JP2005316230A - Toner supply device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To supply toner to a developing device even when toner in a toner bottle becomes empty, and to replace a toner bottle without stopping an image forming apparatus.
SOLUTION: Two or more toner containers containing toner to be supplied to a developing device, and conveying means for conveying the toner in each toner container to the developing device, each toner container includes a toner in the toner container Driving means is provided for conveying the toner to the conveying device side. The conveying means is provided with a driving source for conveying the toner conveyed from the toner container to the developing device, and the toner in each toner container is detected by a sensor. When it is detected and it is detected that there is no toner in a certain toner container, the toner is switched from a certain toner container to a toner container containing toner, and the toner is supplied to the developing device.
[Selection] Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to a toner replenishing device for replenishing a developing device with toner for developing a toner image on an electrostatic latent image formed on an electrostatic latent image carrier.

There exists a thing like patent document 1 as an electrophotographic type high-speed continuous book machine. In the apparatus such as Patent Document 1, once the apparatus is operated, printing is performed on a transfer material P (roll paper) having a length of about 6000 m or more.

  For this reason, when the apparatus stops in the middle of printing, adjustment for printing at a predetermined position of the roll paper, or data that could not be printed on the roll paper when the apparatus was operated again can be printed. It is necessary to make adjustments, and time loss (return time until the device returns to the operating state) and material loss (consumption of roll paper) are larger than those of devices other than Patent Document 1. Therefore, the apparatus cannot be stopped during printing.

  In general, as a typical cause of the stoppage of the apparatus, there is a loss of toner. This may be caused by checking the presence / absence of the toner described above for a certain period of time or increasing the size of the toner bottle.

  However, an apparatus such as Patent Document 1 consumes a large amount of toner within a short period of time, and the problem cannot be solved even if the above-described measures are taken. Further, in the apparatus as disclosed in Patent Document 1, it is very difficult for the measures described above to accurately calculate the amount of toner consumed, that is, to accurately indicate the timing of toner supply. Particularly in the case of color double-sided printing, it is necessary to consider a plurality of color toners, which further increases the difficulty.

  Also, it is easy for the user to check the presence or absence of toner at regular intervals. Further, increasing the size of the toner bottle can prepare a large amount of toner before starting printing, but there is a problem that the apparatus main body becomes large.

  For this reason, a configuration of a toner replenishing device that replenishes toner to the developing device is disclosed in Patent Document 2. 2 and 3, the toner replenishing device drives a reserve tank 415 for storing toner to be replenished to the rotary developing unit 406 and a toner replenishing mechanism for replenishing toner from the toner cartridge 402a. Toner cartridge motor 414 and a detection unit 403b that detects opening and closing of the door 403a of the cartridge housing unit 403.

With the above configuration, when the detection unit 403b detects that the door 403a of the cartridge housing unit 403 is open, the driving of the toner cartridge motor 414 is stopped. Further, when the control device 416 can determine that the toner in the reserve tank 415 has run out based on the signal from the toner sensor 412, the drive of the reserve tank motor 415 and the rotary developing unit 406 are stopped.
JP 2001-188398 A JP 2003-114567 A

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the configuration of Patent Document 2 described above includes a mechanism that causes the toner cartridge storage unit 403 and the image forming unit 40 of each color to stop driving the toner cartridge motor 414, and the reserve tank motor 415 is stopped. This mechanism is required separately, and the structure of the apparatus tends to be complicated.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention includes two or more toner containers containing toner to be supplied to a developing device, and a transport unit that transports the toner in each toner container to the developing device. Includes a driving unit for conveying the toner in the toner container to the conveying device side, and the conveying unit is provided with a driving source for conveying the toner conveyed from the toner container to the developing device. The toner in the container is detected by a sensor, and when it is detected that there is no toner in the toner container, the toner is switched from the toner container to the toner container containing the toner and the toner is supplied to the developing device. It is characterized by that.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, the driving means and the driving source are driven independently, and the toner container that has run out of toner can be replaced with another toner container that contains toner even when the developing device is in operation. Features.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, an electrostatic latent image carrier on which an electrostatic latent image is formed and an electrostatic latent image formed on the electrostatic latent image carrier by a developing device are used as a visible image. And a transfer body that transfers the image to a transfer material, and the developing device is arranged to be perpendicular to or opposite to the image carrier or the transfer body.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the toner container includes two or more toner containers containing toner to be supplied to the developing device, and conveying means for conveying the toner in each toner container to the developing device, and the toner containers are formed in the same shape. In addition, each toner container is provided with driving means for transporting the toner in the toner container to the transport device side, and the transport means is for transporting the toner transported from the toner container to the developing device. The toner in each toner container provided with a drive source is detected by a sensor, and when it is detected that there is no toner in a certain toner container, the toner container is switched from one toner container to a toner container containing toner. A toner is supplied to the developing device.

