JPS60109653A - Intermittent drive device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate the assembly of an intermittent drive devise, by providing such an arrangement that a toothed rotary body is rotated forcingly by means of a transmitting member in the drive direction thereof, and is moved back overriding the teeth of the rotary body due to the resilient deformation of the transmitting member. CONSTITUTION:A plunger 411 of an actuating solenoid 410 as a drive input means of a feed mechanism 401 is attracted in the direction (q) overcoming a return spring 412 when the solenoid 410 is energized, and therefore, a transmitting member 413 is rotated together with a transmitting pawl 417 by a predetermined angle around a roller shaft 407. Then, a tooth meshing section 417a forces a ratchet teeth 418a to intermittently rotate the latter in the direction (r), and the ratchet teeth 418a is catched by a reverse rotation preventing pawl 419. When the solenoid 410 is deenergized, the plunger 411 is pulled out, resulting in that the tooth meshing section 417a of the transmitting pawl 417 is flexed due to the resilient deformation of the lever section 417b thereof, thereby it may override the teeth of the wheel 418.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to an intermittent drive device applied to, for example, a drive @Lb portion of a developing device of a copying machine.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems]

Such an intermittent drive device is employed in a developing device of a copying machine, particularly in a toner replenishing device that replenishes developer C (hereinafter referred to as toner).

In conventional devices of this type, the dowel and toner replenishment roller shafts as driven bodies are intermittently driven to rotate in one direction by a solenoid as a drive input means via a transmission member in between. Its function was to supply an appropriate amount of toner from a hopper into the developer container. However, in such a conventional device, the transmission member is provided with a meshing portion that meshes with the teeth of a toothed rotating body such as a ratchet wheel provided on the roller shaft. The connected main body part and the part of the transmission pawl that engages with the rotating body are constructed as separate parts, and a torsion spring or the like is interposed between them to constantly bias the transmission pawl in the direction of engagement with the rotating body. It became.

Therefore, such a transmission member has a large number of components, which requires time and effort to assemble and increases material costs, and the torsion spring has various problems such as not being able to withstand long-term use.

[Object of the present invention]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object of the present invention was to provide a novel intermittent drive device that is easy to assemble, can be manufactured at low cost, and is highly durable.

[Summary of the invention]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention basically comprises:
In the drive direction, the toothed rotating body is forcibly rotated by a transmission member, and in the return direction, the meshing portion is returned over the teeth of the rotating body by the elasticity shape of the transmission member.

[Beautiful example of invention]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Figures 1 to 3 show the external appearance of an electronic copying machine to which the intermittent drive device of the present invention is applied. The paper feed cassette 3 is a paper discharge tray mounted on the left side of the copying machine main body l. Further, on the top surface of the copying machine main body l, there is provided a document table 4 that can freely move back and forth in the left-right direction (in the direction of arrow a), and on the front edge of the top surface of the copying machine main body l, a display 5 and a numeric keypad 6 are provided. . . , there is provided an operation panel 10 on which input keys 9 including an exposure setting volume 2, a print key 8, a color selection button 3θ1, etc. are arranged.

As shown in FIG. 2, the document table 4 has a structure including a document placing plate (glass plate) 12 on which a document 11 is placed, and a document cover 13 covering the upper surface of the document placing plate (glass plate) 12.

Further, the paper feed cassette 20 cassette cover 14 is the third one.
As shown in the figure, it serves as a manual paper feed tray 15 for manually feeding paper P as appropriate. Note that 1 shown in Figure 2
6 is a power switch.

Next, referring to FIG. 4, the circular mechanism f:t of the electronic copying machine
i;a. In the figure, 20 is a drum-shaped photoreceptor as a developing area disposed approximately at the center of the copy base l;
The photoreceptor 20 is driven by a drive mechanism (not shown) in the direction of the arrow in synchronization with the document table 4.

Following this operation, a document image uniformly formed into a band by a charger 21 and uniformly irradiated by an exposure lamp 22 is imaged onto a photoreceptor 20 by a focusing light transmitter (trade name: self-reflex lens array) 23. to form an electrostatic latent image. The formed electrostatic latent image is transferred to the first developing roller 302A or the second developing roller 3 in the developing device 24.
03k, the toner image is sent to the transfer charger 25 side.

Automatically or manually fed paper P or P' is fed by the paper feeding device 26, and m toners tl formed on the photoreceptor 20 in advance are transferred to the paper P by the transfer charger 25.
Or transfer it onto P'.

Furthermore, the toner image is peeled off from the photoconductor 20 by a peeling charge 27 caused by AC corona discharge, passes through a conveyance path 28, is fused and fixed onto the paper P (P') by a fixing device 29, and is removed by a discharge roller 30. It is discharged to tray 3.

