JPS61257811A - Toner carrying device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To realize a secure carrying of toner regardless of the condition of the toner carrying pipes, by arranging a flexible axial carrying means with a screw type carrier body at the up-slope in the toner carrying pipe passage. CONSTITUTION:A carrying pipe 1 combined to a toner exhaust pipe 3 of a cleaning unit is extended to a developing unit or the like, furnishing a bent portion 1a, and an up-slope 1b on the way of the pipe 1. A flexible screw 5b made by winding and unifying a strip material 5b around the periphery of an anticorrosive and flexible core material 5a in a spiral is installed inserting within the carrying pipe 1. The screw 5 is connected to a motor through a driver transmitting system 7 to rotate along the toner carrying pipe 1 inside the pipe. In the other way, a coil spring 14 for toner carrying and the flexible screw 15 may be combined unitary in the axial direction. As a result, the toner can be carried securely, the device can be simplified extensively, and leakage of toner in the carrying passage can be prevented perfectly.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Technical Field) The present invention relates to a toner conveying device for conveying toner collected in a cleaning section to a developing section or a toner collection container.

(Prior Art) Generally, the residual toner on the photoreceptor collected in the cleaning section is returned to the developing section for reuse.

Alternatively, the toner is collected in a toner collection container and discarded together with the container.For this purpose, a toner transport pipe equipped with a coil spring-type transport 414I is installed between the cleaning unit and the developing unit or toner collection container. will be placed.

This type of coil spring type conveyance mechanism has the advantage of being able to forcibly convey toner by adapting well to the bends in the conveyance pipe, but due to the layout of the device, some If the toner conveying pipe has to be arranged so that the toner has an upward slope, this type of coil spring, which has a weak conveying force, has the inconvenience of not being able to convey the toner while pushing it up. There is.

Therefore, when such piping is required, a design is usually made in which a screw set conveying mechanism is provided in the sloped section, but this requires a separate screw set conveying mechanism to drive the screw set conveying mechanism. It becomes necessary to provide a driving force transmission mechanism, which causes problems such as complicating the mechanism or causing a toner scattering accident due to a seal failure at a relay point between the coil spring type toner conveyance path.

(Objective) The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its object is to provide a device with a simple structure that can reliably transport toner regardless of the arrangement of the toner transport pipe. It is in.

(Structure) That is, in order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a flexible toner conveying conduit having a part of an upwardly sloped portion so that a screw-type conveying body is located at least in the upwardly sloped portion. The toner conveying device has an axial toner conveying means rotatably inserted therein.

Therefore, details of the present invention will be explained below based on illustrated embodiments.

Reference numeral 1 in the figure is a toner conveying pipe for sending toner discharged from a cleaning unit (not shown) toward a developing unit or a toner collection container, and an elbow 2
This conveying pipe 1, whose one end is connected to the toner discharge pipe 3 of the cleaning unit through the pipe, has a bent part 1a and an upwardly sloped part 1b in the middle, so that it can be threaded between other image forming process members. It extends to the developing unit, etc.

Incidentally, a flexible screw 5, which is a characteristic feature of the present invention, is inserted into the interior of the conveying pipe 1. A toner conveying pipe l is formed by spirally winding and integrating a flexible strip material 5b having # dispersibility, and has a bent portion 1a, etc.
A sprocket wheel 6 is fixed to the core member 5a protruding outside the pipe 1 so as to rotate therein along the inside thereof, and is connected to a motor (not shown) via a driving force transmission mechanism 7. Note that group number 4 in FIG. 1 indicates a coil spring for toner conveyance inserted inside the toner discharge pipe 3.

In the apparatus configured as described above, when the residual toner on the photoconductor removed by cleaning 2-2 is sent to one end of the toner conveying pipe 1 through the toner discharge pipe 3, it is inserted into the inside of the toner conveying pipe 1. The flexible screw 5 rotates to adapt to the curved portion 1a and the like, and exhibits its strong conveying force particularly in the upward slope portion 1b, thereby reliably conveying the toner in both directions.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, a coil spring 14 for toner conveyance and a flexible screw 15 are integrally connected in the axial direction, and the respective advantages are exhibited in the curved portion 1a and the upward slope portion 1b of the toner conveying pipe 1. One end of the coil spring 14 is connected to the shaft 8 of the tin rocket wheel 7, and the other end of the coil spring 14 is integrally connected to the flexible screw 15 at a point beyond the bent portion 1a of the toner conveying pipe 1. It is.

In this embodiment, when the ascending slope portion tb is formed by a straight pipe, a rigid screw 15 is used and a coil spring 14 is installed inside the toner conveying pipe l.
It is also possible to assemble by inserting the
Furthermore, with regard to flexible screws, the pitch, external shape, etc. can be changed partially or completely depending on the conveyance capacity.

(Effects) As described above, according to the present invention, the flexible axial conveying means is provided in the toner conveying conduit such that the screw-type conveying body is located at least in the ascending slope portion thereof. Even when a part of the toner transport path must have an upward slope due to the layout, toner can be reliably transported using a single transport pipe and a single toner transport means disposed inside the pipe. This not only makes it possible to greatly simplify the apparatus, but also completely prevents leakage of toner within the conveyance path.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1.2 are schematic configuration diagrams of a toner conveying device according to the present invention. 1...Toner conveyance pipe

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a toner conveying conduit having a part with an upward slope, a flexible axial toner conveying means is rotated so that a screw-type conveying body is located at least in the upward slope part. A toner conveying device characterized in that it can be inserted. 2. The toner conveying device according to claim 1, wherein the screw type conveying body is formed of a flexible material. 3. The toner conveying device according to claim 1, wherein the axial toner conveying means is configured as a combination of a screw type conveying body and a coil spring type conveying body.