WO2020097192A1

WO2020097192A1 - Shutter for effectively opening and closing waste toner collector of image forming device

Info

Publication number: WO2020097192A1
Application number: PCT/US2019/060051
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hanjun Lee; SeoungHoon NOH
Original assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
Priority date: 2018-11-07
Filing date: 2019-11-06
Publication date: 2020-05-14
Also published as: KR20200052715A

Abstract

An image forming apparatus includes a waste toner collector detachably mountable on the image forming apparatus to collect waste toner. The waste toner includes a discharge port to discharge collected waste toner. The image forming apparatus includes a shutter to be movable to an open position to open the discharge port when the waste toner collector is mounted on the image forming apparatus and movable to a closed position to close the discharge port when the waste toner collector is dismounted from the image forming apparatus. The shutter includes a first hook to hold the shutter in the closed position and a second hook to hold the shutter in the open position.

Description

TITLE

SHUTTER FOR EFFECTIVELY OPENING AND CLOSING WASTE TONER COLLECTOR OF IMAGE FORMING DEVICE

BACKGROUND

[01] In general, image forming apparatuses may be apparatuses which develop a monochromic image or a color image on paper according to an image signal, which include a laser printer, an ink-jet printer, a copier, a multifunction peripheral (MFP), a facsimile, and the like.

[02] Electrophotographic image forming apparatuses may generate a visible toner image based on an electrostatic latent image, by attaching toner to a photosensitive member or an intermediate transfer medium on which the electrostatic latent image is formed and then output a predetermined image through a method of transferring the toner image onto paper.

[03] Untransferred toner (hereinafter, referred to as‘waste toner') may be left in a photosensitive member during transferring of the toner image from the photosensitive member or the intermediate transfer to paper.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[04] FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating an image forming apparatus according to an example;

[05] FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view illustrating a waste toner collector and a waste toner storage in an image forming apparatus according to an example; [06] FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view illustrating the waste toner collector and the waste toner storage illustrated in FIG. 2;

[07] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a shutter according to an example;

[08] FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a bottom surface of a waste toner collector in which a shutter is omitted according to an example;

[09] FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a top surface of a hopper according to an example;

[10] FIGS. 7A to 7D are diagrams illustrating a process of opening a shutter by mounting a waste toner collector on a hopper according to an example; and

[1 1] FIGS. 8A to 8C are diagrams illustrating a process of closing a shutter by separating a waste toner collector from a hopper according to an example.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[12] The waste toner may affect the quality of the next image to be generated and thus may be removed. Accordingly, a waste toner collector configured to collect the waste toner not transferred and left in the photosensitive member or the intermediate transfer may be installed in the electrophotographic image forming apparatus.

[13] Hereinafter, examples of the disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which the examples of the disclosure are shown to facilitate understanding of a configuration and an effect of the disclosure. However, in the following disclosure, it is understood that the examples disclosed therein may not be limited to the technical features of the present disclosure. Also, functions or elements that would be understood by a person skilled in the art are not described in detail since they may obscure the examples with unnecessary detail. To facilitate understanding of the present disclosure, the dimensions of partial elements may not be illustrated in the actual scale but may be exaggerated.

[14] Hereinafter, an image forming apparatus 1 according to an example will be described with reference to FIG. 1 and a waste toner collector 100 will be described in detail.

[15] FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating an image forming apparatus according to an example.

[16] The image forming apparatus 1 may include a main body 10, a paper feeding device 20, a print engine 30, and a discharging device 80.

[17] A discharge tray 10a into which image-formed paper is loaded may be provided in an upper portion of the main body 10 and a paper discharge port 10b through which the paper having a formed image is discharged may be provided in one side portion of the discharge tray 10a.

[18] The paper feeding device 20 may be detachably and movably installed in the main body 10 and may include a knock-up plate 22 disposed in the paper feeding device 20, and paper is loaded in the knock-up plate 22.

[19] The paper feeding device 20 may include a pick-up roller 24 provided around an upper side of the paper feeding device 20 and configured to pick up paper loaded into the knock-up plate 22, for example, a single sheet of the paper loaded, a forward roller 26 configured to receive the paper picked up by the pick-up roller 24 and convey the paper toward a conveying roller 29, a retard roller 28 installed to face the forward roller 26 and configured to prevent a plurality of sheets of paper from being conveyed simultaneously, and a conveying roller 29— e.g., a pair of conveying rollers 29— installed around an upper side of the pick-up roller 24 and configured to guide the paper picked up by the pick-up roller 24 to the print engine 30.

[20] The print engine 30 may form an image on paper P supplied from the paper feeding device 20. The print engine 30 may form the image on the paper P based on an electrophotographic method.

[21] The print engine 30 may include a developer 40, a developing cartridge 50, a transfer device 60, and a fuser 70.

[22] The developer 40 may form an image on the supplied paper P, and the fuser 70 may fuse the image onto the paper. The developer 40 may include a photosensitive member 41 having an image carrier to accommodate a visual image by supplied toner, so as to allow forming of an electrostatic latent image by an exposing apparatus on a surface of the photosensitive member 41 and, a developing roller 43 configured to develop the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive member 41 into the visible image by supplying the toner to the photosensitive member 41 , and a charge roller 45 configured to charge the surface of the photosensitive member 41 .

