JP3835510B2 - Development device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a developing device for supplying replacement toner to a developing device in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, and a facsimile using an electrophotographic method.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In the image forming apparatus of the above-described type, an image carrier such as a rotationally driven photoconductor, a latent image forming unit that sequentially forms an electrostatic latent image on the photoconductor, and the electrostatic latent image as a toner image. A developing means for developing and a transfer device for transferring a plurality of color toner images on the photosensitive member to a recording medium are provided.
[0003]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a system in which the developing device includes a developing device including a developing roller in contact with a photosensitive member and a toner cartridge that is detachably attached to the developing device and supplies toner to the developing device. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-287476 proposes that a movable shutter is provided in a toner cartridge and the movable shutter is opened and closed when the toner cartridge is attached to and detached from a developing device to prevent toner leakage.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the conventional developing device, the toner supply port on the developing device side is always open, so that when the toner cartridge is attached to or detached from the developing device, the toner leaks and stains the user's hand or clothes. There is a problem that the user's finger enters the toner supply port and gets dirty. Furthermore, when the developer is replaced due to the life of the developer, the developer is transported for recycling. However, there is a problem that the toner leaks due to vibration during transportation.
[0005]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and to provide a developing device capable of preventing toner leakage almost completely when a toner cartridge is attached to and detached from a developing device.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
For this purpose, the developing device of the present invention is a developing device in which the toner cartridge is detachably attached to the developing device by rotating the toner cartridge with respect to the developing device. A shutter that opens and closes, a toner discharge port provided on the toner cartridge side, a shutter that opens and closes the toner discharge port, and a shutter engagement piece. The toner discharge port and the toner injection port are opened and closed by rotating the toner cartridge by holding it with the shutter engagement piece on the side and the shutter engagement piece on the developer side, and when the toner cartridge is installed, the toner discharge port Located above the inlet, the toner discharge port and the toner injection port do not overlap. And a driven gear at the end of the rotary shaft formed of a flexible resin of a rotary compression member that moves the toner discharge port from the top to the bottom and conveys the toner in the toner cartridge. It is possible to mesh with a driving gear that drives a conveying member that conveys toner in the developing device when the cartridge is mounted .
[0007]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing an example of an image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied. This image forming apparatus is a color electrophotographic printer capable of forming a full color image with four color toners, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a toner image is formed on an image carrier such as a photoconductor. The present invention can be applied to all image forming apparatuses that form images.
[0008]
The photosensitive member 1 has a thin cylindrical conductive substrate and a photosensitive layer formed on the surface thereof, and is driven to rotate in the direction of the arrow shown by a driving unit (not shown). Around the photosensitive member 1, along the rotation direction, a charging roller 2 as charging means, an exposure unit 3 for forming an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive member 1, and an electrostatic latent image are developed. The developing unit 4, the intermediate transfer device 5 for transferring the toner image formed on the photoconductor 1 onto the intermediate transfer belt 7, and the photoconductor cleaning device 6 for removing the toner remaining on the photoconductor 1. Is arranged.
[0009]
The developing unit 4 includes a yellow developing unit 4Y, a cyan developing unit 4C, a magenta developing unit 4M, and a black developing unit 4K. Each developing unit includes a developing roller 4b disposed in a developing housing 4a. I have. These developing units 4Y, 4C, 4M, and 4K are arranged so as to be swingable with respect to the photosensitive member 1, and only one developing roller 4b is selectively provided for each rotation of the photosensitive member 1. The photosensitive member 1 can be contacted.
[0010]
The intermediate transfer device 5 includes a driving roller 9 for running the intermediate transfer belt 7, a primary transfer backup roller 10, a secondary transfer backup roller 11 and the like, and an endless intermediate transfer belt around each of these rollers. 7 is stretched. The intermediate transfer belt 7 is urged toward the photoreceptor 1 by a primary transfer backup roller 10, and a primary transfer portion T1 is formed here. Further, a secondary transfer roller 12 is disposed opposite to the secondary transfer backup roller 11 with the intermediate transfer belt 7 interposed therebetween, and a secondary transfer portion T2 is formed there.
[0011]
The operation of the image forming apparatus having the above configuration will be described. When an image forming signal is input from a computer (not shown), the photosensitive member 1, each developing roller 4b of the developing unit 4 and the intermediate transfer belt 7 are driven to rotate. First, the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive member 1 is uniformly charged by the charging roller 2, and the outer peripheral surface of the uniformly charged photosensitive member 1 is subjected to the first color (for example, yellow) image information by the exposure unit 3. A selective exposure L is performed to form a yellow electrostatic latent image.
[0012]
Only the developing roller 4b of the yellow developing device 4Y comes into contact with the photosensitive member 1, whereby a yellow electrostatic latent image toner image is formed on the photosensitive member 1. The intermediate transfer belt 7 is applied with a primary transfer voltage opposite in polarity to the toner charging polarity, and the toner image formed on the photoreceptor 1 is transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 7 at the primary transfer portion T1. After the toner remaining on the photosensitive member 1 is removed by the photosensitive member cleaning device 6, the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive member 1 is discharged by a discharging means (not shown).
