CN210119664U - Toner cartridge and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

The utility model provides a toner cartridge and an image forming apparatus which can make the replenishment amount of toner constant. The toner cartridge of the embodiment has: a casing in which a space for accommodating the toner is formed; a stirring part, which is composed of a rotatable stirring shaft provided on the housing and a stirring blade provided on the stirring shaft, The stirring part stirs the toner; the supplying part is composed of a rotatable supply shaft arranged on the housing and a spiral blade arranged on the supplying shaft, and the supplying part transports the toner to one end of the housing; transmission; The one-way drive part is arranged on the power transmission path between the transmission part and the supply shaft, and the one-way drive part only transmits the driving force to the supply shaft. The shaft transmits a drive force that rotates the supply shaft in the first rotational direction. According to the present invention, it is possible to avoid the phenomenon of erroneously predicting the remaining amount of toner in the toner cartridge.

Description

Toner cartridge and image forming apparatus

technical field

Embodiments of the present invention relate to a toner cartridge and an image forming apparatus.

Background technique

In the prior art, the toner cartridge in the image forming apparatus is used to replenish the toner for the transfer portion, and the rotation time of the motor for replenishing the toner of the toner cartridge is recorded as the predicted toner in the toner cartridge. means of remaining doses.

However, this requires that the toner replenishment amount per unit rotation time of the toner replenishing motor must be constant. However, in reality, as the interval between the toner replenishment operations becomes longer, the toner is compressed by its own weight without being stirred for a long time, and the toner replenishment amount per unit rotation time of the motor for the subsequent toner replenishment increases. This leads to a phenomenon in which the remaining amount of the toner cartridge is erroneously predicted.

Utility model content

The utility model provides a toner cartridge and an image forming apparatus which can make the replenishment amount of toner constant.

The toner cartridge according to the embodiment is used for conveying toner to a transfer portion of an image forming apparatus, and includes a housing in which a space for accommodating the toner is formed, and an agitating portion provided rotatably on the inside of the toner. The stirring shaft on the housing is composed of a stirring blade arranged on the stirring shaft, and the stirring part stirs the toner; the supply part is composed of a rotatable set on the housing. The supply shaft is composed of a screw blade arranged on the supply shaft, and the supply part conveys the toner to one end of the casing; the transmission part is arranged on the outer side of the casing, and transmits the toner The driving force for the rotation of the stirring shaft and the supply shaft; a one-way drive part, which is provided on the power transmission path between the transmission part and the supply shaft, and the one-way drive part only sends the supply shaft to the The driving force for rotating the supply shaft in the first rotational direction is transmitted.

An image forming apparatus according to another embodiment includes an original conveying unit that conveys an original to be transferred; a scanner unit that reads the original to generate image data of the original; a toner image is formed thereon; a toner cartridge that conveys toner to the transfer portion; a fixing portion that fixes the toner image on the sheet; the toner cartridge has: a case a body, the interior of which is formed with a space for accommodating the toner; the stirring part is composed of a rotatable stirring shaft arranged on the casing and a stirring blade arranged on the stirring shaft, the stirring part agitating the toner; a supply part consisting of a rotatable supply shaft provided on the housing and a helical blade provided on the supply shaft, the supply part agitates the toner conveying to one end of the casing; a transmission part, which is arranged on the outer side of the casing, and transmits the driving force for rotating the stirring shaft and the supply shaft; a one-way driving part, which is arranged in the transmission part On a power transmission path with the supply shaft, the one-way drive unit transmits only the driving force for rotating the supply shaft in the first rotation direction to the supply shaft.

With the present invention, the phenomenon of toner compression caused by the toner replenishment interval being too long will not occur, the toner replenishment amount per unit rotation time of the toner replenishing motor can be stabilized, and the toner replenishment amount per unit rotation time of the toner replenishing motor can be stabilized, avoiding A phenomenon in which the remaining amount of toner in the toner cartridge is incorrectly predicted occurs.

