JPH0635321A - Electrophotographic recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve operability when the toner replenishing is carried out by opening a shutter of a toner cartridge after the toner cartridge is attached to a developing device. CONSTITUTION:The shutter is provided to freely rotate and seal an opening 46 in the toner cartridge 31, while an inputting gear 63 is provided on one edge of the shutter, an idler gear 61 engaged with the inputting gear 63 and a rotating member 60 which is engaged with the idler gear 61 are provided. The rotating member 60 is provided to freely rotate on one edge of an agitator shaft 50 of the toner cartridge 31 and one end of an energizing member 64 energizing in the direction to close the shutter is hooked onto the rotational member 60. On the other hand, an actuating protrusion 68 is provided in a top construction body 10b to be engaged with the rotational member 60 when being closed and to rotate the rotational member 60 against the energizing member 64. Then, after the toner cartridge 31 is attached to the developing device 13, the shutter is opened or closed in a motion linked with the opening/ closing action of the top construction body 10b of the device main body.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention uses a laser to attach a toner cartridge to a developing device such as a printer, a copying machine or a facsimile, and replenish the toner to the developing device. The present invention relates to an electrophotographic recording device that adheres a toner to develop a latent image on a photoconductor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 14, for example, some laser printers include a toner cartridge 1 in which an opening 1a is closed and a shutter 2 is rotatably provided. In such a laser printer, after the toner cartridge 1 is attached to the mounting recess 3a of the developing device 3 as indicated by the chain double-dashed line, the opening 1 is rotated by hand in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG.
a is opened, and the toner t in the toner cartridge 1 is opened 1
It was replenished to the developing device 3 through a (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-175).
471).

[0003]

However, in such a conventional laser printer, after the toner cartridge 1 is attached to the developing device 3, the toner cartridge 1 must be manually rotated to open the opening 1a, It was troublesome.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to improve the operability when toner is supplied by opening the shutter of the toner cartridge after attaching the toner cartridge to the developing device.

[0005]

Therefore, what is stated in claim 1 is, for example, as shown in the following illustrated embodiment,
The toner cartridge 31 is provided with a shutter 48 by closing the opening 46 thereof, and the toner cartridge 31 is attached to the developing device 13 provided in the apparatus main body 10 and the shutter 4 is provided.
8 is opened, a cover such as the upper structure 10b of the apparatus body 10 is closed to drive the apparatus body 10, and the toner t in the toner cartridge 31 is replenished to the developing device 13 through the opening 46. In the electrophotographic recording device for developing the latent image on the photoconductor 11 by the developing device 13, after attaching the toner cartridge 31 to the developing device 13, the shutter 48 is closed or opened in conjunction with the opening / closing operation of the cover. It is characterized by

According to a second aspect of the present invention, for example, as shown in the following illustrated embodiments, in the electrophotographic recording apparatus according to the first aspect, the rotating member 60 which rotates in conjunction with the opening / closing operation of the cover. The toner cartridge 31 is provided with a gear train including an idler gear 61 and an input gear 63 for transmitting the rotation of the rotation member 60, while the shutter 48 is an axial member having a radial through hole 48a. It is formed, and it is configured to rotate via the gear train.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, for example, as shown in the following illustrated embodiment, in the electrophotographic recording apparatus according to the first aspect, a biasing member 64 for biasing the shutter 48 in the closing direction is provided. It is characterized by

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, for example, as shown in the following illustrated embodiment, in the electrophotographic recording apparatus according to the first aspect, the opening is interlocked with the attachment / detachment operation of the toner cartridge 31 by gravity balance. The toner cartridge 31 is provided with an opening cover 70 for opening and closing 46.

[0009]

In the invention described in claim 1, after the toner cartridge 31 is attached to the developing device 13, the apparatus main body 1
When the 0 cover is opened or closed, the shutter 48 of the toner cartridge 31 is closed or opened in conjunction with it. Then, when the shutter 48 is opened, the toner cartridge 3
The toner t in 1 is supplied to the developing device 13 through the opening 46.

According to the second aspect, the apparatus main body 10
The rotation member 60 is rotated in conjunction with the opening / closing operation of the cover of
The rotation of the rotation member 60 is controlled by the shutter 48 via the gear train.
To open and close the opening 46 by rotating the shutter 48.

