JPS6323182A - Developer replenishing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent a sealing material from being crashed and a developer supplying shaft from being locked, by providing a developer discharging port, through which a developer is discharged, in the vicinity of the lower central part of a developer cartridge and discharging the developer from the central part by means of the developer supplying shaft equipped with two-direction spiral screw threads. CONSTITUTION:A toner supplying shaft 71 is equipped with two-directional spiral screw threads and is used as a screw conveyor which carries toner in the bottom section of a toner cartridge 67 to a toner supplying port 153. The port 153, through which is toner is discharged, is provided in the vicinity of the lower central part of the cartridge 67 and the toner in the cartridge 67 is led to the port 153 and discharged from the central part by means of the toner supplying shaft 71. Therefore, no load is applied to felt 159 by the toner (a) and application of a thrust-direction force (against the rotating direction) to the toner supplying shaft 71 can be prevented while the toner is carried. Accordingly, the felt acting as a sealing material can be prevented from being crashed and the toner supplying shaft 71 can be prevented from being locked.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Purpose of the Invention (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a method for replenishing toner in image forming apparatuses such as laser printers, electronic (prior art) laser printers, electronic copying machines, etc. A toner replenishing device is used.

This toner replenishing device uses a toner replenishing shaft, that is, a screw conveyor, as a toner conveying means in which the toner in the toner cartridge spirals in one direction, and discharges the toner from a toner discharge port provided at the lower end of the toner cartridge. This is what I did. The screw conveyor is rotated by an external drive means,
A sealant such as felt is provided on the opposite side of the screw conveyor from the toner discharge port.

In this type of product, the sealing material such as felt is crushed by the reaction of the pressure caused by the toner while the toner is advancing.
As a result, there was a problem in that the toner supply shaft was locked.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As mentioned above, the sealing agent such as felt is crushed by the reaction force due to the pressure of the developer while the developer is being conveyed, and the fruiting agent supply shaft is locked. The purpose of this invention is to prevent the force from acting on the developer replenishment shaft in the strus direction (relative to the rotational direction) during developer transport.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) The developer replenishing device of the present invention includes a developer cartridge in which developer is stored, and is provided near the center of the lower part of the developer cartridge, a developer replenishment shaft that has a spiral thread in two directions and guides the developer in the developer cartridge to the developer discharge port; and a rotation that rotates the developer replenishment shaft. It consists of means.

(Function) In the present invention, a developer discharge port for discharging a developing agent is provided near the center of the lower part of the developer cartridge, and a developer replenishment shaft having a spiral thread in two directions is provided in the developing agent cartridge. The developer is guided to a developer discharge port and is discharged from the central portion.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIGS. 2 and 3 are an external perspective view and a schematic longitudinal sectional side view showing the internal configuration of an image forming unit device equipped with a laser printer as an image forming apparatus of the present invention. There is.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 indicates a laser printer as an image forming apparatus.
It is worn R.

The laser printer 1 has the following configuration.

That is, numeral 5 in the figure is a printer body of the laser printer 1, and the upper rear portion of the printer body 5 is raised one step higher, and a recess 6 serving as a paper ejection portion is formed in the center of the upper surface. A paper output tray 8 movably supported by a jogger 7 is installed in the recess 6, and an operation panel display section 9 and an operation panel switch section 10 are installed on the right side of the recess 6, and three IC card insertion slot 1
1... are arranged respectively.

Furthermore, a paper output tray 12 is provided on the front of the printer main body 5.
Further, a manual feed tray 13 is attached to the rear side.

Further, a drum-shaped photoreceptor 15 as an image carrier is provided approximately at the center of the printer main body 5, and a charging device 16 is provided around it as shown in FIG. Laser optical system 17. A developing device H18 and a transfer device 119 as developing means. Peeling device 20゜Cleaning device as a cleaner means! 21. and a static eliminator 22 are arranged in this order.

