JPS63294582A - Toner cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent splashing of a toner and to simplify an operation for exchanging a toner cartridge by fixing one end of a sealing member to a taking-up means mounted freely rotatably in a container and connecting a driving part positioned on the outside of the container to this taking-up means. CONSTITUTION:The taking-up means 15 provided at an axial center begins to revolve and the toner cartridge 3 starts revolving in the same direction simultaneously therewith when the driving for a toner replenishment is transmitted from a main driving gear 17 to a driving gear 16. The projecting part of the cartridge 3 comes into contact with a detaining part 6 formed to a hopper 4 of a developing device 2 to prevent the cartridge 3 from rotating until the cartridge stops. From this time on, only the means 15 keeps rotating and a sheet 18 fixed thereto is gradually taken up from one end A side thereof and, therefore the B side of the sheet 18 sealing an aperture 14 is stripped away. The toner 7 is, therefore, dropped by gravity from the aperture 14 of the cartridge 3 directed in a perpendicular direction toward a toner supplying port 21 side of the hopper 4. The splashing of the toner 7 is thereby prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a toner cartridge used as a toner replaceable replenishment container for dry toner.

2. Description of the Related Art A toner cartridge that has been commonly used in the past has a cylindrical shape and contains toner therein.

An opening for discharging toner is formed along the axial direction on the side surface of this cylindrical container.

This opening is sealed from the outer wall side with a sealing member. When supplying 1-toner to such a toner cartridge, the supply is carried out by peeling off the seal member affixed to the outer wall of the opening, or by setting it in the developing device after peeling off the seal member. There is.

However, this toner supply method has a problem in that when the seal member is peeled off, the toner adhering to the seal member scatters and stains clothes and nearby devices.

In order to prevent such toner scattering, some toner cartridges have a double structure or a take-up roller for winding up the sealing member is provided near the cartridge installation opening of the hopper of the developing device. However, in such a case, there is a problem in that the cost of the toner cartridge itself and the cost of accessories for the developing device increase.

OBJECTS The present invention has been made to solve these problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a toner cartridge that prevents toner from scattering when replacing the toner cartridge and simplifies the replacement work.

Structure The present invention provides a sealing member that seals a toner discharge opening formed in a part of a container containing toner from an inner wall side, and one end of this sealing member is rotatably attached to the inside of the container. Since the sealing member affixed to the opening is peeled off by the winding tool while it is set in the developing device, the seal member is fixed to the winding tool, and the driving part located outside the container is connected to this winding tool. This structure prevents the toner from scattering and staining clothing or nearby clothing.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

First, a developing device 2 provided close to the photoreceptor 1 has a cylindrical hopper 4 formed in its upper portion into which a toner cartridge 3 serving as a container is inserted. A groove 5 for alignment during insertion and a locking portion 6 for preventing rotation of the toner cartridge 3 are formed along the axial direction on the cylindrical side surface of the hopper 4. Furthermore, a toner replenishment roller 8 to which the toner 7 is fed and an agitation brush 9 to agitate the toner 7 are sequentially provided below the hopper 4 . Furthermore, this stirring brush 9
A developing sleeve 10 is provided for supplying the toner 7 sent from the toner to the photoreceptor 1.

Next, the toner cartridge 3 as a container has a cylindrical shape, and protrusions 13 are formed on both end plates 12 of the cylindrical container 11, and protrusions 13 are formed on the cylindrical side surface of the cylindrical container 11 along the axial direction. An opening 14 for toner discharge is formed. Further, a rotatable winding tool 15 is provided at the axis of the cylindrical container 11, and a drive gear 16 as a drive unit for rotating the winding tool 15 is connected to one end of the winding tool 15. The drive gear 16 is driven by transmission from the main body drive gear 17.

Next, the sheet 18 as a sealing member is fixed to the rotatable take-up tool 15 on one A side at its adhesive margins A and B (shaded areas), and on the other B side, It is attached from the inner wall side of the section 14. Moreover, this sheet 18 is tapered to reduce the winding force, thereby making it easier to peel off the adhesive margin B side.

