JPS615264A - Toner holding device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent easily a toner from being formed to blocks to supply toner smoothly by transmitting a rotation to a toner box after converting the rotation to a shaking motion to shake the toner box. CONSTITUTION:A shaft 12 piercing box-side walls 11a and 11b (omitted in the figure) is provided with a helicoid 12a in the bottom part of a toner box 11, and the toner is fed to a toner supply hole omitted in the figure while agitating the toner by the helicoid 13a. A screw 16 is fitted to the shaft 12 to stick the shaft 12 to a lever 14. The lever 14 has idle holes 14a and 14b in upper and lower parts, and a pin 15 fixed to the side wall 11a of the toner box is inserted loosely to the hole 14a, and a pin 19 stood on a screw 18 engaged with the screw 16 is inserted loosely to the hole 14b. When the shaft 12 supported by supporting brackets 13a and 13b (omitted in the figure) is turned by a driving source omitted in the figure, the toner box 14 is shaked simultaneously with supply of the toner 20 by the lever 14. Thus, the toner 20 is easily prevented from being formed to blocks, and the toner 20 is fed smoothly.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a mechanism for preventing toner blocking in a toner holding device disposed in a developing device of an electrophotographic copying machine.

(Prior Art) In a toner holding device, in order to prevent so-called toner blocking, in which toner powder solidifies into a lump in a toner container containing toner, making it impossible to properly supply toner from a supply port to a developing device, It was equipped with a mechanism as shown in Figures 3 and 4.

In the conventional example shown in FIG. 3, a toner stirring rod 2 is disposed within a toner container 1, and the rotation of this stirring rod 2 stirs the toner within the toner container. Further, in the example shown in FIG. 4, a striking member 3 for striking the side wall of the toner container 1 is disposed near the outside of the toner container 1, and the striking member 3 causes vibrations in the toner container 1 itself. The toner in the container 1 is stirred by the vibration.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the conventional example shown in the third diagram above, the problem is that the toner outside the rotation radius of the stirring rod is not stirred, and the toner in that area is likely to cause blocking. There was a point. In addition, in the conventional example shown in Figure 4, since the toner container itself vibrates, there is no partial blocking, but impact noise and vibration noise are generated by the impact, causing discomfort to the user. There was a problem.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to solve the problems of the prior art described above, the present invention provides a rotating member, a converting means for converting the rotational motion of the rotating member into a swinging motion, and the converting means. To provide a toner holding device, which includes a toner container that performs a swinging motion, and which swings the toner container itself to prevent blocking of the toner stored therein.

(Embodiments) Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 are a perspective view and a sectional view of essential parts showing an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 11 is a toner container, and a shaft 1 passing through the lower part of both side walls 11a and llb.
2 is rotatably supported. This shaft 12 is supported rotatably by support brackets 13a and 1.3b disposed on the outside of both side walls 11a and llb of the toner container 11. . A feed screw 12a is formed at a portion of the shaft 12 located inside the toner container 11. This shaft 12 is rotated at a predetermined speed by a driving means (not shown).

A plate-shaped lever 14 is attached to a portion of the shaft 12 that projects outward from the side wall 1.1a so as to be rotatable about its center. Elongated holes 14a114b extending in the axial direction of the material are formed at both ends of the lever 14, respectively. A pin 15 projecting outward at right angles from the center of the side wall 11a of the toner container 11' is slidably inserted into the elongated hole 14a.

On the other hand, the support bracket 13a on the shaft 12 and the lever 1
A gear 16 is fixed to a portion between the shaft 12 and the shaft 12 so as to rotate together with the shaft 12. Further, a pin 17 is fixed to a portion of the support bracket 13a below the toner container 11 in a state parallel to the shaft 12, and a gear 18 meshed with the gear 16 is rotatably supported on the pin 17. ing. Lever 14 of this gear 18
On the side facing the
This pin 19 is inserted into the hole 14b of the lever 14 and is slidable in the longitudinal direction of the hole 14b.

The operation of this embodiment configured in this way will be described.

When the shaft 12 is rotated in a predetermined direction by a driving means (not shown), the toner 20 in the toner container 11 is transferred to the shaft 12! J
5-123, the toner begins to be transported toward a toner supply port (not shown). On the other hand, the rotation of the shaft 12 causes the gear 16 fixed to the shaft 12 to rotate, thereby rotating the gear 18 meshing with the gear 16. When the gear 18 begins to rotate, the lever 14 begins to swing around the shaft 12 due to the pin 19 protruding from its side. One end of the lever 14 is connected to the side wall 1 of the toner container 11 as described above.
Since the toner container 11 is engaged with the pin 15 of the lever 1a, the toner container 11 is swung around the shaft 12 by the swinging of the lever 14. In this way, since the toner container 11 as a whole undergoes a rocking motion, the toner 20 contained within the container is agitated and no blocking occurs.

(Effects of the Invention) According to the present invention, since the toner container itself is subjected to rocking motion, the toner stored in the toner container can be sufficiently agitated without generating unpleasant sounds such as vibration sounds and impact sounds. , toner blocking can be reliably prevented.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of the present invention.
A partial cross-sectional view showing a portion taken along the line ■-■ in the figure, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are perspective views, respectively, without showing the conventional example. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11... Toner container, 12... Shaft, 13a, 13b... Support bracket, 14... Lever, ], 4 a, 14 b-=long hole, 15.17
．． 19...pin, 16.18...gear, 20...
toner. Patent applicant: Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. @Figure 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] A toner holding device comprising a rotating member, a converting means for converting the rotational motion of the rotating member into a swinging motion, and a toner container containing toner and in which the swinging motion is performed by the converting means. .