Further, inside the printer main body 5, a photoreceptor 15 and a transfer device W are provided.
An image support transport path 24 is formed that extends forward through the image transfer section 23 between the paper feed cassette 25 and the paper feed cassette of the multi-cassette feeder 2 stored at the bottom of the printer main body 5. Paper P automatically fed from 26 and 27 via paper feed rollers 28 and transfer rollers 529, etc., paper P1 manually fed from manual feed tray 13, and envelope feeder 3.
The envelope A automatically supplied from the image transfer section 23 is guided to the image transfer section 23.

Further, an aligning roller pair 30 is disposed on the upstream side of the image transfer section 23 of the image support transport path 24, and a fixing device 31. A paper discharge selector 32 and a pair of paper discharge rollers 33 are arranged.

Incidentally, on the terminal end side of the image support conveying path 24, there is a branch provided with a pair of paper ejection rollers 34 to guide the sheets P, envelopes A, etc. sorted by the paper ejection selector 32 to the recess 6 serving as a paper ejection section. A conveyance path 35 is formed.

2, 40 is a lower cover, 41 is a front cover, 42 is an upper cover, 43 is a right cover, 44 is a left cover, and 45 is a right cover opening/closing lever.

46 is a lever for opening and closing the upper unit, and 47, 48, . . . , 49 shown in FIG. 3 are control boards constituting control items.

In the image forming operation, the photoreceptor 15 is driven and uniformly charged by the movement of the charging device 16, and then the laser optical system 17 exposes the photoreceptor 15 to light in accordance with the image signal, thereby making the photoreceptor 15 static. A latent image is formed. Next, the electrostatic latent image on the photoreceptor 6 is formed by toner a and carrier b.
The image is developed by a developing device 18 using a two-component developer consisting of the following, and sent to the image transfer section 23R as a developer image.

Meanwhile, in synchronization with this developer image forming operation, the paper feed cassette 2
5, 26, 27, paper P1 that is manually fed, or envelope A that is fed from the envelope feeder 3 is transferred to the aligning roller pair 3o.
The developer image previously formed on the photoreceptor 15 is transferred onto the paper P or the envelope A by the movement of the transfer device 19. Next, the paper P or the envelope A is peeled off from the photoreceptor 15 by the peeling device 20, passes through the image support transport path 24, and is sent to the fixing device W131. Here, after the developer image is fused and fixed on the paper P or envelope A, the paper discharge selector 32 separates the image in the discharge direction and discharges it onto the upper paper discharge tray 8 or the front paper discharge tray 12.

Note that after the developer image is transferred onto the paper P or the envelope A, the residual toner remaining on the photoreceptor 15 is cleaned by the cleaning device 21, and the next copying operation is ready.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the photoreceptor 15. Cleaning device 21 as cleaner means. A developing device 18 as a developing means is mounted on a guide frame 51 that is slidably supported via slide rails 50, 50, and as shown in FIG. The configuration is such that these can be pulled out to the right side of the printer main body 5 by pulling them out.

Further, the photoreceptor 15 and the cleaning device 21 are unitized, and are integrally connected to the guide frame 51.
Further, the developing section N18 is configured to be able to be attached and detached independently.

The developing device 18 has a structure as shown in detail in FIG. 4.

That is, this developing device 9 includes a developing mechanism section 55 and a developer stirring section 56.

The above is current! ! The II mechanism section 55 includes a developing roller 59 disposed facing the opening 58 of the main body 57 of the developing device 57, and a slide between the developer magnetic brush D' formed on the surface of the developing roller 59 and the photoreceptor 15. A doctor 61 is provided on the upstream side of the contact section, that is, the phenomenon section 6o, and regulates the thickness of the developer magnetic brush D', and a developer magnetic brush 61 is provided on the downstream side of the development section 60, and is formed on the surface of the phenomenon row 559. Brush D'
It has a scraper 62 that peels off the developer and guides it to the developer stirring section 56. Further, the developer stirring section 56 includes first and second developer stirring bodies 64 and 65 accommodated in a developing agent storage group 63 formed at the rear of the yAe row 59 arrangement section. There is.

Further, the developing roller 59 includes a magnetic roll 59a having a plurality of magnetic pole parts (not shown), and a magnetic roll 59a having a plurality of magnetic pole parts (not shown).
a and a non-magnetic sleeve 59b that is fitted onto the outside and rotates clockwise in the figure.

