JP2003162191A - Toner transport apparatus, and process cartridge and electrophotographic image forming apparatus provided with the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a toner transport apparatus which can reliably operate a toner transport member without increasing the number of components and which is easily assembled. <P>SOLUTION: The toner transport apparatus which transports toner in a waste toner housing part with the waste toner transport member 104 includes a rotary shaft 105 which is rotatably supported by a predetermined rotational diameter and has both crank-shaped ends, and a waste toner transport member 104 which engages with the rotary shaft 105 and transports the toner of the waste toner housing part by moving reciprocately while interlocking with the rotational movement of the rotary shaft 105 by being supported freely slidably at a sliding supporting point 100a arranged at another point. An engagement part engaging with the rotary shaft 105 of the waste toner transport member 104 is provided with a first engagement part 104d1 which allows the movement of the rotary shaft 105 in a predetermined direction among the rotational radial directions of the rotary shaft 105 and regulates the movement in other directions, and a second engagement part 104d2 to regulate the movement in the predetermined direction. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a toner conveying device used in an electrophotographic system for transferring and recording a toner image formed on an electrophotographic photosensitive member on a transfer material, a process cartridge including the same, and an electrophotographic image forming device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an image forming apparatus adopting an electrophotographic system, a latent image is formed on the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member by selectively exposing the electrophotographic photosensitive member uniformly charged by a charging means. To do. Then, after the latent image is visualized as a toner image by the developer (toner) supplied from the developing means, the toner image is transferred to a recording medium, and the toner image is fixed on the recording medium by heat, pressure or the like. Image recording is performed by.

The developer remaining on the electrophotographic photosensitive member after the transfer of the toner image is removed by a cleaning means such as a cleaning blade and is stored as a residual developer (waste toner) in the cleaning container. The next development can be performed in a state where the waste toner does not remain on the surface of the photographic photoreceptor.

By the way, the electrophotographic photosensitive member, the charging means, the developing means, the cleaning means and the like are integrally formed,
A cartridge which is detachably attached to the main body of the image forming apparatus has been put into practical use as a process cartridge. In this case, by exchanging the process cartridge by the user himself, the consumable items such as the electrophotographic photosensitive member and the developer can be exchanged without requiring maintenance by a service person.

Here, in the cleaning means,
The cleaning container has a capacity capable of containing waste toner produced during the life of the electrophotographic photosensitive member or until the toner contained in the developing unit is used up. Further, in order to store waste toner efficiently, waste toner conveying means such as a rotating member is provided near the electrophotographic photosensitive member and the cleaning means.

A conventional cleaning device for an image forming apparatus will be described below with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11. 10. FIG. 10 is a sectional explanatory view of a process cartridge including a conventional cleaning device, and FIG. 11 is a partially cutaway perspective explanatory view of the process cartridge.

As shown in the figure, in the cleaning container 100 of the process cartridge 7, there is provided a waste toner carrying member 104 for carrying the waste toner t from the waste toner carrying section 102 above the cleaning blade 101 to the waste toner containing section 103. Has been. Here, the waste toner container 103 is the photosensitive drum 1
The waste toner container 103 is provided on the side far from
Is rotatably provided with a rotation shaft 105 having a rotation center parallel to the rotation shaft of the photosensitive drum 1 and both ends having a crank shape.

By the way, the waste toner carrying member 104 is
The toner transport portion 104a, the support portion 104b, and the hole portion 104c are formed. The toner transport portion 104a is a plate-shaped portion that extends parallel to the rotation axis of the photosensitive drum 1. A function of scraping the waste toner t collected on the upper side from the waste toner transport unit 102 to the waste toner storage unit 103 side is performed.

Further, the supporting portion 104b is a plate-like portion for supporting both ends of the toner conveying portion 104a, and the inlet side of the waste toner accommodating portion 103 is provided integrally with the cleaning container 100 to support the waste toner conveying member. It is slidably supported by the portion 100a.