  The first aspect includes two or more toner containers containing toner to be supplied to the developing device, and conveying means for conveying the toner in each toner container to the developing device. Driving means for conveying the toner to the conveying device side is provided, and the conveying means is provided with a driving source for conveying the toner conveyed from the toner container to the developing device, and the toner in each toner container is a sensor When a toner container is detected to be in a state where there is no toner in the toner container, the toner container is switched from one toner container to the toner container containing the toner, and the toner is supplied to the developing device. A toner container is provided, and the toner in each toner container is detected by a sensor, and when it is detected that there is no toner in the toner container, the toner from the toner container is removed. By supplying the toner to the developing device is switched to the toner vessel containing, without increasing the size of the toner container, it is possible to prepare a large number of toner before starting printing. For this reason, the apparatus main body can be reduced in size.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the drive unit and the drive source are driven independently, so that the toner container that has run out of toner can be replaced with another toner container that contains toner even when the developing device is in operation. .

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, an electrostatic latent image carrier on which an electrostatic latent image is formed and an electrostatic latent image formed on the electrostatic latent image carrier by a developing device are made visible images. And a developing device that is arranged so as to be perpendicular to or opposite to the image carrier or the transfer material, so that it can be applied to devices that support two or more color printing. can do.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the toner container includes two or more toner containers containing toner to be supplied to the developing device, and conveying means for conveying the toner in each toner container to the developing device, and the toner containers are formed in the same shape. In addition, each toner container is provided with a driving means for transporting the toner in the toner container to the transport device side, and the transport means is a drive for transporting the toner transported from the toner container to the developing device. The toner in each toner container provided with a source is detected by a sensor, and when it is detected that there is no toner in a certain toner container, the toner container is switched from one toner container to a toner container containing toner and developed. By supplying toner to the apparatus, the number of types of toner containers can be reduced, and cost reduction and recyclability can be improved.

  A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional configuration diagram of a main part of an image forming apparatus incorporating an embodiment of a toner replenishing device according to the present invention. The apparatus shown in the figure has a configuration in which a color image is transferred to the front and back surfaces of a continuous web such as continuous paper in the order of front and back, and then these unfixed color images are fixed together.

  The image forming unit for forming a color image is roughly divided into a first image forming unit A for forming a color image on the surface (lower surface in the drawing) of a continuous web (hereinafter simply referred to as a transfer material P), The second image forming unit B forms a color image on the back surface (upper surface in the drawing) of the transfer material P. As shown in the figure, the first image forming unit A and the second image forming unit B have a substantially bilateral configuration, and the first image forming unit A is in order from the bottom with respect to the transfer belt 61. , Yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (BK) images are formed, and the color image formed on the top of the transfer belt 61 is transferred to the surface of the transfer material P. In contrast, the second image forming unit B forms yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (BK) images on the transfer belt 61 in order from the top. The difference is that the image is transferred to the back surface of the transfer material P at the lower end of the transfer material P.

  The photosensitive drums Y1, M1, C1, and BK1 and Y2, M2, C2, and BK2 that form the electrostatic latent image carrier 10 that forms the toner images of the respective colors are used for the toner colors (Y, M, C, and BK) used. Except that various set values such as charging and transfer are different, they have physically the same configuration. Therefore, in the following, the formation of the black image on the black toner photoconductor BK1 of the first image forming unit A will be described with respect to the image forming apparatus arranged around the black image forming apparatus A, but the other photosensitive drums Y1, M1, Similar image forming devices are arranged around C1, Y2, M2, C2, and BK2.

  The photosensitive drum BK1 has a structure in which a well-known photosensitive member such as an OPC photosensitive member or an amorphous silicon photosensitive member is provided on the surface of a cylindrical substrate such as aluminum. As shown in FIG. 1, the photosensitive drum BK1 rotates clockwise at a predetermined speed when operated. . Around the photosensitive drum BK1, in order of operation, an eraser lamp 20 that removes residual charges on the photosensitive drum BK1, a corona charger 30 that uniformly charges the surface of the photosensitive drum BK1 to a specific polarity, and a surface of the charged photosensitive drum BK1. The LED exposure device 40 for forming an electrostatic latent image based on desired information by projecting a digital light signal corresponding to the black signal onto the black surface, and the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum BK1 as black toner The transfer roller 62 (or transfer corona) which transfers the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum BK1 to the surface of the transfer belt 61 by charging from the back side of the transfer belt 61 with the developing device 50 which develops by the reverse polarity of the toner. And a cleaner 70 for removing toner powder remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum BK1 after transfer.