As shown in FIG. 6, the rotatable winding tool 15 provided on the axis of the toner cartridge 3 is fixed near both end plates 12 of the cylindrical container 11, and the toner winding tool 15 is formed in the radial direction of the cylindrical container 11. A toner delivery winding tool 20 having a delivery portion 19 may also be used.

Furthermore, although the rotational force of the winding tool 15 and the toner delivery winding tool 20 is transmitted and driven by gears, it may alternatively be driven by a dog clutch system (not shown).

In such a configuration, first, the toner cartridge 3
The protrusion 13 is set and inserted into the groove 5 formed in the hopper 4 of the developing bag W2.

By aligning with the groove 5, the opening 14 of the toner cartridge 3 and the toner supply port 21 of the hopper 4 of the developing device 2 are aligned.

Next, when the drive for toner replenishment is transmitted from the main body drive gear 17 to the drive gear 16, the carefully provided winding tool 15 begins to rotate in the direction of the arrow. As the winding tool 15 rotates, the toner cartridge 3 also begins to rotate in the same direction, but at this time, the protrusion 13 of the toner cartridge 3
Since the toner cartridge 3 hits a locking portion 6 formed in the hopper 4 of the developing device 2, rotation of the toner cartridge 3 is prevented and the toner cartridge 3 stops.

Thereafter, only the fifth winding tool 15 rotates, and the sheet 18 fixed thereto is gradually wound up from the one end A side, so that the sheet 1 that had sealed the opening 14 is finally rolled up.
The B side of B is peeled off, and as a result, the toner 7 naturally falls from the vertically oriented opening 14 of the toner cartridge 3 to the toner supply port 21 side of the hopper 4, and then the toner supply roller 8 and stirring brush 9
The toner 7 is supplied to the surface of the photoreceptor 1 by the developing sleeve 10 via the toner 7 to perform development.

Therefore, since the sheet 18 is naturally peeled off by the winding tool 15 while it is set in the developing device 2, there is no possibility that the toner 7 will scatter and stain clothes or the like.

Note that if a toner delivery take-up tool 20 having a toner delivery section 19 is used instead of the take-up tool 15 as shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, and the toner 7 is sent out by this rotation, the hopper Even if the toner supply port 21 of No. 4 is oriented horizontally instead of vertically, the toner 7 will be sequentially sent out to the toner supply port 21 side, and the toner 7 that was aggregated during storage will also be loosened naturally. It is possible.

Effect The present invention provides a sealing member that seals a toner discharge opening formed in a part of a container containing toner from the inner wall side thereof, and one end of this sealing member is rotatably inserted into the inside of the container. Since it is fixed to the installed winding tool and the driving part located outside the container is connected to this winding tool, the seal member affixed to the opening can be removed by the winding tool while it is set in the developing device. Since the toner is peeled off, there is no chance of the toner scattering and staining clothes or nearby devices.

This makes it possible to further simplify the task of replacing the toner cartridge.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional front view showing one embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional side view of the seal member, Fig. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the adhesive part of the seal member in Fig. 1 developed, and Fig. 4 is a longitudinal side view of the seal member.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the hopper portion of the toner cartridge shown in the figure when inserted into the developing device. FIG. 6 is a longitudinal front view showing a modification of FIG. 1. FIG. 7 is a longitudinal side view of the toner cartridge. 8 are longitudinal sectional side views of the toner cartridge inserted into the developing device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a toner cartridge in which an opening for discharging toner formed in a part of a container containing toner is sealed with a sealing member, a sealing member is provided to seal the opening from the inner wall side, and one end of this sealing member is provided. A toner cartridge, characterized in that the toner cartridge is fixed to a winding tool rotatably mounted inside the container, and a driving section located outside the container is connected to the winding tool.