MXPA98004949A

MXPA98004949A - Pigment supply container and image formation device electrofotograf

Info

Publication number: MXPA98004949A
Application number: MXPA/A/1998/004949A
Authority: MX
Inventors: Murakami Ayumu; Ban Yutaka; Omata Kazuhiko; Miyazaki Kyota
Original assignee: Canon Inc
Priority date: 1997-06-19
Filing date: 1998-06-19
Publication date: 1999-06-01

Abstract

The present invention relates to a toner container, which can be removably mounted to a main unit of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, comprising: (a) a toner housing portion for housing toner; toner supply hole for discharging toner housed in the toner housing portion; (c) a toner feeder member including a toner feeder portion for feeding the toner housed in the toner housing portion, to the toner supply hole by rotation thereof, and an extension extending from the toner feeder portion wherein a center of rotation of the toner feeder member is in an orifice region of the toner supplying hole, when viewed in the longitudinal direction of the toner feeder member. toner, where the toner feeder member penetrates through the toner supplying hole, to the outside of the supplying orifice toner, and where the extension is provided with a portion that will be supported on a rotating basis by the unit's main unit

Description

PIGMENT SUPPLY CONTAINER AND ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGE FORMATION APPARATUS FIELD OF THE INVENTION AND RELATED TECHNIQUE The present invention relates to a pigment supply container that can be removably mounted to a main unit of an electrophotographic image-X forming apparatus to which the pigment supply container can be removably mounted. . The electrophotographic image forming apparatus forms an image in a recording material using an imager-like process. electrophotographic Examples of electrophotographic image forming apparatus include a copying machine electrophotographic, an electrophotographic printer | (laser beam printer, LED printers or similar), a facsimile machine and a word processor. Up to now, an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, such as a copying machine Electrophotography or a printer uses pigment powder or fine toner as a developer. When the developer is used in the main unit of the apparatus, the pigment is supplied to the main unit of the apparatus using a pigment supply vessel.

At this point, in a known system, since the pigment is very fine powder or particles, the pigment supply container is kept placed inside the main unit of the apparatus, and the pigment is discharged at a small speed through a small hole during the pigment supply operation, to avoid pigment dispersion. In this system it is difficult to allow the pigment to fall by gravity or similar and, therefore, * requires some means feeder. 10 As an example of a pigment supply vessel provided with this pigment feeder is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. HEI-7-113796. The pigment supply container is generally cylindrical, and an end portion of The latter is provided with a relatively small hole for releasing the pigment. A helical member is provided in the container for feeding the pigment which receives the driving or driving force from the outside, penetrating through a wall of the end of the container. 20 An obturating mechanism of the bearing is necessary to prevent the pigment from leaking through the hole in the end for the driving transmission. In general, the shutter mechanism includes a gear or articulated member provided at the end of the feeder member, and A shutter is interposed between the gear member and the surface of the vessel wall. The obturator is in many cases an annular wool felt, an oil seal or the like. The pigment supply container is used while being held in the main unit of the apparatus and the pigment is fed by rotation of the pigment feeder member, driven from the main unit, and the pigment is discharged at a small speed through the hole. On the other hand, another pigment supply vessel having a pigment feeder is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. HEI-7-44000. The pigment supply container is in the form of a cylindrical bottle and the The inner surface of this is provided with a helical rib, and a small discharge outlet of the pigment is provided adjacent the center at one end. The pigment supply container, contrary to the conventional example already described, has no means internal feeder and is used while holding in the main unit of the apparatus, and the main body of the container itself is rotated by the main unit to feed the pigment. The pigment fed to the end adjacent to the discharge outlet is guided by a portion extended adjacent the orifice to be raised towards the discharge outlet adjacent the center of the container, and then discharged.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, a main objective of the present invention is to provide a pigment supply container that is placed in a main unit of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, and wherein the pigment can be supplied to the main unit with elevated reliability. Another object of the present invention is to provide a pigment supply container of the low manufacturing cost type. In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a pigment supply container is provided which can be removably mounted to a main unit of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, which consists of: (a) a pigment housing portion for receiving pigment; (b) a pigment supply orifice or a port for discharging the pigment housed in the housing portion of the pigment; (c) a pigment feed member for feeding the pigment housed in the pigment housing porvion to the pigment feeder hole by rotating it, wherein the center The rotation of the pigment feeder member is in an orifice region of the pigment supply port seen in the longitudinal direction of the pigment feeder member. These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent upon consideration of the following description of preferred embodiments of the present invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is an illustration of an electrophotographic copying machine which is an example of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus to which a pigment supply vessel according to the present invention can be mounted. Figure 2 is a perspective view of the electrophotographic copying machine. Figure 3 is an illustration of the pigment-supplying container and the electrophotographic copying machine, wherein the cover of the electrophotographic copying machine, for exchange of the pigment-supplying container, is opened to load the pigment-supplying container. Figure 4 shows a pigment supply container according to the first embodiment of the present invention, wherein (A) is a partially sectional front view of this, (B) is a side view of this, and (C) is a sectional side view of this. Figure 5 is a sectional front view of the pigment supply container which is mounted to the image forming apparatus 5 and is not sealed (open). Figure 6 shows a sealing member for the pigment supply container, wherein (A) is a front view of this, (B) is a view taken along a # line A of (A), and (C) is a view taken along a line B of (A). Figure 7 shows the electrophotographic copying machine, where (A) is a side view of this, (B) is a front view of this, (C) is a top plan view of this one where a blank is open. cover for exchanging the pigment supply container. Figure 8 illustrates the means for opening and closing the supply portion of the pigment and the parts around it when the cover is opened. Figure 9 illustrates the means for opening and closing the supplying portion of the pigment and the parts around it when the cover is closed. Figure 10 shows a coupling member for the electrophotographic copying machine, where (A) § * is a front view of this, (B) is a rear view thereof, and (C) is a sectional side view of this . Figure 11 shows a feeder member, wherein (A) is a front view of the feeder member mounted on a shaft portion of the feeder member of the pigment-supplying container, and (B) is a front view of a feeder member provided with a port. Figure 12 is a perspective view of a * feeder member of a pigment supply container 10 according to a second example of the first embodiment of the present invention. Figure 13 illustrates an example of the assembly of the aligning member according to the first embodiment. The figure is a sectional view of a container 15 illustrating a pigment-discharging operation of the pigment-supplying container according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 15 is a perspective view illustrating a principle of pigment discharge from the pigment-supplying container 20 according to this embodiment. Figure 16 illustrates a structure of the feeder member according to a second example of this embodiment.

* Figure 17 illustrates a structure of the feeder member according to a third example of this embodiment. Figure 18 illustrates a member structure feeder according to a third example of this mode. Figure 19 illustrates the means to open and close the pigment supply port and the parts around it when the cover of the copying machine is opened electrophotographic. Figure 20 illustrates the means for opening and closing the pigment supply port and the parts around it when the cover of the electrophotographic copying machine is closed. Figure 21 shows a pigment supply container according to a third embodiment, wherein (A) is a perspective view seen from the side near an obturating member, and (B) is a perspective view seen from the side close to a handle. Figure 22 shows a pigment supply container according to a third embodiment, wherein (A) is a front view thereof, (B) is a sectional view thereof, (C) is a left side view thereof, ( D) is a right side view of the latter, (E) is a sectional side view thereof, and (F) is a top plan view thereof. Figure 23 is a sectional front view of a pigment supply container that is placed in the main unit of the apparatus and a supply port which is in the sealed state. Figure 24 is a sectional front view of a pigment supply container that is placed in the main unit of the apparatus and a supply port which is in the un-sealed state. Figure 25 shows a part that receives pigment according to the third embodiment, wherein (A) is a perspective view seen from a side near a complementary port and (B) is a perspective view seen from a side close to a handle Figure 26 shows a part that houses pigment, where (A) is a front view of it, (B) is a sectional view of it, (C) is a left side view of it (D) is a right side view of this, (E) is a sectional side view thereof, and (F) is a top plan view of the latter. Figure 27 shows an obturating member, where (A) is a front view thereof, (B) is a view taken along line A, (C) is a view taken along line B and (D) is a sectional front view of it.

* Figure 28 shows an agitator member, wherein (A) is a front view thereof, (B) is a left side view thereof and (C) is a right side view thereof. Fig. 29 is an enlarged side view of a rigid knife portion. Figure 30 is an enlarged view of a flexible blade portion. Figure 31 shows an agitator member according to another embodiment of the present invention, wherein (A) is a front view thereof, (B) is a left side view thereof, and (C) is a right side view thereof and (D) is a bottom view thereof. Figure 32 shows a pigment supply container that is installed in the main unit of the apparatus. Figure 33 shows a detailed configuration of the first coupling member. Figure 34 is a detailed illustration of a gear portion. Figure 35 is a detailed illustration of a mobile member. Figure 36 shows a detailed configuration of the second coupling member. Figure 37 shows a drive transmission claw, where (A) is a sectional front view of it, »(B) is a side view of it, and (C) is a front view of this, and (D) is a top plan view of it. Figure 38 shows a transmission member, wherein (A) is a sectional front view thereof, (B) and (C) are side views thereof, and (D) is a front view thereof. Figure 39 shows an example in which the sealing member and the feeding member are formed integrally. Figure 40 shows a pigment supply container, according to a modification of the third modality.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED MODALITIES The mode of the present invention will be described together with the attached drawings. With reference to figure 1, the description will first be made with respect to a structure of an electrophographic copying machine that is an example of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus 20 in which a pigment supply container can be mounted, in accordance with the invention. In the figure, designated by 100 is a main unit of the electrophotographic copying machine. The reference number 101 designates an original that is placed on an original support plate glass 102. A luminous image corresponding to the image information is formed on an electrophotographic photosensitive drum 104 by means of a plurality of mirrors M and a slow Ln of a optical portion 103. Designated by 105-108 are the cassettes. Between the cassettes 105-108, the one containing the sheets of adequate size corresponding to j ^ is selected. original 101 paper size or information ~ entered by the user in operant portion 100a. He The registration material is not limited to paper, but may be an OHP sheet or the like. The sheet P fed by the selection and separation device 105A 108A is fed to a registration roller 110 by a feed portion 109, and is fed in synchronism with the rotation of the drum 104 and the : ¡J j '/ scanning timing of the optical portion 103. Designated by 111, 112 is a transfer discharge device and a separation discharge device. The image of the pigment formed in the drum 104, by a transfer discharge device 111 is transferred to the sheet P. Then, the sheet P which now has a pigment image transferred is separated from the drum 104 by a separation discharge device 112. The sheet P is fed by a feeder portion 113 a a fixing portion 114 wherein the image of the pigment # of the sheet is fixed by heat and pressure, and thereafter, the sheet passes through the discharge / invert portion of the sheet 115 and is discharged to a tray of sheet discharge 127 by rollers sheet unloaders 116 in the case of one side copying mode. In the case of both side copying mode the sheet is fed to the registration roller 110 by the feedback paths 119, 120 with the control of the shaker 118 of * the discharge / inversion portion of sheet 115, and again is fed in the same way as in the one side copying mode and is unloaded to the sheet unloading tray 117. In the case of overlapped copy mode, the sheet P passes through the unloading and inverting portion. of the blade 115, and is partially discharged by the sheet unloading roller 116 temporarily. After this, the terminal end of the sheet P passes through the shaker 118, and the shaker 118 is controlled when the sheet is still held by the sheet unloading roller 116, and the sheet unloader roller 116 is inverted so that the sheet is fed to the apparatus. Then, the sheet is fed to the registration roller 110 by the feedback portions 119, 120 and is fed in the same way as in the copy mode of one side towards the tray of sheet download 117.