Description of drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an image forming apparatus of the present embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of the toner cartridge of the present embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the structure of the toner cartridge of the present embodiment viewed from the direction A-A of FIG. 2;

4 is a schematic structural diagram of the simultaneous rotation of the supply shaft and the stirring shaft in the toner cartridge of the present embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of the structure of the toner cartridge of the present embodiment where the stirring shaft rotates alone;

FIG. 6 is an operation flowchart of the toner cartridge of the present embodiment.

Detailed ways

Hereinafter, a toner cartridge and an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

In addition, the same place in each figure is denoted by the same symbol. The "conveying direction" related to sheets (paper) is defined as the direction from the paper feed cassette toward the paper discharge unit, that is, the paper feed cassette end is referred to as the "upstream side" and the paper discharge unit end is defined as the "downstream side". In addition, "upper" and "lower" refer to the "upper" and "lower" directions when the image forming apparatus as shown in FIG. 1 is normally placed on the ground.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the image forming apparatus 1 of the present embodiment is, for example, an MFP (Multi-Function Peripherals), a printer, a copier, or the like. Next, an example in which the image forming apparatus 1 is an MFP will be described.

The image forming apparatus 1 has a main body 11 . On the upper part of the main body 11, a document table 12 including transparent glass is provided. An automatic document feeder (ADF) 13 is provided on the original table 12 . The operation part 14 is provided in the upper part of the main body 11 . The operation unit 14 includes an operation panel 14a having various keys, and a touch panel-type operation display unit 14b.

A scanner unit 15 is provided below the ADF 13 . The scanner unit 15 reads the original conveyed by the ADF 13 or the original placed on the original table 12 . The scanner unit 15 generates image data of the document. For example, the scanner unit 15 has an image sensor 16 . For example, the image sensor 16 may be a contact-type image sensor.

The image sensor 16 moves along the original plate 12 when reading the image of the original placed on the original plate 12 . The image sensor 16 reads the original image on one original page line by line.

When the image sensor 16 reads the image of the document conveyed by the ADF 13 , the image sensor 16 reads the conveyed document at the fixed position shown in FIG. 1 .

The main body 11 has the transfer part 17 in the center part of the height direction. The main body 11 has paper feed cassettes 18A and 18B and a manual paper feed unit 18C at the lower part.

The paper feed cassettes 18A and 18B are arranged inside the main body 11 . The paper feed cassettes 18A and 18B are arranged to overlap in this order from the upper side toward the lower side.

The manual paper feed unit 18C protrudes to the side of the main body 11 below the reverse conveyance path 84 to be described later.

The paper feed cassettes 18A and 18B and the manual paper feed unit 18C accommodate sheets (papers) P of various sizes.

The paper feed cassette 18A (18B) has a paper feed mechanism 19A (19B). In addition, that the paper feed cassette 18A ( 18B ) has the paper feed mechanism 19A ( 19B ) means that the paper feed cassette 18A has the paper feed mechanism 19A, and the paper feed cassette 18B has the paper feed mechanism 19B. The same applies to the following description.

The sheet feeding mechanism 19A ( 19B ) takes out the sheets P one by one from the sheet feeding cassette 18A ( 18B) and feeds the sheets P to the conveying path. For example, the paper feed mechanism 19A ( 19B) may include a pickup roller, a separation roller, and a paper feed roller.

The manual paper feed unit 18C has a manual paper feed mechanism 19C. The manual sheet feeding mechanism 19C takes out the sheets P one by one from the manual sheet feeding unit 18C and transports them to the transport path.

The transfer section 17 forms an image on the sheet P based on image data read by the scanner section 15 or image data created by a personal computer or the like. The transfer unit 17 is, for example, a color printer based on a tandem method.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the transfer section 17 includes image forming sections 51Y, 51M, 51C, 51K for each color of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K), an exposure device 52 and a Intermediate transfer belt 53 . In the present embodiment, the transfer unit 17 includes four image forming units 51Y, 51M, 51C, and 51K. The transfer unit 17 has a so-called quadruple image forming unit.

In addition, the structure of the transfer part 17 is not limited to this, The transfer part may have two or three image forming parts, and the transfer part may have five or more image forming parts.

