JPS622281A - Toner cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obviate the out flow of a toner from a toner cartridge and the uncomfortable feel to a user when the cartridge is mounted to a copying machine and to eliminate the need for a laborious operation to open an outflow port by hermetically sealing the toner outflow part by a toner supply roller, blade plate and sealing member. CONSTITUTION:The blade 46 is attached to the upper part of an aperture 48 so as to project toward the inside of the toner cartridge 4 and contacts with the surface of the toner supply roller 45 to scrape off the excess toner conveyed by the roller 45. The sealing member 47, attached to the lower part of the aperture 48, contacts with the roller 45 under light pressure along the rotating direction of the roller to prevent the outflow of the toner from the inside of a body 41. Since the aperture 48 of the body 41 is hermetically sealed by the roller 45, the blade 46 and the member 47, the outflow of the toner contained in the body 41 is obviated. The lower part of the toner cartridge body 41 is so shaped as to exactly contact tightly with the receiving base 12 of a developing device 3 so as to prevent the outflow of a developer.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a toner replenishment cartridge.

(Prior art and its problems) Conventionally, a toner cartridge containing insulating toner is removably attached to a developing device, and toner is supplied from this cartridge to the developing section, and when the toner in the cartridge is consumed. JP-A-56-150767 proposes a toner cartridge in which toner can be replenished by replacing the cartridge itself.

This toner cartridge stores toner in a cylindrical container having an opening in the longitudinal direction, and the opening is sealed from the outside with a seal.

However, this has the problem that when the sole is removed, the toner scatters and stains the user's hands and clothes.

Further, another type is proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 55-96966.

This toner cartridge has a sealing member on the inner surface of a cylindrical container having an opening in the longitudinal direction, which seals the opening from the inside and has a locking piece at the end that projects from the opening to the outside. In order to attach the developing device to a predetermined position, the container body is manually rotated while the locking piece is locked to the mating member of the developing device, and the sealing member located at the opening is forcibly closed. By bending it, a toner outlet is formed and toner is supplied into the developing device.

As described above, this toner cartridge has a problem in that it is troublesome to handle because it is necessary to manually rotate the cartridge to open the toner outlet after it is installed in the developing device.

(Means for solving the problems) The present invention has been made to solve the problems mentioned above.
A toner cartridge that is removably attached to a developing device.
a cylindrical toner cartridge body having a longitudinal opening; a toner supply roller rotatably provided in the opening; and a blade attached opposite to the opening and in contact with an outer circumferential surface of the supply roller. It is composed of a seal member.

(Example) Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on drawings which are one example.

Figure 1 shows the developing section of an electrophotographic copying machine, and (1) is a photoreceptor drum, which can be rotated in the clockwise direction (direction of arrow a) in the figure. A developing device (2) is attached to the section.

The developing device (2) includes a developing device (3) and a toner cartridge (removably attached to the back of the developing device (3)).
4).

The developing device (3) generally includes a developing sleeve (6) and an agitation sleeve (8) inside the casing (5) and houses a magnetic carrier, so the developing sleeve (6) has an S pole on its outer periphery. , a magnetic roller (7) whose N poles are sequentially magnetized in the circumferential direction is housed in a fixed state, and is installed in the opening of the casing (5) facing the photosensitive drum (+).

As shown in FIG. 2 showing the drive mechanism of the developing device (2), it is rotatably supported by a shaft (21) having a gear (22), and the gear (22) is rotated by a drive device (not shown). It is possible to mesh with an idler gear (23) provided on the side wall (5a).

The stirring sleeve (8) houses a magnet roller (9) that is sequentially magnetized with S and N poles in the circumferential direction on its outer periphery and can be rotated clockwise (in the direction of arrow C). ) itself can be rotated in the counterclockwise direction (direction of arrow d), and the scraper (10) comes into light pressure contact with this stirring sleeve (8) in the direction of rotation, and the scraper (10) adheres to the stirring sleeve (8). This is to remove the developer.

Further, the upper part of the casing (5) is provided with a bearing part (1) that engages with a rotating shaft (42) of a toner cartridge (4), which will be described below.
1) is formed, and a stand (12) for receiving the toner cartridge (4) is formed at the bottom.

The toner cartridge (4) is composed of a toner cartridge main body (44) and a lid (44) on the outside, and stores insulating toner inside. is formed with a rotating shaft (42) that rotatably engages with the bearing portion (11), and a positioning protrusion (42) is formed on the side wall.
43M (see Figure 2) is formed.

Further, an opening (48) is formed in the lower part of the main body (41) on the developing device (3) side, and this opening (48) contains a toner supply roller (45), a blade (46), and a sealing member. (47) is a provision.

The toner supply roller (45) is made of a conductive non-magnetic material, for example,
It is made of aluminum, and its surface has minute irregularities of about 50 μm formed by blasting.It is rotatably supported by a shaft (24) shown in FIG. 2, and the toner cartridge (4) is attached to the developing device (3). (as shown in Figure 1), the developing sleeve (6) and 0.6 to 0.7
They are arranged to face each other with a distance of mm. A gear (25) is attached to the shaft (24), and this gear (25) meshes with the idler gear (23) when the toner cartridge (4) is attached to the developing device (3).
The toner supply roller (45) is configured to rotate in synchronization with the developing sleeve (6).