  Similarly to the photosensitive drum BK1, the eraser lamp 20, the corona charger 30, the LED exposure device 40, the developing device 50, the transfer roller 62, and the cleaner 70 are provided for the photosensitive drums Y1, M1, and C1, respectively. The color of the toner image formed is different, and exposure based on the color image signal corresponding to the respective colors of yellow for the photosensitive drum Y1, magenta for M1, and cyan for C1, and the corresponding color toner are used. ing. In this embodiment, the transfer body 61 including the transfer belt 61, the transfer roller 62 (or transfer corona discharger) and the roller that supports the transfer belt 61 is referred to as a transfer body 60.

  The transfer belt 61 serving as the transfer body 60 is formed of a wide endless belt having a dielectric surface (toner image carrier surface), and is supported by two support rollers (63, 64) provided at intervals in the vertical direction in the illustrated example. When the image is formed, the photosensitive drums Y1, M1, C1, and BK1 move counterclockwise at the same speed as the peripheral speed. Along with this movement, a yellow toner image formed on the photosensitive drum Y1 on the surface of the transfer belt 61, and then a magenta toner image and a cyan toner formed on each of the photosensitive drums M1, C1, and BK1. The image and the black toner image are sequentially transferred and laminated to form a full-color toner image or a multi-color toner image.

  Of the two support rollers (63, 64) that support the transfer belt 61, at least the upper support rollers (63, 64) are in contact with the back surface of the transfer belt 61 over the entire width in the axial direction. A transfer roller 62 is disposed in pressure contact with the surface of the transfer belt 61 so as to face (63, 64). The transfer roller 62 is connected to a bias power source (not shown), and a predetermined transfer bias is applied during image formation, whereby the transfer belt 62 is conveyed on the surface of the transfer material P conveyed so as to come into contact with the transfer belt 61. The toner image formed on 61 is transferred.

  The transfer material P is made of continuous paper as described above, and is fed between the transfer roller 62 and the transfer belt 61 by a feed roller pair (not shown), and after the toner image is transferred from the transfer belt 61 to the surface thereof, It is guided downward substantially at a right angle and is sent to the toner image transfer unit 80 of the second image forming unit B by the guide roller C, and the color toner image is transferred to the back surface.

  In this way, the transfer material P carrying the unfixed color toner images on both the front and back sides is sent to the fixing device 90 for both-sided batch fixing.

  The fixing device 90 has two fixing rollers (91, 91). Each fixing roller 91 has a good thermal conductivity. For example, an elastic layer such as silicon rubber is coated on the outer periphery of a cylindrical tube made of aluminum to a thickness of about 0.8 to 10 mm, and the surface thereof is Teflon (registered trademark). A film is formed.

  The two fixing rollers 91 are disposed so as to be in pressure contact with each other, and are rotated in the directions of arrows A and B by driving means (not shown). The rotation of the fixing roller 91 is set to substantially the same speed corresponding to the transport speed of the transfer material P transported in the meantime. Heating means (not shown) such as an infra red lamp (or halogen lamp) is provided in each cylindrical tube of the fixing roller 91.

  In this embodiment, the image forming apparatus in which one form of the toner replenishing device 100 is incorporated includes both the first image forming unit A and the second image forming unit B. Also good. In this embodiment, the transfer method is such that the toner image on the photosensitive member is repeatedly transferred to the intermediate transfer member, four color toner images are formed on the intermediate transfer member, and transferred onto the transfer material P at a time. Although the intermediate transfer system is described, a transfer drum system in which a transfer material P is wound around a transfer drum (transfer body), and a toner image on the photosensitive body (electrostatic latent image carrier 10) is repeatedly transferred to the transfer material P. Alternatively, a system in which toner images of four colors are repeatedly superimposed on the photosensitive member and transferred to the transfer material P at one time may be used. Furthermore, in this embodiment, four image forming apparatuses are arranged, but the present invention is not limited to this, and there is one in the case of a single color and two or more in the case of two or more colors. May be.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a developing device 50 incorporating one embodiment of the toner replenishing device 100 of the present invention. The developing device 50 includes a cleanerless developing method using a contact developing method using a non-magnetic one-component developer.