On the other hand, after the toner image is transferred onto the paper P (P'), the residual toner remaining on the photoconductor 20 is cleaned by a cleaning device 31, and the potential on the photoconductor 20 is lowered to a certain level or less by a static elimination lamp 32. The copy operation is enabled.

A fan 33 serves as a cooling device, and exhausts heat generated from the heat-generating exposure lamp 22 and the fixing device 29 inside the machine. Further, an exhaust fan 36 is also attached to the main motor 35 to cool down the heat generated by the power supply section 34 and the like.

Inside the copying machine main body l, an upper frame and a lower frame (not shown) are pivotally supported at one end via a support shaft 32, and the other ends of both frames are configured so that they can be opened at a desired angle, for example, 30°. ing. The upper frame includes a band'e charger 21, a focusing light transmitter 23, an exposure lamp 22, a developing device 24, etc. around the photoreceptor 20. Cleaning device 31
．． Each device such as a static elimination lamp 32 is attached by appropriate means, and a fan 33 as a cooling device, a paper feed roller 3B of a paper feed device 26, and a document table 4 are also attached to the frame to constitute the above unit) JA. are doing. The above frame includes a paper feed cassette 2, a transfer charge 25, a peeling charger 26, a conveying path 28, a forming guide plate 39, a fixing device 29, a pair of ejection rollers 30, a tray 3, and other mechanisms, a main motor 35, and a power supply unit. 34 etc. are attached by appropriate means to constitute the lower unit IB. After rotating and removing the front cover fa of the copying machine main body l, the structure is such that it can be opened and closed almost along the transport path 28 of the paper F (P') via the housing opening/closing bag fEtt (not shown). .

Next, the developing device 24 will be explained.

In the figure, 24 is a first developer container, 24B is a second developer container, and these developer containers 24A2aB have a developing roller 302 as a first and second developing means,
303A are arranged respectively. These first and second developing rollers 302 and 303 have selection means 350.
The toner is selectively used by the toner to supply different color toner 1A, 1°. The selection means 35θ is constructed as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. That is, 305 in the figure is a drive shaft, and a spur gear 306A and a timing pulley 306B are integrally fixed to this drive shaft 305. Further, the spur gear 306A has a gear 30.
8 are engaged with each other, and this gear 30B is rotatably supported by a support shaft 301 fixed to the upper frame of the copying machine. On one side of this gear aOS is an arbor 308 as an input means.
a is integrally molded, and this arbor 308 has a sleeve 3
09. A cam in which a spring 3105 and a boss 311a as an output means are integrally molded, ? A spring clutch mechanism 312 consisting of JJ is provided.

Further, 304 is a selection solenoid, and its plunger 30
One end of a locking lever 312 is connected to 4a. The selection slide 304 is held by a holding plate 313, and the locking lever 312 is rotatably supported by a support shaft 313a. The locking lever 312 is biased by a spring 313b, and has a locking protrusion 312a at its tip that projects from the outer periphery of the sleeve 309.
, to engage and disengage the butterfly 1 and the second projections 309a and 309b. Further, a roller 3 is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the cam 311.
15.316 is transferred. These rollers 315, 3 (
5 is attached to one end of the operating arms 317a and 3i1b, and these operating arms 31? a, the other end of 31Vb is the guide shaft 32
0 on the rotary index. These operating arms 3 (7a, 317b) are urged by a spring 314.

The guide shaft 320 is the center of rotation of a holding frame (not shown) of the developer container 24.

On the other hand, the timing pulley 306B of the drive shaft 3θ5
is connected to a pulley 321a via a toothed belt 319, and this pulley 321a rotates around the guide shaft 32θ. Further, a gear 321b is provided on one side of the pulley 821a, and this gear 321b has a second
A gear 322 responsible for rotating the developing roller 303A is engaged with the developing roller 303A. Further, 323 is a clutch control pawl support shaft fixed to a holding frame (not shown) of the developer container 2dA, and 324 is a lever support shaft. The clutch control pawl support shaft 323 has a first side aT that appropriately transmits the rotational force of the gear 32 lb to the first developing roller 302A via a spring clutch 325.
A second locking lever 328 and a second locking lever 328 which appropriately transmit and control the rotational force of the locking lever 322 and the gear 322 to the developing roller 303A of the clutch 2 through the spring clutch 326, the first locking lever 322, and the second locking lever 328 Both of the stop levers 328 are connected to the sleeves 329 of each spring clutch 325, 326.
The first locking lever 3
22 and the second locking lever 328 into the sleeve 329
, 3. Each engagement protrusion 329 a on 70, 3.
9 Release link 3 arranged so that it can be removed from Oa
32 is pivotally supported on the rotation eye. Further, an elongated hole 332C is bored on the opposite side of the release protrusions 332a and 332b of the release link 332, and this elongated hole 332C is located at one end of the input lever 333 which is rotatably supported on the lever support shaft 324. It meets the engagement shaft 333a which is caulked. Also,
On the opposite side of the input lever 333 sandwiching the lever support shaft 324, there is a zero that engages with a fixed shaft 334 caulked onto the upper frame.
A letter-shaped groove 33b is formed.