According to the third aspect, the biasing member 64 is provided.
Urges the shutter 48 in the closing direction.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the opening cover 70 opens and closes the opening 46 in a gravity balance in association with the attachment / detachment operation of the toner cartridge 31.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 12 shows a schematic configuration of the entire internal mechanism of a laser printer which is an embodiment of the present invention.

Reference numeral 10 in the figure denotes the apparatus main body. The apparatus main body 10 is composed of a lower structure 10a and an upper structure 10b that is a cover thereof, and the upper structure 10b is connected to the lower structure 10b.
It is attached to a in such a manner that it can be opened and closed with the shaft 10c as a fulcrum.
A drum-shaped photosensitive member 11 is provided in the apparatus main body 10 at substantially the center thereof. Around the photoconductor 11, a developing unit 13 is arranged on the right side, a transfer unit 14 is arranged on the upper side, and a cleaning unit 15 is arranged on the left side in order from the lower charger 12 in the rotation direction (counterclockwise direction) of the photoreceptor 11. To do. And the charger 1
An optical writer 16 is provided below the cleaning device 15 and the cleaning device 15. Below the optical writer 16, a paper feed cassette 17 is detachably attached. The sheet S is stored in the paper feed cassette 17. Then, on the right side of the developing device 13,
That is, the front side indicated by the arrow A is provided with a sheet feeding path 21 that guides the sheet S fed by rotating the sheet feeding roller 20 upward. At the tip of the paper feed path 21, a conveyance path 23 common to the sheet S inserted from the manual paper feed port 22 is provided. A registration roller pair 24 is arranged in the middle of the conveyance path 23.

A fixing device 26 is provided on the side opposite to the registration roller pair 24 with the transfer device 14 interposed therebetween. Further, a paper discharge path 27 is provided on the left side of the fixing device 26, and a paper discharge receiver 28 is installed in front of it. The device body 10 is provided with a display panel (not shown) on the upper inclined surface 10d on the front side A.

In the illustrated laser printer, however, the display panel is appropriately operated while standing on the front side A. And
The sheet feeding roller 20 is rotated to feed the sheet S to the sheet feeding cassette 17
The sheets are fed one by one from the inside to the paper feed path 21, and the leading edge of the sheet S is abutted against the registration roller pair 24 through the conveyance path 23 and stopped.

On the other hand, while the photoconductor 11 rotates counterclockwise in the figure, the surface of the photoconductor 11 is uniformly charged by the charger 12, and then the laser light is irradiated by the optical writer 16 to statically charge the surface. An electrostatic latent image is formed, and subsequently, when passing through the developing device 13, the electrostatic latent image is sequentially visualized by toner. Then, by matching the timing with the visible image, the above-mentioned registration roller pair 2
The sheet S that has been pressed against the sheet 4 is sent toward the photoconductor 11. Then, the visible image on the photoconductor 11 is transferred to the sheet S by the transfer device 14. After transfer, photoconductor 1
The residual toner on 1 is scraped off by the cleaning blade 29 of the cleaning device 15.

On the other hand, the transferred sheet S is sent to a fixing device 26, and the fixing device 26 fixes the transferred image. After the image is fixed, the sheets S are discharged and sequentially stacked on the discharge receiver 28 through the discharge path 27.

By the way, the above-mentioned developing device 13 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 11 and FIG. 11, mounting recesses 30a are provided on one side of the developing device case 30, and mounting guide recesses 30b are provided on the inner surfaces of both ends thereof. Further, the developing device case 30 is integrally provided with the photoconductor 11, the charging device 12, and the cleaning device 15 on the other side. Then, the developing chamber 32 is formed on the right side of the photoconductor 11. The photoconductor 11 in the developing chamber 32
A roller window 33 is opened on the side in the lengthwise direction of the developing chamber 32, and a replenishing port 34 opening upward is formed on the side opposite to the roller window 33. In the developing chamber 32, there are provided a developing roller 35, a part of which is exposed from the roller window 33 and is in contact with the peripheral surface of the photoconductor 11, a replenishing roller 36, which is in contact with the developing roller 35, and a mini-agitator 37. It is stored in a freely rotatable manner. The tip of the thin layer blade 38 is pressed against the outer circumference of the developing roller 35.

