KR100541951B1 - Torner cartridge for image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

A toner cartridge for an image forming apparatus according to the present invention, comprising: a guide tube having a toner supply hole and installed in a toner housing; A first opening and closing tube installed in the guide tube and having a first inclined portion inclined at a predetermined angle; A second opening and closing tube rotatably installed in the guide tube to open and close the toner supply hole and having a second inclined portion inclined at a predetermined angle to correspond to the first inclined portion; And an elastic member elastically pressurizing the second opening / closing tube toward the first opening / closing tube so that the second opening / closing tube can be rotated while the second inclined portion slides along the first inclining portion.

Image forming apparatus, toner cartridge, toner housing, toner supply hole, opening and closing tube

Description

Toner cartridge for image forming apparatus {TORNER CARTRIDGE FOR IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS}

1 is a perspective view schematically showing a laser printer as an example of a general image forming apparatus;

2 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a conventional toner cartridge for an image forming apparatus;

3 and 4 are views for explaining the configuration and operation of the toner cartridge for the image forming apparatus according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, and

5 is a side cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A of FIG.

<Description of Symbols for Main Parts of Drawings>

100; toner cartridge 110; toner housing

111; communication hole 120; guide tube

121; guide groove 122; opening

123; toner supply hole 124; third ramp

130,140; 1,2 opening and closing pipe 131,141; 1,2 opening

132,142; 1,2 projections 144; Toner supply groove

145; Leakage preventing member 150; Holding lever

151; elastic support member 160; working shaft

161; operating plate 170; elastic member

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to a toner cartridge for an image forming apparatus having an improved toner supply structure.

1 is a perspective view schematically showing a laser printer as an example of a general image forming apparatus.

As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus includes an image forming apparatus main body 10, a laser scanning unit (not shown) for scanning a laser light onto a photosensitive drum (not shown) to form an electrostatic latent image, and an image forming apparatus. A developing unit 20 detachably installed in the main body 10 and having a photosensitive drum, a toner cartridge 30 for supplying toner to develop an electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum, and a toner image developed on the photosensitive drum And a transfer unit (not shown) for transferring the paper onto the paper.

Here, the developing unit 20 and the toner cartridge 30 are detachably installed in the image forming apparatus main body 10, and the image forming apparatus main body 10 is coupled to the developing unit 20 so that the toner cartridge 30 is coupled to the developing unit 20. The toner cartridge 30 works only after it is mounted on the door and the opening / closing door 11 is closed.

2 is a perspective view showing the structure of a conventional toner cartridge 30. As shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 2, the conventional toner cartridge 30 has a structure in which the cover 32 covers the toner housing 31 provided with the toner storage chamber 31a in which a predetermined amount of toner is stored. A toner supply unit 33 is provided at one side of the toner housing 31, and the toner stored in the toner storage chamber 31a is supplied to the developing unit 20 (see FIG. 1) under the toner supply unit 33. Toner supply holes (not shown) are formed. The toner supply hole is opened and closed by an opening and closing roller 34 installed in the toner supply unit 33. The opening and closing roller 34 has a communication hole 35 corresponding to the toner supply hole. The opening / closing roller 34 is rotated by the opening / closing lever 36 provided on the side of the toner housing 31. The open / close lever 36 is connected to the open / close roller 34 by a connecting member 37 such as a shaft, so that the user operates the open / close lever 36 to supply the communication hole 35 and the toner of the open / close roller 34. Make the balls side by side. A plurality of agitators 38 are provided in the toner storage chamber 31a. These agitators 38 rotate to move the toner stored in the toner storage chamber 31a toward the toner supply unit 33. When the agitator 38 moves the toner toward the toner supply part 33 while the communicating hole 35 and the toner supply hole of the opening / closing roller 34 are in communication with each other, the toner moves to the communicating hole 35 and the toner supply hole. It is supplied to the developing unit 20 through.