Therefore, during development, the drive shaft 3σ5 is rotated and the spur gear 3
06A is rotated in the direction of arrow C, the gear 308 is also rotated, and the toner 1.06A is rotated, for example, by the second developing roller 303A. When a command to supply the color is given by operating the color selection section 301, the selection solenoid 304 is energized, and the locking lever 312 rotates in the direction e about the support shaft 313a. As a result, the locking protrusion 312a of the locking lever 7312 separates from the first protrusion 309a of the sleeve 309 and enters the rotation locus of the second protrusion 309b. Therefore, due to the action of the spring clutch 310, the cam 311 rotates by a predetermined angle in the direction of arrow f in the figure and then stops.

The deviation of this cam 'l l l causes the driven arm 317af of the roller 31b to swing in the direction of the arrow g, contact the retaining shaft and move the holding frame in the 'Ih direction (counterclockwise), and the first developing roller 3θ Two people are separated from the photoreceptor 20 and brought close to the second developing roller 303'i photoreceptor 2o.

On the other hand, the rotational force of the drive shaft 3θ6 is applied to the timing pulley 30.
6B and belt 319f to pulley 321a. As a result, the gear 322 via the gear 321b
is rotated. Furthermore, when the holding frame rotates counterclockwise, the clutch control pawl support shaft 323 and the lever support shaft 324 descend in the direction of arrow i. As a result, the input lever 333
rotates in the direction of arrow j. As a result, the release link 33
2 rotates counterclockwise around the support shaft 323. At this time, the second locking lever 328 is separated from the protrusion 330a of the sleeve 330 by the protrusion 332a of the release link 332, and the release protrusion 332a is released from the sleeve 329.
The tenth locking lever 322 enters the rotation locus circle of the engagement protrusion 329a of the sleeve 329, and by the action of each spring clutch 306, 305, the second developing roller 3θ3A is moved through the bell) 34xf, The first developing roller 302A is rotated, and the rotation of the first developing roller 302A is stopped.

The cleaning operation is performed during the approximately 1.6 seconds required from when the print key 8 is operated and the document table 4 starts moving from the home position until the leading edge of the document P reaches the exposure section.

On the other hand, when the command to supply the toner 11 by the first developing roller 302k is selected, the second developing roller 3θ3A moves away from the photoreceptor 20 and stops rotating due to the movement in the opposite direction of the above-mentioned operations. , the first developing roller (i, '7302A approaches the photoreceptor 20 and rotates, so that the image can be developed with the color of the developer t1 supplied by the first developing roller 302A by inputting the print key 8.

The developing device 24 includes first and second developing containers, l!
First and second toner replenishing devices 4ot, aozc (Fig. 1) are provided attached to dA and 24B, and each of these replenishing devices 40 j and 402 is connected to a toner replenishing roller disposed in a hopper 403 and 404. It has 405,406f.

These rollers 405 and 406 are connected to the toner supply roller shaft 4.
07 and 408, respectively, and the developing device 2
When the toner concentration falls below a certain level due to the action of a toner concentration detector (not shown) installed in each of the first and second developer containers 824B, the first and second developer containers 824B receive a signal from the detector to indicate a decrease in concentration and are rotated to take appropriate action. Hopper 40
It operates to replenish toner to the first and second developer containers 2aA and 2aB on the toner TiT side within 3° 404.

FIG. 9 shows the appearance of the first toner replenishing device [401-'] of the toner replenishing devices 401 and 402 as an example, but the following description of the intermittent drive device of the present invention is based on the second toner replenishing device [401-']. The same applies to supply equipment.

The first replenishing device 401 has an actuation solenoid a to 2 as a drive input means, and the plunger 411 of the solenoid 41θ is activated when a concentration detector detects a decrease in toner concentration and controls the toner supply through a control unit (not shown). When the solenoid 410 is energized in response to a replenishment command, the return spring 4
12 and is attracted in the direction of arrow q. Spring 41
2 is stretched between an arm 414, which will be described later, and the frame of the device 401.