The image forming units 51Y, 51M, 51C, and 51K are arranged below the intermediate transfer belt 53 . The image forming units 51Y, 51M, 51C, and 51K are arranged side by side along the downstream side from the upstream side in the moving direction (the direction from the left side toward the right side in the figure) from below the intermediate transfer belt 53 .

The exposure device 52 irradiates the image forming sections 51Y, 51M, 51C, and 51K with exposure lights L _Y , L _M , L _C , and L _K , respectively. The exposure device 52 may also be configured to generate a laser scanning beam as exposure light. The exposure device 52 may be configured to include a solid-state scanning element such as an LED (Light Emitting Diode) that generates exposure light.

The structures of the image forming units 51Y, 51M, 51C, and 51K are the same as each other except that the colors of the toners are different. As the toner, any of general color toners and decolorizing toners can be used. Here, the decolorizing toner refers to a toner that becomes transparent when heated at a temperature above a certain level. The image forming apparatus 1 may be an image forming apparatus capable of using erasing toner, or may be an image forming apparatus that cannot use erasing toner.

As shown in FIG. 1 , a toner supply unit 66 is arranged above the image forming units 51Y, 51M, 51C, and 51K.

The toner replenishing section 66 replenishes toner to the developing devices in the image forming sections 51Y, 51M, 51C, and 51K, respectively. The toner supply unit 66 includes toner cartridges 66Y, 66M, 66C, and 66K. The toner cartridges 66Y, 66M, 66C, and 66K accommodate yellow, magenta, cyan, and black toners, respectively.

Each of the toner cartridges 66Y, 66M, 66C, and 66K is provided with an unillustrated indicator portion that allows the main body 11 to detect the type of toner contained in each of the toner cartridges. The identification section includes at least information on the color of the toners of the toner cartridges 66Y, 66M, 66C, and 66K and information for identifying whether the toner is a normal toner or a decolorized toner. When the image forming sections 51Y, 51M, 51C, and 51K in the transfer section 17 are short of toner, the toner cartridges 66Y, 66M, 66C, and 66K supply to the image forming sections 51Y, 51M, and 51C of the transfer section 17, respectively. , 51K conveying toner.

The intermediate transfer belt 53 moves cyclically. The intermediate transfer belt 53 is stretched over the driving roller 69 and the plurality of driven rollers 70 .

The secondary transfer roller 71 faces the driving roller 69 across the intermediate transfer belt 53 . The contact portion of the intermediate transfer belt 53 and the secondary transfer roller 71 constitutes a secondary transfer position. The drive roller 69 drives the intermediate transfer belt 53 to rotate.

When the sheet P passes through the secondary transfer position, a secondary transfer voltage is applied to the secondary transfer roller 71 . When a secondary transfer voltage is applied to the secondary transfer roller 71 , the secondary transfer roller 71 secondary transfers the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 53 onto the sheet P.

As shown in FIG. 1 , a belt cleaner 72 is disposed at a position facing one of the plurality of driven rollers 70 across the intermediate transfer belt 53 . The belt cleaner 72 removes the residual transfer toner on the intermediate transfer belt 53 from the intermediate transfer belt 53 .

A conveyance roller 75A and a registration roller 76 are provided on the conveyance path from the paper feed cassette 18A to the secondary transfer roller 71 . The conveying roller 75A conveys the sheet P taken out from the sheet feeding cassette 18A by the sheet feeding mechanism 19A.

The registration rollers 76 align the positions of the leading ends of the sheets P fed from the conveyance rollers 75A at the mutually abutting positions. The mutually abutting positions on the registration rollers 76 constitute the registration positions. When the leading end of the toner image reaches the secondary transfer position, the registration roller 76 conveys the sheet P so that the leading end of the transfer area of the toner image on the sheet P reaches the secondary transfer position.

As shown in FIG. 1, the conveyance roller 75B is provided in the conveyance path from the paper feed cassette 18B to the conveyance roller 75A. The conveyance roller 75B conveys the sheet P taken out from the paper feed cassette 18B by the paper feed mechanism 19B to the conveyance roller 75A.