In the main unit 100 of the apparatus, a developer station 201, the cleaning station 202, the primary charger 203 and the like are placed around the drum 104. The developing station 201 operates to reveal with pigment or toner an electrostatic latent image formed in the drum 104 by the optical portion 103 on the basis of the original information 101. A pigment supply container 1 for supplying the pigment to the developing station 201 is mounted on the main unit 100 in the way that the operator can assemble and disassemble it. The developing station 201 has a hopper or pigment feeder 201a and a developing device 201b. The pigment hopper 201a includes a stirring member 201c for stirring the pigment supplied from the container supplier of pigment. The pigment stirred by the stirring iflf member 201c is fed to the developing device 201b by a magnetic roller 201b. The developing device 201b includes a developing roller 201f a feeder member 201e. The pigment fed from the hopper of pigment 201a by the magnetic roller 2Oid, further it is fed to the developing roller 201-f by the feeder member 201e, and then fed to the photo-responsive cylinder 104 by the developing roller 201f. The cleaning station is provided to eliminate the pigment remaining in the photo-sensitive drum 104. The primary charger 203 functions to charge the photosensitive drum 104. When the operator opens, as shown in figure 3, the cover 15 for exchanging the pigment-supplying container, the cover being a part of the outer housing, the platform or receiving table of the container 50 is driven to a predetermined position by a drive system (not shown). A pigment supply container 1 is placed on the table 50. When the user removes the container 1 from the main unit 100 of the apparatus, the pigment supply container 1 is removed from the table 50 that has been removed. The cover 15 is provided exclusively for mounting and dismounting (exchanging) the pigment supply container 1, and it opens or closes only when the container 1 is assembled or disassembled. For the maintenance of the main unit 100 a cover 100c is opened on the front side. The pigment supply container 1 can be mounted or dismounted directly from the main unit 100 without using the receiving table of the container 50. With reference to figures 4 and 5, the pigment supply container according to the first embodiment of the invention will be described. present invention. In Figure 4, (A) is a partially sectional front view of the pigment-supplying container of this embodiment. (B) is a side view of the pigment supply container. (C) is a sectional side view of the pigment supply container. Figure 5 is a sectional front view in which the pigment supply container is loaded in the unit main device and the shutter has been removed. In figure 4 and 5, designated by IA, there is a main part of the pigment supply container (main body of the container). The powder pigment is r * W to reveal the electrostatic latent image formed in the drum 104, and can be one component pigment, two component pigment or other. Designated by two is a feeder member for supplying the powder pigment housed in the main body IA of the container to the pigment hopper 201a which is a mounted receiving portion. to the main unit 100. Designated by 3 is a sealing member, 4 is a coupling member and 9 is a pigment receiving port provided in the pigment hopper 201a in the main unit 100. The toner discharged from the supplying vessel of pigment 1 is fed to the hopper of pigment 201a from the receiving port 9. The structure can be such that the pigment discharged from the pigment-supplying container 1 is fed directly to the developing device 201b not through the pigment hopper 201a.

The main body IA of the pigment-supplying container includes a curved portion 1F having a decreasing amplitude towards the bottom, and a flat surface portion 1G having a substantially constant amplitude, and an arcuate configuration portion 1H extending towards down from the flat surface portion. In this point, the lower portion means a lower portion when the pigment supply container 1 is mounted in the main unit 100 of the apparatus, and the bottom surface, the upper surface, the lower surface and the lateral surface are the surfaces that are the surface of the bottom, top surface, bottom surface and side surface when the pigment supply container 1 is mounted in the main unit 100. The pigment supply container 1 is shown in the same position as when it is mounted in the main unit of the apparatus in figures 4, 5, 14, 15, 16, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 and 39. In a lower portion of a side surface 1A1 of the main unit IA of the container, a cylindrical portion of the supplying port of pigment to supply the pigment housed in the housing portion of the pigment ln in the main unit of the apparatus, is formed as a projection. In an end portion of the portion of the pigment supply port is provided a port supplying pigment lc. A receiving portion Ib is formed to rotatably support the feeder member 2 in a position corresponding to the portion of the pigment supplying port on the other side surface Ib.

On the outside of the bottom surface ID a clutch portion is provided for coupling with an opening and closing means for the pigment supply port, which is provided in the main unit 100 and which will be described later, to move the supply container of pigment 1 in the direction of assembly and disassembly. In this embodiment, the clutch portion 1C is in the form of a pin or spike projected outwardly from the bottom surface ID. The upper surface 1E is provided with a recess to provide a hold for facilitating the operator when the pigment supply container 1 is mounted on the main unit 100 of the apparatus and when this is removed from the main unit 100. On the front side and the lower inclined surface 1 on the rear side, ribs lf extend parallel each other to facilitating the handling of the main body IA of the container when the user assembles the pigment supply container 1 in the main unit 100. The main body 1A of the container can preferably be produced by injection molding, blow molding, blow molding and the like, of a resinous plastic material, but another manufacturing method and / or material is employed, the main body IA can be divided into two or more parts, and the fabricated parts can be welded or united to unify them. In the embodiment, an upper frame and a lower frame that are respectively made by injection molding of high impact polystyrene are joined together by means of vibration sounding. On the other hand, the feeder member 2 functions to feed the pigment housed in the main body IA towards the pigment supplying port lg. The feeder member 2 includes, as shown in Figure 5, a shaft portion 2A, and a rigid helical feeder blade 2B in the portion of the shaft 2A that functions as a feeder portion for feeding the powder pigment in a predetermined direction by rotation of the portion of axis 2A. The feeder member 2 is mounted to the main body IA of the container with the axis of the shaft portion 2A substantially coaxial with the center of the pigment supplying port lg. The feeder member 2 is not limited to a type called screw of this mode, but can be a flexible blade mounted on the shaft portion 2A, for example. The shaft portion and the blades must be molded in an integrated manner. In this embodiment, the shaft portion 2A and the blade 2B are made of plastic resin material and are molded in an integrated manner. In this embodiment, the feeder member 2 includes an extension portion 2C that extends to the portion of the cylinder of the serving portion of pigment la. In this embodiment, the extension portion 2C projects outwardly from the portion of the pigment supplying port IA. The free end portion of the extension portion 2C projected outwards receives the force of rotation from the main unit 100 of the apparatus. To achieve this, the free end portion is provided with an obturating member 3 that moves in the direction of the axis. As will be described in more detail below, the sealing member 3 has 4 functions of this mode. More specifically, the four functions are: (1) to seal the portion of the pigment supplying port; (2) receiving the rotational force transmitted from the main unit 100; (3) transmitting the rotation force towards the feeder member 3; and (4) connect with a coupling member 6 provided in the main unit of the apparatus for opening and closing the portion of the pigment supplying port. The driving force received by the sealing member 3 of the main unit 100 is transmitted to the shaft portion 2A by the spreading portion 2C for to rotate the feeder member 2.

The end portion 2A of the extension portion 2C has a configuration that can receive rotational force by the sealing member 3 from the main unit 100, and in this embodiment has an H-shape. The end portion of the shaft portion 2A it is supported by an obturating member 3 by an end portion 2a of the spreading portion 2C. The other end portion 2b of the shaft portion 2A is rotatably coupled with a # receiving portion 2b of the main body IA of the container, so that the feeder member 2 rotates when the container is not sealed. The feeder member 2 is supported by the sealing member 3 in such a way that the feeder blade 2B is out of contact with the surface of the wall The internal portion of the portion of the pigment supplying port of the pigment, and this portion of axis 2a and the inner wall surface of the portion of the pigment supplying port are substantially horizontal. With the support of the feeder member 2 in this form, the pigment can be fed in the substantially horizontal direction towards the pigment-supplying port Ig when the feeder member 2 is rotated. If the fine particles of the pigment are introduced between the surface of the inner wall of the portion of the pigment-supplying port and the blade. and these are rubbed, the pigment can be fused to the inner wall surface or it is possible that pigment aggregates are formed. This can be avoided. The feeder member 2 preferably can be manufactured by injection molding or the like from a plastic resin material, as described, but another method or material is employed. This can be divided into a plurality of parts that are manufactured separately, and then joined together. With reference to Figure 6 the sealing member 3 will be described. In Figure 6, (A) is a front view of the obturator member; (B) is a perspective view seen in the direction A in (A); (C) is a view in the D direction in (TO); and (D) is a front view in section. In (A) - (D) of Figure 6, designated 3b, there is an obturating section, provided on its side closest to the pigment supply container, for sealing so that the pigment supplying port lg of the pigment can be opened. pigment supply container 1. The The outer diameter of the sealing portion 3b is much larger than the inner diameter of the pigment supplying port lg. Thus, the sealing member 3 is sealed to the pigment-supplying port Ig by pressure fitting the coupling portion 3bl of the sealing portion 3b in the portion of the pigment-supplying port through the pigment-supplying port lg. Designated by 3c is a clutch portion that functions as a portion that receives the motive force to receive the driving force to rotate the feeder member 2 from the main unit 100 of the apparatus when the pigment supply container 1 is mounted in the unit main 100. The clutch portion 3c is provided with a projected portion 3cl extended in the direction coaxial with the axis portion 2a of the feeder member 2 in the direction away from the main body ÍA of the sealing portion 3b (when the sealing member 3 is mounted to the main body IA of the container). The clutch portion 3c is provided with projection of elongated ridges (ribs) 3d on the peripheral surface of the projected portion 3cl, whose projections function as a portion receiving the engagable drive force with the coupling member 4. In this embodiment, four of these striae projections are provided at the same distance and in the circumferential direction. The sealing member 3 is provided with a clutch hole 3a which functions as a transmitting portion of the driving force to transmit to the feeder member 2., the driving force from the main unit 100 by coupling with an end portion 2a of the feeder member 2 and the clutch hole 3a is in the form of an opening (hole) formed in the sealing portion 3b and the clutch portion 3c. The clutch hole 3a is H-shaped which corresponds to the shape H of the end of the shaft 2a of the feeder member 2 projected from the powder pigment supplying portion la, and is slightly larger than the end of the shaft 2a. By this, the end of the shaft 2a engages loosely with the clutch hole 3a. By the shaft end 2a loosely coupled with the clutch hole 3a, the feeder member 2 and the sealing member 3 are interconnected in the direction of rotation of the feeder member 2, as they move relative to each other in the direction of push. Thus, the sealing member 3 can be separated from the main body 1A of the container when the pigment-supplying container is mounted in the main unit, as will be described below, so as to achieve the separation of the shutter (opening) from the supplying port of the container. pigment powder Ig. The length of the coupling between the end of the shaft 2A and the coupling hole 3a is quite long to prevent disengagement between the sealing member 3 and the main body IA of the container when the sealing member 3 moves away from the main body. Therefore, even if the sealing member 3 moves away from the main body IA of the container, the feeding member 2 can receive the driving force by the sealing member 3 (clutch portion 3C). Between the clutch portion 3c and the sealing portion 3b, there is provided a flange portion 3f which is connected to the end of the port for supplying pigment when the sealing portion 3b is press fit into the port la. The external diameter of the flange portion is substantially equal to the external diameter of the serving port portion of pigment la. By means of the flange portion 3f, the sealing portion 3b is press fit in the serving port portion of the pigment through a distance corresponding to the length of the portion of the coupling 3bl. Designated by 3e is a locking projection 3q which functions as a blocking portion which is formed at one end of a clutch portion and which is to be coupled with the blocking member 6 in the main unit 100 (FIG. 5) and by coupling between the block projection 3e and the blocking member 6, the sealing member 3 can be fixed when the shutter is removed from the powder pig supplying port lg. The sealing member 3 that has this structure may preferably be manufactured by injection molding a resinous material or the like, but another method and / or material is employed. The sealing member 3 is required to have a suitable elasticity for snapping in the supplying port of the pigment and sealing the port. The material of preference is a low density polyethylene, and other usable examples include polypropylene, high density polyethylene or the like. A method of assembling the pigment-supplying container 1 will be described below. In the method of assembling the pigment-supplying container 1, the feeder member 2 is inserted into the lower portion of the main body IA of the container via the pigment-supplying port lg (Figure 5). Then, the predetermined amount of pigment (not shown) is filled in the main body IA and finally, the pigment supplying port lg is sealed by a sealing member 3, whereby the pigment supply container 1 is obtained. In this way, the assembly of the pigment supply container 1 of this embodiment is very simple and easy, and there are very few manufacturing steps. The pigment can be filled through the pigment supplying port Ig; otherwise, a port for filling the additional pigment (not shown) can be formed in a suitable portion of the main body IA of the container, and the pigment can be filled through the pigment filling port, which is then plugged . Another alternative form, the main body 1A of the container can be divided into two or more parts, which are joined together after the pigment is filled. Where the pigment supplying port lg of the main body IA formed integrally is also used a filling port, no additional cover or joining step after filling is necessary. In the portion of the pigment supplying port, the feeder member 2 extends, and therefore, it is preferable that it be of sufficient size to allow uniform discharge of the pigment. The description will be made as the ratio of the transverse area of the port portion the pigment provider and the cross-sectional area of the passage portion (portion of axis 2A) of the feeder member '^' 2. The cross-sectional area of the portion of the pigment-supplying port is preferably not less than twice the cross-sectional area of the portion of axis 2a of the member feeder 2, in addition to preference, is not less than three times, and still further preferred not less than five times. In this mode it is approximately 3 times. In this mode, the portion of the pigment supplying port is cylindrical, and therefore, the internal diameter of the The portion of the pigment-supplying port is approximately 3 times the external diameter of the axis portion 2A of the feeder member 2. On the other hand, if the inner diameter of the portion of the pigment-supplying port is too much.