The blade (46) is attached to the upper part of the opening (48) so as to protrude toward the inside of the toner cartridge (4),
It contacts the surface of the toner supply roller (45) and scrapes off excess toner conveyed by the toner supply roller (45). The sealing member (47) is attached to the lower part of the opening (48) and comes into light pressure contact with the toner supply roller (45) along the rotational direction.
) to prevent the toner from flowing out.

That is, since the opening (48) of the main body (41) is sealed by the toner supply roller (45), the blade (46), and the sealing member (47), the main body (=1i)
The toner stored inside will not leak out.

The shape of the lower part of the toner cartridge main body (4I) is such that the receiver of the developing device (3) is brought into close contact with the stand (+2) to prevent the developer from flowing out.

The toner cartridge (4) configured as described above engages with its rotating shaft (42) and the bearing of the developing device (3) with the portion (lI), and swings about the rotating shaft (42) in the direction of arrow g. and attach it to the developing device (3). At this time, the positioning protrusion (43) formed on the side wall of the main body (41) comes into contact with a part of the developing device (3), and the lower part of the toner cartridge main body (41) comes into close contact with the receiving part (12). , toner cartridge (
4) is attached to the developing device (3).

In this state, the gear (25) of the toner supply roller (45) meshes with the idler gear (23) provided on the side of the developing device (3). At this time, toner cartridge (4
Since the toner supply roller (45) of ) is stopped, toner does not scatter around.

The operation of the developing device (2) in which the toner cartridge (4) is attached to the developing device (3) in this manner will be described below.

First, turn on the print switch (not shown).
The photosensitive drum (1) is rotationally driven in the direction of arrow a, and an idler gear (
When the gear (23) is driven to rotate, the gear (22) meshes with it.
, (25) rotate, and the developing sleeve (6) and toner supply roller (45) rotate.

Then, the toner in the toner cartridge (4) is supplied into the developing device (3) by the minute recesses formed on the surface of the toner supply roller (45).
) The excess toner adhering to the surface of the toner cartridge body (41) is scraped off by the blade (46).
Stay within.

The insulating toner supplied into the developing device (3) is mixed and stirred with the magnetic carrier in a developing sleeve (6) and an agitating sleeve (8) equipped with a magnetic roller (9), and is sufficiently charged. It is conveyed in the direction of arrow f in the developing device (3), and is then adsorbed on the surface of the developing sleeve (6).
The toner on the developing sleeve (6) is supplied to the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum (1) in a developing area A close to the photosensitive drum (1).

In this way, when the toner in the toner cartridge (4) is consumed and becomes empty, the toner cartridge (4) is swung in the direction of arrow g' around the rotating shaft (42), and the toner cartridge (4) is is removed from the developing device (3). Then, another toner cartridge filled with toner is attached to the developing device (3).

In the embodiment described above, the toner cartridge (4) is provided with a rotating shaft (42), and this rotating shaft (42) is engaged with the bearing portion (II) of the developing device (3), so that the toner cartridge (4) is rotated. Although it is assumed that the toner cartridge (4) is installed by swinging, the present invention is not limited to this.The toner cartridge (4) can be installed directly from the top or side of the developing device (
3).

Further, the means for attaching the toner cartridge (4) is not limited to the above embodiment.

(Effects of the Invention) As is clear from the above description, the toner cartridge according to the present invention has a structure in which the toner outflow portion is sealed by a toner supply roller, a blade plate, and a seal member.

Therefore, when the toner cartridge is installed, the toner does not flow out, causing no discomfort to the user, and the troublesome operation of opening the outlet is not required.

Moreover, since the attachment/detachment operation can be performed in one step, it is easy to handle.

In addition, the toner regulating blade and sealing member are integrated into the toner cartridge and are replaced every time the toner cartridge is replaced, so the amount of l/toner supplied becomes unstable due to wear and deterioration of the blade and sealing member. There is no such problem, it is possible to always supply a constant amount of toner to the developing device, and there is no problem of carrier intrusion into the toner cartridge.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a toner cartridge according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the installed developing device, and FIG. 2 is a side view of the developing device. L... Photosensitive drum, 2... Developing device, 3... Developing device, 4... Toner cartridge, 5... Casing, 6... Developing sleeve, End... Stirring sleeve, 11
...Bearing part, 23...Idler gear, 41...
・Toner cartridge body, 42...rotating shaft, 45・
...Toner supply roller, 46...Blade, 47...
・Seal parts.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A toner replenishment cartridge that is removably attached to a developing device includes a cylindrical toner cartridge main body having a longitudinal opening, a toner supply roller rotatably provided in the opening, and a toner supply roller rotatably provided in the opening; 1. A toner cartridge comprising a blade and a seal member, which are attached to face each other and come into contact with the outer circumferential surface of the supply roller.