Further, the hole portion 104c is located at one end side in the lateral direction of the support portion 104b farther from the photosensitive drum 1, and the hole portion 10c is formed.
The shaft portion 105a of the rotary shaft 105 is rotatably supported in the 4c.

[0011]

However, in the case of the above-mentioned conventional example, since both ends of the rotary shaft 105 have a crank shape, the rotary shaft 105 is provided with the hole portion 10 of the waste toner conveying member 104.
In order to put it in 4c, either one or both of the rotating shaft 105 and the waste toner conveying member 104 must be bent and assembled. Therefore, if a material having high rigidity such as metal is used for the waste toner conveying member 104 or the rotating shaft 105, the workability is poor because it is difficult to bend, and the waste toner conveying member 104 or the rotating shaft 105 is damaged if it is bent more than necessary. , There was a problem.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a toner conveying device or the like that can reliably operate a toner conveying member without increasing the number of parts and is easy to assemble.

[0013]

A typical structure according to the present invention for achieving the above object is a toner conveying device for conveying toner in a toner containing portion by a toner conveying member, which is rotatable at a predetermined rotation diameter. A shaft member having both ends thereof crank-shaped and engaged with the shaft member, and slidably supported at a sliding fulcrum provided at another position, thereby enabling rotational movement of the shaft member. A toner conveying member that conveys the toner in the toner containing portion by reciprocating in conjunction therewith, and an engaging portion of the toner conveying member with the shaft member rotates the shaft member. Of the radial direction, a first engagement portion that allows movement in a predetermined direction and regulates movement in other directions, and a second engagement portion that regulates movement in the predetermined direction, It is characterized by having.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Next, an electrophotographic image forming apparatus having a toner conveying device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

First Embodiment {Overall Configuration of Image Forming Apparatus} First, the overall configuration of a multicolor image forming apparatus will be outlined with reference to FIG. In addition,
FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional explanatory view showing an overall configuration of a full-color laser beam printer P which is one mode of a multicolor image forming apparatus.

A multicolor image forming apparatus P shown in FIG. 1 has four photosensitive drums 1 (1a, 1b, 1) arranged in parallel in the vertical direction.
c, 1d). The photosensitive drum 1 is rotationally driven counterclockwise in the figure by a driving unit (not shown). Around the photosensitive drum 1, a charging device 2 (2a, 2b, 2c, 2) that uniformly charges the surface of the photosensitive drum 1 (1a, 1b, 1c, 1d) in order according to the rotation direction thereof.
d), a scanner unit 3 (3a, 3b, 3c, 3d) that irradiates a laser beam based on the image information to form an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 1, and attaches toner t to the electrostatic latent image. Developing device 4 (4a,
4b, 4c, 4d), an electrostatic transfer device 5 for transferring the toner image on the photosensitive drum 1 to the transfer material S, and a cleaning device 6 (for removing the transfer residual toner t remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 1 after the transfer). 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d) and the like are provided.

The photosensitive drum 1, the charging device 2, the developing device 4, and the cleaning device 6 are each made into a cartridge as a process cartridge 7, and can be attached to and detached from a mounting portion of the image forming apparatus main body. Hereinafter, the configuration of each part will be described in detail in order.

(Photosensitive drum) The photosensitive drum 1 (1a,
1b, 1c, 1d) are formed by applying an organic photoconductor layer (OPC photoconductor) to the outer peripheral surface of an aluminum cylinder having a diameter of 30 mm, for example. The photosensitive drum 1 is rotatably supported at its both ends by support members, and is driven to rotate counterclockwise by transmitting a driving force from a drive motor (not shown) to one end. It

(Charging Device) As the charging device 2, a contact charging type can be used. The charging member is a conductive roller formed in the shape of a roller. The roller is brought into contact with the surface of the photosensitive drum 1 and a charging bias voltage is applied to the roller to make the surface of the photosensitive drum 1 uniform. It is to be charged.