In addition, the pigment contamination around the pigment supply port lg is significant, and it may be difficult to maintain the airtightness during transportation or in the event of a change in the environmental condition. Therefore, the internal diameter of the portion of the pigment supply port, preferably not greater than 40 mm. In this mode it is approximately 24 mm. The description will be made for an exchange method of the pigment supply vessel. When the pigment is completely consumed pigment supply container 1 with the image formations, the detector means of the supply container of ^ W- empty pigment (not shown) provided in the main unit 100 of the apparatus detects it, and shows the event to the user in the display means 100b (FIG. 2) as can be a liquid crystal display. In this embodiment, the pigment supply container 1 is exchanged by the user by the following steps. As shown in (A) and (B) of Figures 2 to 1, the cover 15 which is in this closed moment, is opened by turning it around the hinge 18 to a position as shown in figure (C). The main body IA moves through the opening means of the supplying portion of the pigment, which will be described further ahead, in interrelation with the hole in the cover 15, and the sealing member 3 (Figure 9) which is in the open position away from the main body IA to open the pigment supplying port lg, is adjusted by pressure in cold portion of the pigment supplying port through which the pigment supplying port lg is closed (figure 8). The user removes the pigment supply container 1, which now does not contain the pigment, from the main unit 100 in the opposite direction of the address indicated by the arrow in (C), to remove it from the main unit 100. 'After this, the user inserts the new pigment supply container 1 into the main unit 100 in the direction of the arrow, and then closes the cover 15 ((A) and b)). In the interrelation with the action of closing the cover 15 the sealing member 3 is separated from the main body IA of the container by the opening means of the pigment supply portion, thereby opening the pigment supplying port Ig. In this way, the pigment supply container is exchanged.

With reference to figures 8 and 9 the description will be made according to the opening and closing operation of the pigment supplying port lg which is interrelated with the opening and closing operation of the cover 15. The structures in the following description are provided in the main unit 100 of the apparatus. In FIGS. 8 and 9, designated by 6, there is a blocking member that functions as locking means for locking the sealing member 3 by coupling with the locking projection 3e of the clutch portion 3c. Designated by 57 is a support table having the blocking member 6 mounted thereto, and the support table 57 is rotatable about an axis of rotation 57a, and is pushed in the clockwise direction by the control member. push 58. Designated by 59 is a stop for the placement of the support table 57. Designated by 60 s finds a sliding table that slides by a rotary roller 63. Designated by 51 is a carrier member of the container provided on the table slidable 60, and the container carrying member 51 is rotatable about the center of rotation 51a, is pushed in the counterclockwise direction by a spring 52. Designated by 53 is a retainer for the positioning of the container carrying member 51 .

The member that moves the pigment supply container is constituted by a member carrying the container 51 and the sliding table 60. The means for opening and closing the pigment supply port is constituted by the carrying member of the container 51, the sliding table 61 and the blocking member 6. On the other hand, the carrier member of the container 51 is provided with a locking portion 51c for blocking the clutch projection lc of the main body of the container. When the clutch projection lc advances in the direction indicated by the arrow C as shown in figure 8, with the insertion of the pigment supply container 1 in the main unit 100 of the apparatus, the carrier member of the container 51 rotates against the force elastic container 52 in the direction of the arrow B. When the clutch projection lc is inserted into the block portion 51c, the carrier member 51 returns by the spring force of the spring 52 to block the clutch projection lc. When the carrier member 51 blocks the projection of clutch lc, the pigment supply container 1 is moved by the sliding table 60 in the mounting and dismounting directions (arrows A and B in figures 7, 8). Designated by 54 is a sliding axle that is supported by the support means (not shown) for the sliding movement in the direction of the axis. The sliding shaft 54 is pushed in the direction away from the support table 57 (downward direction in FIG. 8) as indicated by the arrow A by the thrust member (not shown). The position of this is determined by the shaft seal 55. Designated by 56 is a blocking member mounted to the sliding shaft 54. When the sliding shaft 54 slides in the direction of the support table 57 as indicated by the arrow B , the blocking member 56 is brought into engagement with the rib portion 51e of the container carrying member .51 to lock the carrier member of the container 51. The direction of the arrow A is the direction of disassembly of the supply container 1 of the main unit. 100 of the apparatus, and the direction of the arrow B is the mounting direction thereof to the main unit of the apparatus. The sliding table 60 is provided with a projection 60a formed therein. The projection 60a engages with an elongated hole 61b formed in an end portion of the oscillating arm 61 that oscillates about the oscillating shaft 61a. The oscillating arm 61 is pushed in the clockwise direction by the elastic force of the push member 62, and is positioned by the stop 64. The other end portion of the oscillating arm 61 is # provided with a slot portion 61b that It has an open end. The cover 15 is provided with a projection 15b that enters the slot portion 61d when the cover is closed. cover 15. By means of the projection 15b which enters the slot portion 61d, the oscillating arm 61 oscillates in the counter-clockwise direction against the elastic force of the pushing member 62 in relation to the closing operation of the cover 15. FIG. The cover 15 for exchange is provided with a wall portion 15a which is connected to an end portion 54a of the slidable shaft 54 when it is closed. Through the wall portion 15a, the sliding shaft 54 slides in the direction of the arrow B in interrelation with the closing operation of the cover 15. By sliding the sliding shaft 54 in this way, the other end 54b of the sliding shaft 54 is in abutting contact with the projection 57b of the support table 57. By this, the table of support 57 and blocking member 6 rotate against the elastic force of the push member 58, whereby the blocking member 6 blocks the blocking projection 3e of the sealing member 3. With these structures, when the pigment supply container 1 is inserted into the main unit of the apparatus, as shown in (C) of Figure 7, the clutch projection lc of the main body of the container moves in the direction of arrow C shown in Figure 8. After this, the clutch projection 1C is blocked with the blocking portion 51c of the container carrying member 51, and the fresh or new pigment supply container 2 is mounted to the main unit 100 in this state. In other words, the pigment supply container 1 is correctly positioned in the main unit 100 of the apparatus by means of the clutch projection 1C. After it is installed, in this way, the pigment supply container 1, the cover 15 is closed and, by this, the wall portion 15a of the cover 15 is connected to an end portion 54a of the sliding shaft 54, so that the sliding shaft 54 it slides in the direction of the arrow B. After this, the other end 54b of the sliding shaft 64 is connected to the projection 57b of the support table 57. By this, the support table 57 and the blocking member 6 are made rotate against the elastic force of the pushing member 58, by which the blocking member 6 blocks the blocking projection 3e of the sealing member 3. The blocking member 56 of the sliding shaft 54 moves towards the carrier member of the container 51 with the sliding movement of the sliding shaft 54 and engages with the rib portion 51e of the container carrying member.

By doing this, the carrier member of the container 51 is blocked. When the cover 15 is closed at a predetermined position, the projection 15b of the cover 15 enters the slot portion 61d of the oscillating arm 61 to oscillate the oscillating arm 61 counter-clockwise against the elastic force of the projection 15b. By oscillating the oscillating arm 61, the sliding table fr 60 slides in the direction of the arrow A.

By this, the pigment-supplying container 1 which blocks with the carrier member of the container 51 in the clutch projection lc also slides in the same direction. When the supply container 1 moves in the direction of the arrow A, the sealing member 3 is blocked with the blocking member 6 so that it is impossible to move it in the direction of the arrow A. Therefore, the main body of the container is separated from the sealing member 3, opening in this way the pigment supply port Ig, as shown in Figure 9. The portion of the pigment supplying port, as shown in Figure 5, is held by the support 5 of the main unit 100 with the outer periphery sealed with an annular sealing member 7. Therefore, when the supply container 1 is mounted on the main unit 100, the position of this is determined by the clutch projection 1C and the serving portion of the pigment. In this embodiment, the sealing member 3 is supported in a position remote from the supplying port of pigment Ig. By doing this, it can be kept at a distance necessary to allow uniform discharge of the pigment, depending on the coagulation property of the pigment. In this way it is possible to avoid the obstruction of the adjacent discharge outlet and various problems resulting therefrom. 10 On the other hand, when the user opens the cover After the pigment in the pigment-supplying container 1 has been substantially completely consumed, the projection 15b of the cover 15 moves from the position shown in Figure 9 to make butt contact with the wall portion 61c of the oscillating arm 61 to oscillate the ßfr oscillating arm 61 in the clockwise direction. Then, the sliding table 61 slides in the direction of the arrow B and the pigment supply container 1 slides in the same direction. 20 At this time the member carrying the container 51 receives a force in the clockwise direction from the clutch projection of the pigment supply container. However, since the blocking member 56 blocks the rotation of the carrier member of the container 51, the clutch projection lc is prevented from disengaging from the carrier member of the container 51. Therefore, the pigment supply container 1 slides to the pigment supplying port Ig in abut contact with the flange portion 3f of the member shutter 3, whereby the pigment supplying port lg is closed. Then, the cover 15 further opens, the sliding shaft 54 is moved to a predetermined position by the retainer of the shaft 55 since it is pushed in the direction of the arrow A by the pushing means as described above. With this, the sealing means 6 rotates in the clockwise direction to move the sealing member 3 away. Therefore, the sealing member 3 is released by means of the blocking member 6. The carrier member of the container 51 is released from the blocking of the container. blocking member 56. With this state, the pigment supply container 1 is removable from the main unit 100. Then the pigment supply container 1 can be separated by pulling it in the direction of the arrow A. By applying the pulling force in the direction of the arrow A, the blocking of the clutch projection lc is released by the carrier member of the container 51. As described above, when the pigment supply container 1 is installed in the main unit 100, the blocking projection 3e of the sealing member 3 is blocked by the blocking member 6 and is supported far fr of the pigment supplying port lg of the pigment-supplying container. At this time the clutch ratio in the direction of rotation between the sealing member 3 and the feeder member 2 is maintained. Therefore, by rotation received by the sealing member 3 from the main unit 100, the feeder member 2 rotates to gradually supplying the pigment to the main unit 100 through the supplying port of pigment lg. In the modality, the pigment detector 201g is provided in the pigment hopper. When the detector 201g detects that there is no pigment, the sealing member 3 rotates. When the when detector 201g detects the presence of pigment, rotation of the sealing member is stopped. In this way, the sealing member 3 rotates in a intermittent according to the consumption of the pigment in the main unit 100, so that the pigment is supplied intermittently and gradually to the main unit 100. However, it is possible to supply all the pigment to the main unit 100 when the container The pigment supplier 1 is installed in the main unit 100. On the other hand, when the pigment supply container 1 is installed in the main unit, the clutch portion 3c of the sealing member 3, as shown in FIG.

