 3 is made smaller than that in the case a part, joined to the periphery of a connecting shaft projected from the center part of the auger 3 is used as the center of rotation, when a spur gear 7 is rotated and the connector 8 is integrally rotated. Therefore, when the auger 3 is integrally rotated with the rotation of the connector 8, the auger 3 can be stably rotated to be coaxial arrangement state with respect to the shaft 3 can be rotated in a coaxial arrangement state with respect to the shaft 7a of the spur gear 7, with the connector 8. The center of the rotation of the auger 3 is not eccentrically displaced with respect to the shaft 7a, so that whirling when the auger 3 is rotated can be suppressed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a toner supply device for supplying toner to a developing device of an electrophotographic copying machine or an electrophotographic printer, and more particularly to a toner attached to a surface of a sensor for detecting a toner amount. The present invention relates to a toner supply device capable of reliably scraping the toner and maintaining the detection accuracy at a high level.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A toner supply device in an electrophotographic copying machine or the like is provided with a sensor for stirring the toner contained in a container and detecting the amount thereof, and further provided with a mechanism for sending the toner to a developing device. FIG. 9 shows a general configuration thereof, which is schematically shown in FIG.

[0003] In the figure, in a container 51 of a toner supply device, augers 52 for stirring and transporting two spirally wound wires are arranged in parallel with each other, and these augers 52 are driven to rotate. For this purpose, the spur gear 53 is connected so as to be substantially coaxial with the shaft 53a of the spur gear 53 connected to an external drive system. Then, a sensor 54 for detecting the amount of toner from the outside of the container 51 is incorporated so that the detection surface faces the inside of the container 51, and a scraper 55 for scraping off the toner attached to the detection surface is attached to the auger 52. They are connected together.

FIG. 10 is an exploded view showing a structure for connecting the spur gear 53 to the auger 52. The end of the coil of the auger 52 wound in a coil shape is a connecting portion protruding in the axial direction from substantially the center of the auger 52. It is bent as 52a. On the other hand, a connecting hole 53b for inserting the connecting portion 52a is provided in the shaft 53a of the spur gear 53 in the axial direction, and a notch 53c for inserting the starting end 52b of the winding portion connected to the connecting portion 52a is cut out from the end side. I have.

FIG. 11 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along line CC of FIG. 9, and a trough 51a having an arc-shaped cross section in which the lower half of the auger 52 is submerged is formed in the container 51. The purpose of the trough 51 a having such a cross-sectional shape is to reduce the amount of toner remaining in the container 51 for one purpose, and the inner diameter thereof is larger than the outer diameter of the auger 52.

[0006]

The auger 52 is shown in FIG.
When the scraper 55 is coaxially arranged with the trough 51a as shown in FIG. 3A, the scraper 55 rotating integrally with the auger 52 is also properly held against the inner peripheral surface of the trough 51a and is damaged. No sensor, etc.
The operation of scraping the toner from the detection surface of No. 4 is also kept good.

However, the auger 52 may be displaced from the coaxial position with the trough 51a as shown in FIG. 11B due to gravity acting on itself, a reaction from the toner, and a manufacturing error. Many. For example, if the auger 52 provided on the sensor 54 side is displaced toward the sensor 54 as shown in the figure, the distance between the peripheral surface of the auger 52 and the detection surface of the sensor 54 becomes narrow. If this gap is small enough not to allow the passage of the scraper 55, the scraper 55 rotating integrally with the auger 52 is forcibly pinched between the scraper 55 and the detection surface, and the scraper 55 may be damaged. There is.

If the scraper 55 is damaged, even if the auger 52 continues to rotate, it will not be possible to scrape off the toner adhered from the detection surface of the sensor 54, and the empty toner will fail to be detected. become.

Also, as shown in FIG.
2 is connected to the shaft 53a of the spur gear 53, only the center of the end of the auger 52 is connected to the shaft 53a.
Will be supported by And auger 52
Is easy to cause torsion and bending in the axial direction like a coil spring, so that the acting force due to such torsion and bending is concentrated on the connecting portion 52a, and the connecting portion 52a protruding in the axial direction is used as a cantilever support. The auger 52 connected to the shaft 53a inevitably runs around its entirety. When the auger 52 rotates, the shaft 53a
As described above, if rotation continues with such eccentricity as described above, the original function of the scraper 55 with respect to the detection surface of the sensor 53 will be impaired.

As described above, in the conventional toner supply device, the eccentric operation with respect to the design rotation axis often occurs due to the rotation of the auger, which results in poor detection of the toner and lowering of the image density. Problem.