(Scanner Unit) Scanner Unit 3
Is a polygon mirror 9 (9a, 9b, 9c) which is arranged substantially in the horizontal direction of the photoconductor drum 1 and image light corresponding to an image signal is rotated at high speed by a scanner motor (not shown) by a laser diode (not shown). , 9d). The image light reflected by the polygon mirror 9 selectively exposes the surface of the charged photosensitive drum 1 through the imaging lens 10 (10a, 10b, 10c, 10d) to form an electrostatic latent image. I am configuring.

(Developing / transferring device) Developing device 4 (4a, 4)
b, 4c, and 4d) are each composed of a developing device that stores toner t of each color of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black.

All the photosensitive drums 1 (1a, 1b, 1
The electrostatic transfer belt 11 is disposed so as to face the (c, 1d) and circularly move so as to be in contact with the same. Electrostatic transfer belt 11 is 10 ¹¹ to 10
It consists of a film-like member with a volume resistivity of ¹⁴ Ω · cm and a thickness of approximately 150 μm. The electrostatic transfer belt 11 is supported by rollers on four axes in the vertical direction, electrostatically adsorbs the transfer material S on the outer peripheral surface on the left side in the drawing, and transfers the transfer material S to the photosensitive drum 1.
Circularly move to contact. As a result, the transfer material S
Is conveyed to the transfer position by the electrostatic transfer belt 11, and the toner image on the photosensitive drum 1 is transferred.

Abutting on the inside of the electrostatic transfer belt 11,
Transfer rollers 12 (12a, 12b, 12c, 12d) are arranged in parallel at positions facing the individual photosensitive drums 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d. Positive charges are applied to the transfer material S from the transfer rollers 12 via the electrostatic transfer belt 11, and an electric field generated by the charges causes the transfer material S in contact with the photosensitive material drum 1 to be transferred onto the photosensitive material drum 1. A negative toner image is transferred.

The electrostatic transfer belt 11 has a circumference of about 700 mm and a thickness of 150.
It is a belt of μm, and has a driving roller 13 and driven rollers 14a, 1
4b, tension roller 15 is wound around by four rollers, and rotates in the direction of the arrow in FIG. As a result, the toner image is transferred while the above-mentioned electrostatic transfer belt 11 circulates and the transfer material S is conveyed from the driven roller 14a side to the drive roller 13 side.

(Paper Feeding Unit) The paper feeding unit 16 feeds and conveys the transfer material S to the image forming unit, and a plurality of transfer materials S are stored in the paper feeding cassette 17. At the time of image formation, the paper feed roller 18 (half-moon roller) and the registration roller pair 19 are driven to rotate in accordance with the image forming operation, and the transfer material S in the paper feed cassette 17 is transferred.
While the sheet is separated and fed one by one, the leading end of the transfer material S abuts against the registration roller pair 19 and temporarily stops, and after forming a loop, the rotation of the electrostatic transfer belt 11 and the image writing position are synchronized, and the registration roller pair is synchronized. Electrostatic transfer belt 11 by 19
Paper is fed to.

(Fixing Section) The fixing section 20 is for fixing the toner images of a plurality of colors transferred onto the transfer material S, and includes a rotating heating roller 21a and heat and pressure applied to the transfer material S by being pressed against the heating roller 21a. And a pressure roller 21b for applying the pressure.

That is, the transfer material S on which the toner image on the photosensitive drum 1 is transferred is heated by the heating roller when passing through the fixing section 20.
While being conveyed by the fixing roller pair of 21a and the pressure roller 21b, heat and pressure are applied by this fixing roller pair. As a result, the toner images of a plurality of colors are fixed on the surface of the transfer material S.

(Image forming operation) As the image forming operation, the process cartridge 7 (7a, 7b, 7c, 7)
d) are sequentially driven in accordance with the printing timing, and the photosensitive drum 1 is rotationally driven in the counterclockwise direction in response to the driving. Then, the scanner unit 3 corresponding to each process cartridge 7 is sequentially driven.