Further, a toner receiving section 66 as a developer receiving section is formed at a position facing the developer stirring section 56 of the developing device main body 57, and a toner receiving section 66 is formed as a developer replenishing cartridge of a developer replenishing means 150, which will be described later. The toner a supplied from the cartridge 67 and the toner a returned from the cleaning device 21 via a toner return means 68 serving as a phenomenon agent return means are received.

Further, a developer concentration detector 70 for detecting the developer concentration is provided at a position facing the scraper 62, and a detection signal from the developer concentration detector 70 detects the amount of developer incorporated in the toner cartridge 67. A toner replenishment shaft 71 (see FIGS. 6 and 1) serving as a replenishment member is driven as necessary.

As a result, the developer particles stand up on the surface of the non-magnetic sleeve 59b due to the lines of magnetic force generated from each magnetic pole portion and are attracted like brushes to form a developer magnetic brush D'. The developing section 6 is rotated by the rotation of the sleeve 59b.
The toner a in the magnetic brush D' adheres to the electrostatic latent image on the photoreceptor 15 and develops it.

Further, the toner replenishment shaft 71 of the toner cartridge 67 is driven by the replenishment signal from the toner III detector 70.
The insufficient toner a is replenished as appropriate.

On the other hand, the developer stirring body 6 disposed inside the developer storage section 63
The developer layer is stirred by the rotation of 3.64 degrees, and frictional charging between toner a and carrier b can be performed satisfactorily.

Also, the cleaning device! 21 has a configuration as shown in FIG.

That is, 75 in the figure is a cleaning device main body having an opening aIi 76 in a portion facing the photoreceptor 15, and a cleaning blade 77 is housed within this cleaning device main body 75.

The cleaning blade 77 is rotatable by a support shaft 78, and the blade holder 8 is always urged counterclockwise by a weight 79 as an urging member in the state shown in FIG.
The upper end portion is held by 0, and the tip of the lower end portion is in pressure contact with the circumferential surface of the photoreceptor 15.

The cleaning blade 77 scrapes off the residual toner a that has adhered to the photoreceptor 15.

Further, a collection blade 81 is attached to the lower opening edge of the opening 76, and the cleaning blade 77
The toner a scraped off by the cleaning device main body 7
It is designed to be collected within 5 days.

Further, at the bottom of the cleaning device main body 75, there is a toner collection auger 82 that transfers the toner a in the cleaning device main body 75 to a toner discharge section 83 protruding outside to deliver the toner a in the cleaning device main body 75 to a toner return means 68 as a phenomenon agent return means. is located.

As shown in FIG. 11, a toner discharge port 84 as a developer discharge port is formed on the lower surface of the toner discharge portion 83, and this toner discharge port 84 is connected to a multiple shutter, that is, a rotary shutter 86. And, it has a structure that can be closed twice by a slide shutter 85.

On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the right cover 43
A toner return means 68 for returning the toner a collected by the cleaning device 21 to the developing device 18 is attached to the inside of the developing device 18 .

As shown in detail in FIGS. 7 and 8, this toner return means 68 includes a toner receiving section 90 as a developer receiving section;
A toner discharging section 91 as a developer discharging section and a toner a received in the toner receiving section 9o are transferred to the toner discharging section 91.
The toner transport section 92 serves as a developer transport section for transporting toner. And right cover 43
When closed, the toner receiving section 90 is located on the lower surface side of the toner discharging section 83 of the cleaning device 21 and faces the toner discharging port 84, and the toner discharging section 91 is located on the lower surface side of the toner discharging section 83 of the cleaning device 21.
The toner receiving port 6 is located above the developer storage section 63 of 8.
It is designed to face 6.

The toner receiving section 90 is formed with a toner receiving port 94 facing the toner discharging port 84 of the cleaning device @ 21, and the toner receiving section 90 is a slide that is opened by pushing in a slide shutter 85 provided on the toner discharging section 83 of the cleaning device 21. The rotary shutter 86 meshes with the gear 96 integrated with the shutter opening/closing part 95 and the rotary shutter 86.
A rotary shutter opening/closing gear 97 for rotating the rotary shutter is disposed.