  The developing device 50 includes a toner carrier 51 formed of an elastic roller, and a layer thickness regulating unit 52 that is disposed in contact with the toner carrier 51 with an appropriate pressure and forms a thin layer of toner on the toner carrier 51. And a toner supply means 53 for supplying the toner conveyed from the toner replenishing device 100 to the toner carrier 51, a stirring member 54 disposed behind the toner supply means 53, and the like.

  The toner carrier 51 has a configuration in which an elastic intermediate layer 51b is formed around a central axis 51a made of a conductive rigid body such as stainless steel, and an elastic surface layer is formed on the outer periphery of the intermediate layer. Further, the center shaft 51a of the toner carrier is connected to a power source (not shown).

  Further, the elastic intermediate layer and the elastic surface layer are formed of a two-layer elastic body made of silicon rubber having different properties such as a volume resistance value. For example, in addition to silicon rubber, the elastic intermediate layer is made of elastic material such as NBR rubber (acrylonitrile butadiene copolymer rubber) or urethane rubber, and the elastic surface layer is also formed of elastic material such as urethane rubber. You may have done. Furthermore, the toner carrier 51 is not limited to the two-layer structure as described above, and may be a single layer or a structure of three or more layers.

  The layer thickness regulating means 52 regulates the layer thickness of the toner supplied in layers on the toner carrier 51 by the toner supply means 53. As seen from the rotation direction of the toner carrier 51, it is composed of a conductive or semi-conductive rotatable roller body disposed upstream of the contact portion between the toner carrier 51 and the electrostatic latent image carrier 10, and is counterclockwise. Rotate in the direction.

  The toner supply means 53 is arranged extending in parallel with the axis of the toner carrier 51. The toner supply means 53 has a central shaft 53a extending in the same direction as the axis of the toner carrier 51, and a stirring blade 53b formed in a screw shape in the axial direction on the central shaft 53a. Rotate in the direction. Further, the stirring member 54 provided behind the toner supply unit 53 has the same configuration as the toner supply unit 53.

  The toner supply means 53 and the stirring member 54 are partitioned by a wall 55, and the ends of the toner supply means 53 and the stirring member 54 are sealed so as not to cause toner leakage (not shown). Further, the wall 55 is provided with a communication hole 56 so that the toner replenished from the toner replenishing device 100 and the toner in the toner supplying means 53 and the stirring member 54 can circulate. Further, a toner replenishment detecting means 57 for detecting the presence or absence of toner replenishment is provided on the surface of the wall 55 on the stirring member 54 side. The toner replenishment detection means 57 is connected to a control means (not shown). When the toner supply detection unit 57 determines that toner supply is necessary, the control unit operates the toner supply device 100.

  2, 3 and 4 are schematic views of the toner replenishing device 100. The toner replenishing device 100 includes a toner container 110, a conveying unit 120, and a toner presence / absence detecting unit 130, which are arranged in two or more in parallel. Each toner container 110 is translucent so that the remaining amount of toner can be visually confirmed, and includes a transport hole 111 and a transport blade (not shown). The toner container 110 means a toner container, and a toner bottle is shown in each drawing in order to specifically show the toner container. Further, each toner container is formed in the same shape so that the number of types of toner containers can be reduced, and cost reduction and recyclability can be improved.

  The transport hole 111 is provided to send toner in the toner container 110 to the transport unit 120 side. The conveying blade (not shown) feeds the toner in the toner container 110 to the conveying hole 111, and has a central axis (not shown) extending in the same direction as the axis of the toner container 110, and a central axis (not shown). ) In the axial direction, and screw wings (not shown) formed in the shape of screws. On the back side where the toner container 110 is mounted, driving means (not shown) for rotating the conveying blade (not shown) is provided. Simultaneously with the mounting of the toner container 110, the conveying blade (not shown) is connected to a driving means (not shown).

  The conveying unit 120 conveys the toner in each toner container 110 to the developing device 50 side. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the conveying means 120 is formed in the shape of a hollow pipe extending from the place where each toner container 110 is disposed to the developing device 50 side, and a screw member 121 is provided therein. It has been. A part of the shaft 122 of the screw member 121 protrudes from the conveying means 120, and a pulley 123 is attached. The pulley 123 is connected to a drive source 125 attached to an appropriate position of the frame F via a belt 124. Thereby, the drive force of the drive source 125 can be transmitted to the pulley 123, and the screw member 121 can be rotated.