By this driving, the charging roller 2 applies a uniform charge to the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 1, and the scanner unit 3 exposes the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 1 in accordance with an image signal to expose it. An electrostatic latent image is formed on the peripheral surface of the body drum 1.
The developing roller in the developing device 4 transfers the toner t to the low potential portion of the electrostatic latent image to form (develop) a toner image on the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 1.

At the timing when the leading edge of the toner image on the peripheral surface of the most upstream photosensitive drum 1 is rotatably conveyed to the opposite point to the electrostatic transfer belt 11, the print start position of the transfer material S is set at the opposite point. The pair of registration rollers 19 starts to rotate so that the transfer material S is fed to the electrostatic transfer belt 11 so as to coincide with each other.

The transfer material S is sandwiched between the electrostatic attraction roller 22 and the electrostatic transfer belt 11 so that the electrostatic transfer belt 11 is held.
Of the dielectric material of the transfer material S, which is a dielectric, and the dielectric layer of the electrostatic transfer belt 11 by applying a voltage between the electrostatic transfer belt 11 and the electrostatic attraction roller 22 while being pressed against the outer periphery of the electrostatic transfer belt 11. Then, the transfer material is configured to be electrostatically attracted to the outer periphery of the electrostatic transfer belt 11. As a result, the transfer material S is stably attracted to the electrostatic transfer belt 11 and is conveyed to the most downstream transfer unit.

While being conveyed in this manner, the transfer material S sequentially transfers the toner images on the respective photosensitive drums 1 by the electric field formed between the respective photosensitive drums 1 and the transfer roller 12.

The transfer material S on which the four color toner images have been transferred is
The curvature is separated from the electrostatic transfer belt 11 by the curvature of the belt driving roller 13 and is carried into the fixing unit 20. The transfer material S has a pair of paper discharge rollers after the toner image is thermally fixed by the fixing unit 20.
By 23, the paper is discharged from the paper discharge unit 24 to the outside of the main body with the image side facing down.

On the other hand, the photosensitive drum 1 (1a, 1b, 1
c, 1d) The residual toner t, which is the transfer residue on the surface, is removed by the cleaning device 6 (6a, 6b, 6c, 6d), respectively.
Is scraped off by. Then, the cleaned photosensitive drum 1 (1a, 1b, 1c, 1d) is ready for the next image forming process.

{Waste Toner Conveying Device} Next, the waste toner conveying device will be described. As shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, the arrangement of each part related to cleaning of the photosensitive drum 1 is as follows.

That is, the cleaning blade 101 is in contact with the upper part of the photosensitive drum 1, and the waste toner t scraped off by the cleaning blade 101 is disposed on the cleaning blade 101.
It will be collected in 02. Further, a waste toner storage portion 103 is provided above the toner container 106 at a position substantially horizontal to the cleaning blade 101, and the waste toner t collected on the cleaning blade 101 is disposed in the waste toner storage portion 103. Will be housed in sequence.

In the cleaning container 100, there is provided a waste toner carrying member (toner carrying member) 104 for carrying the waste toner t from the waste toner carrying section 102 above the cleaning blade 101 to the waste toner containing section 103. ing.
Further, the waste toner storage portion 103 is provided with a rotation shaft (shaft member) 105 having a crank shape parallel to the rotation shaft of the photosensitive drum 1 so as to be rotatable.

The waste toner carrying member 104 provided in the waste toner containing section 103 is composed of a toner carrying section 104a, a supporting section 104b and an engaging section 104d. Here, the toner transport unit 104a is composed of a plurality of rod-shaped members arranged in the cleaning container 100 in parallel with the rotation axis of the photosensitive drum 1 at intervals.
The waste toner t collected on the upper part of 1 is scraped to the waste toner storage portion 103 side.

The supporting portion 104b is composed of two rod-shaped members arranged at both ends in the longitudinal direction of the toner conveying portion 104a,
One end side in the short side direction is extended to the toner conveying section 104a closest to the photosensitive drum 1, and the other end side in the short side direction is extended to the toner conveying section 104a farthest side from the photosensitive drum 1. ing.

