JPH03289683A - Developing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the blowoff of toner which rides the air blown off from a vent part toward the outside by providing the vent part to the outside at the part of a developer storing area and applying a semipermeable film to the vent part. CONSTITUTION:The semipermeable film 85 is applied to the vent part provided at the part of the developer storing area of a developing device. Therefore, it transmits only air and does not transmits toner. By selecting the total aperture area of the event part, the resistance thereof is made much smaller than ventilation resistance through a seal part 25 around the developing roller 11 of the developing device. Thus, the developing device is attached/detached or replaced singly or in cartridge unit with others. In the case that inside air is blown off because of deformation that content volume becomes small in handling when the device is carried, the toner riding the air blown off from the vent part is captured by the film 85 and the blowoff of the toner toward the outside is prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a developing device used in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, or the like that forms an image by an electrophotographic method. This invention relates to a developing device having a developer storage chamber for accommodating the developer.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This type of developing device is known from, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-235970. Due to its handling method, the developer used is a one-component developer consisting only of toner, or a two-component developer consisting of a mixture of toner and carrier. A large amount of each developer is stored in a developer storage chamber, and after being subjected to a charging process according to the developer, it is subjected to development via a developing roller.

By the way, the toner in the developer is extremely small particles that scatter even with the slightest movement of air, staining the surrounding area. For this reason, in the developing device, a seal is applied between the opening where the developing roller is located and the developing roller to seal the range of the developer supply path from the developer storage chamber to the developing roller to prevent toner from scattering. Prevention has traditionally been practiced.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, the seal around the developing roller must be such that the developer carried on the surface of the developing roller can be drawn out of the developing device in a predetermined condition and used for development. , it must be ensured that residual developer remaining on the developing roller after being subjected to development is carried into the developer.

For this reason, the sealing on the developing roller is limited to a level that prevents toner leakage under normal usage conditions.

However, the developing device is generally removable or replaceable for maintenance or to change the developed color. It is also made into a disposable cartridge along with the device, so that the cartridge can be attached, detached, and replaced. In this case, the developing device or cartridge may be strongly hit or hit by the handle, or may be affected by gripping force or its own weight, but in these cases, it may be twisted or dented to reduce the internal volume. As a result, the internal air sometimes blows out from the seal portion along with the toner. This is especially a problem in modern designs where the rigidity of developer units and cartridges tends to decrease due to smaller size, lighter weight, and lower cost designs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to improve the structure of the portion of the developing device that accommodates developer, and to provide a developing device that can solve the above-mentioned problems.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a ventilation section with the outside in a part of the developer storage area that stores the developer to be used for development, and a semi-ventilation section in this ventilation section. It is characterized by having a permeable membrane.

Function: According to the 11 precepts of the present invention, the vent provided in a part of the developer storage area of the developing device is provided with a semi-permeable membrane, which allows only air to pass through and prevents toner from passing through. By selecting the total opening area of the ventilation section, the ventilation resistance can be made sufficiently smaller than the ventilation resistance through the seal section around the developing roller of the developing device.

Therefore, if the developing unit is deformed to reduce its internal volume and the internal air is blown out during handling when the developing unit is attached, detached, replaced, or carried individually or as a cartridge unit with other cartridges, ventilation with low ventilation resistance is required. The venting section serves as a preferential blowing section to prevent air from being blown out from other parts, and the toner riding on the air blown out from the ventilation section can be captured by the semipermeable membrane and prevented from blowing out to the outside.

EXAMPLE A developing device as an example of the present invention shown in FIGS. 1 to 6 will be described below.

FIG. 1 shows an image forming cartridge 1 equipped with a developing device according to the present invention. This cartridge 1 uses a single developer, and is formed by connecting a developer casing 2 and a waste toner casing 3, as shown in the figure. A photosensitive drum 4 is provided at the connecting end of the waste toner casing 3 and is pivotally supported on the side wall of the waste toner casing 3 by a shaft 6. A cleaning blade 7 is brought into pressure contact with the back of the photosensitive drum 4, and residual toner scraped off from the top of the photosensitive drum 4 is stored in the waste toner casing 3. To accommodate this, a paddle 8 is provided near the bottom of the waste toner casing 3 behind the photosensitive drum 4 to scrape the toner scraped from the photosensitive drum 4 into the waste toner casing 3. Note that the photosensitive drum 4
A photoconductive layer made of zinc selenium oxide or an organic photoconductive material is formed on the surface of a metal base such as aluminum.
An electrostatic latent image is formed by imagewise exposure.