[23] A developer 40 and a developing cartridge 50 may be a plurality of developers 40 and a plurality of developing cartridges 50. The plurality of developing cartridges 50 may be coupled to the plurality of developers 40 and developing agents— e.g., toner— contained in the plurality of developing cartridges 50 may be supplied to the plurality of developers 40, respectively. The plurality of developing cartridges 50 and the plurality of developers 40 may be replaced individually.

[24] The electrostatic latent images may be formed on the plurality of photosensitive members 41 , each of the plurality of developing cartridges 50 may form a visible image by attaching the toner to each of the plurality of photosensitive members 41 , and the transfer device 60 may transfer the visible images onto the paper.

[25] The plurality of developing cartridges 50 includes a plurality of developing agent containers which contains developing agents of cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y), and black (K) to be supplied to the plurality of developers 40. However, this example is not limited thereto. For example, developing cartridges 50 and developers 40 which contain developing agents of various colors such as light magenta and white (W) and perform developing may be further provided in addition to the developing agents and developers of the above-described colors.

[26] The plurality of developing cartridges 50 may store toners of different colors from each other (for example, Y, M, C, and K) and form visible images of different colors from each other by attaching toners to the photosensitive members 41 in which electrostatic latent images are formed.

[27] The transfer device 60 may include an intermediate transfer belt 61 which forms a visible color image by superimposing the visible images formed on the photosensitive members 41 and a final transfer roller 63 which transfers the visible color image formed on the intermediate transfer belt 61 onto the paper. The visible images formed on the photosensitive members 41 may be sequentially transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 61 to be superimposed.

[28] The visible image transferred to the paper P may be fused onto a paper surface by receiving heat and pressure while passing through the fuser 70. The fuser 70 may include a heating roller 71 configured to generate heat and a pressing roller 73 having an outer circumferential surface is formed of an elastically deformable material and to press the paper against an outer circumferential surface of the pressing roller 73.

[29] The paper P passing through the fuser 70 may be discharged to the outside of the main body 10 of the image forming apparatus 1 through the discharging device 80.

[30] Waste toner may remain in the developer 40 in the process of performing developing by the toner on the paper P. Accordingly, the developer 40 may further include a cleaning unit (not shown) configured to remove the waste toner left in the photosensitive member 41 after the transfer process.

[31] The cleaning unit may be arranged close to the photosensitive member 41 and remove the waste toner not transferred and left on the photosensitive member 41.

[32] A waste toner collector 100 and a waste toner storage 300 may be installed around one side of the main body 10 to store the waste toner removed from the photosensitive member through the cleaning unit. The waste toner collector 100 may guide the waste toner separated from the photosensitive member 41 to the waste toner storage 300 and the waste toner storage 300 may store the waste toner collected from the waste toner collector 100. [33] The waste toner collector 100 and the waste toner storage 300 may be couplable through a hopper 200. The waste toner discharged from the waste toner collector 100 may be introduced into the waste toner storage 300 through the hopper 200.

[34] The waste toner collector 100 and the waste toner storage 300 may be detachably installed around one side of the main body 10. For example, the waste toner collector 100 and the waste toner storage 300 may be couplable to a top surface and a bottom surface (see 201 and 202 of FIG. 3) of the hopper 200 and detachably mountable on or to the image forming apparatus 1.

[35] The waste toner may also remain on the intermediate transfer belt 61. The waste toner left on the intermediate transfer belt 61 , after toner has been transferred from the intermediate transfer belt 61 onto the paper P, may be removed through the cleaning unit (not shown) and contained in the waste toner collector 100. The waste toner may also be discharged to the waste toner storage 300.

[36] An example of the image forming apparatus according to an example has been described, but the developing method is not limited thereto, and configurations of the image forming apparatus according to the developing method may be variously modified and changed.

[37] FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view illustrating a waste toner collector and a waste toner storage in an image forming apparatus according to an example and FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view illustrating the waste toner collector and the waste toner storage illustrated in FIG. 2. [38] Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the waste toner removed from a surface of the photosensitive member 41 and/or the intermediate transfer belt 61 through the cleaning unit (not shown) may be introduced into the waste toner collector 100.

[39] The waste toner collector 100 may include an inlet which receives the waste toner falling from the surface of the photosensitive member 41 or the intermediate transfer belt 61 , and the waste toner collector 100 may include a discharge port (see 100a of FIG. 5) formed around a portion of a bottom surface (see 102 of FIG. 5) of the waste toner collector 100 and configured to allow the waste toner to be conveyed to the waste toner storage 300 below the waste toner collector 100.

[40] A conveying auger (not shown) configured to convey the waste toner to the discharge port 100a may be installed inside the waste toner collector 100. The waste toner conveying auger may be rotatably mounted on the inside of the waste toner collector 100.