The end of the plunger till has a fork shape, and is connected thereto by engagement of a U-rod-shaped groove 414a of an arm 1114 of a transmission member 413 that transmits the driving force of the plunger and a pin 416.

As shown in FIG. 11, the transmission member 413 has a boss portion 413af rotatably supported by the replenishment roller shaft 401, only a thin string being shown, and a boss portion 413B.
An intermediate arm 416 extends from the arm 414 at a predetermined angle, and further includes a transmission claw 411 that is integrally connected to the arm 416 and has a substantially triangular shape with both arms 414 and 416.

On the other hand, a ratchet wheel 41B, which is a toothed rotating body fixed to one end of the toner replenishment roller shaft 402 constituting the driven body, has ratchet teeth 418a on its outer periphery, and the engaging portion 41Vg of the transmission pawl atV is attached to the teeth 418a. They are interlocked.

The wheel 41B is rotated clockwise by the transmission claw 411 as shown by arrow r in FIGS. 9 and 1O,
In the opposite direction, it is stopped by a reversal prevention pawl 419 made of an elastically deformable thin plate. The proximal end of the pawl 419 is screwed to the frame of the device 401, and the bent portion of the free end engages with the ratchet teeth 41'8aIc. The transmission claw 412 is also formed by bending or molding a thin plate material such as metal, and engages the engaging portion 41? a is formed by bending the tip of a lever part 41'/b extending longer than the base end at a substantially right angle, and from the base end, the lever part 41'/b extends at right angles to this lever part azFb and parallel to each other. A pair of ribs 412C extending to the vicinity of the engaging portion 4iva are integrally provided.

Furthermore, this transmission claw 41? is made by integrally molding a single metal or plastic thin plate material by pressing or molding, and is fixed to the arm 416 of the transmission member 413 by appropriate means, such as welding. Furthermore, it is also possible in design to integrally mold this transmission claw with the transmission member 413 from a single metal plate or plastic plate.

With this configuration, the plan? When the arm 411 is sucked, the arm 4
14 is moved against the spring 412, the transmission member 413 rotates by a predetermined angle together with the transmission claw 417 around the roller shaft 407. This rotation is made in the clockwise direction in FIG. 10, and the first mating part 417a forcibly pushes the ratchet tooth 418a meshing with it by the surface of its meshing part 411a, so that the wheel 141B is rotated at a predetermined angle in the direction of the defect r. , is intermittently rotationally driven, and at this position, the reversal prevention claw a
It can be stopped by ty.

When the solenoid 410 is demagnetized, the plunger 411 is pulled out by the action of the sedge ring 412, and the transmission member 413 is accordingly returned counterclockwise in FIG. 10. At this time, the engaging portion 41 of the transmission claw 417
7a is the ratchet tooth 4J of the stopped wheel 41B.
I climbed over IYa and returned. It is this l
1ll! This is because the valley 1412a and the lever portion 417b can be bent due to elastic deformation. For this,
It is desirable that the lever portion 417b be formed as long as possible, and the plate thickness is also formed as thin as possible.

In this manner, the elastic deformation of the transmission claw 411 itself is utilized in the reverse direction, and no equivalent special spring is used here. On the other hand, in the driving direction, the surface of the meshing part 417a forcibly pushes the ratchet teeth 418B, and in this case, a reaction force acts on the meshing part 411a from the teeth 418a, causing elastic deformation. In this case, a pair of ribs 417C made of a thin plate material and extending to the vicinity of the meshing portion 417a touch the meshing portion 417a as a so-called backup member. Therefore, the meshing portion 41? The ratchet teeth 418a can be forcibly pushed and moved without excessively deforming the ratchet teeth 418a.

Further, as described above, the pair of ribs 417c themselves are made of a thin plate material such as metal, but this rib 411C is
7af Because of the structure in which it is forked along its longitudinal direction, sufficient supporting force can be exerted.

Furthermore, transmission claw 41? Since the center of rotation of the transmission member 413 is concentric with the roller shaft 107, the direction in which the driving force is applied to the ratchet wheel ar8 is exactly the direction in which the driving force is applied to the ratchet wheel ar8.
Along the circumferential direction of B. Therefore, a uniform ym force can be applied to the wheel 41 & at any rotational position.

In this way, the transmission member 413 is reciprocated by the operation of the solenoid 410, and during this period, the wheel 418 and the roller shaft 407 are intermittently driven to rotate, thereby replenishing the desired toner.