Figure 5, is engaged with the coupling member 4 of the main unit 100. The coupling member 4 functions to transmit, to the sealing member 3, the driving force of the driving device (not shown) provided in the main unit 100. Figure 10 shows in detail the coupling member, wherein (A) is a front view of the coupling member, and (B) is a rear side view, and (C) is a sectional side view. In Figure 10, designated fr by 4a, there is a gear portion formed on the outer surface of the coupling member 4. This receives the driving force from the side of the main unit 100 through the gear portion 4a. Designated by 4b is a receiving hole for receiving the sealing member 3, and this is formed in the center of the coupling member 4. The inner surface of the The hole 4b is provided with a clutch groove 4c for coupling with the spline projections 3d of the sealing member 3. The end of the hole 4b opposite the pigment supply container 1 is provided with a guide portion of decreasing section 4d. In this embodiment, 4 of the 3d groove projections are formed on the external curved surface of the sealing member 3, with the same distance. In addition, twelve clutch slots 4c are formed in the coupling member 4. The The number of clutch slots 4c is greater than the number of fr 3d projections, and the guide portions 4d are provided, so that, when the pigment supply container is installed in the main unit, they can be securely coupled yet if there is a phase difference between the 5 splines 3d and the clutch slots 4c. The number of the 3d projections of the sealing member 3 is not limited to 4, but can be suitably selected by one skilled in the art. The same applies to the number of clutch slots 4c, and is not limited to 12. 10 The description of the pigment discharge will be made. The coupling member 4 receives the rotation force through the impulse transmission means (not shown) such as the gear or the like from the power source (not shown) such as an engine or similar, of the main unit 100. The driving force is transmitted to the sealing member 3 by the coupling between the spline 3d projection and the clutch slot 4c, and is transmitted to the feeder member 2 through the coupling between the free end in the form of H 2a and the clutch hole in the shape of H 3a. In this embodiment, the rotation speed of the feeder member 2 is 25 rotations per minute. When the feeder member 2 rotates, the pigment housed in the main body IA of the container is fed to the pigment supplying port lg, and after this, it drops from the pigment supplying port lg to the pigment hopper 201a through the pigment receiving port 9 of the main unit 100. The portion from the supplying port of pigment lg to the port 5 pigment receiver 9 is hermetically sealed by means of the sealing member 7, as already described and, therefore, the pigment discharged from the supplying port a of Ig pigment is prevented from leaking outwards or Disperse A rotating sliding portion exists in a The portion where the sealing member 3 and the main unit 100 make contact, but the portion is far from the portion of the pigment supplying port, and therefore, does not directly contact the pigment, so as not to cause pigment coagulation. or similar. The position of the rotating sliding portion can be away from the portion The pig of the pigment supply port is at a suitable distance according to the pigment fluidity, the feeding force of the feeder member 2, the speed of discharge of the pigment. The present invention is not limited to any of the details of the first embodiment. For example, the disengagement method of the sealing member 3 may be such that the main body side 1A moves while the sealing member 3 is fixed, or may be so that the sealing member 3 fr moves while the main body IA of the container is fixed. However, the sealing member 3 receives a rotational force from the main unit 100, as described above. Therefore, when the member obturator 3 moves while the main body of the container is fixed, the mechanism is more complicated and, therefore, the fixed obturating member 3 is preferred. The rotation speed of the feeder member 3 fr is suitably selected by a person skilled in the art. technique, according to the feeding amount of the pigment, but if it is too high, the charges of the driving source of the main unit 100 or the pulse transmission mechanism increases, if it is too low the pigment can not be fed in a quantity enough. Preferably it is 3-100 rotations per minute, more preferably 5-50 rotations per minute. The configuration of the main body IA of the container can be any if space can be used efficiently, and the size in the capacity of the The pigment container can be suitably selected by a person skilled in the art. Even if the amount of pigment is as large as about 2 kg, for example, what rotates is only the feeder member 2, and therefore, the torque of the necessary rotation is so small as 2-3 kgf-cm. The sealing member 3 is press fit into the pigment supplying portion, but a sealing member can be used to seal the portion, or a threaded portion corresponding to the main body IA and the sealing member 3 can be used to seal the portion. In the first embodiment, the feeder member of the feeder member 2 is of a helical shape having a high feed force, but the helical shape is not unavoidable. For example, as shown in Figure 11, (A), a blade portion 2aB in the form of a film as a feeder element can be installed on the shaft portion 2A. In this case, the pigment is discharged using the pigment fluidity. As shown in Fig. 11, (B), the blade portion 2Ba can be provided with a window 2B1 by which the moment of torque twisting of the feeder member 2 can be reduced. A second embodiment of the present invention will be described wherein the pigment-supplying container 1 has a feeder member 2 provided with this blade portion. Figure 12 is a perspective view of the feeder member .2 for the pigment feeder container, according to the second embodiment. In this figure, designated by 21 is a blade portion of the feeder member 2 mounted so that the phase of this fr is continuously changed in the direction of the axis of the axis portion 2A. The feeder member 2 provided with this knife portion 21 is preferably integrally formed by injection molding or the like, but may be divided into two or more parts that are unified by welding or bonding or the like. As material of the axis portion 2A when the feeder member 2 is divided into two parts, there is the material of plastic resin, metal or the like which have a rigidity. The blade portion 21 is preferably made of laminated material with flexibility. More specifically, a single layer material or multi-layer material of polyester, polypropylene, Nylon, polyethylene or fluorine resin material. The thickness of the blade portion 21 of The preference is approximately 50 μ-1 mm. In this embodiment, a polyester sheet having a thickness of 188-250 μ is used satisfactorily. The configuration of the blade portion 21 does not is necessarily a specific shape such as the trapezoid shape, rather it is necessary that the length of the center of rotation of the shaft portion 2A to the free end of the blade portion 21 be substantially constant over the entire length of the blade portion 21 (as with the rectangular configuration, for example). From the point of view of the assembly property of the feeder member 2, the knife portion 21 is an integral member over its entire length. Therefore, an integral blade portion 21 is preferable, and as such, the material can be used efficiently since the blade portion 21 can be cut in one piece. When the pigment forms a cake in the main body IA of the container as a result of the main unit 100 which remains unused for a long time, the pigment can be continuously removed and the efficient discharge of the pigment is achieved when the knife portion 21 is complete. The description of the mounting method of the blade portion 21 will be made in the axis portion 2A. When the feeder member 2 is constituted by the shaft portion 2A and the knife portion 21, it is required that the knife portion 21 be installed in the shaft portion 2 with torsion relative to the shaft portion of the shaft portion 2A so that the phase change continuously in relation to the axial direction of the axis portion 2A. For the mounting method, as shown in Figure 12, the drum portion of the shaft portion 2A is provided with corrugated projections 22 in various portions to allow assembly of the blade 2B. On the other hand, The blade portion 21 is provided with the corrugated hole portion 23 for receiving the corrugated projections 22 of the shaft portion 2. The corrugated projections 22 engage the portions of the hole with corrugations 23, and these are coupled and unified by 5 thermal undulation or ultrasonic undulation. On the other hand, when the blade mounting surface of the shaft portion 2A is twisted in the direction with the axis direction, as shown in FIG. 13, the mounting surface cold 2d (shaded portion) of the portion The blade 21 of the shaft portion 2 changes continuously with respect to the axis direction of the shaft portion 2A. Then, the blade portion 21 is assembled and unified with the shaft portion by adhesive material or a double layer tape or the like on the surface 2d. In either type, it is preferred that the phase difference of the blade portion 21 in relation to the direction of the shaft is approximately 90 °. With reference to Figure 14, the pigment discharge operation of the feeder member 2 will be described. that has the structures already described. By rotating, from 0 to 360 °, the axis portion 2A of the feeder member 2 in the direction of the arrow A in (1) of this figure, the entire feeder member 2 rotates sequentially in the order of (1) - > (2) - > (3) - > (4) - 25 > (1) . During the rotation of (1) - > (2), the knife portion ^ PL 21 flexes and curves as it enters the space formed between the inner bottom surface of the main body IA of the container and the portion of the shaft 2A. The blade portion 21 rotates through (2) - > (3) - > (4) while rubbing the inner lower surface of the main body IA of the container. At this time, since the phase of the blade portion 21 continuously changes in the direction of the axis of fr the axis portion 2A, the degrees of flexion of the portion blade 21 are different between the axial ends of the blade portion. Therefore, the pigment feeder function is produced in the direction of the axis of the axis portion 2A, so that the pigment is fed in the longitudinal direction (lateral direction of the unit main) of the main body IA of the container. Since the knife portion 21 makes contact with the inner bottom surface of the main body 1A of the container, the pigment can be effectively fed even when the amount of pigment in the body The main content of the container decreases, and as a result, the remaining amount of pigment may be reduced after the end of the pigment discharge from it. In addition, the pigment is fed to the discharge outlet by the elastic return action of the blade portion 21 at the time of (4) to (1) in Figure 14. In this manner, in addition to the pigment feeding effect by the flexibility of the blade portion 21 at the time of contact of the latter with the surface bottom internal of the main body IA of the container, the elastic return effect of the blade portion 21 further feeds the pigment and, therefore, the pigment can be fed efficiently. As shown in Figures 14, (5), by providing sufficient length from the axis portion 2A to the The free end of the knife portion 21, the pigment TI that forms a cake can be separated by the elasticity of the knife portion 21. In this way, this embodiment is useful with a container of the type wherein the height of the main body IA is so big that the port portion pigment provider takes it one position below the body k. main IAA of the container, so that the latitude is improved by reducing the limit for the configuration, whereby the space is the main unit of the image forming apparatus can be used effectively. The pigment discharge experiments have been carried out using the pigment supply container 1 of the structure already described, and it has been confirmed that the stable pigment discharge property was achieved. (amount of pigment discharge per unit time), and the The amount of pigment remaining in the container after the end of the discharge was as small as approximately 10 g. The initial torque required for the rotation of the feeder member 2 was approximately 2 kgf-cm. In the experiments, the blade portion of the feeder member 2 was of a polyester sheet having a thickness of about 188 μ and was mounted to the shaft portion 2A of ABS resin material using a double-coated tape. The main body IA of the cold container contained approximately 1500 g of pigment, and the member The feeder 2 was rotated at the speed of the rotation sequence of about 30 rotations per minute for the pigment discharge. The rotation speed of the feeder member 2 was changed in the range of 20-50 rotations per minute, and I verified the change of the download property, and it was found Wm, that the amount of pigment discharge per unit time increases with the increase of the rotation speed. Therefore, it was found that the amount of pigment discharge per unit time can be controlled by controlling the rotational speed of the feeder member 2. As a case of pigment forming cake in the main body 1A of the container, the main body IA of the container was tapped after it was filled with pigment, and after that the download experiments. More specifically, the container # filled with the pigment was fixed on a knocking platform with the same position as the pigment discharge, and the knocking platform was dropped a thousand times with the height of 100 mm and the frequency of 2 Hz. 5 As a result, the pigment discharge property and the remainder of the pigment amount were substantially the same as with the experiments without tapping, so it was confirmed that the pigment can be effectively discharged while the pigment is in contact with the pigment. forming cake or not. The initial torque required for the rotation of the feeder member 2 is slightly greater (approximately 5 Kgf-cm), but it is not so high that the motive power is overloaded. The torque for rotation is maximum when the knife portion 21 enters the pigment that formed cake (1) and (2) in Figure 14). When the feeder member 2 has such a structure that it changes the phase of the knife portion 21 in the axial direction, the synchronization of the knife portion 21 entering the pigment is different in the direction of the axis, so that the torque of the rotation can be reduced. In this embodiment, the phase of the knife portion 21 changes in the axial direction, and therefore, even if a portion of the knife portion 21 is in the condition that is seen in Figure 14 (3) the state of (1) in Figure 14 fr exists in another position, so that the blade portion 21 is prevented from becoming entangled around the axis portion 2A. In this way, according to the present invention, the blade portion is prevented from becoming entangled around the axis portion. Figure 16 shows a feeder member 2 according to the second embodiment wherein a screw member 2e is added to the structure of figure 12 adjacent to the fr portion of the pigment supplying port of the member . In another sense, the structures of this mode are the same as the first mode, and the pigment discharge experiments were carried out under the same conditions using the pigment supply container 1 of the first mode. As a result, the discharge property of the pigment was better than in the first embodiment, and the amount of pigment remaining after the end of the pigment discharge was approximately 10. As a result of the addition of screw member 2e, the variation of amount of pigment discharge was 5-10 g / min, which was better than 10-20 g / min. In the first embodiment and the improved stability of the amount of pigment discharge was confirmed. The initial torque required for the rotation of the feeder member 2 was approximately 4 Kgf-cm fr The rotation speed of the feeder member 2 was changed in the range of 20-50 rotations per minute, and the property change was verified , and it was found that the amount of pigment discharge per unit time increased 5 with the increase of the rotation speed. Therefore, it was found that it is possible to control the amount of pigment discharge per unit time by controlling the rotation speed of the feeder member 2. The amount of pigment discharge per time Unit was stable from the initial stage to the final stage of the pigment discharge when the pigment formed cake before the pigment was discharged by derivation of the container and when 1 cake of the pigment was undone by stirring the supplying container 1 by the user before it was mounted to the main unit 100 of the apparatus. For example, when the feeder member 2 is rotated at 36 rpm, the amount of pigment discharge was 70-100 / min. Regardless of the previous state of the pigment. When the pigment does not form cake and is loose, the The pigment having high fluidity tends to precipitate or accelerate towards the exit of the discharge (the supplying port of pigment Ig) and discharges at an unnecessarily high speed (it flows violently), but this phenomenon does not occur with the embodiment of the figure 16. This is because at least one full turn of the screw member 2e having the helical configuration is arranged in the cylindrical pigment supplying portion so that the easily running pigment can be adequately stopped by this means. 5 The discharge experiments were carried out for the pigment supply container 1 filled with the pigment after it was struck a thousand times. As a result, the property of pigment discharge and the amount of pigment remaining in the container were similar to case without knocking. The initial torque required for rotation of the feeder member 2 is slightly higher (approximately 8 kgf / cm) but it is not so high that the power source is overloaded. Figure 17 shows a structure where a part of the blade portion 21 of the feeder member 2 shown in Figure 13 is removed to provide a window configuration 21a, according to a third embodiment of the present invention. With the arrangement of the window configuration 21a, the discharge experiments of The pigment was carried out under the same conditions for the pigment supply container 1 having the same structure as with the first mode except for the window. As a result, the download property of The pigment, the amount of pigment remaining in the main body of the container after finishing the charge, was the same as with the first mode. The initial torque required for the rotation of the feeder member 2, when the tapping was not carried out, was about 2 kgf-cm which is the same as in the first embodiment. The initial torque required after 1000 taps was decreased from about 5 kgf-cm, which is the torque without the window, to fr approximately 4 kgf-cm; the initial twisting moment * when the pigment became agglomerated it decreased through the window. Figure 18 shows a structure of a feeder member 2 according to a fourth embodiment wherein a screw member 2e shown in figure 16 is added to the feeder member 2 shown in figure 17. experiments of the pigment discharge were carried out under the same conditions as with the first mode, except for the arrangement of the screw member 2e and the window configuration 21a. As a result, the download property of pigment, it was better than with the third mode in the stability, and the amount of pigment remaining in the container after the end of the discharge, were equivalent to those of the third mode. The initial torque required without tapping was approximately 4 kgf-cm similar to the second mode. The initial torque required after 1000 taps decreased from approximately 8 kgf-cm without the window to approximately 6 kgf-cm. In this way, by arranging the knife portion 21 at the axis portion 2A of the feeder member 2 in which the phase of the blade continuously changes in relation to the axial direction of the axis portion 2A, the pigment feed function is makes it more effective, and the amount of pigment remaining in the main unit of the container can be reduced. In addition, by arranging the windows in one or more portions of the blade portion 21, the required torque portion of the rotation can be reduced. In this invention, the cover 15 for the exchange and the hinge portion 18 for this can be provided in the positions shown in Figure 19. With reference to Figures 19 and 20, the structure for opening and closing the supplying port of lg tones by the movement of the exchange cover provided in the position will be described below. Figure 19 shows the state where the cover 15 is open, and Figure 20 shows the state where the cover 15 is closed. In these figures, the same preference numbers as in Figure 8 are assigned to the elements that have the corresponding functions, and detailed descriptions of these will be omitted for simplicity. In FIGS. 19, 20, designated 19, there is a member that supports the pigment-supplying container having a center of rotation that is concentric with the pigment-receiving port 9, and the pigment-supplying container 1 is mounted on the support member of pigment supply vessel 19 with the exchange operation. Appointed by 20 is a guide member provided with a clutch groove 20a which is engageable with the clutch projection lc provided in the main body IA, and is fixed in the main unit 100 of the apparatus. Designated by 25 is a joint for interrelating the cover 15 and the support member of the container pigment provider 19 in connection portions 25a 25b. When the cover 15 is closed, the support member of the pigment supply container 19 is rotated to a position as shown in Figure 20 by the joint 25. With this structure, when the user closes the cover 15 after assembly of the new pigment-supplying container 1 on the support member of the pigment-supplying container 19, the support member of the pigment-supplying container 19 is rotated to the position shown in figure 20 by the joint 25. With the rotation of the support member of the pigment-supplying container 19, the main body IA of the container also rotates so that the clutch projection lc provided in the main body IA it moves to 5 through 1C-1C1-1C2 as shown in Fig. 19. In this case, with the rotation of the main body IA, the sealing member rotates in the clockwise direction and the blocking projection 3e of the sealing member 3 is blocked with blocking member 6 in a position where the clutch projection lc reaches 1C1. After the sealing member 3 locks with the blocking member 6, the cover 15 closes more and the clutch projection lc enters the clutch slot 20a of the guide member 20 and moves along the wall portion 20b of the clutch groove 20a in the direction away from the center of rotation of the support member of the pigment-supplying container 19. By this, the main body IA of the container moves away from the sealing member blocked with the blocking member 6, from way that the pigment supplying port lg is opened as shown in figure 20. On the other hand, when the user opens the cover 15 in the state shown in figure 20, after substantially all the pigment in the container The pigment supplier 1 has been used, the projection of the clutch of the main body IA moves along the wall portion 20c of the guide member 20. With the movement of the clutch projection lc, the main body ÍA is moved until the pigment supplying port lg contacts 5 stop with the flange portion 3f of the sealing member 3, whereby the pigment supplying port Ig closes. A third embodiment of the present invention will be described below. In this embodiment there is provided a feeder member and an agitator member which is a member separate from the feeder member. Figure 21 is a perspective view of a pigment supply container 301 in accordance with the third embodiment of the present invention. Figure 22, (A), is a front view of the pigment supply container according to this embodiment, and (B) is a sectional view. Fig. 22 (C) is a left side view of the supply container of The pigment, (D) is a right side view of the pigment-supplying container, (E) is a sectional side view of the pigment-supplying container and (F) is a top plan view of the pigment-supplying container. Figure 23 is a sectional front view in where the pigment supply container is loaded in the main unit 100 of the apparatus, and the supplying port is opened. Fig. 24 is a sectional front view in which the pigment supply container is loaded in the main unit 100 of the apparatus, and the supply port 5 is plugged. In Figures 21-24 designated by 301A is a main unit of the container, and 302 is a feeder member for feeding the pigment housed in the main body 301A to the portion of the container 301A. pigment supplier port 301a. Designated by 303 is an obturating member for sealing the pigment supply port, 301g and 304 is a coupling member for transmitting the driving force to the sealing member 303 when the supplying container The pigment is mounted in the main unit 100 of the apparatus. Designated by 305 is an agitator member for stirring the pigment in the main body IA. Designated by 306 is a clutch transmission member with the agitator member 305 for transmitting rotational force from the image forming apparatus towards the agitator member. Designated by 307 is a second coupling member for transmitting the driving force to transmission member 306 when the pigment supply container is mounted to the main unit 100. fr Designated by 309 is an oil seal to prevent pigment leakage. With reference to FIG. 25 and FIG. 26, the portion of the pigment-supplying container 301A which is a The main unit of the pigment supply container will be described below. Figure 25 is a perspective view of the main unit of the container. kw Figure 26, (A) is a front view of the main unit of the vessel, (B) is a sectional view, (C) is a left side view, (D) is a right side view, (E) is a view of a cross section, (F) is a top plan view. The main body IA of the pigment supply container includes a curved portion 301F having a decreasing amplitude towards the lower portion, a flat surface portion 301G having a substantially constant amplitude extending from the lower portion of the curved portion, and an arcuate configuration portion 301H extending from the lower portion of the portion of flat surface. In a lower portion of a lateral surface 1A1 of the main body 301A of the container, a cylindrical member defining a portion of the pigment-supplying body 301a projects and functions to supply the pigment housed in the housing portion of the pigment In to the main unit of the apparatus. A pigment supply port 301g is provided at an end portion of the portion of the pigment supply port 301a. In a position corresponding to the serving port portion 5 of pigment 301a of the other side surface 301B, a first receiving portion 301b is formed to rotatably support the feeder member 2. Out of 301D, it is provided a portion of clutch 301D for engagement a clutch portion 301c is provided for the coupling with the opening and closing means of the pigment supply port provided in the main unit 100 to move the pigment supply container 301 in the direction of assembly and disassembly. In this embodiment, the clutch portion 301c is in the form of a pin or pin projected outwardly from the lower fr surface 301D. The upper surface 301E is provided with a handle 301e to facilitate the assembly of the pigment supply container 391 to the main unit 100 and the separation thereof from the main unit. The surface inclined lower (curved portion) 301F of the front side and the rear side, has provided slots 301f extended substantially parallel to each other in the longitudinal direction of the container to facilitate handling of the main body IA of the container when the pigment supply container 1 mounts on the main unit 100 of the apparatus. On the first receiving portion 301bl of the other side surface 301B, a second receiving portion 301b2 is provided to rotatably support the stirring member 305. The portion of the pigment supplying port 301a is disposed on a side surface 301A1 opposite from the other side. lateral surface 301B that has the handle 301e in the longitudinal direction of the main body 301A. By this arrangement, when the user assembles the pigment supply container 301 to the main unit 100, the user is prevented from inadvertently touching the portion of the pigment supplying port 301a. The portion of The pigment supply port 301a is located in the lower position of the lateral surface 301A1. Therefore, even if the amount of pigment housed in the main body 301A becomes small, the pigment can be discharged efficiently. The portion of the pigment supply port projects from the side surface 301A by about 20 mm-40 mm, preferably about 27.8 mm. The portion of the pigment supply port 301a has cylindrical fora, and the outer diameter of the cylindrical portion is 20mm-30. mm, preferably approximately 27.6 mm.

