JPS59172673A - Toner recovering device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the size of a storage container by banking waste toner which is discharged from a discharge part gradually in a waste toner receptacle and emptying the receptacle to the storage container when the toner is banked up by more than a specific amount. CONSTITUTION:The waste toner carried by a screw 9 from the cleaner of a picture forming device falls from the discharge part 13 of a toner recovering device 10 and banks up in the waste toner receptacle 14 gradually, and when the amount of the toner exceeds some amount and the center of gravity of a rotating mechanism is closer to the receptacle 14 than to a shaft 19, a long beam 16 turns counterclockwise and then turns clockwise after the waste toner falls from the receptacle 14 to return to its original state. Said operations are repeated to collect the waste toner in the storage container 11. This mechanism collapses a cone of the waste toner formed at the center part of the storage container 11 since a large amount of waste toner falls, and disperses the toner to the end part, so even the end part of the storage container 11 is used effectively.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a toner recovery device for cleaning residual toner on an image carrier in an image forming apparatus such as an electronic copying machine, a laser beam printer, or a facsimile receiver. It is related to.

For example, in the electronic copying machine shown in FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a photosensitive drum as an image bearing member, which has a three-layer structure in which a conductive layer, a photoconductive layer, and a surface-transparent insulating layer are stacked in this order. This photosensitive tram 1 is uniformly charged by a primary charger 2 while rotating in the direction of the arrow, and then is primary charged while being projected with image light by a charge removal device 3 whose polarity is opposite to that of the alternating current or -order charger 2. charge is removed. Subsequently, it is uniformly exposed to light by a lamp 4, and an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the projected image light is formed. This electrostatic latent image is developed by the developer loading 5 and then transferred to the transfer paper P by the transfer device 6.
The transferred image is fixed and copying is completed. On the other hand, the toner remaining on the drum 1 is scraped off by the blade of the cleaner 7, transported to the front side of the apparatus by the conveyance screw 9, and collected by the toner collection device 10 (shown by chain lines).

The recovery device 1O is composed of an inner container 11 and an outer container 12, and the waste toner conveyed by the screw 9 passes through the artificial opening 11a of the inner container 11 from the discharge port 13, and falls into the inner container 11 and is accumulated therein.

In this case, the point where the waste toner falls is almost constant;
Furthermore, since the amount of waste toner T falling is very small, the waste toner T piles up in a high pile in an almost conical shape centered on the falling point, and the space at the end of the inner container 11 is wasted. In addition, if the inner container is to be used effectively to the end, it is necessary to take measures such as shifting the drop point of the waste toner, which has the disadvantage of complicating the mechanism.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks of the conventional toner recovery device.The present invention is aimed at eliminating the above-mentioned drawbacks of the conventional toner recovery device. In the device, a waste toner discharge section 13
A rotating waste toner receiver 14 is provided between the person 1-1 section 11a of the storage container 11, and the waste toner gradually discharged from the discharge portion 13 is collected in the receiver 14, and when a certain amount or more is collected. (characterized in that the waste toner is poured into the storage container 11)
・It is a fuel recovery device.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail based on the description of the drawings.

Third (4 is part ν of the toner recovery device to which the present invention is applied)
FIG.

In the figure, reference numeral 9 denotes a screw for transporting the residual toner on the photosensitive drum to the recovery device 10 after the residual toner on the photosensitive drum is removed by the cleaning device. Collection device 1
0 has a configuration in which an inner container 11 is built into an outer container 12, and waste toner T is stored in this inner container 11. The case 15 of the screw 9 also serves as a lid for the outer container 12. Inner container 11
The toner may be made into a "disposable" container so that the toner can be easily disposed of.

Reference numeral 14 is a spoon-shaped receiver for collecting a fixed amount of the toner discharged from the discharge section 13. A long rod 16 is attached to the receiver 14, and a weight 17 is added on the opposite side of the rod 16. When the receiver 14 is empty, the rod 16 is supported by the stopper 18 and is fixed at the position shown by the solid line, but when toner accumulates, it rotates counterclockwise about the shaft 19.