The cleaning device 15 forms a waste toner collecting chamber 39 in the lengthwise direction of the photoconductor 11, and a first auger 41 is rotatably provided below the waste toner collecting chamber 39. One end of a waste toner carrying path 40 shown in FIG. 9 is connected to the end of the waste toner collecting chamber 39. The waste toner conveying path 40 is formed diagonally upward to the right in the figure, the second auger 42 is rotatably provided inside, and the toner discarding port 40 facing downward is provided at the other end.
a is provided.

The above-mentioned developing device is shown in FIGS.
As shown in, the toner cartridge 31 is detachably attached. As shown in FIG. 8, the toner cartridge 31 has a cylindrical shape as a whole, and the toner storage portion 4 is provided at the center thereof.
4 is provided. The toner storage unit 44 has a toner chamber 45 inside.
And a radial protrusion 44a is axially formed on the outer surface thereof. The protrusion 44a is provided with a cartridge joint surface 44b extending in the radial direction, and the joint surface 44b is provided with an opening 46 shown in FIG. At the periphery of the opening 46, a seal member 47 is provided on the inner surface, and a shutter 48 is provided inside in contact with the seal member 47. The shutter 48 is a shaft-shaped member having a circular section, and as shown in FIG. 8, a plurality of radial through holes 48a are formed, a shaft portion 48b is formed at one end, and a D-shaped shaft hole 48c is formed at the other end. . Then, the shaft hole 44 on one end side of the toner storage portion 44
While the shaft portion 48b is inserted into c, one end of the D-shaped shaft portion 49 is attached to the D-shaped shaft hole 48c so as to be rotatable. The D-shaped shaft portion 49 is inserted into the shaft hole 44c on the other end side of the toner storage portion 44, and is provided integrally with the input gear 63.

Further, an agitator shaft 50 is provided in the toner storage portion 44 so as to penetrate in the longitudinal direction. A base end of a plate-shaped agitator 51 is attached to an intermediate portion of the agitator shaft 50. The agitator 51 has a polyester film 52 attached to its tip and pressed against the inner wall surface of the toner chamber 45.

On the other hand, an agitator gear 53 and its gear cover 54 are attached to one end 50a side of the agitator shaft 50. The gear cover 54 is cap-shaped, has a cylindrical projection 54a through which one end 50a of the agitator shaft 50 is inserted, and has an opening 54c in a cylindrical side wall 54b.

On the other hand, a waste toner tank 55 is attached to the other end 50b side of the agitator shaft 50. The waste toner tank 55 has a substantially cylindrical shape as a whole, and has a through hole 55a at the center through which the other end 50b of the agitator shaft 50 is inserted.
A concave portion 55b is formed on the outer surface, and the waste toner receiving port 55 is formed there.
Open c.

Further, both ends 50a of the agitator shaft 50 are
Both ends 56b of the handle 56 are attached to 50b. Handle 56
Both ends 56b are formed by bending at right angles from both ends of the central grip portion 56a and extending substantially parallel to each other. And
The gear cover 54 and the waste toner tank 55 are fixed on the agitator shaft 50 by sandwiching the handle 56 between both ends 56b.

Then, such a toner cartridge 3
When attaching 1 to the developing device 13, as shown in FIG. 1, the upper structure 10b which is a cover is opened while standing on the front side A of the apparatus main body 10. Then, hold the handle 56 and hold both ends 5
6b from the direction of the arrow shown in FIG.
The toner cartridge 31 is fitted into the mounting recess 30a and guided by the mounting guide recess 30b. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 9, the waste toner receiving port 55c of the waste toner tank 55 is aligned with the toner discarding port 40a, and the toner storage portion 44 is rotated counterclockwise to replenish the opening 46 as shown in FIG. The toner cartridge 31 is attached to the developing unit 13 as shown in FIG.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 8, the toner storage portion 4 of the toner cartridge 31 is used.
A rotation member 60 is provided between the toner container 4 and the waste toner tank 55. The rotating member 60 includes a convex portion 60a and a gear portion 60b in the radial direction, and is freely rotatably attached to the other end 50b side of the agitator shaft 50. An idler gear 61 is provided by meshing with the gear portion 60b of the rotating member 60. Idler gear 6
1 is provided on the other end surface of the toner storage portion 44 by a shaft 62 and meshed with an input gear 63 of the shutter 48. Further, on the gear portion 60b side of the rotating member 60,
One end of the urging member 64 is hooked. The other end of the urging member 64 is hooked at an appropriate position of the toner storage portion 44. Then, the urging member 64 urges the gear portion 60b of the rotating member 60 against the projection 65 to hold the shutter 48 in the closed state shown in FIG.