The toner conveying portion 104a farthest from the photosensitive drum 1 is provided with a shaft portion 105 of the rotary shaft 105 via an engaging portion 104d.
It is rotatably supported by a. And the supporting portion 104b
Is the cleaning container 1 on the inlet side of the waste toner container 103.
00 and waste toner conveying member supporting portion 100a provided integrally
It is slidably supported by. Further, by setting the uppermost end of the waste toner carrying member supporting portion 100a above the cleaning blade 101, the waste toner carrying member 104 is prevented from coming into contact with the cleaning blade 101.

When the rotating shaft 105 is rotationally driven counterclockwise in FIG. 2 by the driving means 107, the waste toner carrying member 104 reciprocates. At this time, the waste toner conveying member 1
From the waste toner conveying member supporting portion 100a of 04 to the photosensitive drum 1
The toner conveying unit 104a provided on the side performs a reciprocating motion close to a clockwise rotation as shown by an arrow in FIG.

The movement of the toner conveying section 104a at this time is as follows.
When moving from the waste toner transport unit 102 side to the waste toner storage unit 103 side, the waste toner transport unit 102 passes through the space below the waste toner transport unit 102. Conversely, when moving from the waste toner storage portion 103 side to the waste toner transport portion 102 side, the waste toner transport portion 102 passes above the space of the waste toner transport portion 102. A plurality of toner transport units 104a are provided.
By performing the same operation as above, the waste toner t is sequentially scraped from the upper side of the cleaning blade 101 and stored in the waste toner storage portion 103.

(Engagement Part of Waste Toner Conveying Member) The engagement part 104d with the rotating shaft 105 provided on the waste toner conveying member 104 will be further described with reference to FIGS.

The waste toner conveying member 104 and the rotary shaft 105 are disposed in order to prevent the rotary shaft 105 from falling off when the waste toner conveying member 104 reciprocates as the rotary shaft 105 rotates. The toner conveying member 104 has a plurality of engaging portions 104d.

Here, in the portion where the rotary shaft 105 rotates with respect to the waste toner conveying member 104, the radial direction (the radial direction of rotation of the rotary shaft 105) is centered on the rotary motion axis.
4 directions are defined as X, -X, Y, and -Y directions as shown in FIG.

Engagement of both ends of the waste toner conveying member 104 in the longitudinal direction permits movement of the rotary shaft 105 in the -Y direction and the remaining three directions (X, -X) as shown in FIG. 4 (a). , Y direction), and is formed by the first engaging portion 104d1 that restricts the movement of the rotating shaft 105 in the Y direction). Also, the engagement inside both ends in the longitudinal direction is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG.
105 is formed by the second engaging portion 104d2 that restricts the movement to -Y, which is permitted to move.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the rotary shaft
In the portion where the rotating shaft 105 rotates with respect to the waste toner conveying member 104 by the driving means, the rotating shaft 105 among the four radial directions centering on the rotating shaft center.
The first engaging portion 104d1 which prevents the stopper from falling out from the predetermined three directions.
And the second engaging portion 104d2 that prevents the first engaging portion 104d1 from falling off from the remaining one direction that is not regulated. Therefore, even if the rotating shaft 105 is rotated by the driving means 107, the waste toner is removed. It does not fall off the transport member 104.

Further, when the rotary shaft 105 is assembled to the waste toner conveying member 104 from the longitudinal direction, the crank portion 105b of the rotary shaft 105 is assembled while retracting in the movable direction of the engaging portion. Waste toner transport member 1
Since it is not necessary to bend 04, there is no possibility of breaking them.

Second Embodiment Next, the engaging portion 104e of the waste toner carrying member 104 according to the second embodiment, which engages with the rotary shaft 105, will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 9.

The waste toner conveying member 104 and the rotary shaft 105 are rotary shafts.
The waste toner conveying member 104 has a plurality of engaging portions 104e in order to prevent the rotary shaft 105 from falling off when the waste toner conveying member 104 reciprocates as the 105 rotates.