The problem to be solved in the present invention is to make the auger cantilevered without being twisted or bent in the axial direction even if it is connected to the drive side as a cantilevered support structure. An object of the present invention is to provide a toner supply device that enables the scraper to quickly pass through the detection surface of the sensor without being narrowed even if the axis is displaced, and that can reliably detect the remaining amount of toner by the sensor.

[0012]

According to the present invention, there is provided a container for storing toner, a sensor for detecting the amount of toner which is disposed in the container with a detection surface facing the container, and a container for stirring and carrying out the toner. A coil-shaped auger that is disposed in the auger and is rotationally driven by a driving source, and a scraper that is integrally attached to the auger and slides on a detection surface of a sensor to scrape off attached toner, A winding at one end of the auger in the axial direction is wound around and connected to an outer periphery of a connector provided on a rotary shaft on the drive source side.

[0013] Further, a clearance may be provided between the inner surface of the container in the range of the locus of the scraper including the detection surface of the sensor to allow the scraper to pass when the auger is displaced.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION In a connector provided with a connector, the connector may have a winding peripheral surface of an auger winding formed in a plane perpendicular to an axis of a rotating shaft. May be provided with a restraining groove into which the winding of the auger is inserted. Also, the inner diameter of the winding of one turn at one end in the axial direction of the auger is made slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the winding surface of the connector, and the winding is fitted to the winding surface of the connector by elastic deformation of the winding. It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which

Further, the clearance allowing the passage of the scraper can be constituted by a relief groove formed in the inner periphery of the container corresponding to the rotation locus of the scraper including the detection surface of the sensor. Alternatively, a clearance may be provided between the auger and the inner peripheral surface of the container by making the outer diameter of a portion of the auger in the axial direction only where the scraper is attached smaller than that of the other portion.

[0016]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an essential part showing an internal structure of a toner supply device of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the essential part.

1, two troughs 1a are formed at the bottom of a container 1 in the same manner as described in the conventional example, and a coil spring-shaped auger 2 is formed therein.
3 is rotatably incorporated. The augers 2 and 3 serve both to stir the toner and to circulate the toner around the trough 1a in the container 1. Between the augers 2 and 3, a supply path communicating with a developing device (not shown) is provided. An auger 4 for discharging toner is provided. Further, the side surface of the container 1 is provided with a toner detecting sensor 5 which is fixed so that its detection surface faces the trough 1a.

One ends of the augers 2 and 3 are connected to shafts 6a and 7a of spur gears 6 and 7 rotatably disposed through the container 1, respectively, and are driven by an external driving system.
These augers 2 and 3 are rotationally driven in synchronization with each other. In FIG. 1, the right auger 2 is directly connected to the shaft 6a as in the conventional example, but the left auger 3 is connected via a disk-shaped connector 8 as shown in FIG.

The connector 8 protrudes in the axial direction from a center of a support shaft 8a fitted into a connection hole 7b provided in a shaft 7a of the spur gear 7, and a restraining groove for holding a winding of the auger 3 on an outer peripheral surface. 8b. And this restraint groove 8
As shown in FIG. 2, one end of the auger 3 is provided with a fitting hole 8c for fitting and fixing one end of the winding of the auger 3, and a single winding 3a located at the end of the auger 3 is provided. The restraining groove 8
b and the front end 3b is fitted into the fitting hole 8c.
And joined together.

By setting the inner diameter of the winding 3a to be slightly smaller than that of the restraining groove 8b, when the winding 3a is wound around the restraining groove 8b, the winding 3a is deformed so as to expand and its elastic reaction force is increased. Thereby, the winding 3a can be easily fixed to the constraint groove 8b. For this reason, the auger 3 is connected to the connector 8
No member or the like for connecting and fixing the components is required, so that the assembling work and the structure are simplified.

Further, a scraper 9 is integrally connected to the auger 3 at a position corresponding to the detection surface of the sensor 5. The scraper 9 uses a wire like the auger 3 and slides along the detection surface of the sensor 5 with the rotation of the auger 3 to scrape off the toner attached to the detection surface. Thereby, the sensor 5 can correctly detect the amount of the residual toner, and when the toner is insufficient based on this detection, the toner is supplied from the attached cartridge (not shown) into the container 1.

It is a matter of course that the right auger 2 may be connected to the shaft 6a of the spur gear 6 by the connector 8 as well.