However, in the conventional toner cartridge 30 for an image forming apparatus having the above-described configuration, since the user rotates the opening / closing roller 34 by operating the opening / closing lever 36, an excessive force is applied to the opening / closing lever 36. In this case, the connecting member 37 connecting the open / close lever 36 and the open / close roller 34 may be damaged. In addition, when the toner cartridge 30 is separated from the main body 10 of the image forming apparatus while the toner supply hole is opened by a user's mistake, the toner may leak from the toner cartridge 30.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a toner cartridge for an image forming apparatus which can automatically open a toner supply hole without a user's operation and prevent toner leakage due to user's carelessness. .

A toner cartridge for an image forming apparatus according to the present invention for achieving the above object comprises a guide tube having a toner supply hole and installed in a toner housing; A first opening and closing tube installed in the guide tube and having a first inclined portion inclined at a predetermined angle; A second opening and closing tube rotatably installed in the guide tube to open and close the toner supply hole and having a second inclined portion inclined at a predetermined angle to correspond to the first inclined portion; And an elastic member elastically pressurizing the second opening / closing tube toward the first opening / closing tube so that the second opening / closing member can be rotated while the second inclined portion slides along the first inclining portion.

Here, the guide groove is formed on the inner circumferential surface of the guide tube, the projection is selectively provided in the guide groove in order to prevent the second opening and closing tube is rotated on the outer circumferential surface of the second opening and closing tube.

In the toner cartridge according to the present invention having the above structure, one end is coupled to the first opening and closing tube and the other end is toner so that the first opening and closing tube pushes the second opening and closing tube from the guide groove. It is preferred to include an actuating shaft projecting out of the housing.

In addition, the inner peripheral surface of the guide tube is provided with a third inclined portion inclined at a predetermined angle so as to correspond to the second inclined portion, the second opening and closing tube is pressed by the elastic member so that the second inclined portion is the third inclined portion It is preferable that the second opening and closing tube closes the toner supply hole by sliding along a part.

In addition, the toner cartridge according to the present invention includes a holding means for suppressing the flow of the working shaft, the holding means comprising: a working plate coupled to the other end of the working shaft; A holding lever mounted to the toner housing so as to be pivotable and having an end thereof supporting the operation plate in an outward direction of the toner housing; And an elastic support member for elastically supporting the holding lever.

Hereinafter, a toner cartridge for an image forming apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. For reference, the toner cartridge for the image forming apparatus according to the present invention has a difference in the opening and closing structure of the conventional toner cartridge and the toner supply hole, but the rest of the configuration is similar, and thus the detailed description of the remaining configuration is omitted. In addition, about the part with the same structure and operation as before, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected and it is referred to.

As shown in FIG. 3, the toner cartridge 100 for an image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes a toner housing 110, a guide tube 120, and first and second opening and closing tubes 130 and 140. And a holding lever 150.

The toner housing 110 is provided with a toner storage chamber 31a (see FIG. 2) for storing a predetermined amount of toner, and a lower portion of the toner housing 110 for supplying toner to the developing unit 20 (see FIG. 1). The communication hole 111 is formed. The toner stored in the toner storage chamber 31a is conveyed to the communication hole 111 side by the agitator 38 (see Fig. 2).

The guide tube 120 is installed above the communication hole 111 in the toner housing 110. The guide tube 120 is for guiding the movement of the first and second opening and closing tube 130, 140, the inner circumferential surface is provided with a guide groove 121 of a predetermined length. The guide tube 120 is formed with openings and toner supply holes 122 and 123 for passing the toner carried by the agitator 38 from the toner storage chamber 31a toward the communication hole 111. . The openings and the toner supply holes 122 and 123 are formed to face the upper and lower portions of the guide tube 120 to be parallel to the communication holes 111. In addition, the inside of the guide tube 120 is stepped so that the inner diameter is different from each other, as shown in Figure 5, the second opening and closing tube (large diameter of the outer diameter in the portion where the first opening and closing tube 130 having a small outer diameter ( The third inclined portion 124 extends to the portion side in which the 140 is accommodated.