[41] The waste toner storage 300 may be mounted on one end of the bottom of the waste toner collector 100 and coupled to the waste toner collector 100. For example, a waste toner inlet (not shown) of the waste toner storage 300 may be located to face the discharge port (see 100a of FIG. 5) of the waste toner collector 100.

[42] The waste toner storage 300 may be disposed on one side of the bottom surface 102 of the waste toner collector 100. The waste toner discharged from the discharge port 100a of the waste toner collector 100 may be collected in the waste toner storage 300 through the hopper 200. [43] The waste toner contained in the waste toner collector 100 may be conveyed to the discharge port (see 100a of FIG. 5) through rotation of the waste toner conveying auger (not shown) and the conveyed waste toner may be discharged to the waste toner storage 300 via a passage hole 200a of the hopper 200.

[44] The hopper 200 configured to guide the waste toner discharged from the waste toner collector 100 to the waste toner storage 300 may be disposed between the waste toner collector 100 and the waste toner storage 300.

[45] The passage hole 200a of the hopper 200 may be formed to communicate with the discharge port 100a of the waste toner collector 100 and the inlet of the waste toner storage 300.

[46] The waste toner collector 100 and the waste toner storage 300 may be attachable to and detachable from the main body 10 individually. For example, the hopper 200 may detachably support the waste toner collector 100 and the waste toner storage 300.

[47] The waste toner collector 100 and the waste toner storage 300 may slidably move in a direction perpendicular to the hopper 200 and may be mounted on the hopper 200. The waste toner collector 100 may be mounted on the top of the hopper 200 and the waste toner storage 300 may be mounted on the bottom of the hopper 200.

[48] For example, when the insides of the waste toner collector 100 and the waste toner storage 300 are filled with the waste toner, the waste toner collector 100 and the waste toner storage 300 may be separated from the hopper 200 and a new waste toner collector 100 and a new waste toner storage may be mounted on the hopper 200.

[49] The waste toner collector 100 may include a shutter 150 configured to selectively open the waste toner collector 100 to prevent the waste toner in the waste toner collector 100 from being leaked. The shutter 150 may be disposed to be movable in a first direction or a second direction with respect to the waste toner collector 100.

[50] A shutter guide member (see 130 of FIG. 5) configured to guide the movement of the shutter 150 may be formed on or in the bottom surface 102 of the waste toner collector 100 mounted with the shutter 150 and a shutter position regulating member 230 configured to restrict the movement of the shutter 150 may be formed on or in the top surface 201 of the hopper 200 mounted with the waste toner collector 100.

[51] The waste toner collector 100 may slidably movable with respect to the hopper 200 to be mounted on or dismounted (or separated) from the hopper 200.

[52] When the waste toner collector 100 slidably moves with respect to the hopper 200 to be mounted on the hopper 200, the shutter 150 located in a closed position (see FIG. 7 A) to close the discharge port 100a of the waste toner collector 100 may move to an open position (see FIG. 7D) to open the discharge port 100a, along the second direction B opposite to a mounting direction of the waste toner collector 100.

[53] On the contrary, when the waste toner collector 100 slidably moves with respect to the hopper 200 to be dismounted or separated from the hopper 200, the shutter 150 located in the open position may move to the closed position which closes the discharge port 100a.

[54] Like the waste toner collector 100, the waste toner storage 300 may also include a shutter 350 which opens and closes the waste toner inlet of the waste toner storage 300.

[55] The waste toner storage 300 may also slidably move with respect to the hopper 200 to be mounted on and dismounted (or separated) from the hopper 200.

[56] A guide member 330 configured to guide the movement of the shutter 350 may be formed on a top surface 301 of the waste toner storage 300 mounted with the shutter 350 and a shutter position regulating member configured to restrict the movement of the shutter 350 may be formed on the bottom surface 202 of the hopper 200 mounted with the waste toner storage 300.

[57] When the waste toner storage 300 slidably moves with respect to the hopper 200 to be mounted on the hopper 200, the shutter 350 located in a closed position which closes a waste toner inlet of the waste toner storage 300 may move to an open position which opens the waste toner inlet to the second direction.

[58] On the contrary, when the waste toner storage 300 slidably moves with respect to the hopper 200 to be dismounted or separated from the hopper 200, the shutter 350 located in the open position may move to the closed position which closes the waste toner inlet.

[59] The shutter 350 provided in the waste toner storage 300 may have a similar or the same structure as the shutter 150 provided in the waste toner collector 100. The guide member 330 formed in or on the top surface 301 of the waste toner storage 300 may have the similar or same structure as the shutter guide member 130 provided in the bottom surface 102 of the waste toner collector 100 and the shutter position regulating member formed in or on the bottom surface 202 of the hopper 200 coupled to the shutter 350 of the waste toner storage 300 may have the similar or same structure as the shutter position regulating member 230 formed on or in the top surface 201 of the hopper 200.

[60] The shutter 350 provided in the waste toner storage 300 and the shutter 150 provided in the waste toner collector 100 may be symmetrically arranged with respect to the hopper 200.

