JPS63214783A - Developer recycle device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To perform stable recycling operation by making the conveyance flow rate of a developer at the terminal part of a conveyance member smaller than the flow rate at its upstream side. CONSTITUTION:A start agent and toner are charged in the developer storage part 15 in a developing device 7 before a unit is used. When a seal member 16 is extracted as shown by an arrow, the start agent is supplied to the side of a developing roller 20 and the toner is supplied to the side of a carry-in roller 17 about a supply roller 18. When a copy switch is pressed, a photosensitive drum 4 operates and a developing roller 20 and an agitation roller 19 are driven associatively to perform development. Toner remaining on the drum 4 after the development is removed by a blade 31a, conveyed out toward an opening 32 by a carry-out spiral 33, and sent into a recycle passage 13, so that the toner is conveyed toward a developing device 7 by a conveyance member 14. The terminal part of the conveyance member 14 is reduced in diameter and the flow rate of toner is limited, so the toner is separated into toner sent to a communication part 7a through an opening part 22 and toner discharged to the space at the upper part of a recycle passage 13.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a developer conveyed into a developing device for the purpose of reusing the developer in the cleaning device in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a facsimile machine. This invention relates to a chemical recycling device.

(Prior Art) Generally, in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, developer remaining on a photoreceptor after transfer is removed by a cleaning device.
However, in order to reuse the developer collected in this way, the developer in the cleaning device has traditionally been
A developer recycling device has been proposed that transports developer into a IIv device.

FIG. 7 shows an example of such a device.

In the figure, a developing device 1 is attached to the periphery of the photoreceptor drum 101.
02 and a cleaning device 103 are provided,
A recycling passage 104 is provided between the developing device 102 and the cleaning device @103, which communicates with both. The end of this recycling passage 104 is a wall 104a, and the current 1! An opening 102a, which is the entrance to l1il1102, is located. A feeding member 105 that feeds developer into the developing device 1102 from the opening 102a is provided across the width of the developing device 1102.

Inside the recycling passage 104, extending to the end thereof,
Helical conveying member 106 with a constant diameter and pitch
is provided, and by rotationally driving this conveying member 106, the cleaning device 103 is moved from the developing device 102.
The developer is conveyed toward.

However, due to the conveyance member 106, the recycle path 1
The developer that has been conveyed to the end of 04 does not necessarily all pass through the opening 102a and is carried into the developer ¥1lff 102. For example, when the fluidity of the developer is reduced, such as in high humidity. In this case, the developer gets entangled with the surface of the conveying member 106 and does not fall into the opening 102a, but instead passes through the wall 104a.
transported towards. When the developer is pushed into the wall 104a one after another in this way, there is a risk that the developer will accumulate at the end portion of the conveying member 106 and block the rotation of the conveying member 106, causing the driving of the conveying member 106 to be locked. there were.

(Objective of the Invention) In view of the above-mentioned circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a developer recycling device d that can perform stable recycling even in an environment where the fluidity of the developer is low.

(Structure of the Invention) The present invention includes a photoreceptor, a developing device and a cleaning device as image forming process means disposed around the periphery of the photoreceptor, and a developer stored in the cleaning device is transferred to the developing device. In the developer recycling dirge conveyed into the device, a recycling path is provided between the developer cleaning device and the device cleaning device and communicates the inside of both, and the developer is inserted into the recycling path and driven to rotate. a conveying member that conveys the developer collected in the cleaning device toward the developing device, and the conveying member has a developer conveying flow l at a terminal portion that is smaller than fill at an upstream portion thereof. It is designed to look like this.

According to such a configuration, even if the developer becomes entangled with the conveyance member, since the flow rate of developer conveyance at the end portion of the conveyance member is small, the developer is pushed into this portion one after another and the developer does not accumulate. There is no lock condition.

(Example) A first example of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 1 to 5.

In FIG. 1, a document table 2 is provided on the top surface of an electrostatic copying machine main body 1, and inside the main body 1, a paper feed section 3, a photosensitive drum 4, a main charging device 5, an exposure device 16, a current m Device 7, cleaning device @8, transfer charging device 9, peeling charging device! ! 10
．． A fixing device N11 and a paper discharge tray 12 are provided. The photosensitive drum 4 is connected to a drive shaft of a main motor (not shown), and is rotationally driven in the direction of the arrow in the drawing.

