JP2012155072A - Image forming apparatus and waste toner recovery container used for the same - Google Patents

Abstract

A simple structure prevents waste toner from spilling out of a waste toner receiving port when a waste toner collection container falls.
The waste toner collecting container 24 has a container main body 25, an overhanging portion 30 is formed at one end of the container main body 25, and a fifth waste toner receiving port 31 is formed on the upper surface of the overhanging portion 30. In addition, the side surface of the overhang portion 30 is an inclined surface 30a. A ladder-like scraping member 37 is disposed at the inclined surface 30 a, and the scraping member 37 reciprocates by a crank body 42 provided on the screw shaft 32. A wall 40 is integrally provided on the horizontal frame 39 of the scraping member 37. Even if the waste toner collecting container 24 is turned over, the waste toner 43 is blocked by the wall 40 and does not spill out.
[Selection] Figure 7

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus using toner as a developer and a waste toner collecting container used therefor. The image forming apparatus includes not only a single function machine such as a copying machine, a printer, and a facsimile machine, but also various devices such as a multifunction machine having other functions such as a scanner function and a transmission / reception function in addition to a printing function. included. The toner is a general term for powder (developer) as a component of an image, and it does not matter whether it is a one-component system or a two-component system.

  In an electrophotographic image forming apparatus using toner, waste toner is generated. In the case of a full-color image forming apparatus, waste toner is discharged from each developing device and cleaning device in the image forming unit of the yellow image forming unit, the magenta image forming unit, the cyan image forming unit, and the black image forming unit. Waste toner is also discharged from the transfer belt (intermediate transfer belt). These waste toners are accommodated in a detachable waste toner collection container (for example, Patent Document 1).

  There are various waste toner collection structures, but in a full-color image forming apparatus, the waste toner collection container is formed in an elongated shape extending in the direction in which the groups of image forming units are arranged, and the waste toner collection container has each color. There is a type in which a waste toner receiving port corresponding to the image forming unit and a waste toner receiving port corresponding to the waste toner from the secondary transfer belt are provided.

  In this type, there is a type in which one or a plurality of waste toner receiving ports are provided on the upper surface of the waste toner collecting container. For example, the waste toner receiving port corresponding to each image forming unit is provided on the side surface of the waste toner collecting container, while the waste toner receiving port for the waste toner collected from the secondary transfer belt is provided on the upper surface of the end of the waste toner collecting container. Such a structure may be employed in order to make the waste toner collection container compact and simplify the waste toner conveyance path.

  When the waste toner receiving port is provided on the upper surface of the waste toner collecting container in this way, the waste toner is directed toward the bottom of the waste toner collecting container when the waste toner receiving port is positioned on the longitudinal axis of the waste toner collecting container. There is no problem because it falls naturally, but in order to avoid downsizing and interference with the image forming unit, a protruding part that protrudes in the horizontal direction is provided on the upper part of the waste toner collecting container, and a waste toner receiving port is provided in this protruding part. In this case, the side surface of the overhanging portion is inclined with respect to the vertical line so that the waste toner flows toward the bottom of the waste toner collecting container.

  However, since the toner contains resin as a component and has low fluidity, when the side surface of the overhanging portion is inclined, the phenomenon that the waste toner adheres to the inclined side surface and becomes agglomerated easily occurs. Therefore, a scraping member that contacts the side surface of the overhanging portion is disposed, and the scraping member is moved up and down to forcibly move the waste toner toward the bottom of the waste toner collecting container.

JP 2007-164096 Gazette

  Now, it is necessary to remove the waste toner collection container from the image forming apparatus. However, if the waste toner collection container falls or tilts in the detached state, the waste toner may spill out from the waste toner receiving port of the waste toner collection container. In this regard, it is conceivable to provide a shutter unit at the waste toner receiving port. However, this is expensive, and there are cases where the shutter unit cannot be arranged due to space problems.

  The present invention has been made to improve the current situation.

  The present invention relates to a waste toner collecting container of an image forming apparatus, and the waste toner collecting container has a container main body having a waste toner receiving port opened upward. A slope that moves the waste toner that has fallen toward the bottom of the waste toner collection container is formed below, and a scraping member that forcibly moves the waste toner downward is disposed inside the container body. The wall portion is provided on the scraping member so as to protrude on the side opposite to the inclined surface.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the screw shaft for conveying and leveling the waste toner is disposed substantially horizontally in the container body, and the inclined surface is viewed from the axial direction of the screw shaft. In addition, the scraping member moves up and down by attaching the scraping member to a crank body provided on the screw shaft.