Further, at a position corresponding to the toner discharge section 91, a cartridge mounting section 98 for mounting the toner cartridge 67 of the developer replenishing means 150 is provided on the upper surface, and a toner discharge port 100 opened and closed by a rotary shutter 99 is provided on the lower surface side. has been formed.

The cartridge mounting portion 98 includes the toner discharge port 1.
A slide shutter 101 for opening and closing 00 is provided. The slide shutter 101 has an opening 102 for releasing toner and an engaging protrusion 103 protruding from the edge of the opening 102, and the toner cartridge 67 is attached to the cartridge tA'4 portion 98. When the toner cartridge 67 is attached, the engagement protrusion 103 is inserted into the engagement recess 10 formed on the lower surface side of the slide shutter 104 of the toner cartridge 67.
5.

Further, an opening 106 for toner replenishment is formed in the engagement recess 105, and is in communication with the opening 102, and the slide shutter 101 is connected to a rack 108 by a driving means 107, which will be described later. By rotating the binion 108 of the opening/closing mechanism provided with the binion 109, the opening 102 is automatically opened to the toner discharge port 1.
It is configured to slide to a position opposite to 00.

Further, the rotary shutter 99 is configured to rotate by driving a gear 110 via a driving means 107 to open the toner discharge port 100.

The toner transfer section 92 also included a communication pipe 111 that communicates the toner receiving section 90 and the toner discharge section 91, and a spiral member 112 that is housed in the communication pipe 111 and transfers the toner a as it rotates. The structure is as follows. The spiral member 112 is driven by the gear 1 by the driving means 107.
13 is driven to rotate.

Next, the driving means 107 of the developer returning means 68 will be explained with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9.

In the figure, 114 is a motor as a drive 113m, and as shown in FIG. The power is transmitted to the shaft 118 via a clutch 117 (which slips when the motor 114 reverses, cutting off transmission of the driving force).

Furthermore, a first driving force transmission system 130 for driving the slide shutter 99 via this shaft 118, and a second driving force transmission system 131 for driving the rotary shutter 99.
, and cleaning equipment! 21 rotary shutter 86
The driving force is transmitted to a third driving force transmission system 132 for driving the respective driving forces.

The first driving force transmission system 130 drives the binion 109 which meshes with the rank 108 integrated with the shutter 101 via a spring clutch 133, and the second driving force transmission system 131 , a gear 110 integrated with the rotary shutter 99 via a spring clutch 134 and a plurality of gear groups 135.

Further, the third driving force transmission system 132 is connected to the low shutter opening/closing gear 97 through gears 136 and 137 that mesh with each other, a spring clutch 138, bevel gears 139 and 140, a pulley 141, a belt 142, and a pulley 143. It is configured to be transmitted.

On the other hand, the spiral member 11 housed in the communication pipe 111
The gear 113 integral with 2 is the first gear 113 that constitutes the
The gear 144 of the gear group 115 and the gear 145 moving via the one-way clutch 146 are in mesh with each other.

Thus, when the motor 114 rotates in the forward direction, each shutter 98, 101, 99, 86 opens and the spiral member 112 rotates to return the toner a.

Further, when the motor 114 rotates in reverse, each shutter 98,
101.99.86 is in a closed state and the spiral member 112 is in a stopped state.

In addition, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the right cover 4
3, a drive means 107 for the toner return means 68, and a toner (
Toner replenishing means 150 as a replenishing device Guide member 122. Safety switch operating claw 123. Cover lock claw 124. A guide member 125 for positioning the photoreceptor and the developing position is attached.

Note that 130 shown in FIG. 5 is the toner receiving port 6 of the current equipment.
6 is a slide shutter that opens and closes the right cover 43.
When it is closed, it is pushed by the toner discharge section 91 and slides to open the toner receiving port 66. Further, 131 is a handle for pulling out the slide rail 51 on which the unit device of the developing device 18, the photoreceptor 15, and the cleaning device 21 is removably mounted.

Next, the toner replenishing means 150 as a developer replenishing means will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1, 12, and 13.