As previously described, a clutch portion 301C is provided on the outside of the bottom surface 301D. The clutch portion 301C is correctly positioned by a blocking portion 51C (Figure 8) provided in the main unit 100 of the apparatus when the pigment supply container is mounted in the main unit 100. The clutch portion 301C, as described above, is in the form of a column projection (pin or spike) that projects outward from the lower surface 301D. The portion in the form of a circular column has an outer diameter 8 which is 5 mm-12 mm, preferably about 8 mm. The positioning portion is disposed in a position 2 mm-6 mm away from the lower surface 301D, and the clutch portion 301C (positioning portion) is disposed in a position 60 mm-80 mm, preferably approximately 71 mm away from the opposite lateral end surface 301B on the side of the portion of the pigment-supplying port 301a in the longitudinal direction of the lower surface 301B . The side surface 301A1 and the other side surface 301B, each are provided with two projections 310k, 3011 for the positioning of the main unit of the container when the inspection of the dimension for the main unit of the container is carried out before the vessel be distributed from a plant.

# Designated by 301m there is a rib to avoid the wrong assembly. The user can not perform a wrong assembly of a container by placing the rib 301m in different positions for the containers that supply the pigment. The main body 301A is preferably manufactured by injection molding of resinous material such as plastic resin material, blow molding or cold blow molding or injection, but other material and / or other manufacturing method is employed. The main body 301a of the container can be divided into two or more portions, which are unified by welding, adhesion or the like. In the modality, the upper frame and the lower frame of high impact polystyrene are unified by vibration welding. The feeder member 302, as shown in FIG. 23, includes a shaft portion 302A and a helical rigid feeder blade 302B, at the shaft portion 302A which functions as a feeder portion for feeding the powder pigment in a predetermined direction by rotating the shaft portion 302A. The feeder member 302 is mounted to the main body 301A of the container with the axis of the shaft portion 302A substantially aligned with the center of the pigment supplying port substantially circular 301g.