Here, in the portion where the rotary shaft 105 rotationally moves with respect to the waste toner conveying member 104, four radial directions centering on the rotational axis are taken as X, -X, as shown in FIG. Y and -Y directions.

Engagement of both ends of the waste toner conveying member 104 in the longitudinal direction permits movement of the rotary shaft 105 in the -X and -Y directions as shown in FIG. , Y direction), the first engaging portion 104e1 for restricting the movement of the rotary shaft 105.

Further, as shown in FIG. 7 (b), the engagement inside both ends in the longitudinal direction is performed by the engaging portion 104e1.
The second engaging portion 104e2 105 restricts the movement to either one of -X and -Y which is permitted to move (in this embodiment, the engaging portion 104e2 restricts the movement in the -Y direction). Do)
Then, as shown in FIG. 7 (c), the first engaging portion 104e1 and the second engaging portion 104e2 restrict the movement of the rotating shaft 105 in the direction in which the rotating shaft 105 is allowed to move. The third engaging portion 104e3 (in this embodiment, the engaging portion that restricts the movement in the -X direction is 104e3) is formed.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the rotary shaft
In the portion where the rotating shaft 105 rotates with respect to the waste toner conveying member 104 by the driving means, the rotating shaft 105 among the four radial directions centering on the rotating shaft center.
The first engaging portion 104e1 for preventing falling off from the predetermined two directions
And a second engaging portion 104e2 for preventing the rotary shaft 105 from falling off from one of the remaining two directions that are not restricted by the first engaging portion 104e1, and the first engaging portion 104e1. A third engaging portion 104e3 that prevents the rotary shaft 105 from falling out from the remaining one direction that is not restricted by the second engaging portion 104e2.
Therefore, even if the rotating shaft 105 is rotated by the driving means 107, the rotating shaft 105 does not fall off from the waste toner conveying member 104.

Further, when the rotary shaft 105 is assembled from the longitudinal direction to the waste toner conveying member 104, the crank part 105b of the rotary shaft 105 is assembled while retracting in the movable direction of the engaging portion. Waste toner transport member 1
Since it is not necessary to bend 04, there is no possibility of breaking them.

As described above, according to the embodiment described above,
The rotating shaft is reliably supported by the waste toner conveying member without increasing the number of parts such as the bearing member, and the rotating shaft does not drop from the waste toner conveying member even if the rotating shaft rotates. Further, when the rotary shaft and the waste toner carrying member are assembled, the waste toner carrying member does not damage each other, the process cartridge having the toner carrying member, and the electrophotographic image forming apparatus to which the process cartridge is detachable Can be realized.

In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the toner conveying device is provided in the cleaning device 6 is shown, but the above-described toner conveying device should be used as the developing device 4 for supplying the toner to the photosensitive drum 1. Is also possible.

[0058]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the engaging portion between the rotary shaft member and the toner conveying member in the toner conveying device is constructed as described above, the toner is removed from the shaft member without increasing the number of parts. It is possible to easily assemble a toner carrying member that does not exist, and it is possible to provide a process cartridge and an electrophotographic image forming apparatus using the same.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the overall configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional explanatory view showing a first embodiment of a process cartridge used in the image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway perspective view of the process cartridge shown in FIG.

4 is a cross-sectional explanatory view showing an engaging portion of the waste toner conveying member shown in FIG. 2 with a shaft member.

FIG. 5 is a perspective explanatory view showing a waste toner carrying member and a shaft member of the process cartridge of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional explanatory view showing a second embodiment of a process cartridge used in the image forming apparatus of the present invention.

7 is a cross-sectional explanatory view showing an engaging portion of the waste toner conveying member shown in FIG. 6 with a shaft member.

8 is a perspective explanatory view showing a waste toner carrying member and a shaft member of the process cartridge shown in FIG.

9 is a partially cutaway perspective view of the process cartridge shown in FIG.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory cross-sectional view of a process cartridge including a conventional cleaning device.