That is, the cartridge mounting portion 9 of the toner return means 68
8, a toner cartridge 67 removably attached to the toner cartridge 8;
The toner cartridge 67 has a coupling 152 that engages with a coupling 151 attached to a toner replenishment shaft 71 incorporated in the toner cartridge 67, and drives the toner replenishment shaft 71 to supply toner a as a developer replenishment port. A configuration comprising a drive device 154 that releases the toner from the toner supply port 153, and a clutch [41155] that connects and disconnects the coupling 152 of the drive device 154 to and from the coupling 151 integrated with the toner supply shaft 71. It has become. Furthermore, a felt 159 as a sealant is provided at one end of the toner supply shaft 71 on the driving device 154 side.

The toner supply port 153 is connected to the toner cartridge 6.
7 near the center of the lower part.

The toner replenishment shaft 71 has spiral threads extending in two directions, and serves as a screw conveyor that guides the toner a from the lower part of the toner cartridge d7 to the center, that is, to the toner replenishment port 153.

In this way, the toner supply port 153 for discharging the toner a is provided near the center of the lower part of the toner cartridge 67, and
The toner a in the toner cartridge 67 is transferred to the toner replenishing port 1 by the toner replenishing shaft 71 having a spiral thread in the direction
53, and the toner a is discharged from the central portion, so that the weight of the toner a is not applied to the felt 139, and the force in the strus direction (relative to the rotational direction) to the toner supply shaft 71 is reduced during toner conveyance. It is possible to prevent the felt 159 serving as a sealant from being crushed and the toner supply shaft 71 from being locked due to the reaction of the force exerted by the toner a in the direction of rotation.

Further, the toner replenishing means 150 configured in this way is
The toner return means 68 is attached to a cover 43 (Ill) of the main body of the apparatus which can be opened and closed, and the opening and closing operation of this cover 43 operates the clutches 155. In other words, the coupling 152 operates in response to the "opening" operation of the cover 43. is separated from the coupling 151, and when the cover 43 is open, no driving force is transmitted to the toner supply shaft 71.
The toner cartridge 67 is configured to be freely attached to and detached from the cartridge mounting portion 98.

Next, the configuration of the drive device 154 that provides driving force to the toner supply shaft 71 will be described in detail. In the figure, reference numeral 160 denotes a motor as a driving source.A small diameter pulley 161 is attached to the drive shaft of this motor 160, and the driving force is transmitted to a large diameter pulley 163 via a belt 162. A gear 164 is integrally provided on this large diameter pulley 163.
C, and is transmitted via this gear 164 to a large-diameter gear 165 that meshes with this gear. This gear 165 is integrally provided with a small diameter and wide gear 166.
6 is a gear 1 provided integrally with the coupling 152.
It is in a state where it is meshed with 67. Therefore, when the motor 160 is driven, the coupling 152 rotates at a low speed.

Also, a coupling 15 integrally having the gear 167
2 is attached to a support shaft 169 having one end fixed to a bracket 168 so as to be rotatable and movable in the axial direction.

A large diameter pulley 163 having the gear 164 integral therewith is rotatably attached to the support shaft 169.

Next, the clutch machine IM155 will be explained.

A holder 170 is installed in the middle of the support shaft 169, and a spring 171 (see FIG. 13) is interposed between the holder 170 and the coupling 152. The ring 152 is always biased in the direction of connecting the ring 152 to the coupling 151 integrated with the toner supply shaft 71.

Further, a clutch lever 173 is rotatably attached to the bracket 168 via a shaft 172. This clutch lever 173 is biased counterclockwise by a coil spring 174 in the state shown in FIG.
One end of the gear 16 is integral with the coupling 152.
It is in a state in which it is pressed against the end face portion of No. 7.

The biasing force of the coil spring 174 is applied to the coupling 152
The biasing force of the spring 171 is set to be larger than the biasing force of the spring 171 that biases the clutch lever 17
3 is in a free state as shown in FIG. 13, the coupling 152 resists the biasing force of the spring 171 and separates from the coupling 151.

In the clutch mechanism 155 configured in this way, the cover 43 is attached to the support shaft 17 as shown in FIG.
5 as the center of rotation, the other end of the clutch lever 173aIfi side frame 17 on the device main body side
6, the clutch lever 173 is rotated against the biasing force of the coil spring 174, and the coupling 152
The biasing force of 71 moves it toward the coupling 151 and brings it into a connected state.