A developing roller 11 for developing an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 4 with toner is provided at the connecting end of the developing device casing 2 and is pivotally supported by a shaft 12 on a side wall. A sponge roller 13 is provided on the back of the developing roller 11 and is pivotally supported on the side wall of the developing device casing 2 by a shaft 14, which charges the developer and supplies it to the developing roller 11. A developer supply paddle 15 is provided inside the developer casing 2 and is pivotally supported on a side wall by a shaft 16 for agitating the developer in the developer casing 2 while supplying it to the sponge roller 13 . The shaft 16 is equipped with stirring blades 17 to prevent toner from forming into blocks.
is installed.

A developer scraping wire 82 is provided on the back of the sponge roller 13. This wire 82 is stretched between the opening edges of a partition plate 95 in the developer casing 2 and is pressed against the back surface of the sponge roller 13. As a result, when the residual developer that has been supplied to the developing roller 11 on the sponge roller 13 returns to the back side of the sponge roller 13, this residual developer is scraped off from the surface of the sponge roller 13 by the wire 82. Returned to unused developer. Therefore, the residual developer that remains after being supplied to the developing roller 11 does not leave the surface of the developing roller 11 and is repeatedly supplied to the developing roller 11 as it is, or is scraped off once from the surface of the developing roller 11. This prevents the developer from being captured by the sponge roller 13 and supplied to the developing roller 11 without being mixed with unused developer. For this reason, the sponge roller 13
It is possible to prevent the stress of the residual developer not supplied to the developing roller 11 from affecting the developing characteristics.

The developer casing 2 and the waste toner casing 3 are connected to the shaft 2.
Positioning rollers 23 and 24 provided on the shafts 6 and 12 of both the photosensitive drum 4 and the developing roller 11 are connected to each other so as to be swingable by the shafts 6 and 1 of the photosensitive drum 4 and the developing roller 11.
They are brought into pressure contact with each other, and a predetermined gap is maintained between the photosensitive drum 4 and the developing roller 11 while absorbing manufacturing and assembly errors of each part.

A lid 30 is attached to an upwardly opened developer input port 83 of the developer casing 2, and is fixed to the developer casing 2 by an appropriate method such as adhesion, welding, or screwing. The lid 30 extends to the waste toner casing 3 and covers the waste toner casing 3, making it easy to handle the image forming cartridge 1 as an integral part. Especially 1
130 is heavier than the waste toner casing 3 and is fixed to the side of the larger developer casing 2 to serve as the gripping portion H for integral handling, so that the stability of the image forming cartridge 1 during handling is improved. It becomes even easier to handle. Note that a play is provided between the lid 30 and the waste toner casing 3 to an extent that does not prevent the necessary rocking of the waste toner casing 3 relative to the developer casing 2 due to pressure contact between the positioning rollers 23 and 24.

This image forming cartridge 1 is used by being attached to a printer 31 shown in FIG. 2, for example. In this printer 31, an upper frame 33 can be opened and closed vertically about a hinge shaft 34 with respect to a lower frame 32, and the image forming cartridge 1 is mounted on the upper frame 33 as shown in FIG. This attachment is performed detachably from the rear of the upper frame 33 that opens upwardly along guides (not shown) provided inside both side walls of the upper frame 33. When the upper frame 33 of the image forming cartridge 1 is closed with respect to the lower frame 32,
Transfer charge medium 3 provided on the lower frame 32 side
6, and when the upper frame 33 is opened upward as shown in FIG. 2, the paper passing path 37 is opened, making troubleshooting such as jams easier. .

A laser scanning unit 38 is provided above the portion of the upper frame 33 where the image forming cartridge 1 is mounted. This laser scanning unit 38 deflects a laser beam 39 from a laser emission source modulated according to an image signal provided by a personal computer, an image reader, etc., onto the photosensitive drum 4 using an appropriate scanning means such as a polygon mirror. image exposure on the photosensitive drum 4. For this image exposure, the image forming cartridge 1 has an I
An exposure slit 51 that enables image exposure to the photosensitive drum 4 is provided in a part of the E30, and an image forming cartridge l
Inside, an electrostatic latent image is formed by image exposure.
A charger 52 that uniformly charges the surface of the photosensitive drum 4 is provided in front of the image exposure position of the photosensitive drum 4.

