JPS59143170A - Toner supply hopper - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To avoid sticking or staying of toner to the inner wall of a hopper with a simple constitution by using a non-smoothed surface material to form a part or whole of the inner surface of a toner hopper. CONSTITUTION:The cloth 41 having a brush type surface is bonded to the inner surface of a toner supply hopper 13 which stores a uni-component developing agent of magnetic toner. For the cloth 41, there is used preferably a so-called ''magic'' tape having a loop-shaped tip available in the market or sponge, etc. If the inner wall of the hopper 13 has a smooth surface, the physical adsorbing force is generated between the fine powder type toner and the smooth wall surface to cause the stay of toner. However the sticking or stay of toner to the inner wall of the hopper is prevented if a rough surface is formed to the hopper. As a result, the toner has a smooth movement and therefore the toner is effectively supplied without giving any stirring or vibration to the toner.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an improved toner replenishment hopper for replenishing toner to a developing unit of an electrostatic recording device.

[Prior art]

In electrostatic recording devices such as so-called electronic copying machines, laser printers, and facsimile machines, an electrostatic latent image is formed on an electrostatic latent image forming body such as a conductive material, and the toner is developed and transferred to a charging section. The toner image is attached and transferred onto a transfer material such as blank paper to form a recorded matter.

Toner development is performed by a developing device using a so-called magnetic brush, and it is necessary to constantly replenish the magnetic brush portion with toner consumed by development. The structure of the developing machine differs between those using industrial toner and those using two-component toner, but in both cases, it is common to store toner in a hopper-like part and replenish it in small amounts to the magnetic brush part. . For those that use one-component toner, a part of the upper trap hopper of the magnetic brush roller is directly connected to form an integrated developer, as shown in Figure 1, and for a developer that uses two-component toner, as shown in Figure 2. There is a part adjacent to the magnetic brush that mixes toner and carrier, and toner is replenished from a separate hopper. 11 in the diagram
, 21 is a magnet roller, 12 and 22 are non-magnetic sleeves, 13 and 23 are outer scrapers of the developing device, 14 and 24 are magnetic brush tip control plates, 15 is a one-component developer made of magnetic toner, and 25 is a toner. A two-component developer consisting of a mixture of The surface, including some of the inside, is usually finished with a smooth surface.

If you put toner in one part of the pot and consume it from the bottom,
It is desirable for the toner to flow out smoothly as shown in the 3rd fiMa as it is consumed, but if the inner wall of the hopper is smooth and smooth, there will be a physical gap between the fine powder toner and the smooth inner wall of the hopper. As a result, toner accumulates on the wall surface as shown in No. 3 [Jb], and smooth replenishment of toner is hindered.

In order to prevent the toner from accumulating as described above, conventional methods include installing an agitation device in a part of the hopper or applying vibration to a part of the hopper, but this requires a complicated mechanism.
The price was also not favorable. It has also been attempted to coat the inner wall of the hopper with a lubricant such as Teflon, but this has the disadvantage that frictional charging with the toner impairs the fluidity of the toner.

[Purpose of the invention]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a toner supply hopper that prevents toner from adhering to the inner wall surface and does not accumulate.

[Structure of the invention]

The above objects have been achieved by a toner supply hopper whose inner surface is constructed of a non-smooth material.

The above-mentioned non-smooth surface material is not particularly limited as long as it has a rough surface, but for example, it may be a cloth with a brush-like surface such as the one commercially available as Velcro,
In particular, a brush with a looped tip, a sponge, etc. are most preferred.

Ordinary cloth, nonwoven fabric, short fibers, etc. are also effective, and among them, those using carbon fibers and other conductive fibers are preferable.

Furthermore, rubber with a roughened surface, metal with a roughened surface by sandblasting, metal with a roughened surface by thermal spraying, etc. are also effective.

The above-mentioned cloth-like or sheet-like materials may be used by being attached to the inside of the toner supply hopper, and short fiber-like materials may be directly adhered to the inner surface of the popper by a method such as so-called 70-stick processing. The roughened metal plate can also line the inside of the hopper or form the bonova itself.

It is most preferable to make the entire inner surface of the hopper a rough surface, but a great effect can also be obtained by roughening only a part of the inner surface of the hopper, especially the inner surface of the inclined portions such as the part a in FIG. 1 and the part shown in FIG. 2.

[Function and effect of the invention]

The roughening of the inner surface of the hopper prevents the toner from adhering to the inner wall of the hopper and preventing it from accumulating, and the toner flows smoothly. Roughening the inner surface of the hopper is quite simple, and effective toner replenishment can be carried out without using means for promoting toner flow, such as stirring or vibration. Further, since toner clumps are not formed, there is no occurrence of failures such as clogging of the spike control plate.

〔Example〕

FIG. 4 shows a part of the toner supply hopper according to the present invention.
1 is a schematic diagram of a developing device for component developers, in which parts having the same functions as those in FIG. 1 are given the same explanatory numbers as in FIG. 1. Reference numeral 41 denotes a cloth having a brush-like surface attached to the entire inside of a part of the toner supply pot. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a two-component developer developing device having a toner supply hopper according to the present invention, and parts having the same functions as those in FIG. 2 are given the same explanatory numbers as in FIG. 2. However, a cloth 51 having a brush-like surface is attached to the entire inner surface of the toner supply bomber n.

When the above-mentioned developing device was installed in an electrostatic copying machine (manufactured by Konishiroku Photo Industry ■) that uses a one-component developer and a two-component developer, respectively, and a long-term continuous operation test was conducted, it was found that the smooth toner supply hopper In the comparison test machine used, insufficient image density occurred due to toner accumulation in the hopper, whereas in the test machines equipped with the toner supply water collar according to the present invention, no failures due to toner accumulation occurred at all. .

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a developing device for one-component developer, Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a developing device for two-component developer, Fig. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the flow of toner in the toner supply hopper, and Fig. 4 1 is also a diagram illustrating a portion of a toner supply hopper according to the present invention. 11.21...Magnetic roller 12.22...Nonmagnetic sleeve 13.23...
Outside of the developing device - 14, 24... Ear standing regulation plate n... Toner supply hopper 41.51... Cloth agent with brush-like surface Yoshi Kuwahara Bisuji 1 Figure Modo Ward 65 Ward α 6

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] [1] In a toner supply hopper that supplies toner to a developing device that develops an electrostatic latent image with toner, a part or all of the internal surface of the hopper is made of a non-slip material. A toner supply hopper featuring: (2) The toner supply unit according to claim 1, wherein the non-smooth surface material is cloth having a brush-like surface. (3) The toner supply hopper according to claim 1, wherein the non-smooth surface material is cloth or nonwoven fabric. (4) Claim 1, wherein the non-smooth surface material is short fibers.
Toner supply hopper as described in section. (5) The toner supply water collar according to claim 1, wherein the non-slip material is a sponge. (6) The first claim, wherein the non-slip material is a metal with a roughened surface. Toner supply hopper as described in section.