Furthermore, when the cover 43 is opened with the support shaft 175 as the center of rotation as shown in FIG. Since the clutch lever 173 is separated from the projection 178 of the member 177 and becomes free, the clutch lever 173 is rotated by the biasing force of the coil spring 174, and one end of the clutch lever 173 presses the end surface of the gear 167 that is integrated with the coupling 152. As a result, the coupling 152 is displaced against the urging force of the spring 171 and becomes separated from the coupling 151.

Note that 180 shown in FIG. 1 is a toner agitator housed in the toner cartridge 67, and this toner agitator 180
has a windmill 182 at one end thereof that engages with a sprocket 181 integrated with the toner replenishment shaft 71, and rotates during toner replenishment to agitate the toner a contained therein. A cover 183 surrounds the center of the toner supply shaft 71 to uniformly supply the toner a. Further, 186 is a brake plate.

Further, 185 shown in FIGS. 12 and 13 is a ground plate.

By closing the right cover 43, the developing device 1
8 and the cleaning device 21 are connected via the toner return means 68, and the motor 114 of the drive means 107 rotates in the forward direction, so that the toner a collected by the cleaning device 21 is returned to the developing device 18. be able to. As a result, the consumption Rm of the toner a can be significantly reduced, which is extremely economical, and the number of times the toner a is replenished from the toner gartridge 67 can be reduced as much as possible, making maintenance easy.

Further, new toner a is appropriately replenished from the toner replenishing means 150, so that a good developing operation is always possible.

Further, at this time, since the toner replenishing means 150 is provided corresponding to the joint portion of the toner returning means 68 with the cleaning device 21, and the toner a is supplied to the developing device 18, the toner replenishing port of the toner replenishing means 150 and The toner replenishing ports of the toner return means 68 can be made the same, making it possible to make the device more compact and to reduce costs.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, the description has been given of the case where development is performed using a two-component developer consisting of toner a and carrier b, but the present invention is not limited to this, and can also be applied to one-component development that does not use carrier b. Of course, this method can be applied to phenomena that occur using agents.

[Effects of the Invention] As detailed above, according to the present invention, it is possible to prevent force from acting on the developer replenishment shaft in the strus direction (relative to the rotational direction) during developer transport, and the seal The developer is crushed and the developer transport means is closed.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention, in which Fig. 1 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of a toner replenishing device, Fig. 2 is an external perspective view of an image forming unit device equipped with an image forming apparatus, and Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram as well. 4 is a configuration explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the main parts of the image forming apparatus, FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view with the cover open, and FIG. 6 is a front view with the cover open. , 7th
The figure is a schematic front view of the toner return means, FIG. 8 is a schematic plan view of the toner return means, FIG. 9 is also an explanatory diagram of the configuration of the vicinity of the drive source, and FIG. 11 is a schematic sectional view of the toner discharge portion of the cleaner means, FIG. 12 is a schematic plan view showing the toner replenishing means with the cover closed, and FIG. 13 is the cover open. FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view showing the state of the toner replenishing means. a... Toner (developer), 67... Toner cartridge (developer cartridge), 71... Toner supply shaft (developer supply shaft), 98... Cartridge attached product, 1
50... Toner replenishment means (developer replenishment opening), 151
．． 152... Coupling, 153... Toner supply port (developer supply port), 154... Drive device, 155...
...Clutch 1111.159...Felt. Applicant's agent Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue Figure 9 Figure 12

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) It has a developer cartridge that stores the developer, a developer discharge port that is provided near the center of the lower part of the developer cartridge and discharges the developer, and a spiral thread in two directions. A developer replenishment device comprising: a developer replenishment shaft that guides the developer in the developer cartridge to a developer discharge port; and a rotating means that rotates the developer replenishment shaft. (2) The developer replenishing device according to item 1, wherein the spiral threads in two directions on the developer replenishment shaft have opposite spiral directions. (3) The developer replenishing device according to item 1, wherein a sealant is provided at the end of the developer replenishing shaft on the rotating means side.