On the other hand, a seal plate 25 is provided at the bottom edge of the connecting end opening of the developer casing 2 and extends to the circumferential surface of the developing roller 11 and comes into pressure contact therewith. A seal plate 26 is provided that extends to the photosensitive drum 4 and presses against it. As a result, the developer accommodating space of the image forming cartridge 1 in which the developer casing 2 and waste toner casing 3 are located is almost sealed, thereby preventing the developer from scattering to the outside. be able to.

However, due to recent miniaturization and weight reduction, the thickness of each member forming the image forming cartridge 1 tends to become thinner and the rigidity tends to decrease. Therefore, when handling the image forming cartridge 1 alone, the developing device casing 2 forming the grip part H of the image forming cartridge 1 may be exposed to external force that grips the image forming cartridge 1, its own weight, or when it is hit by another object. Due to external force, deformation such as twisting or denting may occur even temporarily. At this time, the volume of the developer casing 2 momentarily decreases, and the developer may blow out along with the internal air from the weak portion of the seal.

Therefore, in this embodiment, an opening 84 is formed in the lid 30, and the opening 84 is closed with a semipermeable membrane 85. The semipermeable membrane 85 is made of a material that allows air to pass through but does not allow the developer to pass through. The opening degree of the opening 84 is set to be sufficiently smaller than the ventilation resistance in the seal portion around the developing roller 11.

As a result, even if the developing device casing 2 is deformed as described above during handling of the image forming cartridge 1 and the volume is reduced and internal air is blown out, the air can be blown out through the opening 84 with less resistance. Even if the developer tries to get on top of the ejected air, it can be blocked by the semipermeable membrane 85 provided in the opening 84 and prevented from ejecting to the outside. Such a structure can be applied to the waste toner casing 3 as needed, and the same effect can be achieved even if it is applied to any part of the developer storage area.

Note that the sealing performance can be further improved by providing the seal plates 25 and 26 in the developer casing 2 and the waste toner casing 3 in multiple stages as necessary, and pressing them against the surfaces of the developing roller 11 and the photosensitive drum 4 in multiple stages in their rotational directions. improves.

An elastic blade 41 is pressed against the developing roller 11 . As the elastic blade 41, a rubber blade made of urethane rubber, silicone rubber, or the like, or a metal blade made of spring-use phosphor bronze, spring steel, or the like is useful. The upper end of the elastic blade 41 is attached by adhesive or the like to a metal support member 42 that is stretched between the side walls of the developer casing 2, and the lower end is attached to the developing roller 1.
It is pressed against the surface of 1.

Incidentally, the developing roller 11 has a developer carrying area X on the central side in the longitudinal direction formed with a satin surface by sandblasting or the like, which is advantageous for carrying the developer. Both ends of the developing roller 11 on both sides of the developer carrying area be. For this reason, the developer non-carrying area Y is kept as a smooth surface to avoid carrying the developer. (Figure 4,
(Fig. 5) As a result, the developer carrying area X of the developing roller 11 has a satin-like unevenness formed on its surface, and the convex portion rises from the surface of the fabric, making the developer carrying area X slightly larger in diameter than the developer non-carrying area Y. are doing. In addition, since the developer carrying area X of the developing roller 11 carries the developer supplied from the sponge roller 13, although the developer is thinned to a predetermined layer thickness by pressure contact with the elastic blade 41, the developing roller The diameter of the developer carrying area X portion of No. 11 is further increased. Therefore, the diameter of the developer carrying area X of the developing roller 11 is somewhat different from that of the developer non-carrying area Y, and there is a gap between the developer carrying area X and the developer non-carrying area Y of the developing roller 11. Step Z (
(Fig. 5) will occur.

Therefore, if the elastic blade 41 is uniformly and continuously pressed over the entire length of the developing roller 11, it will not carry the developer, and moreover, the developer non-carrying area Y will have a small diameter.
Floating occurs between the two and causes the developer to leak forward.