As described above, the coil-shaped auger 3 having the scraper 9 is provided between the shaft 7a of the spur gear 7 which is a cantilevered support point and the restraining groove 8 on the outer peripheral surface of the disk-shaped connector 8.
b. For this reason, as shown in the conventional example, as compared with the case where the connecting portion protrudes in the axial direction from one end of the coil-shaped auger and is connected to the spur gear 7 in a point-supported state, the rotation fluctuation of the auger 3 is reduced. Can be smaller.

That is, since one end of the coil-shaped auger 3 is connected so as to fit to the outer peripheral surface of the connector 8,
The end winding 3a and the restraining groove 8b are rigidly joined. For this reason, when the spur gear 7 is driven to rotate and the connector 8 rotates integrally, the rotation of the auger 3 as compared with the case where the joint around the connecting shaft protruding from the center of the auger 3 becomes the rotation center. The degree of twist decreases. Therefore, when the auger 3 rotates integrally with the rotation of the connector 8, the auger 3 can stably rotate coaxially with the shaft 7a.

As described above, the auger 3 can be rotated coaxially with the shaft 7a of the spur gear 7 via the connector 8, so that the rotation center of the auger 3 is not eccentrically displaced with respect to the shaft 7a. In this case, the swinging around can be suppressed. Therefore, the displacement in the trough 1a is reduced, and it is possible to prevent the auger 3 from approaching the sensor 5 closely as shown in FIG. Therefore, during the rotation of the auger 3, the scraper 9 is narrowly pressed between the scraper 9 and the detection surface of the sensor 5, so that the scraper 9 does not give any resistance to the rotation or breakage. The scraper 9 can scrape off the toner from the detection surface.

As described above, the rotation of the auger 3 does not cause breakage of the scraper 9 or resistance of rotation due to the eccentricity of the auger 3, so that the adhered toner is surely scraped off from the detection surface of the sensor 5 to reduce the amount of toner. It is possible to know an accurate value, and it is possible to prevent a decrease in image density and a failure in empty toner detection.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a main part showing an internal structure of the toner supply device which is configured not to cause breakage of the scraper even if the auger oscillates or is eccentric. FIG.
It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view by the arrow A line. The same members as those described in the previous example are designated by the same reference numerals, and the discharge auger is not shown.

Each of the right and left augers 2 and 3 is connected to the shafts 6a and 7a of the spur gears 6 and 7 by the same structure as in the conventional example without using the connector 8 shown in the previous example. I have. That is, as shown in the schematic perspective view of FIG. 6, the connecting portions 2c and 3c which are formed by bending the windings at the tips of the coiled augers 2 and 3 toward the center and further projecting in the axial direction.
Are coaxially inserted and connected to the shafts 6a and 6b,
When the spur gears 6 and 7 are driven to rotate, the augers 2 and 3 rotate around these connecting portions 2c and 3c as the center of rotation.

On the other hand, on the inner peripheral surface of the trough 1a on which the detection surface of the sensor 5 faces, a clearance groove 1b having a size including the entire width (length in the vertical direction in FIG. 4) of the scraper 9 is provided for clearance. Provided as This escape groove 1b is the trough 1
The inner peripheral surface of a is hollowed out at a uniform depth, and the depth of the scraper 9 is sandwiched between the auger 3 and the rotation of the auger 3 with respect to the amount of eccentricity and eccentricity when the auger 3 rotates. To the extent that the scraper 9 is not damaged or the scraper 9 is broken.

In the case where such an escape groove 1b is provided,
As shown in FIG. 5, even when the auger 3 is displaced to the left while rotating, it is possible to provide a space that can be secured for the scraper 9 to pass through, corresponding to the depth of the clearance groove 1b. Such holding of the space is possible not only when the auger 3 is displaced to the left, but also when the auger 3 is displaced in all directions with respect to the trough 1a. Therefore, no matter how eccentric the auger 3 rotates, the escape groove 1b can allow the scraper 9 to pass through, and the scraper 9 is reliably prevented from being damaged, and the sensor 5
, The detection of toner is also accurately maintained.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of a main part showing an internal structure of a toner supply device showing still another example, and FIG. 8 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along line BB of FIG.

Also in this example, the connection structure of the augers 2 and 3 to the spur gears 6 and 7 is the same as that shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, and the trough 1a of the container 1 is provided with no escape groove. It is an arc-shaped cross section of a similar depth.

In the auger 3, only the winding portion 3d to which the scraper 9 is attached has an outer diameter smaller than that of the other portions, and this is used as clearance.
That is, as shown in FIG. 7, the auger 3 basically has the same outer diameter as the auger 2 arranged on the right side, but the winding portion 3 for approximately one turn of the portion to which the scraper 9 is attached.
By reducing the outer diameter of d, the gap between the scraper 9 and the inner peripheral surface of the trough 1a can be increased.