The photosensitive drum 4, the current e-mount N7, the cleaning device 8, etc. are housed in a case as one replaceable kit, and are assembled into a single unit U as shown in FIGS. 2 to 5. It consists of

This unit U is installed in the copying machine so that it can be inserted into and removed from the copying machine while being guided by rails Ia and 1b. Furthermore, in this unit U, a developing device S 7 and a cleaning device @8 are installed.
A cylindrical recycle passage 13 that communicates with both is provided on the side of the recycle passage 13, and a spiral conveyance member 14 that is rotationally driven is provided within this recycle passage 13.

The developing device 7 has a cylindrical communication portion 7a that projects laterally from the side of the case. A downstream portion of the recycle passage 13 is disposed above the communication portion 7a (see FIGS. 2 and 3), and the communication portion 7a and the recycle passage 13 are opened (a connection between the developing device and the recycle passage). portion) 22, and at the periphery of this opening 22, the wall member of the recycling passage 13 and the communicating portion 7
A sealing sponge 41 is interposed on the joint surface with the wall member a.

The developing device 7 has a developer storage section 15 at its upper portion. The developer storage portion 15 is open downward, and includes a starter storage portion 15a that stores a developer (starter) in which toner and carrier are mixed in advance, and a toner storage portion 15b that stores only toner. It consists of A sealing member 16 is provided at the bottom of this developer storage section 15. This sealing member 16 is folded back at its middle portion and is attached to the lower part of the developer storage section 15, so that the developer inside the developer storage section 15 is sealed! It's sealed. The tip of this sealing member 16 is led out through the slit hole 45 of the unit U, and by pulling this tip in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 5, the sealing member 16 is handled and the seal is sealed. It's about to be solved.

Below this seal member 16, a carry-in roller 17, a supply roller 18, an agitation roller 19, and a developing roller 20 are provided. A toner control sensor 21 is provided to detect the mixing ratio of toner and carrier.

The carry-in row 517 is located below the toner storage section 15b.
It is located on the upstream side of the replenishment row 518, and the width of the developing device 7 extends from just below the opening 22 to the opposite side surface when the front end is inserted into the communicating portion 7a. extending in the direction. A spiral blade 17a is formed on the opening 22 side of this carry-in roller 17, and a spiral blade 17b in the opposite direction is formed on the opposite side, and a spiral blade 17b extending in the axial direction is formed in the intermediate portion thereof. 2 flat plates 17C
is provided. The opening 22 (1!!
The toner is conveyed from the communication portion 7a toward the inside of the developing bag M7, and a conveying force in the opposite direction is applied to the toner on the opposite side.

The replenishment roller 18 is located below the boundary between the starter storage section 15a and the toner storage section 15b, and
It is in contact with the partition member 23 in the developing device 7 and the inner lower surface of the case of the developing bag M7, and partitions the left and right portions of the developing device 7.

The rear end portions of these carry-in rollers 17 and replenishment rollers 18 protrude outside the case of the developing device 7, and gears 24.25 are respectively provided on these protruding portions. Coupling gear 2
6 is provided.

A toner replenishment motor (not shown) is connected to the coupling gear 26 via an appropriate control system, and the carry-in roller 17 and replenishment roller 18 are driven in conjunction with each other in accordance with the output of the toner control sensor 21. By replenishing toner through this drive, the toner concentration within the captivity device 7 is kept constant.

Similarly, gears 27 and 28 are provided at the rear ends of the developing roller 20 and stirring roller 19, and these gears 27.
A coupling gear 29 is provided which easily meshes with both the developing roller 28 and the developing roller 20 during development.
and stirring row 519 are driven in conjunction with each other. In addition, in FIGS. 4 and 5, reference numeral 30 is a spike cutting plate that cuts the spikes of the developer on the developing row 520.