The feeder member 302 is not limited to the type of screw, as described above, but a flexible blade can be mounted to the shaft portion 302A, for example. The shaft portion and the blade can be molded in an integrated manner and can be separate members. In this embodiment, the blade portion 302A and the blade 302B are made of plastic resin material molded in an integrated manner. In the modality, the feeder member 302 has an extension portion 302C that extends into the cylindrical portion of the portion of the pigment supply port 301a. In this embodiment, the spreading portion 302C fer extends outwardly from the portion of the pigment supplying port 301a. A free end portion of the outwardly extending portion of the extension portion 302C receives rotational force from the main unit 100. Thus, in this embodiment, the sealing member 303 is mounted (in the axial direction) so that can move in the free end portion. An end portion 302a of the extension portion 302c has a configuration, such as polygonal, more specifically, a rectangular configuration, for receiving rotational force through the sealing member 303 from the main unit 100. This end portion of the shaft portion 302A is supported on the sealing member 303 by an end portion 302a of the spreading portion fr 302C. The other end portion 302b of the shaft portion 302A is provided with a first bearing member or bearing 308. This is supported rotationally (not obturating) to the main body 301A by the first bearing member 308. The feeder member 302 is supported on the sealing member 303 so that the feeder blade 302B is out of contact with the surface of the inner wall 301a of the serving port portion of the pigment 301a, and this inner wall surface of the portion of the pigment supply port 301a is substantially parallel with the axis portion 302a. By 'supporting the feeder member 302 in this manner, the pigment can be fed substantially in the direction horizontally towards the pigment supplying port 301g by rotating the feeder member 302. It is possible for the fine pigment particles to enter between the feeder blade 302B and the inner wall surface 301a of the portion of the pigment supplying port 301a and be cast on the surface of the inner wall 301al by strong rubbing therebetween with the result of producing the pigment particles in bulk. However, this can be avoided by supporting the feeder member 302 in this manner.

The feeder member 2 is also preferably manufactured by injection molding or the like of plastic resin material or the like, but another method and / or other material is employed. These can be separate members that are connect. Referring to Figure 27, description will be made for a sealing member 303. In Figure 27 (A) is a front view of a sealing member, (B) is a view taken along line AA, (C) ) is a view taken at along a line B-B, (D) is a sectional front view. In (A) - (D) of Figure 27, designated by 303b, there is an obturating portion provided on an opposite side of the pigment-supplying container 301 of the sealing member 303 for openably sealing - the pigment supplying port 301g of the pigment supply container 301. The outer diameter of the sealing portion 303 is larger than the inner diameter of the pigment supplying port 301g in a quantity adequate. The sealing member 303 hermetically seals the pigment supply port 301g by press fitting the clutch portion 303bl of the sealing portion 303b in the portion of the pigment supply port 301a from the pigment supplying port 301g.

Designated by 303c is a clutch portion which functions as a receiving portion of the driving force (impeller) to receive the driving force to rotate the feeder member 302 from the main unit 100 of the apparatus when the pigment supply container 301 mounts on the main unit 100. The clutch portion 303c is provided with a projected portion 303cl extended from the sealing portion 303b substantially coaxial with fr the axis of the shaft portion 302A of the feeder member 302 in the opposite direction from the main body 301A of the pigment container (when the sealing member 303 is mounted to the main body 301A of the container). The clutch portion 303c is provided on the curved surface of the projected portion 303cl, and is provided with projections elongate (rib) 303d (resembling grooves), which function as a portion receiving the engaging drive force with the coupling member 304. In this embodiment, two of these 3d groove projections are provided at the same distance. More specifically, they are disposed at intervals of approximately 180 °. The rib 303d projects from the outer surface of the sealing member by 0.5 mm -3 mm, preferably approximately 1.8 mm. fr The external diameter of the projected portion 303C1 is 10 mm - 14 mm, preferably approximately 12 mm. The sealing member 303 includes a clutch hole 303a as a driving force transmitting portion for transmitting the driving force received from the main unit 100 to the feeding member 302 by engagement with an end portion 302a of the feeder member 302. The clutch hole 303a forms a hole (hole) through the sealing portion 303b and the clutch portion 303c. At this point, the clutch hole 303a has a rectangular portion corresponding to the rectangular configuration of the end 302a of the axis of the feeder member 302 projecting from the supply portion of pigment powder 301a. This has a dimension slightly larger than the end 302a of the shaft, so that the end 302a fits loosely in the clutch hole 302a. The feeder member 302 and the sealing member 303 are locked to each other in the direction of rotation by loose fitting between the end 302a and the clutch hole 303a. On the other hand, relative movement between them is allowed in the axial direction. In doing so, the sealing member 303 and the main body 301A of the container are removable from one another so that the pigment supplying port fr of pigment 301g can be opened with the assembly of the pigment supply container. The length of the clutch between the clutch hole 303a and the end of the shaft 302a is quite long to prevent disengagement between them when the sealing member 303 and the main body 301A of the container move away from each other. Therefore, even if the sealing member 303 moves away from the main body 3OYA, the feeder member 302 can receive the driving force through the sealing member 303 (clutch portion 303c). Between the clutch portion 303c and the sealing portion 303b, a flange portion 3f is provided which abuts the end of the powder pigment supplying portion 303a when the portion obturator 303b is adjusted with pressure in the portion of pigment supplying port 301a. The external diameter of the flange portion is substantially equal to the outer diameter of the portion of the pigment supplying port 301a (preferably smaller than the external diameter of the portion of the pigment supplying port 301a). Through the flange portion 303f, the sealing portion 303b enters the pigment supplying port portion 301a through the length of the sealing portion 303b. On the other hand, designated by 303e is a locking projection 303e, formed at a free end of the cl clutch portion 303c for the locking coupling with the blocking member 6 provided in the main unit 100 of the apparatus. By blocking, the blocking member 6 with the blocking projection 303e, the sealing member 303 can be fixed when the pigment supplying port 301g is opened. The sealing member 303 is preferably made by integrated injection molding of plastic resin material or similar resinous material, but another is used material, manufacturing method and / or structure not integrated. The sealing member 303 is required to have adequate resilience to effect pressure adjustment in the pigment supplying portion 301a to seal it. The material is polypropylene, Nylon, high polyethylene density or similar, but the most preferable material is -flfc low density polyethylene. Designated by 303j is a locking slot for receiving a blocking member 6 provided in the main unit 100 of the apparatus. The amplitude of the slot blocking 303j is 1.5 mm-5 mm, preferably about 3 mm. The depth of the locking groove is 0.5 mm-5 mm, preferably about 2.5 mm. As described in the foregoing, the sealing member 303 has a substantially clutch portion. cylindrical 303bl clutch with port serving proportion of pigment 303a. The flange portion 303f is substantially coaxial with the clutch portion 303bl. It also includes a projected portion 303cl projecting from the flange portion 303f substantially coaxial with the clutch portion 303bl on an opposite side from the side where the clutch portion 303bl is provided. Adjacent to the free end portion of the projected portion 303cl is provided with a locking groove 303c and a free end portion is formed in the locking portion 303e. There is provided a hollow portion extending from the side of the clutch portion 303bl to the side of the blocking portion 303e, and a transmitting portion of the driving force 303a is provided in the "hollow portion." The locking portion 303e of the hollow portion does not open, and therefore, when the tuck portion 303bl is engaged with the portion of the supplying port of the hollow portion. pigment 303a, the pigment does not leak from the hollow portion to the outside, so that the portion of the pigment supplying port 303a is sealed by mounting the sealing member 303. In the same way for the modes 1 and 2, the sealing member 303 has 4 functions, more specifically, the functions are: (1) to seal the portion of pigment supplying port 301a, (2) to receive transmission of rotational force from main unit 100 of the apparatus, (3) to transmit the rotational force towards the feeder member 303 and (4) engages the engagable member 6 provided in the main unit of the apparatus In this way, the sealing member 303 transmits the driving force received from the unit main 100 of the apparatus to the shaft portion 302A by the extension portion 302C to rotate the feeder member 302. The description will be made for the agitator member 305. Referring to Figure 28, (A) is a front view fr of the agitator member 305, (B) is a left side view, and (C) is a right side view. As shown in Figure 28, the agitator member 305 includes a shaft portion 305a, a rigid blade portion 305b and a flexible blade portion 305c. Figure 29 is an enlarged side view of a rigid blade portion 305, and the figure 30 is an enlarged view of the flexible blade portion 305c. The shaft portion 305a is made of a plastic resin material with relatively high stiffness and is manufactured by injection molding. The rigid blade portion 305b is made of metal such as stainless steel or a highly material rigid, and the flexible blade portion 305c is of material with little stiffness, such as a film or sheet of plastic resin material or elastomeric sheet. In this mode, it is made of a polyester sheet. An end 305d of the agitator member 305 is engaged with the transmission member 306 described above in the bearing portion 301h of the main body of the pigment-supplying container. At another end 305e is engaged with a retaining member (second bearing member) 310f in the second receiving portion 301b2 of the main body of the pigment supply container. The shaft portion 305a in this embodiment is made of plastic resin material with relatively high stiffness and is manufactured by injection molding, but may be of another material such as metal. The rigid blade portion 305b preferably is molded in an integrated manner using metal or the like, another material and / or other manufacturing method is used, or it can be divided into two or more parts, which are unified by welding or adhesion or the like. In this mode, a pressed stainless steel plate is used that has a thickness of approximately 0.8 mm. The clutch portion of the blade portion 305b, which are engagable with the shaft portion 305a has a configuration that conforms to the shaft portion 305a to receive the driving force from the shaft portion 305a, and this rotates with the rotational movement of the axis portion 305a to stir the pigment in the container. It is preferable to provide a removable portion 305h at one end as shown in Figure 28 since then the assembly is simple. The full length of The rigid blade portion 305b is in the form of a plate fr substantially parallel relative to the direction of tangential rotation, and the downstream side of the blade portion with respect to the direction of rotation is bent towards the surface of the inner wall of the blade. container 5 supplier of pigment. The length r of the bent portion 305bl shown in Fig. 29 is about 2 m-8 mm, and the bending angle 6 is preferably about 30 ° -50 °. More preferably, the fr length of the bent portion 305b is about 3mm-10 5mm, and the flexure angle is preferably about 45 °. In this embodiment, the length of the bent portion 305bl is approximately 5 mm, and the flexion angle is approximately 45 °. The distance from the The center of the axis of rotation toward the free end of the rigid blade portion is suitably determined depending on the size of the main body of the container, and is preferably about 70-95% of the internal radius of the main body of the container. In this modality, the The internal diameter of the main body of the container is approximately 44.5 mm, and therefore, it is approximately 39.4 mm (89%). The flexible blade portion 305c is made of a material with low stiffness, such as a film or foil. plastic resin material or elastomeric sheet. The thickness of this is preferably about 50 μ-500 μ and more preferably 100 μ 300 μ. In this embodiment, a polyester sheet having a thickness of approximately 100 microns was used. The flexible blade portion 305c is joined so that the free end makes contact with the surface of the internal wall of the main body over the entire length of the flexed portion 305bl of the rigid blade portion 305b. This rotates by scraping the pigment from the inner wall surface of the container with the rigid blade portion. The length, in the radial direction, the flexible blade portion 305c is preferably longer by about 0.5 mm-10 mm than the distance between the surface of the inner wall of the container and the free end of the rigid blade portion 305b since then the The above described effect can be improved. In this mode, it is longer by approximately 6 mm. The joint between the rigid blade portion 305b and the flexible blade portion 305c is made by a double layer tape 305i (DIC # 8800CH), as shown in Figure 30, in the bent portion 305b of the rigid blade portion 305b. Another method uses rivets or other known means is employed or the molding integrated with the rigid blade portion is employed.