  A third aspect of the present invention is the first or second aspect, wherein the scraping member has a ladder shape in which a horizontal frame extending in a substantially horizontal direction is provided in multiple stages on a vertical frame extending in a substantially vertical direction. At least one of the horizontal frames is provided with the plate-like wall portion. As a preferred development of the invention of claim 3, in the invention of claim 4, the wall portions are provided in the plurality of horizontal frames.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to fourth aspects, the wall portion protrudes in the direction of the perpendicular of the inclined surface in a side view. On the other hand, in invention of Claim 6, in any one of Claims 1-4, the said wall part inclines with respect to the perpendicular of the said inclined surface by side view. According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to sixth aspects, the plurality of wall portions are arranged in multiple stages, and the plurality of wall portions have projecting dimensions from the inclined surface as they go upward. It is set to be smaller.

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to seventh aspects, the container main body has a shape that is long in the horizontal direction, and the waste toner receiving port is one end portion facing the longitudinal direction of the container main body or The inclined surface is inclined when viewed from the longitudinal axis direction of the container body, and the horizontal frame and the wall portion of the scraping member are orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of the container body. When viewed from the horizontal direction, the portion inclined toward the middle portion of the container body is inclined so as to be lowered.

  The present invention also includes an image forming apparatus having the waste toner collecting container according to any one of claims 1 to 8, as described in claim 9.

  According to the present invention, since the wall portion provided on the scraping member functions as a waste toner backflow prevention stopper (or check valve), the waste toner collection container removed without providing a complicated mechanism such as a shutter device. It is possible to prevent or remarkably suppress the waste toner from spilling out from the waste toner receiving port of the upward opening when tilted or tilted.

  When the structure in which the scraping member is moved up and down by the crank body rotating around the axis of the screw shaft as in claim 2, the scraping member is moved up and down while changing its posture as viewed from the axial direction of the screw shaft. Therefore, the waste toner can be scraped down accurately.

  In other words, if the scraping member only moves up and down with the entire surface kept in close contact with the inclined surface, there is a risk that the waste toner will be pushed up as the scraping member moves up, but the crank body may When moved up and down, the scraping member can change its posture to move away from the inclined surface in the ascending process, and change its posture so as to approach the inclined surface in the descending process. Waste toner adhering to the toner can be scraped accurately. In this case, the scratching function can be further improved by the presence of the wall portion.

  Various structures can be adopted for the scraping member. However, if the ladder-like form is employed as in claim 3, there is an advantage that the waste toner can be scraped accurately because the horizontal frames are arranged in multiple stages. Further, since the wall portion is formed by forming the horizontal frame into a plate shape, the structure is also simple. It is preferable to provide wall portions in a plurality of horizontal frames as in claim 4 because the backflow prevention function can be improved.

  When the waste toner collecting container falls, the waste toner flows back along the inclined surface. Therefore, when the wall portion protrudes in the direction perpendicular to the inclined surface as in claim 5, a high backflow prevention function can be achieved with as few protruding dimensions as possible. Obtainable. On the other hand, the wall portion may be inclined in a side view with respect to the normal of the inclined surface as in claim 6, and in this case, the wall portion slides with respect to the waste toner by the vertical movement of the scraping member. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the waste toner from sticking to the wall portion.

  If the wall portions are provided in multiple stages, the waste toner has an excellent backflow prevention function. However, in this case, if configured as in claim 7, the waste toner is prevented from falling into the waste toner collecting container from the waste toner receiving port. Therefore, the backflow prevention function can be further improved.

  As described above, the wall portion also has a scraping function of waste toner. However, when the structure of claim 8 is adopted, the waste toner is placed in the longitudinal central portion of the waste toner collecting container by the guide action when the wall portion moves downward. It is squeezed so as to be approached. Accordingly, it is possible to suppress the waste toner from being piled up below the inclined surface, and when a conveying / equalizing means such as a screw is provided, the function can be exhibited accurately.

1 is a schematic view of an image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied. FIG. 2 is a partial side view taken along line II-II in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a front view taken along line III-III in FIG. 2. (A) is a perspective view of a waste toner collecting container, (B) is a perspective view of a scraping member. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VV in FIG. FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line VI-VI in FIG. 5. It is a figure which shows an effect | action. It is a figure which shows 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows 3rd Embodiment.

  Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(1). Outline of Image Forming Apparatus First, an outline of an image forming apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. The image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment is a full-color compatible machine. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit 1 that forms a toner image on the secondary transfer belt 2, a paper cassette 3, and a paper cassette 3. A secondary transfer unit 4 that transfers the toner image from the secondary transfer belt 2 to the paper P that has been taken out and is being conveyed, a fixing roller 5 that thermally fixes the toner image to the paper P, and the like have been formed. The paper P is discharged to the paper discharge tray 7 by the paper discharge roller 6.