A conveyance path is formed between the manual paper feed mechanism 19C and the registration roller 76 via the conveyance guide portion 78 . The manual sheet feeding mechanism 19C transports the sheet P taken out from the manual sheet feeding unit 18C to the transport guide 78 . The sheet P moving along the conveyance guide portion 78 reaches the registration rollers 76 .

On the downstream side (upper side in the figure) of the secondary transfer roller 71 in the conveying direction of the sheet P, the fixing unit 81 is arranged. Although not shown, the fixing unit 81 includes a halogen lamp and a drive motor for conveying the sheet P. As shown in FIG. The fixing unit 81 fixes the toner image on the sheet P by heating the sheet P with a halogen lamp.

A discharge roller 82 is arranged on the downstream side (upper left side in the figure) of the fixing portion 81 in the conveying direction of the sheet P. As shown in FIG. The discharge roller 82 discharges the sheet P to the paper discharge section 83 .

On the downstream side (right side in the figure) of the fixing section 81 in the conveyance direction of the sheet P, a reverse conveyance path 84 is arranged. The reverse conveyance path 84 reverses the sheet P and guides it to the secondary transfer roller 71 . The reverse conveyance path 84 is used when duplex printing is performed.

Next, the configuration of the control unit of the image forming apparatus 1 will be described.

The control section includes a system control section, a read only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), an interface (I/F), an input/output control circuit, a paper feed and conveyance control circuit, an image formation control circuit, and a fixing control circuit.

The system control unit controls the entire image forming apparatus 1 . The system control unit realizes a processing function for forming an image by executing a program stored in a ROM or RAM to be described later. As the device configuration of the system control unit, for example, a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) may be used.

The ROM stores a control program for controlling basic operations of the image forming process, control data, and the like.

The RAM is the working memory in the control unit. For example, in the RAM, a control program or control data of the ROM is loaded as needed. In addition, the RAM temporarily stores image data sent from the input/output control circuit or data sent from the system control unit.

The I/F communicates with a connection device connected to the main body 11 . For example, the scanner unit 15 is communicably connected to the I/F. Also, external devices can be connected to the I/F. As an example of an external apparatus, a user terminal, a facsimile apparatus, etc. can be mentioned.

The input/output control circuit controls the operation panel 14a and the operation display unit 14b. The input/output control circuit transmits the operation input received from the operation panel 14a and the operation display unit 14b to the system control unit.

The paper feed and conveyance control circuit controls the drive system included in the main body 11 . For example, the drive system includes a drive motor that drives the sheet feeding mechanisms 19A, 19B, conveying rollers 75A, 75B, the manual sheet feeding mechanism 19C, the registration roller 76, and the toner cartridges 66Y, 66M, 66C, 66K. More preferably, a plurality of drive motors are provided.

A number of sensors are electrically connected to the paper feed and conveyance control circuits. For example, the plurality of sensors include a plurality of sheet detection sensors. A plurality of sheet detection sensors are arranged in the conveyance path on the main body 11 , the paper feed cassettes 18A and 18B, and the inside of the manual paper feed unit 18C. Each sheet detection sensor detects the presence or absence of the sheet P at the position where the sensor is arranged.

The detection output of each sensor is sent from the paper feed and conveyance control circuit to the system control unit.

The paper feed and conveyance control circuit controls the drive motor based on the control signal from the system control unit and the detection output of each sensor.

The image formation control circuit controls the transfer unit 17 in accordance with a control signal from the system control unit.

The fixing control circuit controls the drive motor of the fixing unit 81 and the halogen lamp, respectively, according to the control signal from the system control unit.

Next, the specific structure of the toner cartridge 66Y will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3 .

Hereinafter, since the toner cartridges 66M, 66C, and 66K have the same structure as the toner cartridge 66Y, and only the color of the toner contained in the toner cartridges is different, the toner cartridge 66Y will be used as an example to describe the toner cartridge 66Y. The structure common to the toner cartridges 66M, 66C, and 66K.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of the toner cartridge 66Y of the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the structure of the toner cartridge 66Y viewed from the direction A-A of FIG. 2 according to the present embodiment.