As shown in Figure 31, the rigid blade portion 305b can be divided with a phase difference of 180 ° substantially in the central portion with respect to the direction of the axis, so that the parts > divided are staggered. The number of divisions is suitably determined depending on the configuration and length of the main body of the container, and may be 3 or 4 or more. The phase of the rigid blade portion 305b can change over its entire length to provide a configuration with spiral appearance. The clutch portion between the central portion of the shaft portion and the opposite ends of the rigid blade portion 305b is preferably provided with a peelable portion 305h as shown in the figure since then the assembly property. The length of the bent portion of the rigid blade is approximately 3 mm to reduce the strength of the pigment and decrease the projected area of the rigid blade portion in the direction of rotation. The length and the flexion angle of the folded portion is preferably 2-8 mm and 30-50 °, and more preferably approximately 3-5 mm and approximately 45 °. The rigid blade portion 305b and the flexible blade portion 305c may be corrugated by means of aluminum rivets 4i. In this case, if the position of the The rivet hole of the flexible blade portion 305c deviates even slightly, may be rippled and, therefore, it is preferable to provide the perforation or a half cut in a portion of the flexible blade portion 305c which contacts the bent portion C of the blade portion rigid 305b. The joining means may be a double-coated tape or other known means. A description will be made of the method of assembling the pigment supply container 301. fr The method of assembling the supply container of pigment 301, the feeder member 302 is inserted into the lower portion of the lower frame 301K from the top. An oil seal 309 is inserted into the first receiving portion 301bl and, thereafter, a bearing member 308 engages with the other end portion 302b of the feeder member 302. The pigment supplying port 301g is sealed by the sealing member 303. Then, the agitator member 305 is inserted from the top. An oil seal 309 is inserted into the main body of the container and thereafter, the second bearing member 310 and the transmission member 306 are engaged at opposite ends of the agitator member 305. Then, the upper frame 301J is welded to the lower frame 301K by vibration soldering, and a predetermined amount of the pigment is supplied to the main body 301A of the The container 301i through the filling port 301i of the main body of the pigment supply container 301, and the filling port 301i is sealed by the sealing member 311, to complete the assembly. In this way, the assembly of the pigment supply container 301 is very simple, and the number of steps of the assembly is very small. The pigment filling can be done through the pigment supplying port 301g. In this embodiment, the exchange steps of the pigment supplying vessel 301 are the same as 10 with the first and second modes. When the portion of the pigment-supplying port 301a is opened through the opening and closing means of the pigment-supplying portion, the main body 301A of the container receives forces in the portion of pigment supply port 301a and the clutch portion Br 301C. At this time, as already described, the clutch portion 301c is disposed on an opposite side from the side having a portion of the pigment supply port. 301a in the longitudinal direction to the bottom surface of the main body 301A of the container, the main body 301A is prevented from rising relative to the main unit 100. Even if the main body 3OYA is raised, the movement of the main body 301A beyond a predetermined distance is limited by the contact with upper surface 301E up to the upper surface portion 10000 (FIG. 32) of the main unit 100 of the apparatus. The clutch projection 301c and the pigment supplying port 301g of the pigment supply container 301 are preferably arranged in a line in the sliding direction of the container. By doing so, the production of momentum in any direction in Figure 32 can be avoided in relation to the direction of the slip in "The pigment supply container 301. Even if it is produced At any time in either direction, the movement of the main body 301A beyond a predetermined distance can be prevented by the butt contact of the rib 301j as a side retainer portion provided at 301B towards the portion of the side wall 100a provided in the FIG. unity the main 100. The height of the clutch projection 301c of the pigment supply container 301 is such that the superposition x between the clutch projection 301c and the carrier member of the container 51 (figure 32) is larger. that the distance Y between the upper portion 301E of the container and the upper surface lOOd of the main unit of the apparatus (FIG. 32) to prevent upward disengagement of the pigment-supplying container 301 during the sliding movement.

The horizontal ribs 301j of the pigment-supplying container 301 in FIG. 32 are preferably provided in the upper part of the pigment-supplying container 301 to prevent the formation of 5 lumps, and in this embodiment, are arranged in an upper portion (more above the central height) of the pigment supply vessel 1 with a suitable distance from the side wall portion 100 °. fr The description will be made for a driving mechanism for the pigment supply container 301 in this mode. When the pigment supply container 301 is to be assembled, the clutch portion 303c of the sealing member 303 is brought into engagement with the first coupling member 304 of the main unit of the apparatus, as shown in Figure 23. The first coupling member 304 functions to transmit the driving force of a driving device (not shown) provided in the main unit 100 to the member Fig. 33 shows details of the first coupling member 304. Designated by 512 is a gear member having approximately an engagement on the outer surface 512a. The gear member 512 is consisting of 2 members, namely the engaging portion 512A fr and the lid portion 512B, which are fixed securely by snap fit, adhesion or the like. The interior of the engaging member 512 is provided with biasing means 514 and a movable member 513. The biasing means 514 connects with the portion 512b of the engagement member 512 and the portion 513b of the mobile member 513. Figure 34 is a detailed illustration of gear portion 512, where (A) is a sectional front view and (B) and (C) are side views. Figure 35 is a detailed illustration of the mobile member 513, wherein (A) is a sectional front view, and (B) and (C) are side views, and (D) is a front view. In Fig. 34, the engaging portion 512A is provided with 4 slidable guide ribs 512A1 arranged in the circumference. In Figure 35, the movable member 513 has 4 portions of sliding guide holes 513c arranged in circumference, and engages with the sliding guide ribs 512A1 of the engaging portion 512A1, whereby the movable member 513 is slidable in the member. gear 512. Designated by 513a is a pulse transmitting portion of the movable member 513 the pulse transmitting portion 513a engages an elongated projection 303d of the sealing member 303 to transmit the rotational force of the sealing member when the pigment supply container 1 is mounted in the main unit 100 of the apparatus. In figure 33, designated by 517, 515 are the bearing members for the rotary support of the gear member 512, and 516 is an oil seal. The oil seal 516 prevents the pigment discharged through the pigment supplying port 301g from entering the bearing members 515, 517 resulting in the locking of the meshing member 512. Designated by 519 there is a joint member of the gear, and when the pigment supply container 301 is mounted in the main unit 100 of the apparatus., This makes pressure contact with the portion 303h (figure 27) of the sealing member 303 to prevent the pigment discharged through the port. supplier of pigment 301g between gear member 512. Designated by 511, 510 are the drive side plates for supporting the first coupling member 304. Designated by 518 is a bearing bracket that functions to support the bearing 515 and the oil seal 516 and the , which is fixed securely in the drive side plate 511 by means of screws or adhesion. Designated by 520 is a joint member of the support which prevents the pigment from leaking between the bearing support and the support 5 as shown in Figure 27. The gear joint member 519 and the joint member of the support 518 are fixed to the engagement member 512 and the bearing support 518, respectively, by a double-layered tape or the like, and the material thereof is elastic material such as urethane foam. The description of an operation of the first coupling member 304 will be made. The mobile member 513 of the coupling member is retractable in a direction A in FIG. 33 due to the structure described in the foregoing. Normally, this is pushed into a position, which is shown fr in Figure 33 by the pushing means 514. When the The pigment supply container 301 is mounted on the main unit 100 of the apparatus, the sealing member 303 enters the coupling member, as shown in Figure 23. If the phases of the projections 303d of the sealing member 303 and the transmitting portions of the Member impulse 513a mobile 513 are made to coincide, in the engaging member 512 and the mobile member V 513 are rotated by a drive mechanism of the main unit not shown, so that the sealing member 303 is rotated through the transmitting portion of the pulse 513a. When the phases do not match, the moving member 513 is pushed in the direction A in figure 32 by the projection 303d of the sealing member 3. When the member engages 512 and the mobile member 513 are rotated by the impeller of the main unit with this state, the member Mobile 513 turns until it reaches the coupling phase between the projection 303d of the sealing member 303 and the transmitting portion of the pulse 513a of the sealing member 513. When the phases are matched, the sealing member 513 slides by the pushing means 514 to the position that is FIG. 33 shows in which the pulse transmitting portion 513a and the elongated projection 303d of the sealing member 303 are coupled to transmit the pulse to the sealing member 303. FIG. 36 shows the details of the second coupling member 307. Designated by 521 is an impulse transmitter claw. In Figure 37, (A) is a sectional front view of the transmitter claw of the pulse 521, (B) is a side view, (C) is a front view and (D) is a Figure of the top surface. In Figure 37, designated by 521a, there is a claw portion 521b is a sliding guide portion, 521c is a parallel spline groove portion, and 521d is a receiving surface of a spring. Figure 38 is a detailed illustration of the transmitter member 306 shown in Figure 26, where (A) is a sectional front view, (B) and (C) are side views and (D) is a front view. In Figure 38, designated by 307a, there is a transmission claw portion. In Figure 36, designated by 522, there is an impeller shaft that is rotatably supported in the drive side plates 510 and 511 through the bearings fr 525, 526, and is provided with a unidirectional gear 527 which is provided with an integrated direction 527a which transmits only rotation in one direction of rotation. The impulse transmission leg or claw 521 is slidable by engagement between the sliding guide portion 521b and the drive shaft 522, and by engagement with the portion of the parallel spline groove, the rotation of the drive shaft 522 is transmitted to the Impulse transmission claw 521. Designated by 524 is located the pushing means that connects to the spring seat 528 and the receiving surface of the spring 521d of the impulse transmission claw 521. The description will be made for an operation of the second coupling member 307. The transmission claw of the second coupling member 307 is movable in the direction A in Figure 39 due to the structure described above, and is normally pushed to a position as shown in Figure 36 by the biasing means 524. When the supplier container pigment 301 is mounted on the main unit 100 of the apparatus, the transmitting means 306 enters the second coupling means 307. When the phase relationship in these portions of the transmission claw 307a of the transmitting member 307 are in abutting contact with the claw portions 521a of the impulse transmission claw fr 521, the claw portions 521a of the impulse transmission claw 521 are rotated by the portions of the transmission claw 307a of the extension member 307. At this time, the drive shaft 522 rotates with 5 the rotation of the transmission member 306, but this rotates without benefit due to the unidirectional clutch portion 527a of the unidirectional gear 527, and therefore, when the pigment supply container 301 is mounted in the main unit 100 of the device, the transmission claw of the The pulse 521 and the transmitter member 306 do not interfere. In the pigment-supplying container in the state as shown in Figure 23, for which it is moved from the position shown in Figure 23, the transmission claw of the pulse 521 moved by the means of push 524 with the retraction of the transmitter member 306 to Jr left, so that the clutch is maintained between the transmitter jaw portion 306a of the transmitter member 306 and the jaw portion 521a of the pulse drive pulley 521. 20 From this In this manner, the transmitting member 3,067 receives the driving motive force by means of the unidirectional gear 527, the drive shaft 522 and the impulse drive claw 521 from the driving means of the main unit, which is not shown, so that it is made Turn the stirring member 305. fr The description of the pigment discharge will be made. When the pigment supply container 301 is mounted on the main unit 100 of the apparatus, the locking portion 303e at the end of the sealing member 303 is locked with the blocking member 51C of the image forming apparatus, and is supported in a remote position. of the pigment supply port 301g of the main body 301A of the container. At this time the clutch ratio is maintained, in the direction of rotation, between the member feeder 302 and sealing member 303. The sealing member 303 engages a first coupling member 304 of the main unit of the apparatus by the clutch portion (receiving portion of the driving force) 303C. The first coupling member 304 receives the rotation through the pulse transmitting medium (not shown) as can be a gear or the like from the power source (not shown) such as an engine or the like of the main unit of the apparatus, and is transmitted to the sealing member 303 by coupling with the projections similar to stretch 303d. In addition, it is transmitted to the feeder member 302 by engagement with the free end 302a of the feeder member 302 toward the non-circular or square hole 303a. In the same way, the transmitting member 306 coupled with the end 304d of the agitator member 304 engages a second coupling member 307 of the main unit of the apparatus. The second coupling member 307 of the main unit of the apparatus receives the rotational force by means of the pulse transmitting means (not shown) as it may be a gear from the driving source (not shown) as can be a motor of the Main unit of the apparatus, and is transmitted to the agitator member 304 through the coupling with the clutch claw 306a. The rotation frequencies of the feeder member 302 and the agitator member 304 are approximately 52 rotations / min. And approximately 10 rotations / min. In this modality. When the agitator member 304 rotates, the pigment that has formed cake by removing air due to lack of use for a long time or due to vibration during transportation, it separates and is fed towards -4Bl the portion of the pigment supply port 301a by rotation of the feeder member 302 and discharge and fall through the pigment supplying port lg to be sent to the pigment hopper 201a. 20 The discharge experiments were carried out using the vessels of the structures. The main body of the container was filled with pigment, and the pigment was discharged by the agitator member which rotated at a speed of approximately 10 rotations / min, and by the feeder member that rotated at a speed of fr approximately 52 rotations / min. The sieve (holes of 75 μ and elaborated of SUS) was used to verify the existence of larger particles, and it was confirmed that there were no large particles. The amount of pigment remaining in the container was 20g, and therefore, the reducing effect of the remaining amount of the pigment was also confirmed. In this embodiment, the sealing member 303 is movable in the axial direction relative to the feeder member 302, but the sealing member and the member feeder can be integrated. In Figure 39, the sealing member 320 includes the sealing portion 320a, the driving force receiving portion 320b and the sealing member 320. The sealing member 320 is movable in the direction A in Figure 39. 15 The end of the feeding member 302b does not necessarily project out of the pigment supplying port 320a. For example, as shown in Figure 40, the pigment feeder member can receive force from the main unit 100 of the apparatus in the pigment supplying port 320a or in the housing portion of the pigment 310n. In this case, the. The sealing member 350 receives the driving force from the main unit 100 of the apparatus via a rib 350b. The driving force is transmitted to the pigment feeder member 302 by means of the projection 350c. The pigment supply container, as described above, is summarized as follows: A pigment supply container removably mountable to a main unit of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, which consists of: (a) a portion housing pigment (e.g., ln, 301n) to receive pigment; (b) a hole or pigment-supplying port (e.g., 301a) for discharging the pigment housed in the pigment-hosting portion; 15 (c) a pigment feeder member (e.g. 2, 302) to feed the pigment housed in the pigment-receiving portion to the pigment-supplying orifice by rotating it, wherein the center of rotation of the pigment-supplying member is in an orifice region. of the pigment supply port seen in the longitudinal direction of the pigment feeder member. The pigment supply port projects outwards to a lateral end surface (for example 1A1, 301A1 crossing with the longitudinal direction of the portion a \; alo a pierrento.