[0013]
The above operation corresponds to the second, third, and fourth colors of the image forming signal, and latent image formation and development by one rotation of the photoreceptor 1 and the intermediate transfer belt 7 are repeated. Four color toner images corresponding to the contents are superimposed and transferred on the intermediate transfer belt 7. Then, at the timing when this full-color image reaches the secondary transfer portion T2, the sheet S is supplied from the arrow direction to the secondary transfer portion T2, and at this time, the transfer roller 12 is pressed against the intermediate transfer belt 7 and the secondary transfer is performed. A voltage is applied, and the full color toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 7 is transferred onto the recording medium S.
[0014]
The toner cartridge 13 according to the present invention can be detachably attached to the developing housing 4a of the developing device 4Y. The same applies to the other developing devices 4C, 4M, and 4K. The toner cartridge 13 includes a case main body 13a and a toner discharge port 13b formed in the case main body 13a. When the toner cartridge 13 is attached to the development housing 4a, the toner discharge port 13b is connected to the toner supply port 4c of the development housing 4a. Toner is supplied. And in the case main body 13a, the rotation conveyance member 14 is arrange | positioned in the upstream, and the rotation compression member 15 is arrange | positioned in the downstream.
[0015]
2A is a horizontal sectional view of the toner cartridge of FIG. 1, FIG. 2B is a view of the rotary compression member of FIG. 2A viewed from the B direction, and FIG. 2C is FIG. It is sectional drawing in alignment with CC line | wire.
[0016]
FIG. 2 shows the case main body 13a described in FIG. 1, the toner discharge port 13b, the rotary conveying member 14 and the rotary compression member 15 provided at the center of the case main body 13a. A protrusion 13 c is formed at the bottom of the case body 13 a, and the case body 13 a is designed such that the cross-sectional area on the rotary conveyance member 14 side is larger than the cross-sectional area of the rotary compression member 15.
[0017]
The rotary conveyance member 14 includes a rotation shaft 14a that is rotatably supported by the case body 13a, and a plurality of plate-shaped conveyance plates 14b fixed to the rotation shaft 14a. The rotary compression member 15 is rotated on both sides of the rotation shaft 15a rotatably supported by the case body 13a, a delivery member 15b fixed to the rotation shaft 15a opposite to the toner discharge port 13b, and the delivery plate 15b. A compression blade 15c integrally formed of resin is provided on the shaft 15a.
[0018]
The delivery member 15b has a structure in which a horizontal plate 15d is supported by rods 15e at intervals of 90 ° around the rotation shaft 15a, and the compression blade 15c has a semicircular plate inclined alternately to rotate the rotation shaft 15a. It has a structure linked to. A spherical portion 16 is formed at one end of the rotary shafts 14a and 15a of the rotary conveying member 14 and the rotary compression member 15, and this spherical portion 16 is pivotally supported by a bearing portion 1d formed in the case body 13a. A driven gear (see FIG. 3) is connected to the other ends of 14a and 15a. Since the spherical portion 16 is brought into contact with the bearing portion 1d at a point, torque acting on the rotary shafts 14a and 15a can be reduced.
[0019]
The toner filled in the toner cartridge 13 is conveyed to the rotary compression member 15 side by the conveyance plate 14 b of the rotary conveyance member 14, and the toner is compressed between both members 14, 15. By the action of the compression blades 15c on both sides, the toner is compressed and brought to the center, discharged from the toner discharge port 13b by the feed member 15b, and supplied to the toner injection port 4c on the developing device 4Y side. As a result, the amount of toner scraped by one rotation of the rotary compression member 15 is increased, and since it is compressed, the contact area with the air is reduced and the humidity is not affected, and a stable toner discharge amount is obtained. It is done.
[0020]
FIG. 3 is a side view of the developing device 4Y and the toner cartridge 13 of FIG. The driven gears 17 and 18 are connected to the ends of the rotary shafts 14a and 15a of the rotary conveying member 14 and the rotary compression member 15, respectively. The driven gears 17 and 18 are meshed with the drive gear 19, and the toner cartridge 13 is also engaged. Is mounted on the developing device 4Y, the driven gear 18 is meshed with the driving gear 20 on the developing device 4Y side, whereby the rotation of the driving gear 19 is transmitted to the gears 17, 18, and 20. . The driving gear 20 on the developing device 4Y side rotates a conveying member that conveys toner in the developing device. Since the rotation shaft 15a of the rotary compression member 15 is formed of a flexible resin, when the driven gear 18 and the drive gear 20 are not meshed when the toner cartridge 13 is mounted on the developing device 4Y, the rotation shaft 15a The two gears are easily meshed so as to escape.
[0021]
Next, an embodiment of the developing device of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In the following description, the same components may be denoted by the same reference numerals in the drawings, and description thereof may be omitted.
[0022]
4A is a cross-sectional view of the toner cartridge, and FIG. 4B is a front view. A toner discharge port 13b is formed on the front surface of the case body 13a, and guide rails 21 and 21 are provided on the left and right sides of the toner discharge port 13b. A shutter 22 on the cartridge side is slidable between the guide rails 21 and 21. It is arranged. A pair of shutter engaging pieces 23 is formed below the shutter 22 on the cartridge side.