On the other hand, the cleaning device I8 is located on the downstream side of the developing device 7 at the peripheral edge of the photosensitive drum 4 with respect to the rotational direction of the photosensitive drum 40, and has a blade 31a that scrapes off toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 4 after transfer. It also has a lower blade 31b that guides the scraped toner to the bottom without spilling it. Further, like the developing device 7, this cleaning device 8 has a cylindrical communicating portion 8a that protrudes laterally from the side of the case.
The upstream portion of the recycle passage 13 is disposed below a (see FIGS. 2 and 3), and the communication portion 8a and the recycle passage 13 communicate with each other through an opening 32.

A discharge spiral 33 is provided at the bottom of the cleaning device M8 to transport the toner collected as described above to the recycling passage 13. The front end portion of this unloading spiral 33 is inserted into the communication portion 8a,
It further protrudes from the end of this communicating portion 8a, and a gear 35 is provided at this protruding portion. The rear end protrudes outside the case of the cleaning device 18 , and a gear 34 provided on this protruding portion is connected to a gear 43 provided on the shaft 42 of the photoreceptor drum 4 . by this,
The discharge spiral 33 is rotated in conjunction with the photoreceptor drum 4, and the toner in the cleaning device 8 is delivered to the opening 32.
It is now being transported towards.

The conveying member 14 in the recycling passage 13 is composed of a coil spring and the like, and includes the gear 35, an intermediate gear 36 that meshes with this, a screw gear 38 that is coaxial with a gear 37 that meshes with this gear 36, and this screw I' It is connected to the unloading spiral 33 through threaded teeth 1139 which mesh with the ll wheel 38 and are directly connected to the conveying member 14, and the photoreceptor drum 4
By the rotation of the unloading spiral 33, the unloading spiral 33 is rotated. The shape of the conveyance member 14 is set such that the conveyance member 14 conveys the toner in the recycling passage 13 toward the current ml device 7 by the rotational drive, and furthermore, the conveyance flow rate at the end portion is on the upstream side. The diameter is set to become smaller from approximately the middle part of the conveyance member 14 toward the terminal end so that the diameter becomes smaller than the part shown in FIG.

Next, the operation of the above device will be explained. First, before the unit U is used, the starter and toner are sealed in the developer storage section 15 in the developing bag [7]. From this state, move the seal member 1 in the direction of the arrow in Figure 5.
6, the starting agent is supplied to the developing roller 20 side with the replenishment roller 18 as a boundary, and
Toner is supplied to the side. Then, by operating the copy switch, the photosensitive drum 4 is activated, and the developing roller 520 and stirring roller 19 are driven in conjunction with each other to perform development. At this time, the rotation of the photosensitive drum 4 is controlled by the gear 43.
．． 34 to the output spiral 33, and the rotation of the output spiral 33 is transmitted to the gears 35, 36, .
37 and screw gears 38 and 39 to the conveying member 14, and as the photosensitive drum 4 operates, both the unloading spiral 33 and the conveying member 14 are driven to rotate.

After the development is performed in this manner, the toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 4 is removed by the blade 31a and stored in the cleaning device 18.

This toner is carried out toward the opening 32 by a carry-out spiral 33 interlocking with the photoreceptor drum 4 and fed into the recycling passage 13.

The toner sent into the recycling passage 13 is conveyed toward the developing device 7 while flowing along the lower surface of the recycling passage 13 by the conveying member 14 which is rotationally driven as described above.

Then, the flow rate of the toner is restricted at a point where the diameter of the end portion of the transport member 14 becomes smaller, so that the toner flow continues from the end of the transport member 14 through the opening 22 and into the developing bag H7. The toner is separated into a limited amount of toner fed into the communication portion 7a and toner that encounters transport resistance when the diameter becomes small and escapes into the space above the recycling passage 13 above.

On the other hand, the carry-in roller 17 and the replenishment roller 18 are driven in conjunction with each other while being controlled by the output of the toner control sensor 21, and by being driven in this way, the carry-in roller 17 collects the toner fed into the communication section 7a. is carried into the developing mti 17, and the replenishment roller 18 supplies a mixture of the toner fed from the carry-in roller 17 and the toner supplied from the toner storage section 15b to the developing roller 20 side.