If the outer diameter of the winding portion 3d is made smaller than that of the other portions as described above, even if the auger 3 is displaced to the left as shown in the drawing, the scraper 9 will be able to move the inner periphery of the trough 1a and the sensor 5 Slides quickly without being strongly pressed or narrowed against the detection surface of Therefore, as in the example of FIG. 5, the scraper 9 is not broken or the like, and the toner adhered from the detection surface of the sensor 5 is reliably scraped off, so that the remaining amount of toner can be accurately detected. .

[0035]

According to the present invention, by winding the auger winding around the outer periphery of the connector, the swinging around when the auger is rotated can be suppressed, so that the auger is twisted or bent in the axial direction. Even if the auger is cantilevered and connected to the drive side, good rotation is maintained. Further, since the swinging around during rotation of the auger is suppressed, the scraper is not narrowed by the inner peripheral surface of the container, and the scraper is reliably prevented from being damaged or deformed.

Further, even if a clearance is provided so as to allow the scraper to pass even when the auger is displaced,
Similarly, damage to the scraper can be avoided. Therefore, since the scraper surely scrapes off the adhered toner from the detection surface of the sensor for detecting the remaining toner, the image density does not decrease and the empty detection of the toner can be known with high accuracy.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a main part of a toner supply device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of a main part for illustrating a connection structure of ends of a coil-shaped auger.

FIG. 3 is an exploded view showing a connection structure between an auger and a shaft of a spur gear by a connector.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a main part of a toner supply device in which an escape groove is provided in a trough.

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a cutaway perspective view showing a positional relationship between a relief groove provided in a trough and a scraper, and the like.

FIG. 7 is a plan view illustrating a main part of the toner supply device in which the outer diameter of the auger where the scraper is attached is reduced.

8 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a plan view illustrating a main part of a conventional toner supply device.

FIG. 10 is a view showing a conventional example of a connection structure between an auger and a spur gear.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the position and displacement of the auger in the container. FIG. 11 (a) shows a state in which the auger is at an appropriate position and the scraper slides well with the detection surface of the sensor. (B) of the figure shows a state in which the auger is displaced to the left and the scraper is narrowed.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1: Container 1a: Trough 1b: Escape groove 2: Auger 3: Auger 3a: Winding 3b: Tip 3d: Winding part 4: Discharge auger 5: Sensor 6: Spur gear 6a: Shaft 7: Spur gear 7a: Shaft 8: Connector 8a: Support shaft 8b: Restriction groove 8c: Fitting hole 9: Scraper

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A container for storing toner, a sensor disposed inside the container with a detection surface facing to detect the amount of toner, and a container arranged for stirring and carrying out the toner and rotated by a driving source. A toner supply device comprising: a coiled auger to be driven; and a scraper integrally attached to the auger and sliding on a detection surface of a sensor to scrape off adhered toner. A toner supply device in which a wire is wound around and connected to an outer periphery of a connector provided on a rotation shaft on a drive source side. 2. The toner supply device according to claim 1, wherein the connector has a winding peripheral surface of the auger winding formed in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the rotation shaft. 3. The toner supply device according to claim 1, wherein the connector has a restriction groove formed on an outer peripheral surface thereof for inserting an auger winding. 4. The winding inner surface of one end of the auger in the axial direction is made slightly smaller in inner diameter than the outer diameter of the winding surface of the connector, and the winding surface of the connector is elastically deformed. The toner supply device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the toner supply device is fitted with the toner supply device. 5. A container for accommodating toner, a sensor disposed inside the container with a detection surface facing to detect the amount of toner, and a container arranged for agitating and discharging the toner and rotated by a driving source. A toner supply device including a driven coil-shaped auger and a scraper integrally attached to the auger and sliding on a detection surface of a sensor to scrape off adhered toner, the scraper including a detection surface of the sensor. A toner supply device having a clearance between a scraper and an inner peripheral surface of a container within a range of a locus to pass when the auger is displaced. 6. The toner supply device according to claim 5, wherein the clearance is constituted by a clearance groove formed in the inner periphery of the container corresponding to the rotation locus of the scraper including the detection surface of the sensor. 7. A clearance formed between a portion of the auger in the axial direction of the auger and only a portion to which the scraper is to be attached to the inner peripheral surface of the container by making the outer diameter smaller than that of the other portion. Item 6. The toner supply device according to Item 5.