The toner cartridge 66Y conveys toner to the image forming section 51Y of the transfer section 17 of the image forming apparatus 1 . As shown in FIG. 2 , the toner cartridge 66Y is constituted by a casing 61 , a stirring portion 62 , a supply portion 63 , a transmission portion 64 , and a one-way drive portion 65 .

As shown in FIG. 2 , the casing 61 is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped as the main body of the toner cartridge 66Y, the interior of the casing 61 is hollow, and a space for accommodating the toner is formed inside the casing 61 . A first opening and a second opening are respectively formed on both side walls of the casing 61 in the longitudinal direction (the left-right direction shown in FIG. 2 is the longitudinal direction of the casing 61 ). An opening 611 through which the toner is discharged is formed at the bottom near one end in the longitudinal direction of the casing 61 , and the toner can be supplied to the transfer unit 17 through the opening 611 .

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 , the stirring part 62 is composed of a rotatable stirring shaft 621 and a stirring blade 622 provided on the outer peripheral surface of the stirring shaft 621 along the axial direction of the stirring shaft 621 . The stirring shaft 621 is formed in the shape of a round roll, and both ends of the stirring shaft 621 are mounted on the first opening of the casing 61 through bearings. The stirring blades 622 are formed in a rectangular shape and have a plurality of them, and the plurality of stirring blades 622 are provided at a distance from the outer peripheral surface of the stirring shaft 621 (refer to FIG. 3 ). The stirring part 62 agitates the toner contained in the housing 61 with the rotation of the stirring shaft 621 through the plurality of stirring blades 622 to prevent the toner from being compressed due to its own weight.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 , the supply portion 63 is composed of a rotatable supply shaft 631 and a helical blade 632 provided on the outer peripheral surface of the supply shaft 631 along the axial direction of the supply shaft 631 . The supply shaft 631 is formed into a roll shape with a diameter slightly smaller than that of the stirring shaft 621, and both ends of the supply shaft 631 are supported by bearings at the second opening of the casing 61, which is slightly below the casing 61 than the first opening. The supply shaft 631 is provided so as to be rotatable by the driving force transmitted by the transmission part 64 . The spiral blade 632 has a spiral shape on the outer peripheral surface of the supply shaft 631 along the axial direction of the supply shaft 631 so that the toner can be conveyed to one end of the housing 61 . The supply part 63 conveys the toner in the casing 61 to the end of the casing 61 where the opening part 611 is formed with the rotation of the supply shaft 631 by the screw blade 632 .

As shown in FIG. 2, the first motor 671 and the second motor 672 are provided in the main body 11 of the image forming apparatus 1. The first motor 671 and the second motor 672 are the driving sources for driving the stirring shaft 621 and the supply shaft 631 to rotate. The rotation directions of the output shafts of the first motor 671 and the second motor 672 are unique and different. The transmission portion 64 is provided on the outer side of one end of the casing 61 that is remote from the opening portion 611 in the longitudinal direction. The transmission part 64 is used to transmit the driving force output by the output shaft of the first motor 671 or the second motor 672 to the supply shaft 631 of the supply part 63 and the stirring shaft 621 of the stirring part 62, and the transmission part 64 can only accept one at a time. The driving force from the motor. The driving direction of the driving force transmitted by the transmission portion 64 to the supply shaft 631 and the stirring shaft 621 (for example, the first driving direction t1 in FIG. 4 and the second driving direction t2 in FIG. 5 ) varies depending on the rotational direction of the output shaft of the motor. A change occurs, that is, the transmission portion 64 can transmit the driving force for rotating the supply shaft 631 and the stirring shaft 621 in different rotational directions (eg, the first rotational direction q1 in FIG. 4 and the second rotational direction q2 in FIG. 5 ).