For example, when the fluidity of the toner is reduced, such as when the humidity is high, the toner is conveyed while being entangled with the surface of the conveying member 14. At this time, conventionally, the toner transported to the downstream side of the transport member 14 at a constant transport flow rate is transferred to the transport member 14.
However, in the device of the present invention, the flow rate of the toner conveyed is restricted at the end portion, and as described above, some toner is deposited due to the smaller diameter of the conveyance member 14. Since only a limited amount of toner is conveyed toward the opening 22, even if the toner gets entangled with the conveyance member 14, it is not pushed into the end portion of the conveyance member 14 one after another. It is smoothly carried into the current m5A haze through the opening 22 without being carried away. Therefore, even in such an environment where the fluidity of toner is low, stable toner recycling can be performed without causing locking of the transport member 14 or the like.

Next, a second embodiment will be explained based on FIG. 6.

Here, the helical pitch of the terminal end portion of the conveying member 14' is
The shape of the conveyance member 14' is set such that the conveyance member 14' is smaller than the upstream portion thereof, and the conveyance speed at the terminal portion is lower. Even in such a structure, the conveying member 1
The conveyance flow rate at the terminal part of 4' is smaller than that on the upstream side.
Therefore, the same effects as in the above embodiment can be obtained. Note that the shape of these conveyance members 14, 14' may be such that the conveyance flow rate gradually decreases toward nWa, or such that the conveyance flow rate decreases rapidly.

Further, in each of the above embodiments, a coil spring-like member was used as the conveying member 14, 14', but when an O-ra consisting of spiral blades is used as the conveying member, the terminal portion of the O-ra is By reducing the difference between the inner diameter and outer diameter of the blade, the conveyance flow rate can be reduced, and thereby the same effect as described above can be obtained.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the present invention, in a developer recycling device that includes a recycling path that communicates the developing device and cleaning 'IAII, and a conveyance member that conveys the developer within this recycling path, Since the flow rate of the developer at the end of the transport member is smaller than that at the upstream side, even if the developer becomes entangled with the transport member, the developer will be pushed into the end of the recycling path one after another. There is no deposit on the end portion of the conveying member. Therefore, even in an environment where the fluidity of the developer is reduced, such as when the humidity is high, the driving of the conveying member is not hindered by the accumulated developer, and stable recycling can be performed.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a cutaway side view of the structure of a copying machine equipped with the toner recycling device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line T1 in FIG. 3, and FIG. A broken plan view, Figure 4 is a broken side view of the unit, and Figure 5 is a broken side view of the same unit.
The figure is a cutaway side view of a developing device in the same unit, FIG. 6 is a cutaway side view of a unit equipped with a toner recycling device in the second embodiment, and FIG. 7 is a partially cutaway side view of a conventional developer recycling device. be. 4...Photosensitive drum, 7...Currently 1m! ff, 8...
・Cleaning device, 13... Recycling passage, 14
．． 14'... Conveyance member, U... Unit.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A photoconductor, a developing device and a cleaning device as image forming process means disposed around the photoconductor, and a developer stored in the cleaning device is used to develop the developing device. In the developer recycling device that transports the developer into the device, there is a recycling passage provided between the developing device and the cleaning device, which communicates the inside of the two, and a recycling passage that is inserted into the recycling passage and driven to rotate, so that the inside of the cleaning device is a conveyance member that conveys the developer collected by the developer toward the developing device, and the conveyance member is formed such that the flow rate of developer conveyance at a terminal portion thereof is smaller than the flow rate at an upstream portion thereof. A developer recycling device characterized by: 2. The developer recycling device according to claim 1, wherein the conveying member is formed in a spiral shape. 3. Claim 2, wherein the conveying member has a diameter smaller at its terminal end than at its upstream end.
The developer recycling device described in Section 1. 4. The developer recycling device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the conveying member has a helical pitch at a terminal end portion thereof which is smaller than a pitch at an upstream portion thereof. 5. The developer recycling device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the developing device and the cleaning device are configured as a single unit.