In order to solve this problem, in this embodiment, a notch 86 cut from the tip is formed in the portion of the elastic blade 41 facing the boundary K between the developer carrying area X and the developer non-carrying area Y of the developing roller 11. is forming. As a result, the elastic blade 41 is divided by the notch 86 into the center side in the long horizontal direction facing the developer carrying area X and the developer non-carrying area Y of the developing roller 11, and the parts 41a and 41b on both sides thereof. Since the respective portions 41a and 41b independently press against the developer carrying area X and the developer non-carrying area Y of the developing roller 11 without being influenced by each other, there is a step Z between the respective areas X and Y. Also, the portion 41b of the elastic blade 41 is independent of the portion 41a of the elastic blade 41 that is pushed away by the developer in the developer carrying area X.
It can be brought into close contact with the developer non-carrying area Y as shown in FIG. Therefore, it is possible to solve the problem that the elastic blade 41 is lifted from the developing roller 11 in the developer non-carrying area Y of the developing roller 11 and the developer leaks from the developer non-carrying area Y to the photosensitive drum 4 side. can.

Further, the portion 41b of the elastic blade 41 is attached to the support member 42.
It is held down by presser metals 57 attached to both ends of the holder, which further prevents it from lifting up. Developing roller 1
A sealing material 88 is interposed between 1 and the side wall 87.

The elastic blade 41 also has a length in the longitudinal direction (in a continuous area, the pressure contact with the developing roller 11 tends to be stronger in the center of the continuous range than in other parts;
The layer thickness of the developer formed on the developing roller 11 tends to be non-uniform in the axial direction of the developing roller 11, which causes uneven development characteristics. Therefore, in this embodiment, in order to solve this problem,
A groove 81 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4 is formed on the back surface of the elastic blade 41. This groove 81 is located approximately at the center of the elastic blade 41 in the width direction, and is formed in a range where the elastic blade 41 continues for a long time (excluding both ends of the portion 41a between the notches 86).

This allows the long portion 41a of the elastic blade 41 to
The bending rigidity at the central portion in the longitudinal direction is weakened by the concave groove 81, the pressing force against the developing roller 11 is reduced, and the pressing force against the developing roller 11 of the entire long portion 41a of the elastic blade 41 is reduced. become even.

Furthermore, stress is concentrated in the concave groove 81 portion of the elastic blade 41, and by equalizing the stress in other portions, the pressing force against the developing roller 11 can be made uniform.

Therefore, a thin layer of developer can be formed with a uniform layer thickness over the entire developer carrying area X of the developing roller 11, and uniform development characteristics can be expected over the entire developer carrying area X of the developing roller 11.

In addition, the elastic blade 41 is made of polyethylene terephthalate (
If it is formed by punching from a sheet such as PET, the cost will be lower than when a molded product such as urethane foam is used. In this case PET
Since it is made of a strong material, it does not damage the developing roller 11 or cause chattering, and it is preferable to press the developing roller 11 at the so-called abdomen in order to avoid contact with the tip edge.

Furthermore, since the elastic blade 41 is made of an insulating material, the frictional charging between the developer and the elastic blade 41 can be increased, and the overall charging state can be sufficiently stabilized. In this sense, forming a coating layer of an insulating material on the surface of the developing roller 11 can further improve the charging characteristics. Furthermore, since the insulating coating layer can form a satin surface during resin molding without sandblasting, the cost of the boundary image roller 11 is reduced accordingly, and the developer can be transported to areas where the electric field is not diffused. At the same time, the gap between the developing roller 11 and the photosensitive drum 4 can be shortened beyond the discharge limit.
Resolution in development is improved.

As another example, an insulating elastic roller may be used instead of the elastic blade 41, in which case the developing roller 11
You can set the relative speed in any way you like. This allows the charging characteristics to be adjusted in various ways,
Depending on whether the elastic roller is rotated in a subordinate direction to the developing roller 11 or in the opposite direction, the surface layer of the developer on the developing roller 11 is actively subjected to development;
It becomes possible to select whether to make it difficult to be subjected to development. Such selection is based on the developer, developer supply mechanism, and photosensitive drum 4.
This is useful when dealing with various types of image forming conditions, such as types, etc., or when responding to special requests.

In addition, a speed change mechanism is provided in the drive system of the developing roller 11 to increase the rotational speed of the developing roller 11 when forming an image with poor reproducibility such as an im image or a dot image. Increasing the supply amount improves reproducibility even for line drawings and dot drawings.