As shown in FIG. 2 , the one-way drive portion 65 is provided on a power transmission path where the transmission portion 64 transmits the driving force to the supply shaft 631 of the supply portion 63 but does not reach the supply shaft 631 (assuming that the driving force is just transmitted from the transmission portion 64 as The starting point, the driving force transmission reaching the supply shaft 631 is the ending point, and the path formed between the starting point and the ending point is the power transmission path). That is, the one-way drive part 65 is provided on the power transmission path between the transmission part 64 and the supply shaft 631 of the supply part 63 . Although the one-way drive unit 65 can receive the drive force in different drive directions (for example, the first drive direction t1 in FIG. 4 and the second drive direction t2 in FIG. 5 ) transmitted from the transmission unit 64 , it is only transmitted to the supply shaft 631 . The driving force to rotate the supply shaft 631 in the first rotation direction q1, that is, the supply shaft 631 can only rotate in the first rotation direction q1, but not in the second rotation direction q2.

Next, the specific structures of the transmission unit 64 and the one-way drive unit 65 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 , 4 and 5 .

As shown in FIG. 2 , the transmission part 64 has a first gear 641 and a second gear 642 , the first gear 641 is provided on the end of the stirring shaft 621 away from the opening 611 by means of a key connection, and the first gear 641 transmits the driving force The stirring shaft 621 of the stirring part 62 is supplied, and the stirring shaft 621 is rotated. The second gear 642 is provided at the end of the supply shaft 631 away from the opening portion 611 , and a one-way drive portion 65 is provided between the second gear 642 and the power transmission path of the supply shaft 631 , and the second gear 642 transmits the driving force to the single drive. to the drive unit 65 .

As shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 , the transmission part 64 also has a worm 643 . The worm 643 is arranged at a position where it meshes with the first gear 641 and the second gear 642 at the same time. The rotation of the worm 643 drives the first motor 671 or the second motor The driving force of 672 is transmitted to the first gear 641 and the second gear 642 .

The one-way drive unit 65 of the present embodiment is a one-way clutch, and as shown in FIG. 2 , the one-way clutch is provided at the end of the supply shaft 631 where the second gear 642 is provided. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 , the one-way clutch is provided at the radial center of the second gear 642, and transmits the driving force of the second gear 642 rotating in the first rotation direction q1 to the supply shaft 631, and does not transmit the second gear 642 is the driving force for rotation in the second rotation direction q2.

Hereinafter, the specific operation process of the toner cartridge 66Y will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 , 5 and 6 .

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration in which the supply shaft and the stirring shaft of the toner cartridge 66Y of the present embodiment rotate simultaneously.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing the structure of the toner cartridge 66Y in which the stirring shaft rotates alone.

FIG. 6 is an operation flowchart of the toner cartridge 66Y of the present embodiment.

First, as shown by Act1 in FIG. 6 , when the sensor in the image forming section 51Y detects that the toner density in the developing unit has decreased, a signal is sent to the control section.

When Act1 ends, Act2 is executed, the control unit detects the value of the timer, and if the value in the timer is less than a predetermined value (the time when the toner is not compressed due to its own weight) from the time when the toner was last replenished, Act5 is executed, Otherwise, execute Act3.

Hereinafter, the description will be given by taking as an example that Act3 is executed first. In Act3, when the time since the last replenishment of toner has exceeded a predetermined value, the toner in the toner cartridge 66Y has not been stirred for a long time, and the phenomenon of being compressed due to its own weight is likely to occur. Therefore, only driving Stirring part 62 .

As shown in FIG. 5 , the control unit of the image forming apparatus 1 drives the output shaft of the second motor 672 to rotate, and the first motor 671 does not output the driving force. The second motor 672 transmits the driving force to the worm 643 of the transmission portion 64 by the rotation of the output shaft, and the worm 643 rotates in the second driving direction t2 shown in FIG. 5 . Thereby, the first gear 641 and the second gear 642 meshed with the worm 643 are driven. The first gear 641 and the second gear 642 rotate in the second rotation direction q2 shown in FIG. 5 .

Since the one-way drive portion 65 is further provided between the second gear 642 of the transmission portion 64 and the power transmission path of the supply shaft 631, the one-way drive portion 65 does not transmit the driving of the second gear 642 to rotate in the second rotational direction q2 Therefore, the driving force of the second gear 642 cannot be transmitted to the supply shaft 631, and the supply shaft 631 remains stationary, that is, the toner is not transported to the opening 611 of the toner cartridge 66Y.