[61] The shutter 350 of the waste toner storage 300 may basically have the same structure as the shutter 150 of the waste toner collector 100 and thus description for an overlapping portion of the shutter 350 is omitted.

[62] Hereinafter, the shutter 150 provided in the waste toner collector 100 will be described and the description for the shutter 350 provided in the waste toner storage 300 corresponds to the detailed description of the shutter 150.

[63] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a shutter according to an example, FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a bottom surface of a waste toner collector in which the shutter is omitted according to an example, and FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a bottom surface of a hopper according to an example.

[64] The waste toner collector 100 may be mountable and mounted on the top surface 201 of the hopper 200. As the waste toner collector 100 is mounted on the hopper 200, the discharge port 100a formed on or in the bottom surface 102 of the waste toner collector 100 may be coupled to the passage hole 200a of the hopper 200.

[65] The shutter 150 may be disposed between the waste toner collector 100 and the hopper 200. The shutter guide member 130 configured to guide the shutter 150 may be formed on or in any one of the waste toner collector 100 and the hopper 200 and the shutter position regulating member 230 configured to restrict the movement of the shutter 150 may be formed on or in the other one of the waste toner collector 100 and the hopper 200.

[66] Referring to FIG. 4, the shutter 150 may open and close the discharge port 100a which discharges the waste toner contained in the inside of the waste toner collector 100.

[67] The shutter 150 may be disposed in the waste toner collector 100 to slidably move along the shutter guide member 130 of the waste toner collector 100.

[68] The shutter 150 may be inserted into a guide groove (see 131 of FIG. 5) of the shutter guide member (see 130 of FIG. 5) to be described later and move within the guide groove 131 to a first direction A and a second direction B. The shutter 150 may include an insertion protrusion 151 inserted into the guide groove 131 to be movable along the guide groove 131 .

[69] The shutter 150 may be locked or held in the closed position to prevent the waste toner contained in the inside of the waste toner collector 100 from being leaked to the outside in a state that the waste toner collector 100 is dismounted or separated from the hopper 200. [70] The shutter 150 may be locked or held in the open position to discharge the waste toner contained in the waste toner collector 100 to the outside in the coupling of the waste toner collector 100 to the hopper 200.

[71] The shutter 150 may include a first hook 153 and a second hook 155 which may be coupled to the shutter guide member 130 and the shutter position regulating member 230 to be described later to lock or hold the shutter at the closed position or the open position.

[72] The first hook 153 may lock or hold the shutter 150 in the closed position and the second hook 155 may lock or hold the shutter 150 in the open position.

[73] The first hook 153 may be formed to protrude outwardly from the shutter 150. The first hook 153 may include a bent portion 153a protruding outwardly and a first tension hook 153b extending from the bent portion 153a and having an elastic displacement.

[74] The bent portion 153a may be formed on or in an outer surface of the shutter 150. The bent portion 153a may be formed on or in a lower end of the shutter close to the second hook 155.

[75] The first tension hook 153b may be formed to have a predetermined length and the first tension hook 153b may be formed to extend from the bent portion 153a and to be spread outwardly. The first tension hook 153b may be formed to prevent the shutter 150 from moving to the second direction by elastically pressing a locking groove (see 133 of FIG. 5) of the shutter guide member (see 130 of FIG. 5) to be described later.

[76] The first tension hook 153b may be pressurized inwardly to be close to the second hook 155 through a pressing rib (see 231 of FIG. 6) of the shutter position regulating member (see 230 of FIG. 6) to be described later. The inwardly pressurized first tension hook 153b may be inserted into an insertion groove (see 233 of FIG. 6) of the shutter position regulating member 230 to release the locking of the shutter 150 in the closed position.

[77] The second hook 155 may include a slit 155a which is a cut groove having a predetermined length and a second tension hook 155b provided on the slit 155a and having an elastic replacement.

[78] The slit 155a may be formed on or in one end of the shutter 150. The slit 155a may be formed close to the first hook 153 and formed on or in an inner side of the first hook 153 in a slot form having a predetermined length in a forward and backward direction.

[79] The second tension hook 155b may be formed to have a predetermined length and the second tension hook 155b may be integrally formed with the slit 155a and one end of the second tension hook 155b may be coupled to one side surface of the slit 155a. The other end of the second tension hook 155b may be formed to be elastically displaceable and to have an elastic displacement by an external force. A locking protrusion 155c formed to protrude in a triangular shape may be formed on or in the other end of the second tension hook 155b that is elongated.

[80] Referring to FIG. 5, the shutter guide member 130 configured to guide the movement of the shutter 150 in the first and second directions may be formed on or in the bottom surface 102 of the waste toner collector 100.

[81] According to an example, the shutter guide member 130 configured to guide the movement of the shutter 150 is formed on or in the waste toner collector 100 in the example, but possible arrangements are not limited to this example. For example, the shutter guide member 130 may be formed on or in the top surface of the hopper 200 mounted with the waste toner collector 100.