[0023]
5A is a cross-sectional view of the developing device, and FIG. 5B is a front view. A toner injection port 4c is formed on the rear surface of the developing housing 4a, and guide rails 24 and 24 are provided on the left and right sides of the toner injection port 4c. A shutter 25 on the developer side slides between the guide rails 24 and 24. Arranged freely. A pair of shutter engaging pieces 26 are formed above the developer-side shutter 25.
[0024]
FIG. 6 is a view for explaining the attaching and detaching operation of the toner cartridge having the above structure to the developing device. 6A shows a state in which the toner cartridge 13 in the state shown in FIG. 4A is mounted on the developing device 4Y in the state shown in FIG. 5A. In this state, the toner discharge port on the cartridge side is shown. 13b is closed by a shutter 22 on the cartridge side, and the toner injection port 4c on the developer side is closed by a shutter 25 on the developer side. The toner discharge port 13b is located above the toner injection port 4c, and is configured so that the toner discharge port 13b and the toner injection port 4c do not overlap. The upper and lower portions of the shutter 22 on the cartridge side are engaged with the shutter engaging piece 26 on the developing device side, and the upper and lower portions of the shutter 25 on the developing device side are engaged with the shutter engaging piece 23 on the cartridge side. Has been.
[0025]
When the case main body 13a is rotated from the above state in the direction indicated by the arrow B, as shown in FIG. 6B, the shutter 22 on the cartridge side is held by the shutter engaging piece 26 on the developer side, and the toner is discharged. The outlet 13b moves from top to bottom and moves below the cartridge-side shutter 22, and the developer-side shutter 25 moves below the toner inlet 4c by the cartridge-side shutter engaging piece 23. The toner discharge port 13b and the toner injection port 4c are opened and communicated with each other.
[0026]
6B, when the case body 13a is rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow A, as shown in FIG. 6A, the toner discharge port 13b moves to the shutter 22 side on the cartridge side. Further, since the developer-side shutter 25 moves in a direction to close the toner injection port 4c by the cartridge-side shutter engaging piece 23, the toner discharge port 13b and the toner injection port 4c are closed.
[0027]
【The invention's effect】
As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, since both the developing device and the toner cartridge are provided with shutters, there is no spillage of toner from the cartridge when the toner cartridge is removed from the developing device. There is no spillage of toner from the device, dirt on the user's hand and toner scattering in the machine are reduced, and toner leakage can be almost completely prevented when the toner cartridge is attached to and detached from the developing device.
[0028]
In particular, when the shutter of the toner discharge port on the cartridge side is opened, the toner injection port on the developer unit is always open, and when the toner cartridge is removed, the toner injection port is closed after the toner discharge port is closed. Contamination of the user's hand and toner scattering in the machine are reduced.
[0029]
Also, when the toner cartridge is inserted into the developing device and rotated, the gear on the cartridge side meshes with the gear on the developing device side, and the rotation conveying member on the toner cartridge rotates, so that the compressed toner is loosened, Further, since the toner is sent to the downstream side, the toner can be easily discharged.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing an example of an image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied.
2A is a horizontal sectional view of the toner cartridge of FIG. 1, FIG. 2B is a view of the rotary compression member of FIG. 2A viewed from the B direction, and FIG. It is sectional drawing which follows the CC line of 2 (A).
3 is a side view of the developing device 4Y and the toner cartridge 13 of FIG.
4A and 4B show an embodiment of the developing device of the present invention. FIG. 4A is a cross-sectional view of a toner cartridge, and FIG. 4B is a front view.
FIG. 5 shows one embodiment of the developing device of the present invention, FIG. 5 (A) is a sectional view of the developing device, and FIG. 5 (B) is a front view.
FIG. 6 is a view for explaining the operation of attaching and detaching the toner cartridge according to the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
4Y ... developer 4c ... toner inlet 13 ... toner cartridge 13b ... toner outlet 22, 25 ... shutter 23, 26 ... shutter engaging pieces 17-20 ... gear

Claims (1)

In a developing device that allows a toner cartridge to be attached to and detached from a developing device by rotating the toner cartridge with respect to the developing device, a toner inlet provided on the developing device side, a shutter that opens and closes the toner inlet, and a shutter engaging piece; A toner discharge port provided on the toner cartridge side, a shutter for opening and closing the toner discharge port, and a shutter engaging piece. The shutter on the developing unit and the shutter on the cartridge side are respectively connected to the shutter engaging piece on the cartridge side and the developing unit. The toner discharge port and the toner injection port are opened and closed by rotating the toner cartridge while being held by the shutter engaging piece on the side. When the toner cartridge is installed, the toner discharge port is located above the toner injection port and the toner discharge port. The outlet and toner inlet do not overlap, and the toner outlet is from top to bottom. A rotary gear formed by a flexible resin of a rotary compression member that moves and conveys toner in the toner cartridge is provided with a driven gear, and the driven gear conveys toner in the developing device when the toner cartridge is mounted. A developing device capable of meshing with a driving gear for driving a conveying member .

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