JPS6225780A - Waste toner box and electrophotographic device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent dispersion when waste toner is thrown away from the box by providing the heating member at the position where the toner drops, in the waste toner box of an electrophotographic device and melting the toner. CONSTITUTION:Under the cleaning device of the electrophotographic device, a waste toner box 1 is provided, and the waste toner is dropped. In the box 1, a heating wire 5 is arranged, and the toner dropt from an aperture 3 is melted and fixed. A connecting point 6 of the heating wire 5 and connecting points 8 and 7 of the external transmission line are elastically connected by the leaf spring, etc., and the toner box 1 is mounted. Consequently, in the toner box, the heating wire is provided, the toner is melted, and therefore, the toner is hardened without fail, dispersion is prevented and the toner box can be easily mounted elastically.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] "Field of Industrial Application" The present invention relates to a waste toner box for an electrophotographic apparatus.

``Prior Art'' Conventionally, this type of device is designed to store and easily dispose of waste toner drawn from a cleaning device. That is, when the waste toner box is full, the waste toner box is thrown away. Disposing of the entire waste toner box is superior to discarding the toner from the waste toner box in that it causes less toner scattering.

But what about waste toner when users throw it away? If toner is spilled from the box or the user gets dirty with waste toner,
This has the drawback of contaminating the inside of the electrophotographic device.

To solve these problems, there is a method previously proposed by the applicant company that heats the waste toner box container from the outside to solidify the toner. K is designed so that it can be done easily without making a mess.

``Problems to be Solved by the Invention'' However, there is a problem in that when the waste toner is heated from the outside, the waste toner in the center of the container cannot be sufficiently dissolved. Furthermore, since the waste toner is heated through the container to a temperature at which it can solidify, there are problems in that the heating efficiency is poor and the consumer power is large.

The present invention provides a waste toner box that can securely fix waste toner so as to prevent stains caused by toner scattering when waste toner is discarded from the waste toner box in an electrophotographic apparatus, and an electrophotographic apparatus equipped with the waste toner box. The purpose is to provide the following.

[Structure of the invention]

"Means for Solving the Problems" The first invention of the present application is a waste toner box for an image forming apparatus, characterized in that a heating member is provided at a position related to the toner falling path within the removable waste toner box. .

The second invention of the present application is a removable waste toner box in which a heating member is provided at a position related to the toner falling path, and when the waste toner box is installed, the heating member is energized. The image forming apparatus includes a member to which the means is connected, and includes a means for energizing the heating member.

"Operation" When the waste toner box is installed in the image forming apparatus, the heating member is connected to the energizing means for the heating member and can be energized.

The heating member is energized by the energizing means in conjunction with or independently of the operation of the image forming apparatus to heat the waste toner, thereby fixing and integrating the waste toner.

"Example" Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of the waste toner box, and FIG. 1 is a perspective view of FIG. 1.

The waste toner box main body is made of an insulating material, for example, synthetic resin, and has an opening 3 at the top through which waste toner is introduced.A heating wire 5 as a heat generating member is stretched between the opposing walls. The hot wire S is electrically connected to a contact base fixed to the outer surface of the wall.

Figure 3 shows an overview of an electrophotographic device. In the electrophotographic process, a photosensitive drum rotates in synchronization with the scanning of an original. Its surface is uniformly charged by a primary charger, and the original is scanned. The obtained exposure /J is imaged on the photosensitive drum // to form a latent image, and toner is applied by the developer / 41 to turn the latent image into a visible image, which is sent from a paper feeding device (not shown). The visible image is transferred to the transfer material in the transfer charger 15,
The transfer material separated from the photosensitive drum // by a separating means (not shown) is sent to a fixing device to fix the image, and the remaining toner after transfer on the photosensitive drum // is sent to a cleaning device/
6, the removed waste toner passes through a pipe /7 that communicates the cleaning device /6 and the opening 3 of the waste toner box/ explained in FIGS. 7 and 1 above, and is stored in the waste toner box/. It has become so.

As shown in FIG. 1, a waste toner box/ is housed between an elastic contact 7 having the function of a leaf spring and a fixed contact 5 provided on a fixed part made of an insulating material of an electrophotographic load. f and the contact points 6 on both walls of the waste toner box are in contact with each other. This contact point 7. is connected to the heating power supply IO via the control device DE.

During the electrophotographic process as described above, the operation signal of the electrophotographic device/
K causes the control device D to supply power from the power source 10 to the heating wire 3 to heat it. The waste toner that falls into the waste toner box l and touches the heating wire 3 melts, falls, and solidifies. The waste toner that falls without touching the heating wire 5 is melted and adheres to the fallen waste toner and is fixed.

The heating temperature of the heating wire j is controlled to a temperature at which the toner melts and then solidifies, and is generally 40-
1r 0℃. This temperature is determined by the glass transition point of the toner material.

The waste toner whose main component is toner is melted and solidified by the heat of the heating wire S, and a large solid is formed from the powder K, whereby the waste toner is fixed at the waste toner box/internal pressure.

When the waste toner box is full of folded toner, the user can remove the 7° contacts from between each waste toner box and throw it away. At that time, there is no need to worry about the user getting dirty with the waste toner, so you can remove the waste toner from the waste toner box. It does not get dirty during processing, and there is no risk of waste toner scattering inside the electrophotographic device and causing problems.

〔Effect of the invention〕

A first aspect of the present invention provides a waste toner for an image forming apparatus, characterized in that a heating member is provided in a removable waste toner storage at a position related to a toner falling path. Tsukuku, the second application
The present invention provides a device for attaching a waste toner pix, which is provided with a heating member at a position related to the toner falling path in a removable waste toner box, to a position where the heating member is energized. Since the image forming apparatus is equipped with a heating member energizing means, it is possible to sufficiently melt the waste toner in the center of the group toner index, solidify the waste toner reliably, and prevent toner from scattering from the waste toner index. It has the effect of

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view of an electrophotographic apparatus incorporating the first invention. l... Waste toner bits 5... Heating wire 7. T...
・Contact ta...Control device 10...Power supply.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A waste toner box for an image forming apparatus, characterized in that a heating member is provided at a position related to the toner falling path within the removable waste toner box. 2. When the waste toner box is attached to the part of the removable waste toner box in which the waste toner box is attached, the heating member is provided at a position related to the toner falling path, and the energizing means for the heating member is connected. An image forming apparatus comprising: a heating member; and a heating member energizing means.