On the other hand, the upper structure 10b is provided with an operating projection 68 which engages with the rotating member 60 and rotates the rotating member 60. The operating protrusion 68 is formed in a rod shape, and the tip thereof is provided facing downward toward the rotating member 60.

Then, as shown in FIG. 1, after the toner cartridge 31 is attached to the developing device 13, the upper structure 10b is formed.
Is rotated in the direction of the arrow and closed as shown in FIG. 3, the tip of the operating portion 68 pushes down the convex portion 60a of the drive gear 60,
The drive gear 60 is rotated in the clockwise direction indicated by the arrow against the biasing member 64. Then, the idler gear 61 and the input gear 63 respectively rotate in the directions indicated by the arrows, and the shutter 48 rotates clockwise from the closed state shown in FIG. 2 to open as shown in FIG.

Therefore, during recording, in the developing device 13, the rotation from the drive motor (not shown) is transmitted to the agitator shaft 50 via the agitator gear 53, and the agitator shaft 50 is rotated to rotate the agitator 51. Then, as shown in FIG.
While stirring the toner t with the agitator 51, the toner chamber 45
From the replenishing port 34 into the developing chamber 32 through the through hole 48a and the opening 46. Then, the sent toner t is sent to the replenishing roller 36 by the mini agitator 37, and further attached to the developing roller 35 by the replenishing roller 36. The attached toner t is dammed by the tip of the thin layer blade 38 to form a thin layer. Then, the toner t is attached to the photoconductor 11 by the developing roller 35 through the roller window 33, and the electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photoconductor 11 is visualized.

After the transfer, the residual toner t on the photoconductor 11 is removed by the cleaning blade 2 of the cleaning device 15.
At 9, the waste toner is collected in the waste toner collecting chamber 39. Then, the waste toner t is collected by the rotation of the first auger 41.
9, and further, as shown in FIG. 9, the second auger 42 rotates to convey it through the waste toner conveying path 40, and collects it in the waste toner tank 55 through the toner discarding port 40a and the waste toner receiving port 55c. .

After that, when the toner t is used up and the replacement display of the toner cartridge 31 is displayed on the display panel, the upper structure 10b is opened as shown in FIG. Then, the operating projection 68 separates from the rotating member 60, and the rotating member 60 is biased by the biasing member 64 to rotate in the counterclockwise direction indicated by the arrow. Therefore, the idler gear 61 and the input gear 63 rotate in the directions indicated by the arrows, and the shutter 4
2 is rotated counterclockwise from the open state shown in FIG.
Close as shown in. Then, the handle 56 is held and the toner cartridge 31 is pulled out from the mounting recess 30a of the developing device 13 and is replaced with a new toner cartridge 31.
When the upper structure 10b is closed after the replacement, the shutter 48 is automatically opened as described above in conjunction with it.

The toner cartridge 31 described above is used.
Preferably has the configuration shown in FIG. Reference numeral 70 in the drawing is an opening cover. In the opening cover 70, a partial cylindrical curved surface 70a is formed elongated in the axial direction of the toner cartridge 31, and both ends are bent at right angles to form a bent portion 70b. Then, the bent portion 70b is attached to the outer ends of the D-shaped shaft portion 49 and the shaft portion 48b in a freely rotatable manner. Further, a balance adjusting portion 71 is provided on the outer circumference of the bent portion 70b.
Then, the balance adjusting portion 71 maintains the gravity balance of the opening cover 70, and the cover portion 70a is always in the horizontal state in the lateral direction.