[82] The shutter guide member 130 configured to guide the movement of the shutter 150 may be formed on or in the bottom surface 102 of the waste toner collector 100. The shutter guide member 130 may be formed in a position corresponding to the shutter position regulating member 230 of the hopper 200— to be described later— in a state that the waste toner collector 100 is mounted on the hopper 200.

[83] The shutter guide member 130 may be configured to include the guide groove 131 in which the shutter 150 is placed, the locking groove 133 configured to lock or hold the shutter 150 in the closed position, and a guide rail 135 configured to guide the movement of the shutter 150.

[84] The shutter 150 may be placed in the guide groove 131 and the shutter 150 placed in the guide groove 131 may move along the guide groove 131 in the first direction A and the second direction B.

[85] The guide groove 131 may be formed along a mounting direction that the waste toner collector 100 is mounted on the hopper 200. For example, the guide groove 131 may be formed in a width direction of the waste toner collector 100. The guide groove 131 may be formed to be spaced at intervals from the discharge port 100a and a pair of guide grooves 131 may be formed to be spaced apart from each other about the discharge port 100a. [86] When the shutter 150 moves in the second direction B along the guide groove 131 , the shutter may be located in the open position that the discharge port 100a of the waste toner collector 100 is opened. When the shutter 150 moves in the first direction A along the guide groove 131 , the shutter 150 may be located in the closed position that the discharge port 100a of the waste toner collector 100 is closed.

[87] A support protrusion 137 may be formed on the other end of the guide groove 131 in the first direction A. When the shutter 150 moves to the first direction A along the guide groove 131 , the support protrusion 137 may support the shutter 150 to prevent the shutter 150 from being escaped from the guide groove 131.

[88] The locking groove 133 may lock or hold the shutter 150 in the closed position to prevent the shutter 150 from moving in the second direction B when the shutter 150 is located in the closed position. When the shutter 150 is located in the closed position, the first hook 153 of the shutter 150 may be inserted into the locking groove 133. The movement of the shutter 150 to the second direction B may be restricted by the first hook 153 of the shutter 150 inserted into the locking groove 133.

[89] The locking groove 133 may be formed on or in the outer surface of the guide groove 131 to protrude outwardly. The locking groove 133 may include a vertical surface 133a formed to be perpendicular to the guide groove 131 in the second direction B and an inclined surface 133b formed to be inclined in the first direction A.

[90] The first hook 153 may be inserted into the locking groove 133 along the inclined surface 133b and the movement of the first hook 153 to the second direction B may be restricted by the vertical surface 133a.

[91] The guide rail 135 may be formed or in a portion of the guide groove 131. For example, the guide rail 135 may be formed on or in one side of the guide groove 131 in the second direction B. In this example, the guide rail 135 may be formed on or in a front end of the waste toner collector 100.

[92] The guide rail 135 may support one side of the second hook 155 in the shutter 150 and guide the shutter 150 to move independently of the waste toner collector 100.

[93] The guide rail 135 may be formed to be located between the first hook 153 and the second hook 155 of the shutter 150.

[94] When the shutter 150 enters the guide rail 135, for example, when the guide rail 135 supports one side of the second hook 155, the shutter 150 may be restrained in the hopper 200 and move in the second direction B opposite to the mounting direction of the waste toner collector 100. A detailed operation of the shutter 150 will be described later.

[95] When the shutter 150 moves in the second direction B, the shutter 150 may be caught in the guide rail 135 and may not be deviated and moved from and in the guide groove 131.

[96] Referring to FIG. 6, the shutter position regulating member 230 configured to restrict the movement of the shutter 150 may be formed on or in the top surface 201 of the hopper 200. According to an example, the shutter position regulating member 230 configured to restrict the movement of the shutter 150 may be formed on or in the hopper 200, but possible arrangements are not limited thereto. For example, the shutter position regulating member 230 may be formed in or on the bottom surface of the waste toner collector 100 mounted on the hopper 200.

[97] The shutter position regulating member 230 may be formed in a position corresponding to the shutter guide member 130 of the waste toner collector 100 in a state that the waste toner collector 100 is mounted on the hopper 200.

[98] The shutter position regulating member 230 may include the pressing rib 231 configured to press the first hook 153 of the shutter 150, the insertion groove 233 into which a portion of the shutter 150 is inserted, and a second hook locking protrusion 155c in which the second hook is caught.

[99] The pressing rib 231 may press the first hook 153 when the waste toner collector 100 is coupled to the hopper 200. The pressing ribs 231 may be formed at or around both ends of the hopper 200 to protrude in the second direction B. The pressing rib 231 may be formed in a position spaced apart from the passage hole 200a of the hopper 200 in the second direction B. The pressing ribs 231 may press both ends of the first hook 153 and the first hook 153 formed to be spread outwardly may be inserted into the insertion grooves 233.

[100] As both ends of the first hook 153 are pressurized, the shutter 150 may be escaped from the locking groove 133 of the shutter guide member 130. Accordingly, the shutter 150 locked or held in the closed position may be released and may move in the first direction A which is the mounting direction with the waste toner collector 100. A detailed operation of the shutter 150 will be described later.