The center of rotation of the pigment feeder member is substantially concentric with the center of the orifice region of the pigment supply port seen in the longitudinal direction of the feeder member. 5 The pigment supply port is substantially cylindrical, with an external diameter of 26 mm-29 mm. The pigment feeder member has a receiving portion of the driving force (for example 2a, 302a) 10 adjacent to a pigment supplying port in the longitudinal direction, wherein the receiving portion of the driving force, when the pigment supply container is removably mounted in the main unit of the apparatus, it receives the motive power from the main unit of the apparatus 15 using the pigment supply port. The pigment feeder member includes a fr axis portion (e.g. 2A, 302A) and a helical feeder portion (e.g. 2B, 302B) extending along a longitudinal direction of the axis portion, and the receiving portion 20 the driving force extends from the axle portion in its axial direction. The receiving portion of the driving force projects outward from the pigment supplying port. fr At least one full turn of the helical portion is in the pigment supply port [sic]. A cross-section with the longitudinal direction of the driving force receiving portion 5 is polygonal in shape - The pigment receiving portion includes a curved portion (e.g. 301F) having a decreasing downward amplitude when removably mounted to the unit main of the apparatus in a cross section in a direction crossing the longitudinal direction, a linear portion (e.g. 301G) having a substantially constant amplitude extending from a lower portion of the curved portion and a substantially circular portion. (301H) extending from a lower portion of the linear portion, and the pigment feeder member is positioned in the linear portion and the circular semi-fringe portion. The pigment supply container supplies, towards the main unit of the apparatus from the pigment supply port 20, the toner housed in the pigment-receiving portion by the pigment feeder member according to the consumption of pigment in the main unit of the apparatus, when the pigment-supplying container is removably mounted in the main unit of the apparatus.

As described above, according to the embodiments of the present invention, a highly reliable pigment supply container is provided which can supply the pigment to the main unit of the apparatus while being held in the main unit of the forming apparatus. electrophotographic image. In addition, the present invention provides a pigment supply vessel whose manufacturing cost fr is low. The embodiments provide a pigment supply vessel that can discharge the pigment efficiently through the pigment supplying port. They also provide an electrophotographic image forming apparatus to which this pigment supply container 15 can be removably mounted. Although the invention has been described with reference to the structures described herein, it is not confined to the details set forth and this application is proposed to cover these modifications or changes as they may be within the purposes of the improvements or scope of the invention. the following claims.

Claims

RE I VIND I CAC I ONE S

1. A pigment supply container removably mountable to a main unit of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, which consists of: (a) a housing portion of the pigment for housing the pigment; (b) a pigment supply port, or port, for discharging the pigment lodged in the housing portion of the pigment; (c) a feed portion of the pigment, for feeding the pigment housed in the pigment feed portion to the pigment supplying orifice, by rotating it, wherein the center of rotation of the pigment feeder member is in a region port of the pigment supply port

2. The part of the container, according to claim 1, wherein the pigment supplying port projects outwardly from a lateral end surface crossing the longitudinal direction of the pigment receiving part.

3. The pigment supply vessel according to claim 1, wherein the center of rotation of the feeder member is substantially concentric with the center of the orifice region of the pigment supplying port, viewed in the longitudinal direction of the pigment feeder member.

4. The pigment supply vessel according to claim 4, wherein the pigment supplying port is substantially cylindrical with an external diameter of 26 mm - 29 mm.

5. the pigment supply container, according to claim 1, wherein the member The pigment feeder has a receiving portion of the driving force adjacent a pigment supplying port in the longitudinal direction, wherein the receiving portion of the driving force, when the pigment supplying container is removably mounted to the unit The main unit of the apparatus receives motive power from the main unit of the apparatus, using the pigment supply port.

6. The pigment supply container, according to claim 5, wherein the member The pigment feeder includes an axis portion and a helical feeder portion extending from the axis portion in its axial direction.

7. The pigment supply vessel according to claim 6, wherein the receiving portion fr of the driving force projects outwardly from the pigment supplying port.

8. The pigment supply container according to claim 6, wherein at least one 5 rotation of the helical portion is in the pigment supply port

9. The pigment supply vessel according to claim 5, wherein a transverse cross section that intersects with the longitudinal direction of the The receiving portion of the driving force has a polygonal shape.

10. The pigment supply container according to claim 1, wherein the pigment receiving portion includes a curved portion having a 15 decreasing downward amplitude when removably mounted to the main unit of the apparatus in a cross section in a direction crossing with the longitudinal direction, a linear portion having a substantially constant amplitude extending from a portion 20 below the curved portion and a substantially semi-circular portion extending from a lower portion of the linear portion, and the pigment feeder member is positioned in the linear portion and the semi-circular portion.

11. The pigment supply vessel according to claim 1, wherein the pigment supply vessel supplies the main unit of the apparatus from the pigment supply port, the pigment housed in the pigment-receiving portion by the feeder member. of pigment according to the consumption of pigment in the main unit of the apparatus, when the pigment supply container is releasably mounted in the main unit of the apparatus.

12. A pigment supply container removably mountable to a main unit 10 of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, consisting of: (a) a pigment receiving portion for receiving pigment; (b) a pigment-supplying port for discharging the pigment housed in the pigment-receiving portion, wherein the pigment-supplying port projects outwardly from a lateral end surface that intersects with the longitudinal direction of the pigment-containing portion; (C) an aliquative pigment member for feeding the pigment housed in the pigment-receiving portion to the pigment-supplying orifice by rotating it, wherein the center of rotation of the pigment-aligning member is in an orifice region. of the The port of the pigment seen in the longitudinal direction of the pigment feeder member, and wherein the pigment feeder member has a portion of the driving force adjacent to a pigment supplying port in the longitudinal direction, where the receiving portion of the driving force, when the pigment supply container is removably mounted to the main unit of the apparatus, receives the driving force from the main unit of the apparatus, fr using the pigment supplying port.

13. The pigment supply vessel according to claim 12, wherein the center of rotation of the pigment feeder member is substantially concentric with the center of the orifice region of the pigment supply port seen in FIG. 15 longitudinal direction of the pigment feeder member.

14. The pigment supply container according to claim 12, wherein the pigment supplying port is substantially cylindrical with an external diameter of 26 mm - 29 mm.

15. The pigment supply container according to claim 12, wherein the pigment feeder member includes an axis portion and a helical feeder portion extending along a longitudinal direction of the axis portion, and the The receiving portion of the driving force extends from the axis portion in its axial direction.

16. The pigment supply vessel according to claim 14, wherein the receiving portion of the driving force projects outward from the pigment supplying port.

17. The pigment supply vessel according to claim 14, wherein at least one full turn of the helical portion is in the pigment supply port.

18. The pigment supply container according to claim 12, wherein a cross section that intersects the longitudinal direction of the driving force receiving portion has a polygonal shape.

19. The pigment supply container according to claim 12, wherein the pigment-receiving portion includes a curved portion having a decreasing downward amplitude when removably mounted to the main unit of the apparatus in a cross section in a direction crossing the longitudinal direction, a linear portion having a substantially constant amplitude extending from a lower portion of the curved portion and a substantially semi-circular portion extending a lower portion of the linear portion, and the feeder member of pigment is placed in the linear portion and the semi circular portion.

20. The pigment supply container, according to claim 12, wherein the container The pigment supplier supplies to the main unit of the apparatus from the pigment supplying port, the pigment housed in the pigment-receiving portion by the pigment feeder member according to the consumption of pigment in the main unit of the apparatus, when the The pigment supply container is removably mounted in the main unit of the apparatus.

21. A pigment supply container that can be removably mounted to a main unit of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, which 15 consists of: (a) a portion that houses pigment to accommodate the pigment; (b) a pigment supply port to discharge the pigment lodged in the portion that houses 20 pigment, wherein the pigment-supplying port projects outwardly from a lateral end surface that intersects with the longitudinal direction of the pigment-hosting portion; (c) a pigment feeder member for feeding the pigment housed in the pigment-receiving portion to the pigment supplying orifice by rotation thereof, wherein the pigment feeder member includes an axis portion and a helical feeder portion that is extends along a longitudinal direction 5 of the axis portion, wherein at least one full turn of the helical portion is in the pigment supplying port, wherein the center of rotation of the pigment feeder member is substantially concentric with the center of the port orifice region The pigment supplier viewed in the longitudinal direction of the pigment feeder member; and the receiving portion of the driving force extends from the shaft portion in its axial direction, wherein the pigment feeder member has a portion 15 receiving the driving force adjacent to a pigment supplying port in the longitudinal direction, wherein the receiving portion of the driving force extends from the axis portion in its axial direction to project out of the pigment supplying port, and where The receiving portion of the driving force, when the pigment supply container is detachably mounted in the main unit of the apparatus, receives the driving force from the main unit of the apparatus, using the pigment supplying port; wherein the pigment supply container supplies the main unit of the apparatus from the pigment supply port, the pigment housed in the pigment-receiving portion by the pigment feeder member according to the consumption of pigment in the pigment main unit. apparatus, when the pigment supply container is removably mounted in the main unit of the apparatus.

22. The pigment supply vessel according to claim 21, wherein the pigment supplying port is substantially cylindrical with an external diameter of 26 mm - 29 mm.

23. The pigment supply vessel according to claim 21, wherein a section The cross-section that intersects with the longitudinal direction of the receiving portion of the driving force has a polygonal fr shape.

24. The pigment supply container according to claim 21, wherein the portion that The pigment housing includes a curved portion that has a decreasing downward amplitude when removably mounted to the main unit of the apparatus in a cross section in a direction that intersects with the direction Icngit? Dir.al, a linear portion having a amplitude 25 your star. -almer.te constant extending from a lower portion of the curved portion and a substantially semi-circular portion extending from a lower portion of the linear portion, and the pigment feeder member is placed in the linear portion and the semi portion circular.

25. An electrophotographic image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording material, comprising: (a) the mounting means for removably mounting a pigment-supplying container, The pigment supply container includes: a portion that receives pigment to receive pigment; a hole or port providing pigment for discharging the pigment lodged in the pigment-receiving portion; a pigment feeder for feeding a pigment housed in the pigment-receiving portion to the pigment supplying orifice by rotating it, wherein a center of rotation of the pigment feeder member 20 is in an orifice region of the pigment-supplying port seen in the longitudinal direction of the pigment feeder member; (b) a pigment receiving portion for receiving the pigment fed through the supplying port of The pigment when the pigment supply container is detachably mounted in the main unit of the apparatus through the mounting means.

26. A pigment-supplying container removably mountable to a main unit 5 of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, comprising: (a) a pigment receiving portion for receiving pigment; fr (b) a pigment supply port for discharging the pigment lodged in the pigment-containing portion; (c) a pigment feeder member for feeding the pigment housed in the pigment-receiving portion. fifteen fr.