In such a toner recovery device, the waste toner carried by the screw 9 drops from the discharge section 13 and gradually accumulates in the receiver 14, and when it accumulates to a certain extent, the center of gravity of the rotating mechanism moves closer to the receiver 14 than the shaft 19. , rotates counterclockwise, and the waste toner falls from the receiver 14 (shown by chain lines). Waste toner is inlet 1
It is stored in the inner container 11 from 1a. Waste toner is received 14
Since the center of gravity moves to the weight 17 side when the weight is no longer present, the rotation mechanism moves once in the direction of the hour lit and returns to its original state. By repeating the above operations, waste toner is collected into the inner container 11.

With this mechanism, a large amount of waste toner falls, breaking the conical shape formed at the center of the inner container and allowing it to spread to the ends. Compared to the conventional case where a small amount of waste toner gradually falls, the conical shape is much gentler and the edges of the storage container can be used more effectively.

Therefore, the image forming apparatus can be made compact with a small container that accommodates the same amount of waste i/ner.

The state in which toner is stored in the inner container 11 according to the above-mentioned conventional example and the apparatus according to the present invention is summarized in the table below.In the conventional apparatus, as shown in FIG. When dropped, the width of the toner container 11 is a=160 mm, and the depth is 40 mm. In the example of the present invention shown in FIG. 3, wg of toner is collected and dropped into the toner receiver 14 at a time, and the size of the toner container 11 is the same as that of the conventional example. The weight of the toner that has fallen until the center height 'C = 80 mm is Wg, and compared to the conventional example, in the case of the example of the present invention, considerably more weight is required to reach the same center height c (= 80 mm). The toner has fallen, indicating that the effect of the present invention is excellent. Furthermore, among the examples of the present invention, the larger the amount wg of toner dropped at one time, the greater the effect. Note that π has a center height C of 80+
This is the average height of the peripheral portion when the distance is nm.

Table 4 shows another embodiment of the waste toner receiver and its supporting handle. The receiver 24 has a flat plate shape.

Boards may be provided on both sides. A long handle that supports the receiver 24 +
Reference numeral 126 is hollow, and a floating weight 25 of the rod 1 that moves in the longitudinal direction of the rod 26 is placed therein. When the waste I/ner accumulated in the receiver 24 exceeds a predetermined amount and the receiver 24 side becomes Φ2〈, and the rod 26 rotates, the floating weight 25 moves from the weight 17 side to the receiver 24 side and the rotation speed increases. In order to speed up the process, the diffusion effect of the toner falling from the receiver 241- becomes more noticeable.

FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of the toner collection device, in which the toner receiver 20 is placed in several places on the front and rear plates of the outer container 12.
1, it can be rotated in the direction of the arrow. The receiver 20 has a water wheel shape as shown in FIG. 6, and is divided into small containers 22 by blades 23. When more than one foot of toner accumulates in the small container 22, it rotates in the direction of the arrow and the toner is transferred to the inner container 1.
They will fall all together in one.

Although the explanation in Section L uses an electronic copying machine as an example, it can also be applied to image forming apparatuses such as laser beam printers and facsimile receivers.

Note that the image forming method is not limited to the above-mentioned method using a photoreceptor having a three-layer structure, but other methods such as the Carlson process can also be applied as long as they transfer toner. It is also applicable to an image forming system in which a magnetic latent image formed on a magnetic tram is developed with toner.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an image forming apparatus to which the present invention can be applied, FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway side view of a conventional toner recovery device, and FIG. 3 is an embodiment of a toner recovery device to which the present invention is applied. FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway side view of another embodiment of the waste toner receiver. FIG. 5 is a partially cutaway side view of another embodiment of the toner recovery device. FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view. It is a diagram. 11 is an inner container, lla is an inlet portion of the inner container, 13 is a waste toner discharge portion, and 14 is a waste toner receiver.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) Toner collection device δ that cleans and discharges the toner remaining on the image bearing member of the image forming apparatus and collects it in a storage container.
In this case, a waste toner receiver is provided between the waste toner discharge part and the artificial part of the storage container, and the waste toner that is gradually ejected from the discharge part is collected in the receiver, and the waste toner that has accumulated over a certain I11 is stored in the receiver. A toner collection device characterized by being placed in a storage container.