[101] The insertion groove 233 may be a space into which the first hook 153 pressurized through the pressing rib 231 may be inserted. A support surface 233a may be formed at or around one end of the insertion groove 233 in the first direction A. The support surface 233a may restrict the movement of the shutter 150 to the first direction A. The shutter 150 may not move to the passage hole 200a through the support surface 233a.

[102] For example, the shutter 150 may not move anymore to the first direction A through the support surface 233a and may be located in the open position in the process of mounting the waste toner collector 100 on the hopper 200.

[103] The second hook lock groove 235 may be formed at or around the front end of the hopper 200. The second hook lock groove 235 may be concavely formed inwardly in the inner surface of the insertion groove 233. The second hook lock groove 235 may be formed to have a shape corresponding to the locking protrusion 155c of the second hook 155.

[104] In a state that the waste toner collector 100 is mounted on the hopper 200, one end of the second hook 155 may be supported through the guide rail 135 and the locking protrusion 155c of the second hook 155 may be caught in the second hook lock groove 235. Accordingly, the second hook 155 may be locked in the open position.

[105] When the waste toner collector 100 is mounted on the hopper 200, the second hook 155 of the shutter 150 may be inserted into the second hook lock groove 235 and the movement of the second hook 155 to the first direction A may be restricted.

[106] When the waste toner collector 100 is mounted on the hopper 200, the one end of the second hook 155 may be supported through the guide rail 135 and the other end of the second hook 155 may be inserted into the second hook lock groove 235. Accordingly, the second hook 155 may lock the shutter 150 to the open position.

[107] When the waste toner collector 100 is dismounted or separated from the hopper 200, the operation of the second hook 155 caught in the second hook lock groove 235 may be restrained in the hopper 200 until the guide rail 135 supporting the one end of the second hook 155 does not support the second hook 155.

[108] When the waste toner collector 100 moves to the second direction B until the guide rail 135 does not support the second hook 155, the second hook 155 may be escaped from the second hook lock groove 235 and move to the second direction B with the waste toner collector 100.

[109] Hereinafter, the operation of the shutter 150 which moves according to mounting and separating of the waste toner collector on and from the image forming apparatus will be described in detail.

[1 10] FIGS. 7A to 7D are diagrams illustrating a process of opening a shutter by mounting a waste toner collector on a hopper according to an example.

[1 1 1] Referring to FIG. 7A, the shutter 150 may be located in the closed position which closes the discharge port 100a of the waste toner collector 100 before the waste toner collector 100 is mounted on the main body 10 of the image forming apparatus 1 .

[1 12] The shutter 150 may be locked or held in the closed position and sliding of the shutter from the closed position may be suppressed in a state that the waste toner collector 100 is dismounted or separated from the image forming apparatus 1. The shutter 150 may be locked or held to be not to slide along the guide groove 131 in the first and second directions through the shutter guide member 130.

[1 13] For example, the first hook 153 may be inserted into and locked to the locking groove 133 and thus the shutter 150 may not move to the second direction B. Since the first tension hook 153b of the first hook 153 elastically supports the vertical surface 133a of the locking groove 133, the shutter 150 may not move to the second direction B.

[1 14] One end of the shutter 150 may be supported through the support protrusion 137 and thus the shutter 150 may not move to the first direction A.

[1 15] Since the shutter 150 reliably closes the discharge port 100a, the shutter may prevent the waste toner inside the waste toner collector 100 from being leaked to the outside in a state the waste toner collector 100 is dismounted or separated from the image forming apparatus 1.

[1 16] To release the locking or holding of the shutter 150 in the closed position, the shutter 150 has to be pushed to the second direction B after pressing the outer surface of the first tension hook 153b. According, the high reliability of the locking or holding force of the shutter 150 may be ensured and thus the exit of the waste toner collector 100 may be prevented from being unintentionally opened. [1 17] Referring to FIG. 7B, the waste toner collector 100 may move to the first direction A which is the mounting direction to be mounted on the main body. For example, the waste toner collector 100 may be coupled to the hopper 200.

[1 18] The movement of the shutter 150 to the mounting direction may be restricted through the shutter position regulating member 230 formed on or in the hopper 200 in the coupling process of the waste toner collector 100.

[1 19] When the waste toner collector 100 is coupled to the hopper 200 in the closed position of the shutter 150, the elastic force acting on the locking groove 133 of the first tension hook 153b may be released through the pressing rib 231 formed on or in the hopper 200 and the shutter 150 may move from the closed position.

[120] The first hook 153 inserted into and locked to the locking groove 133 through the movement of the waste toner collector 100 to the coupling direction may be pressurized inwardly through the pressing rib 231. As the first hook 153 is pressurized inwardly, the locking of the shutter 150 in the closed position may be released.

[121] The first hook 153 may be pressurized against the outer surface of the guide groove 131 and move to the second direction B along the guide groove 131.

[122] Accordingly, the first hook 153 may move to the first direction A along the insertion groove 233 with the waste toner collector 100. The shutter 150 may move to the first direction A with the waste toner collector 100 until the one end of the shutter 150 is supported to the support surface 233a of the insertion groove 233.