Therefore, when the toner cartridge 31 is attached to the developing device 13, as shown in FIG. 6, the toner cartridge 31 is inserted into the mounting recess 30a of the developing device case 30 and then rotated counterclockwise as indicated by the arrow. Then, as the toner cartridge 31 rotates, the opening 46 opens downward. Then, as shown in FIG. 7, the opening 46 of the toner cartridge 31 is attached so as to be aligned with the supply port 34 of the developing device 13. On the other hand, the toner cartridge 31 is replaced with the developing device 1.
When the toner cartridge 31 is removed from No. 3, when the toner cartridge 31 is rotated clockwise, the opening 46 becomes sideways as the toner cartridge 31 rotates, and the opening 46 is closed by the cover portion 70a.

[0035]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the toner cartridge is attached to the developing device and the cover of the apparatus main body is opened / closed, the shutter of the toner cartridge is closed or opened in association with the opening / closing of the toner cartridge. When replenishing toner, it is possible to improve the operability by eliminating the trouble of manually opening the shutter.

According to the third aspect, since the biasing member biases the shutter in the closing direction, the shutter can be securely closed.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the opening is opened and closed by the opening cover in association with the attachment / detachment operation of the toner cartridge. Therefore, when the toner cartridge is removed from the developing device, the opening is covered with the opening cover. It is possible to prevent the toner attached to the opening from scattering to the outside.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a laser printer according to an embodiment of the present invention,
FIG. 6 is a state diagram after the upper structure is opened and the toner cartridge is attached to the developing device, and before the upper structure is closed.

FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged sectional view around the shutter at that time.

FIG. 3 is a state diagram in which the upper structure is closed.

FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged sectional view around the shutter at that time.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged side view of an opening portion in another example of the toner cartridge.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a state in which the toner cartridge is placed on a developing device case.

FIG. 7 is a state diagram when the toner cartridge is attached.

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of a toner cartridge having no opening cover.

FIG. 9 is a state explanatory view showing a collected state of waste toner in a developing device including the toner cartridge.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing when a toner cartridge is attached to the developing device.

FIG. 11 is a configuration diagram of an internal mechanism of the developing device and the toner cartridge after the toner cartridge is attached.

FIG. 12 is a schematic configuration diagram of an entire internal mechanism of a laser printer including the developing device and the toner cartridge.

FIG. 13 is a state explanatory view showing a state in which the toner cartridge is attached to the developing device, the opening is opened, and the toner is replenished in the conventional example.

FIG. 14 is a schematic view showing a case where a toner cartridge is attached to the developing device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Device Main Body 10b Upper Structure (Cover) 13 Developing Device 31 Toner Cartridge 46 Opening 48 Shutter 60 Rotating Member 61 Idler Gear (Gear Train) 63 Input Gear (Gear Train) 64 Energizing Member 70 Opening Cover t Toner

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Iwamatsu Matsumae 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Stock company Ricoh Co., Ltd. (72) Masayoshi Miyamoto 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Stocks Inside Ricoh Company (72) Inventor Takahiro Tamiya 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A toner cartridge is provided with a shutter by closing its opening, the toner cartridge is attached to a developing device provided in the apparatus main body, the shutter is opened, and the cover of the apparatus main body is closed to drive the apparatus main body. In an electrophotographic recording apparatus in which the toner in the toner cartridge is replenished to the developing device through the opening and the latent image on the photoconductor is developed by the developing device, the cover is attached after the toner cartridge is attached to the developing device. An electrophotographic recording apparatus in which the shutter is closed or opened in association with the opening / closing operation of the. 2. The toner cartridge is provided with a rotating member that rotates in conjunction with the opening / closing operation of the cover, and a gear train that transmits the rotation of the rotating member, while the shutter penetrates in the radial direction. The electrophotographic recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the electrophotographic recording apparatus is formed of a shaft-shaped member having a hole, and is configured to rotate via the gear train. 3. The electrophotographic recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a biasing member that biases the shutter in a closing direction. 4. The toner cartridge is provided with an opening cover that opens and closes the opening in association with the attachment / detachment operation of the toner cartridge by gravity balance.
The electrophotographic recording device described in 1.