The first and second opening and closing tubes 130 and 140 are installed in the guide tube 120 to open and close the communication hole 111 while moving. The first and second opening and closing tubes 130 and 140 are cut into one tube to be inclined and divided into two, and the diameter of the second opening and closing tube 140 is larger than that of the first opening and closing tube 130. This is big. One end of each of the first and second opening and closing tubes 130 and 140 is provided with first and second inclined portions 131 and 141 respectively having predetermined slopes and corresponding to each other.

The first opening and closing tube 130 is to move by pressing the second opening and closing tube 140, the other end is coupled to the operating shaft 160. A part of the operation shaft 160 protrudes out of the toner housing 110 so that a user can operate it, and an operation plate 161 is coupled to an end thereof. A first protrusion 132 corresponding to the guide groove 121 of the toner housing 110 is provided at one side of the outer circumferential surface of the first opening and closing tube 130. The first protrusion 132 is inserted into the guide groove 121 to guide the linear movement of the first opening and closing tube 130.

In addition, the second opening and closing tube 140 serves to substantially open and close the communication hole 111 and is elastically supported toward the first opening and closing tube 130 by the elastic member 170. One end of the elastic member 170 is coupled to the side of the guide tube 120 and the other end is coupled to the coupling shaft 143 protruding from the other end of the second opening and closing tube 140 to the outside. In addition, an upper portion of the second opening and closing tube 140 is opened so that the toner conveyed by the agitator 38 in the toner storage chamber 31a can be passed through the communication hole 111, and the lower portion of FIG. A toner supply groove 144 is provided as shown in FIG. If the toner supply groove 144 is not parallel to the communication hole 111, the toner cannot be discharged to the outside of the toner housing 110 through the communication hole 111, and the second opening and closing tube 140 is rotated so that the toner supply groove is rotated. When the 144 is aligned with the communication hole 111, the toner may be discharged to the outside of the toner housing 110. In addition, the outer circumferential surface of the second opening and closing tube 140 is provided with a leakage preventing member 145 for blocking the toner supply hole 123 of the guide tube 120 to prevent the toner from leaking through the toner supply hole 123. do.

The holding lever 150 is for preventing the opening of the communication hole 111 by operating the operating shaft 160 irrespective of the intention of the user, one end of the operating shaft 160 in contact with the operating plate 161. To the outside of the toner housing 110. The holding lever 150 is elastically supported by the elastic support member 151 provided in the toner housing 110 in a state in which the holding lever 150 is hinged to the support rib 112 provided on the outside of the toner housing 110 so as to be pivotable. Holding lever 150 has a shape bent at a predetermined angle around the hinge shaft 152, the lower lever than the lower surface of the first lever portion 153 and the toner housing 110 supporting the operating plate 161. The second lever part 154 protrudes. The elastic member 151 is coupled to the second lever portion 154. When the toner housing 110 is mounted on the image forming apparatus main body 10, when the holding lever 150 is pivoted while the second lever unit 154 is pushed by the image forming apparatus main body 10, the first lever unit 153 is rotated. One end of) is separated from the operation plate 161.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described the operation of the toner cartridge 100 for an image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 3, when the toner cartridge 100 is not mounted on the image forming apparatus main body 10, the operation shaft 160 may not flow by the holding lever 150. At this time, the second protrusion 142 of the second opening and closing tube 140 is inserted into the guide groove 121 of the guide tube 120 is impossible to rotate, the toner supply groove 144 and the communication hole 111 The communication hole 111 is closed because the leakage preventing member 145 blocks the toner supply hole 123 without being parallel. Therefore, the toner of the toner cartridge 100 cannot be discharged to the outside of the toner housing 110.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, when the toner cartridge 100 is mounted to the image forming apparatus main body 10 (see FIG. 1), the first lever part 153 of the holding lever 150 is connected to the image forming apparatus main body (see FIG. 1). Pushed by the opening / closing door 11 of FIG. 10, the supporting action of the first lever part 153 against the operating shaft 160 is released. When the opening / closing door 11 of the image forming apparatus main body 10 is closed, the pressing shaft 12 of the opening / closing door 11 presses the operating plate 161. As a result, the first opening and closing tube 130 is linearly moved along the guide groove 121, and the second opening and closing tube 140 is pushed by the first opening and closing tube 130 so that the second protrusion 142 is guide groove ( Departure from 121). At this time, since the second opening and closing tube 140 is pressurized toward the first opening and closing tube 130 by the elastic member 170, the second protrusion 142 is separated from the guide groove 121 and at the same time, the second opening is closed. The second inclined portion 141 (see FIG. 3) of the closed pipe 140 is slid in contact with the first inclined portion 131 (see FIG. 3) of the first opening / closing tube 130 while the second opening and closing tube 140 is closed. It is rotated by a predetermined angle. Here, the second opening and closing tube 140 stops rotating at a position where the toner supply groove 144 is parallel with the communication hole 111. Therefore, when the agitator 38 (see FIG. 2) is operated to transport the toner in the toner storage chamber 32 (see FIG. 2), the toner is opened at the opening 122 of the guide tube 120 and the second opening and closing tube 140. After passing through the toner supply groove 144 and the toner supply hole 123 of the guide tube 120 of the through-hole 111 is discharged to the developing unit 20 (see Fig. 1).