[123] FIG. 7C illustrates a state that one end of the shutter 150 is supported through the support surface 233a and one side of the second hook 155 is supported through the guide rail 135. In the state, the shutter 150 may not move anymore to the first direction A through the shutter position regulating member 230 and the driving of the shutter may be restrained in the hopper 200.

[124] The shutter 150 may move independently of the waste toner collector 100.

[125] Although the waste toner collector 100 moves to the first direction A, since the shutter 150 is supported through the shutter position regulating member 230 of the hopper 200, it seems that the shutter 150 moves to the second direction B which is the opposite direction of the mounting direction when viewed in the waste toner collector 100.

[126] One side of the second hook 155 in which the locking protrusion 155c is not formed may be supported through the guide rail 135 and the shutter 150 may move to the second direction B along the guide rail 135.

[127] Referring to FIG. 7D, the waste toner collector 100 may move to the first direction A and the operation of the shutter 150 may be restrained in the hopper 200 and the shutter 150 may be located in the open position.

[128] The locking protrusion 155c of the second hook 155 may be inserted into the second hook lock groove 235 of the shutter position regulating member 230. The one side of the second hook 155 may be supported through the guide rail 135 and the locking protrusion 155c formed at or around the other side of the second hook 155 may be inserted into and locked or held to the second hook lock groove 235. Accordingly, the shutter 150 may be maintained in the open position.

[129] Since the shutter is locked or held in the open position in a state that the waste toner collector 100 is mounted on the main body 10, reduction of the lift span of the waste toner collector due to the waste toner accumulated in the waste toner collector 100 by closing of the discharge port 100a through the shutter 150 may be prevented.

[130] It is possible to open the exit of the waste toner collector 100 by moving the shutter 150 to the second direction B through the operation of mounting the waste toner collector 100 on the main body.

[131] FIGS. 8A to 8C are diagrams illustrating a process of closing a shutter by separating a waste toner collector from a hopper according to an example.

[132] Referring to FIG. 8A, the shutter 150 may be located in the open position which opens the discharge port 100a of the waste toner collector 100 in a state that the waste toner collector 100 is mounted on the main body of the image forming apparatus.

[133] In this state, the second hook 155 of the shutter 150 may be locked to the second hook locking groove 235 and lock the shutter 150 not to slidably move from the open position.

[134] Referring to FIG. 8B, the waste toner collector 100 may move to the second direction B to be dismounted or separated from the main body 10.

[135] When the waste toner collector 100 moves to the second direction B, the shutter 150 may not move with the waste toner collector 100 and the driving of the shutter may be restrained in the hopper 200. Accordingly, it seems that the shutter 150 moves to the first direction A which is the opposite direction of the moving direction of the waste toner collector 100 when viewed in the waste toner collector 100.

[136] Since one side of the second hook 155 is supported through the guide rail 135 and the locking protrusion 155c formed on the other side of the second hook 155 is inserted into and locked or held to the second hook lock groove 235, the shutter 150 may be locked or held to the hopper 200 and may not move to the second direction B with the waste toner collector 100.

[137] The waste toner collector 100 may move to the second direction B independently of the shutter 150 until the guide rail 135 does not support the one side of the second hook 155. For example, the shutter 150 may not move in a locked or held state to the hopper 200 until the guide rail 135 formed on or in the bottom surface 102 of the waste toner collector 100 is escaped from the second hook 155.

[138] Referring to FIG. 8C, when the guide rail 135 is escaped from the second hook 155, the second hook 155 may elastically move to one side direction. Accordingly, the second hook 155 may be escaped from the second hook locking groove 235 and the locking or holding of the second hook to the hopper 200 may be released.

[139] In this example, the shutter 150 may be located in the closed position which closes the discharge port 100a of the waste toner collector 100. The shutter 150 located in the closed position may be locked or held to the locking groove 133 through the first hook 153 and locked in the closed position. [140] The operation of the shutter 150 may be restrained in the waste toner collector 100 after the guide rail 135 is escaped from the second hook 155. For example, the shutter 150 may move to the second direction B with the waste toner collector 100.

[141] The shutter 150 may close the discharge port 100a through a sliding operation for separating the waste toner collector 100. Accordingly, the waste toner remaining in the waste toner collector 100 may be prevented from being discharged through the discharge port 100a when the waste toner collector 100 is dismounted or separated from the image forming apparatus 1 .

[142] It is possible to reliably close the discharge port 100a by the shutter 150 through a separation operation of the waste toner collector 100 using a simple configuration without installation of a separation mechanism for slidably moving the shutter 150 to the closed position.

[143] The shutter position regulating member 230 may regulate the movement of the shutter 150 until the discharge port 100a is closed through the shutter 150. Accordingly, the coupling force of the waste toner collector 100 to the main body 10 may be increased by firmly coupling between the shutter 150 and the hopper 200. The shutter position regulating member 230 may allow the shutter 150 to certainly slide to the closed position of the discharge port 100a.