11 is a partially cutaway perspective view of the process cartridge shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

P ... Multicolor image forming apparatus S ... Transfer material t ... toner 1 ... Photosensitive drum 2 ... Charging device 3 ... Scanner unit 4 ... Developer 5 ... Electrostatic transfer device 6 ... Cleaning device 7 ... Process cartridge 9 ... Polygon mirror 10… Imaging lens 11… Electrostatic transfer belt 12… Transfer roller 13… Drive roller 14a, 14b ... driven roller 15… Tension roller 16… Paper feeder 17… Paper cassette 18… Paper feed roller 19… Registration roller pair 20 ... Fixing unit 21a ... Heating roller 21b ... Pressure roller 22… Electrostatic attraction roller 23… Paper ejection roller pair 24… Paper output section 100… Cleaning container 100a ... Waste toner conveying member support 101… Cleaning blade 102 ... Waste toner transport unit 103 ... Waste toner storage 104 ... Waste toner conveying member 104a ... Toner transport unit 104b ... Supporting part 104d ... Engagement part 104d1 ... First engaging part 104d2 ... Second engaging portion 104e ... Engagement part 104e1 ... First engaging part 104e2 ... Second engaging part 104e3 ... Third engaging part 105… Rotating axis 105a ... Shaft 105b Crank part 106… Toner container 107… Drive means

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Yuki Mori             3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo             Non non corporation F-term (reference) 2H134 GA01 GB02 JA01

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A toner carrying device for carrying toner in a toner containing section by a toner carrying member, wherein a shaft member rotatably supported at a predetermined rotation diameter and having crank-shaped ends is engaged with the shaft member, A toner transport member that is slidably supported at a sliding fulcrum provided at another location to reciprocate in conjunction with the rotational movement of the shaft member to transport the toner in the toner storage unit. The engaging portion of the toner conveying member with the shaft member allows the shaft member to move in a predetermined direction out of the radial direction of rotation of the shaft member and to move in the other direction. And a second engaging portion that regulates movement in the predetermined direction. 2. The first engaging portion is arranged at both longitudinal end portions of the shaft member, and the second engaging portion is arranged at least one or more inside both longitudinal end portions of the shaft member. The toner transport device according to claim 1, wherein the toner transport device is a toner transport device. 3. A toner carrying device for carrying toner in a toner containing portion by a toner carrying member, and a shaft member rotatably supported at a predetermined rotation diameter and having crank-shaped ends, the shaft member engaging with the shaft member. A toner transport member that is slidably supported at a sliding fulcrum provided at another location to reciprocate in conjunction with the rotational movement of the shaft member to transport the toner in the toner storage unit. And an engaging portion of the toner conveying member with the shaft member, wherein the shaft member has a first straight line in two directions in a radial direction of rotation of the shaft member and a first line which is orthogonal to the first straight line. Of the four directions of the two straight lines two directions, a first engaging portion that allows movement in one direction of the first straight line and two directions of the second straight line and restricts movement in the other direction, The movement of the shaft member is allowed by the first engaging portion. The second engaging portion that restricts the movement of the shaft member in one of the two directions and allows the movement of the shaft member in the other direction, and the second engaging portion And a third engaging portion that restricts movement of the shaft member in a direction in which the shaft member is allowed to move. 4. The first engaging portion is disposed at both longitudinal end portions of the shaft member, and the second engaging portion and the third engaging portion are at both longitudinal end portions of the shaft member. The toner conveying device according to claim 3, wherein the toner conveying devices are alternately arranged inside. 5. A process cartridge attachable to and detachable from a main body of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, comprising: an electrophotographic photosensitive member; And a toner conveying device that conveys the toner in the toner containing portion by a toner conveying member, and the toner conveying device according to claim 1 is provided as the toner conveying device. Process cartridge characterized in that. 6. An electrophotographic image forming apparatus for mounting a process cartridge to form an image on a transfer material, wherein the process cartridge according to claim 5 can be mounted as the process cartridge. Forming equipment.