In contrast to the configuration of the present invention, conventional intermittent drive devices have been configured as illustrated in FIGS. 12 and 13, for example. In other words, the conventional intermittent drive device @
To summarize, the parts corresponding to the configuration of the present invention shown in FIG. 0 and FIG. At the same time, the arm 414' is moved against the return spring 412'.Accordingly, when the transmission member atf rotates around the boss portion 417 pivotally connected to the toner replenishment row 2402', the transmission claw 412 ' is the ratchet wheel 418'
is actively rotated in the direction of arrow r', and is stopped in the reverse direction by a reverse rotation prevention pawl 419'.

This mode of operation is similar to the case of the present invention, but in this conventional device, the transmission claw 117' is rotatably supported at the proximal end by a support shaft 500 with respect to the transmission member 413', and is supported by a torsion spring 501. The transmission pawl 412', including the engaging portion 417a', is made of a thick member that does not deform elastically.

Therefore, in the return direction, the transmission pawl 412' or the spring 5
01 around the support shaft 500 in a direction away from the wheel 41B, and thereby the tooth 418a' returns over the tooth 41B'f.

Therefore, in the conventional device, unlike the present invention described above, the transmission member 413' is made up of individual parts and assembly is troublesome, and the movement in the return direction is not due to elastic deformation of the eye of the transmission claw 412'. Since this is done against the spring 501, the spring 501 is required, and there is a risk that the spring itself may have to be replaced.

As described above, the intermittent drive device of the present invention, which is different from conventional devices, has the first
It may be configured as in the modified examples shown in FIGS. 4 and 15. In such a bruise repair, the parts corresponding to the embodiments of FIGS. 10 and 11 are given the same numbers and their explanations will be omitted. The difference in this modification is the transmission claw 41? A single rib 600f made of a thin plate material such as metal is integrally provided on the lower surface of the lever portion 41f/b at right angles thereto, and the rib 60θ extends to the vicinity of the engaging portion 417a, and this lever pro 0
This is a configuration in which slits 601 are formed at intervals. This rib 600 is designed to prevent excessive deformation of the engaging portion 41Wa. Moreover, slit 601
Since the lever part 41 of the transmission claw 411 is provided with a plurality of
The elastic deformation of 2b is not impaired.

Although the embodiments and modified examples have been described above, the present invention is not limited to these examples and may further include various modified examples.

Further, the intermittent drive device of the present invention can be suitably implemented not only in the toner replenishing device described in the above embodiment but also in a drive iB that requires intermittent drive.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, the transmission member is returned by fully elastic deformation in the return direction, so parts such as torsion springs in the conventional device are not required, and assembly is easy and costs are significantly reduced. It is possible to provide a promising and highly durable intermittent drive device, and its effects are extremely large.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

``t-1'' to 3 are external views of a copying machine embodying the present invention, 4 is a vertical sectional view showing the internal structure of the copying mode, and 5 is an exploded perspective view showing the selection means. , FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view showing the power transmission mechanism, FIGS. 7 and 8 are explanatory views showing the moving state of the developing roller, and FIG. 9 is a toner replenishing device equipped with the intermittent drive device of the present invention. External perspective view of the part,
10 is a perspective view of the main part of FIG. 9, FIG. 11 is a view of the transmission member of FIG. 10 taken out and seen diagonally from below, and FIG. 12 is a schematic perspective view of a conventional intermittent drive device. Figure 13 is a top view of Figure 12, Figures 14 and 15 are Figure 10 and 2.11.
It is a modification example figure of this invention made to correspond to the figure, and shown. 24...Developing device, got...First toner replenishing device, 402...Second toner replenishing device @, ', 40
V p408...Toner supply roller shaft, 41θ...
Solenoid, 4I3...Transmission member, 41? ...Transmission claw, 411'a ---meshing part, a l V c,
600 = ribs.

Claims (5)

[Claims] (1) Driven body f: In an intermittent drive device that is intermittently rotationally driven by a drive input means, the driven body has a toothed rotary body and a meshing portion that meshes with the teeth of the rotary body. a transmission member connected to the drive input means, the transmission member forcibly rotationally driving the rotating body in the driving direction, and in the return direction,
An intermittent drive device characterized in that the meshing portion is moved back over one rotation of the rotating body by elastic deformation of the transmission member. (2) The intermittent drive device according to claim 1, wherein the elastically deformable portion of the transmission member is integrally formed of a thin plate material. (3) The intermittent drive device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the transmission member includes a backup member extending near the anastomosis. (4) The intermittent drive device according to claim 3, wherein the backup member is constituted by a pair of ribs made of a thin plate material. (5) The backup member is made of a single rib made of a thin plate material, and the rib is provided on a lever made of a thin plate material that has the engaging portion at its end and has a plurality of slits. Intermittent drive device according to item 3.