When the toner cartridge 100 is separated from the image forming apparatus main body 10 again, the second opening and closing tube 140 is pushed toward the first opening and closing tube 130 by the elastic restoring force of the elastic member 170. The second opening and closing tube 140 is rotated to its original position while the second inclined portion 141 slides along the third inclined portion 124 of the guide tube 120. As a result, the second protrusion 142 is inserted into the guide groove 121 and the first and second opening and closing tubes 130 and 140 are returned to the initial state as shown in FIG. 3.

According to the present invention as described above, since the toner supply hole is automatically opened by closing the opening / closing door after the toner cartridge is mounted on the image forming apparatus main body, the user opens and closes to open the toner supply hole as in the prior art. The inconvenience of manipulating the lever can be reduced.

In addition, since the operation shaft for opening the toner supply hole is possible only when the toner cartridge is mounted on the image forming apparatus main body, the toner supply hole is opened by inadvertent operation of the user while the toner cartridge is separated from the image forming apparatus main body. The problem does not occur.

While the invention has been shown and described with respect to preferred embodiments for illustrating the principles of the invention, the invention is not limited to the construction and operation as shown and described. Rather, those skilled in the art will appreciate that many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Accordingly, all such suitable changes and modifications and equivalents should be considered to be within the scope of the present invention.

Claims (5)

A guide tube having a toner supply hole and installed in the toner housing; A first opening and closing tube installed in the guide tube and having a first inclined portion inclined at a predetermined angle; A second opening and closing tube rotatably installed in the guide tube to open and close the toner supply hole and having a second inclined portion inclined at a predetermined angle to correspond to the first inclined portion; And And an elastic member elastically pressurizing the second opening and closing tube to the first opening and closing side so that the second opening and closing tube is rotated while the second inclined portion slides along the first inclined portion. Toner cartridge for the device. The method of claim 1, Guide grooves are formed on the inner circumferential surface of the guide tube, and an image forming method is provided on the outer circumferential surface of the second opening / closing tube and a protrusion selectively inserted into the guide groove to prevent the second opening / closing tube from being rotated. Toner cartridge for the device. The method of claim 2, One end is coupled to the first opening and closing the other opening and the other end so that the first opening and closing the tube to push the second opening and closing the guide groove and the other end comprises a working shaft protruding out of the toner housing A toner cartridge for an image forming apparatus. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, The inner circumferential surface of the guide tube is provided with a third inclined portion inclined at a predetermined angle to correspond to the second inclined portion, The toner for the image forming apparatus, wherein the second opening and closing tube closes the toner supply hole by pressing the second opening and closing tube by the elastic member and sliding the second inclined portion along the third inclining portion. cartridge. The method of claim 3, wherein And holding means for suppressing flow of the working shaft, wherein the holding means A working plate coupled to the other end of the working shaft; A holding lever mounted to the toner housing so as to be pivotable and having an end thereof supporting the operation plate in an outward direction of the toner housing; And And an elastic support member for elastically supporting the holding lever.

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