In this embodiment, the configuration of the charger 52 is devised in response to the fact that the photosensitive drum 4 is designed to have an extremely small diameter. The photosensitive drum 4, which has an extremely small diameter, faces the charging charger 52 on a curved surface with a sharp degree of curvature, and it is difficult to perform stable charging due to the influence of higher speeds. Therefore, the charger 52 connects the mesh of the grid section 53 to the photosensitive drum 4.
It is arranged so that it gradually becomes finer from the upstream side to the downstream side in the direction of rotation (Figs. 1 and 3). As a result, the charging charger 52 is initially a corotron type charger without a grid or exhibiting charging characteristics similar to that to ensure charging performance for the rotating photosensitive drum 4, and then a scorotron type charger with a grid. This ensures controllability of charging by exhibiting charging characteristics as described above.

This makes it possible to achieve stable charging by ensuring both charging performance and charging controllability.

Although the charger 52 is formed into one for miniaturization, two chargers, a corotron type charger and a scorotron type charger, may be installed. Further, the size of the mesh may change continuously or discontinuously. The charger 52 has a grid portion 53 for miniaturization.
and a discharge stabilizing frame 54 are integrally formed from a metal plate. The corona wire 55 is installed between resin blocks 56 attached to both side walls of the developer casing 2.
This resin block 56 holds the end of the discharge stabilizing frame 54.

Note that the corona wire 55 has a wire diameter of about 80 μm, which is extremely thin, so there is a problem with elongation and cutting, which makes it troublesome to handle during installation, and maintenance such as cleaning when it becomes dirty due to use is also troublesome. Therefore, it is conceivable that a metal plate is buried in a resin base (not shown) by insert molding or the like, and a part of the buried metal plate is exposed to be used in place of the corona wire. In this case, costs can be reduced and the strength of the corona electrode portion is improved, making assembly and cleaning easier. Alternatively, a predetermined metal material may be printed in a line shape on the surface of the resin base to serve as a substitute for the corona wire. In this case as well, the same effects as the above improvements can be expected.

Further, the discharge stabilizing frame 54 can also be formed by applying metal plating to the inner surface of the resin housing. In this case, the resin housing can be integrally formed with a part of the existing member such as the 1i30, and the structure can be simplified.

When the upper frame 33 is closed on the lower frame 32, the transfer charger 36 faces the photosensitive drum 4 of the image forming cartridge L with a certain gap, and is connected to the paper passing bus 37.
The developed toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 4 is transferred to the transfer paper 91 from the back side of the transfer paper 91 being conveyed.
Transfer it on top.

In addition, in the case of the transfer charger 36, the same improvement as that of the charging charger 52 can be made for the corona wire.

A timing roller pair 61 is provided in front of the transfer section of the paper passing path 37, as shown in FIG. The timing roller pair 61 temporarily stops receiving the transfer paper 91 picked up and fed from the paper feed cassette 92 by the pink-up roller 93 in a stopped state, and then feeds the transfer paper 91 at a predetermined timing and then The leading edge is aligned with the toner image formed on the drum 4 and used for transfer.

A pair of fixing rollers 62 is provided behind the transfer section, and heat fixes the transfer sheet fed after the transfer.

The surface of the photosensitive drum 4 after the transfer is cleaned by a cleaning blade 7 to remove residual toner.

An eraser lamp 63 is provided immediately after the transfer charger 36 of the lower frame 32, and irradiates the surface of the photosensitive drum 4 after transfer with erase light through the transfer paper 91 that is being passed, thereby eliminating any residue on the surface of the photosensitive drum 4. Removes charge. Near this eraser lamp 63, a light receiving end 65a of an optical fiber 65 is provided.
is positioned facing the photosensitive drum 4. This optical fiber 65 is adapted to guide reflected light when the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 4 is illuminated by the eraser lamp 63 to a density sensor 64 provided at an appropriate position. As a result, the concentration sensor 64 is activated by the eraser lamp 6.
3 for illuminating the image to be inspected, and by using the eraser lamp 63 in common and using the optical fiber 65, the toner image can be detected without requiring any special space around the transfer section. The concentration can be detected, and the cost can be reduced because the eraser lamp 63 is shared.

By sending the detected density of the toner image to the control system, it is possible to determine whether there is a shortage or deterioration of the developer, and to take measures such as warning of the usage limit due to the life of the image forming cartridge 1 or stopping printing.

Note that if the eraser lamp 63 is installed within the discharge stabilizing frame of the transfer charger 36, further space saving can be achieved.

Furthermore, the cleaning blade 7 can be formed of a transparent resin material and used as a light guide to irradiate the surface of the photosensitive drum 4 with eraser light. According to such an erase method, the degree of freedom in selecting the installation location of the eraser lamp 63 increases. Furthermore, cleaning blade 7
Similarly to the elastic blade 41, a concave groove can be formed on the back of the blade to equalize the pressing force. In this case, the resonant frequency of the blade can be easily selected.