Since the first gear 641 is provided on the stirring shaft 621 by means of a key connection, the driving force of the first gear 641 rotating in the second rotation direction q2 can be transmitted to the stirring shaft 621, and the stirring shaft 621 starts to rotate. The rotation of the shaft 621 agitates the toner compressed by its own weight in the toner cartridge 66Y, thereby softening the toner.

The above Act3 ends, and Act4 is executed.

The control unit stops the rotation of the output shaft of the second motor 672 after detecting that the stirring shaft 621 has rotated for a predetermined time (after the toner compressed by its own weight has softened by stirring for a predetermined period of time).

After completion of the above Act4, Act5 is executed, and the stirring unit 62 and the supply unit 63 are driven at the same time to replenish the toner.

As shown in FIG. 4 , the control unit of the image forming apparatus 1 drives the output shaft of the first motor 671 to rotate, and the second motor 672 does not output the driving force. The first motor 671 transmits the driving force to the worm 643 of the transmission portion 64 by the rotation of the output shaft, and the worm 643 rotates in the first driving direction t1 shown in FIG. 4 . Thereby, the first gear 641 and the second gear 642 meshed with the worm 643 are driven. The first gear 641 and the second gear 642 rotate in the first rotation direction q1 shown in FIG. 4 .

After the driving force of the rotation of the first gear 641 in the first rotation direction q1 is transmitted to the stirring shaft 621, the stirring shaft 621 starts to rotate, and the rotation of the stirring shaft 621 continues to stir the toner in the toner cartridge 66Y , to keep the toner in a softened state.

Since the one-way drive portion 65 provided between the second gear 642 of the transmission portion 64 and the power transmission path of the supply shaft 631 does not affect the transmission of the driving force of the second gear 642 rotating in the first rotational direction q1, the first The driving force of the second gear 642 is transmitted to the supply shaft 631 through the one-way driving part 65 , the supply shaft 631 starts to rotate, and the toner passes through the screw blade 632 on the supply shaft 631 to transfer the toner to the opening of the toner cartridge 66Y delivered at section 611.

The control unit opens the opening 611 of the toner cartridge 66Y, drops the toner in the toner cartridge 66Y, and completes the replenishment of the toner to the transfer unit 17 .

The above Act5 ends and returns to the beginning.

In this embodiment, when the toner replenishment interval is short, the first motor 671 capable of rotating the stirring shaft 621 and the supply shaft 631 at the same time is driven to complete the toner supply while keeping the toner softened.

When the toner replenishment interval is long, the second motor 672 that can rotate the stirring shaft 621 but does not rotate the supply shaft 631 is driven first to soften the toner in the toner cartridge 66Y, and then the toner in the toner cartridge 66Y is softened. After the time has elapsed, the first motor 671 capable of rotating the stirring shaft 621 and the supply shaft 631 at the same time is driven again to complete the replenishment of the toner.

According to the above-described embodiment, the one-way drive portion 65 that only transmits the driving force for rotating the supply shaft 631 in the first rotational direction q1 is provided on the power transmission path formed between the transmission portion 64 and the supply shaft 631, so that it is possible to supplement the toning process. When the toner interval is long, the softened state of the toner in the toner cartridge is maintained, so that the toner will not be compressed due to its own weight, and the residual toner in the toner cartridge will not be predicted incorrectly. quantity phenomenon.

The transmission part 64 is composed of the first gear 641 , the second gear 642 and the worm 643 , which can simplify the structure of the transmission part 64 and reduce the processing cost.

Using a one-way clutch as an example of the one-way drive part 65 can further simplify the structure and reduce the cost of machining the one-way drive part 65 . Disposing the one-way clutch on the end of the supply shaft 631 where the second gear 642 is arranged can save assembly time and improve assembly efficiency.

In addition, although this embodiment shows an example of the structure of the transmission part 64, the structure of the transmission part 64 is not limited to this, as long as it can transmit the driving force for rotating the stirring shaft and the supply shaft. Can.