[144] The waste toner collector 100 may be dismounted or separated from the hopper 200 with the shutter 150 locked in the closed position. Since the shutter 150 is locked or held in the position which closes the discharge port 100a when the waste toner collector 100 is dismounted or separated from the image forming apparatus 1 , the waste toner in the waste toner collector 100 may be prevented from being leaked to the outside.

[145] Since the shutter 150 is locked held and maintained to the closed position, the unintentional sliding of the shutter 150 from the closed position may be prevented and thus the leakage of the waste toner may be suppressed.

[146] The foregoing examples are merely examples and are not to be construed as limiting the disclosure. The present teaching can be readily applied to other types of apparatuses. Also, the description of the examples of the disclosure is intended to be illustrative, and not to limit the scope of the claims.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. An image forming apparatus comprising:

a waste toner collector detachably mountable on the image forming apparatus to collect waste toner, the waste toner collector including a discharge port to discharge the collected waste toner; and

a shutter to be movable to

an open position to open the discharge port when the waste toner collector is mounted on the image forming apparatus, and

a closed position to close the discharge port when the waste toner collector mounted on the image forming apparatus is dismounted from the image forming apparatus,

wherein the shutter includes a first hook to hold the shutter in the closed position and a second hook to hold the shutter in the open position.

2. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the shutter is movably mounted on the waste toner collector,

the waste toner collector includes

a guide member to guide the shutter to be movable to the open position and the closed position, and

a shutter position regulating member to restrict movement of the shutter.

3. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the guide member includes:

a guide groove to guide the movement of the shutter to move to the open position and the closed position;

a locking groove formed on an outer side of the guide groove to catch the first hook in the locking groove; and

a guide rail formed in a portion of the guide groove, to guide the shutter to move independently of the waste toner collector.

4. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein the guide rail is formed in a rear of the locking groove.

5. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein the first hook includes

a bent portion protruding to an outer side of the shutter and a first tension hook extending from the bent portion and having an elastic displacement, and

the first tension hook is to hold the shutter in the closed position by elastically pressing the locking groove.

6. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein the waste toner collector is detachably mountable on the image forming apparatus in a first direction, and

the shutter position regulating member includes: a pressing rib formed to protrude in the first direction of the waste toner collector;

an insertion groove formed in an inner side of the pressing rib, into which the first hook pressurized through the pressing rib is insertable; and

a second hook lock groove concavely formed in an inner side of the insertion groove, in which the second hook is to be caught.

7. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 6, wherein the second hook includes:

a slit formed in a cut groove shape having a length;

a second tension hook provided on the slit to be elastically displaceable; and

a locking protrusion formed to protrude from around one end of the second tension hook.

8. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein the locking protrusion is to be caught in the second hook lock groove, to hold the shutter in the open position when the waste toner collector is mounted on the image forming apparatus.

9. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein the guide rail is formed between the first hook and the second hook to guide a movement of the waste toner collector.

10. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 9, wherein, when one side of the second hook is supported through the guide rail, the shutter is to be restrained in the image forming apparatus to be moved independently of the waste toner collector.

1 1. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 10, wherein, when the guide rail is escaped from the one side of the second hook, the shutter is to be restrained in waste toner collector, to be moved with the waste toner collector.

12. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein, the waste toner collector is detachably mountable on the image forming apparatus in a first direction,

when the waste toner collector is detachably mounted on the image forming apparatus, the waste toner collector is unmountable in a second direction different from the first direction, and

the first hook is formed to protrude to the second direction of the waste toner collector.

13. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein, the waste toner collector is detachably mountable on the image forming apparatus in a first direction, and

the second hook is formed to protrude to the first direction of the waste toner collector opposite to the first hook.

14. An image forming apparatus comprising:

a waste toner collector detachably mountable on the image forming apparatus to collect waste toner;

a waste toner storage detachably mountable on the image forming apparatus to store the waste toner discharged from the waste toner collector; a hopper to couple to the waste toner collector and to the waste toner storage;

a first shutter disposed between the waste toner collector and the hopper; and

a second shutter disposed between the waste toner storage and the hopper,

wherein each of the first shutter and second shutter are movable to

an open position in which the waste toner collector and the waste toner storage are coupled to the hopper when the waste toner collector or the waste toner storage is mounted on the image forming apparatus, and

a closed position in which the waste toner collector and the waste toner storage is released from being coupled to the hopper when the waste toner collector or the waste toner storage is dismounted from the image forming apparatus, and

wherein the first shutter includes

a first hook to hold the first shutter in the closed position and a second hook to hold the first shutter in the open position, wherein the second shutter includes a third hook to hold the second shutter in the closed position and a fourth hook to hold the second shutter in the open position.

15. The image forming apparatus as claimed in claim 14, wherein shutter guide members to guide, respectively, movements of the first shutter and second shutter are formed, respectively,

in the waste toner collector, onto which the first shutter is movably mounted, and

in the waste toner storage onto which the second shutter is movably mounted, and

shutter position regulating members to restrict, respectively, the movements of the first shutter and second shutters are formed in the hopper mounted with the waste toner collector and in the waste toner storage.