Furthermore, it is also possible to reduce costs by punching and forming PET sheets.

As shown in FIG. 6, the waste toner casing 3 is provided with an unused detection mechanism 71 that is linked to the drive system. This unused detection mechanism 71 is a gear 73 provided on one shaft of the drive system, for example, the rotating shaft 72 of the paddle 8 for scraping in waste toner.
The detection gear 74 is engaged. The detection gear 74 has teeth 75 only on a part of the outer periphery, and the other part of the outer periphery is a cam surface 77 having a recess 76 in a part. The waste toner casing 3 also includes a detection pin 78 facing the cam surface 77.
is held movably forward and backward, and this detection pin 78 is brought into contact with the cam surface 77 by a spring 79. This contact position is set downstream from the recess 76 of the cam surface 77 in the driving direction when the image forming cartridge is unused, that is, when the drive system is never operated and no developer is consumed. It is a remote location.

When the image forming cartridge 1 is installed in the printer 31 and is driven and used even once, the gear 7 that is interlocked with the drive is activated.
3 rotates the detection gear 74. The concave portion 76 of the cam surface 77 faces the detection pin 78 by an amount of rotation that is extremely small compared to the amount of drive required for use. At this opposing position, the detection pin 78 is fitted into the recess 76 by the bias of the spring 79.

The detection pin 78 protrudes outside the waste toner casing 3 when the image forming cartridge I is not in use, and when the image forming cartridge 1 is mounted on the upper frame 33, the switch 94 provided on the upper frame 33 is activated. It is pushed by the detection pin 78 and automatically detects that the image forming cartridge 1 is unused. This detection signal is sent to the control system of the printer 31 to start counting the number of prints using the image forming cartridge 1 and to issue a restriction or warning against use of more than a predetermined number of prints based on this count. Conversely, if the image forming cartridge 1 to be installed has already been used, the detection pin 78 is retracted toward the waste toner casing 3, so even if the image forming cartridge 1 is installed in the upper frame 33, Switch 94 cannot be pressed. Therefore, no action is taken as would be the case when an unused image forming cartridge l is installed.

However, the usage status can also be detected at the necessary time. For example, by detecting the point in time when a predetermined number of sheets, such as 500 sheets, have been used and using this as a use start signal, it is possible to support test use of up to 500 sheets. In this case, it is preferable to employ a speed reduction mechanism. Furthermore, it can be said that the point in time when the image forming cartridge 1 has been used for printing the maximum number of sheets for use is detected and a warning is given for further use.

Effects of the Invention According to the present invention, the vent provided in a part of the developer storage area of the developing device is provided with a semi-permeable membrane, which allows only air to pass through and prevents toner from passing through. By selecting the total opening area to be sufficiently smaller than the ventilation resistance through the seal around the developing roller of the developing device, it is possible to easily handle the developing device when it is removed or replaced, or when it is carried alone or as a unit with other cartridges. On the other hand, when internal air blows out due to deformation that reduces the internal volume, the ventilation section with low ventilation resistance becomes the priority blowout section, preventing air from blowing out from other places, and preventing air from blowing out from the ventilation section. Toner carried in the emitted air is captured by a semi-permeable membrane and can be prevented from blowing out to the outside, so the rigidity of the developing device is low and it can be easily deformed while being handled alone or as a cartridge with other cartridges. This prevents the toner from blowing out together with the internal air and contaminating the surrounding area. The structure is simple and does not become complicated or heavy.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an image forming cartridge having a developing device as an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a printer in which the image forming cartridge of FIG. 1 is used, and FIG. The figures are partially enlarged sectional views of the charger, Figures 4 and 5.
The drawings are a perspective view and a front view of a portion of the developing roller portion, and FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a portion of the waste toner casing showing an unused detection mechanism portion of the image forming cartridge. 2・−・・−−−−−−−−−−−・−1−−−Developer casing 11・−−−−111−−−−−
−−−−−Developing roller Sponge roller---Seal plate Elastic blade Opening semipermeable membrane

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A developing device characterized in that a part of a developer accommodating area containing a developer to be subjected to development is provided with a ventilation section communicating with the outside, and a semi-permeable membrane is applied to this ventilation section.