  Further, a receiving hole 126 is provided at a position of the conveying unit 120 that faces the conveying hole 111 of each toner container 110 when each toner container 110 is mounted. A guide hole (not shown) is provided on the developing device 50 side. A receiving member 140 is provided between the conveying hole 111 of each toner container 110 and the receiving hole 126 of the conveying means 120 corresponding to each conveying hole 111.

  The receiving member 140 is attached to an appropriate portion of the frame F, and is provided with a communication hole 141 for conveying toner from the toner container 110 to the conveying means 120. As a result, the toner container 110, the transport hole 111, the communication hole 141 (receiving member 140), the receiving hole 126, the transport means 120, the guide hole (not shown), and the developing device 50 are formed. That is, the transport unit 120 serves as a common transport path for the toner containers 110.

  The toner presence / absence detecting means 130 is provided in each of the receiving members 140 described above. When the toner presence / absence detection means 130 detects that there is no toner, the control means (not shown) stops the driving means (not shown) of the toner container 110 and further controls the toner container 110 containing the toner. The driving means is actuated.

  With the above configuration, the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is operated. During this time, if the control means (not shown) determines that the toner replenishment detection means 57 needs to replenish the toner, the conveying means 120 and the screw blades (toner replenishment device 100) of the toner container 110 are operated, Toner is supplied into the developing device 50.

  At this time, if the control means (not shown) determines that there is no toner in the toner container 110 in operation by the toner presence / absence detection means 130, the drive means (not shown) for the toner container 110. And the other toner container 110 is operated to supply the toner. While the toner is being supplied, the toner container 110 that has become empty is replaced with a toner container 110 that contains the toner.

  As described above, when two or more toner containers 110 are provided for one toner replenishing device 100 and the toner presence / absence detection means 130 detects that the toner in one toner container 110 is empty, the other toner container By switching to 110, toner can be reliably supplied into the developing device 50 to which the toner replenishing device 100 is attached.

  Further, the toner in the toner container 110 is replenished to the developing device 50 via the conveying means 120, and driving means (not shown) provided in each toner container 110 and driving provided in the conveying means 120. With the configuration in which the operation with the source 125 is operated independently, the toner container 110 can be replaced without stopping the image forming apparatus even when the toner in the toner container 110 becomes empty. These are particularly advantageous in a color electrophotographic high-speed continuous book machine and a four-color double-sided machine as shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional configuration diagram of a main part of an image forming apparatus incorporating an embodiment of a toner replenishing device. FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a toner supply device incorporated in a developing device. FIG. 3 is a view of the toner supply device of FIG. The figure seen from the arrow E of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Electrostatic latent image carrier 50 Developing device 60 Transfer body 100 Toner replenishing device 110 Toner container 120 Conveying means 130 Sensor (toner presence / absence detecting means)

Claims (4)

Two or more toner containers containing toner to be supplied to the developing device, and conveying means for conveying the toner in each of the toner containers to the developing device,
Each toner container is provided with driving means for transporting the toner in the toner container to the transport device side,
The transport means is provided with a drive source for transporting the toner transported from the toner container to the developing device, and the toner in each toner container is detected by a sensor,
A toner replenishing device that switches from a toner container to the toner container containing toner and supplies the toner to a developing device when it is detected that there is no toner in the toner container. . The drive means and the drive source are driven independently,
2. The toner replenishing device according to claim 1, wherein the toner container that has run out of toner can be replaced with another toner container that contains toner even when the developing device is in operation. The latent electrostatic image bearing member on which the latent electrostatic image is formed and the latent electrostatic image formed on the latent electrostatic image bearing member by the developing device are made visible, and the visible image is transferred to a transfer material. And a transfer body
3. The toner replenishing device according to claim 1, wherein the developing device is disposed so as to be perpendicular to or opposed to the image carrier or the transfer member. Two or more toner containers containing toner to be supplied to the developing device, and conveying means for conveying the toner in each of the toner containers to the developing device,
Each of the toner containers is formed in the same shape, and each toner container is provided with a driving unit for transporting the toner in the toner container to the transport device side,
The transport means is provided with a drive source for transporting the toner transported from the toner container to the developing device, and the toner in each toner container is detected by a sensor,
A toner replenishing device that switches from a toner container to the toner container containing toner and supplies the toner to a developing device when it is detected that there is no toner in the toner container. .

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