In addition, although the one-way clutch is shown as an example of the structure of the one-way drive part 65 in the present embodiment, the structure of the one-way drive part 65 is not limited to this, as long as the transmission can be realized only to the supply shaft 631 . The structure of the driving force to rotate in the first rotation direction may be sufficient.

In addition, although this embodiment shows an example in which the driving forces of the two motors in different rotational directions are transmitted through the transmission part 64, the number of motors is not limited by this, and only one motor may be provided, which can be adjusted according to the situation. Steering motor. In this case, the time at which the supply shaft 631 can be rotated of the motor is recorded as a means for predicting the remaining amount of toner in the toner cartridge.

According to at least one of the embodiments described above, the phenomenon of toner compression due to an excessively long toner replenishment interval does not occur, and the motor for replenishing the toner (ie, the first motor in this embodiment) can be The toner replenishment amount per unit rotation time is stabilized, and the phenomenon of mispredicting the remaining amount of toner in the toner cartridge is avoided.

Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented as examples only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. These new embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, combinations, and changes can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and gist of the present invention, and are also included in the present invention described in the claims and the equivalent scope thereof.

Claims (10)

1. A toner cartridge for conveying toner to a transfer portion of an image forming apparatus, wherein the toner cartridge has: a housing having a space for accommodating the toner formed therein; a stirring part, which is composed of a rotatable stirring shaft arranged on the casing and a stirring blade arranged on the stirring shaft, and the stirring part stirs the toner; a supply part, which is composed of a rotatable supply shaft arranged on the housing and a helical blade arranged on the supply shaft, the supply part conveys the toner to one end of the housing; a transmission part, which is arranged on the outer side of the casing and transmits the driving force for rotating the stirring shaft and the supply shaft; a one-way drive part provided on a power transmission path between the transmission part and the supply shaft, the one-way drive part only transmits to the supply shaft to rotate the supply shaft in a first rotation direction of the driving force. 2. The toner cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the transmission part has: a first gear, which is arranged at one end of the stirring shaft, and the first gear transmits the driving force to the stirring shaft; A second gear, which is provided at one end of the supply shaft, transmits the driving force to the one-way drive portion. 3. The toner cartridge according to claim 2, wherein the transmission part further comprises: The worm is provided at a position where it meshes with the first gear and the second gear at the same time, and the driving force is transmitted to the first gear and the second gear by the rotation of the worm. 4. The toner cartridge according to claim 3, wherein The one-way drive part is a one-way clutch. 5. The toner cartridge according to claim 4, wherein The one-way clutch is provided at one end of the supply shaft where the second gear is provided. 6. An image forming apparatus, comprising: The original conveying part conveys the original to be transferred; a scanner unit that reads the original to generate image data of the original; a transfer section that forms a toner image on the sheet according to the image data; a toner cartridge that delivers toner to the transfer portion; a fixing section for fixing the toner image on the sheet; wherein the toner cartridge has: a housing having a space for accommodating the toner formed therein; a stirring part, which is composed of a rotatable stirring shaft arranged on the casing and a stirring blade arranged on the stirring shaft, and the stirring part stirs the toner; a supply part, which is composed of a rotatable supply shaft arranged on the housing and a helical blade arranged on the supply shaft, the supply part conveys the toner to one end of the housing; a transmission part, which is arranged on the outer side of the casing and transmits the driving force for rotating the stirring shaft and the supply shaft; a one-way drive part provided on a power transmission path between the transmission part and the supply shaft, the one-way drive part only transmits to the supply shaft to rotate the supply shaft in a first rotation direction of the driving force. 7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the transmission part has: a first gear, which is arranged at one end of the stirring shaft, and the first gear transmits the driving force to the stirring shaft; A second gear, which is provided at one end of the supply shaft, transmits the driving force to the one-way drive portion. 8. The image forming apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the transmission part further comprises: The worm is provided at a position where it meshes with the first gear and the second gear at the same time, and the driving force is transmitted to the first gear and the second gear by the rotation of the worm. 9. The image forming apparatus according to claim 8, wherein The one-way drive part is a one-way clutch. 10. The image forming apparatus according to claim 9, wherein The one-way clutch is provided at one end of the supply shaft where the second gear is provided.

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