  The secondary transfer belt 2 is wound around the driving roller 8 and the driven roller 9, and the secondary transfer belt 4 presses the paper P toward the driving roller 8 by the secondary transfer roller 10, thereby the secondary transfer belt 2. The second toner image is transferred onto the paper P. On the lower surface of the secondary transfer belt 2, a yellow image forming unit 11Y, a magenta image forming unit 11M, a cyan image forming unit 11C, and a black image forming unit 11K are arranged in this order in the feed direction of the secondary transfer belt 2. ing.

  Each of the image forming units 11 </ b> Y to 11 </ b> K has a photosensitive drum 12 that is in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the secondary transfer belt 2 from below, and charging is performed around the photosensitive drum 12 to charge the outer periphery of the photosensitive drum 12. A developing device 14 for transferring the developer to the outer periphery of the photosensitive drum 12, a cleaning device 15 for removing the developer remaining without being transferred to the secondary transfer belt 2 from the photosensitive drum 12, and the photosensitive drum 12. A static eliminator 16 that resets the outer peripheral surface to an uncharged state is disposed.

  An exposure device 17 is disposed below the image forming unit 1, and the photosensitive drum 12 is irradiated with light such as laser light from the exposure device 17 on the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 12 charged on the entire outer peripheral surface. A toner image is formed on the photosensitive drum 12 by forming an electrostatic latent image on the outer periphery of the toner and transferring developer from the developing device 14 to the electrostatic latent image. The toner image on the photosensitive drum 12 is transferred to the secondary transfer belt 2 by the primary transfer unit 18, and a composite image of each color is formed on the secondary transfer belt 2.

  The toner remaining on the secondary transfer belt 2 without being transferred to the paper P is removed by the transfer belt cleaning device 19. Although the developing device 14 has a housing, a developing sleeve, and the like, a description thereof is omitted because the relationship with the present invention is thin.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a toner bottle 22 is disposed above each of the image forming units 11Y to 11K. The toner stored in the toner bottle 22 is supplied to the developing device 14 from a toner supply unit 23 connected to one end of the toner bottle 22. A waste toner collecting container 24 is disposed outside the group of the developing devices 14.

(2) Waste toner collection container The waste toner collection container 24 has an elongated container body 25 extending long in the direction in which the image forming units 11Y to 11K are arranged. The container main body 25 is basically a box having a rectangular cross section. As shown in FIG. 5, waste toner from the yellow image forming unit 11Y is introduced into a portion facing the image forming units 11Y to 11K. Two first waste toner receiving ports 26, two second waste toner receiving ports 27 for receiving waste toner from the magenta image forming unit 11M, and two second waste toner receiving ports for supplying cyan toner from the cyan image forming unit 11Y. 3 waste toner receiving ports 28 and two fourth waste toner receiving ports 29 into which the waste toner from the black image forming unit 11K is input. The first to fourth waste toner receiving ports 26 to 29 are provided with shutter means so that the waste toner does not spill out even if the waste toner collecting container 24 is removed and then falls.

  Two first to fourth waste toner receiving ports 26 to 29 are provided, but one of the two is a receiving port for waste toner discharged from the developing device 14 and the other one. Is a receiving port for waste toner discharged from the cleaning device 15.

  A protruding portion 30 protruding toward the transfer belt cleaning device 19 is formed at one end of the container body 25, and a fifth waste toner receiving port 31 that opens upward is formed on the upper surface of the protruding portion 30. Yes. A side surface of the overhang portion 30 facing the transfer belt cleaning device 19 is an inclined surface 30a that is inclined so as to approach the bottom 25a of the container body 25 as it goes downward. The inclined surface 30a ends at an intermediate height of the container body 25, and the inner and outer side plates rise substantially in parallel from the bottom surface 25a at a portion below the lower end of the inclined surface 30a.

  The container body 25 is made of resin and is configured by superposing and fixing two members. And the screw shaft 32 extended long in the longitudinal direction of the container main body 25 is rotatably hold | maintained at the substantially intermediate | middle height position among the inside. The screw shaft 32 has a left and right end portion (longitudinal end portion) and a midway portion rotatably supported by bearing portions 33 and 34, and the end opposite to the overhang portion 30 protrudes outside the container body 25. A gear 34 is attached to this. Therefore, power such as a motor is transmitted to the screw shaft 32 via the gear 35.

  A screw blade 36 is provided on the screw shaft 32. In this case, the pitch and direction of the screw blades 36 are changed on both sides of the intermediate bearing 34. Accordingly, the waste toner accumulated in the container body 25 is transported while being leveled and rises in the middle of the longitudinal direction, and the rise is detected by the sensor.

  A scraping member 37 is disposed in the portion of the overhang portion 30 in the container body 25. The scraping member 37 has a pair of left and right vertical frames 38 that extend in parallel while being separated from each other in the longitudinal direction of the container body 25, and a multistage horizontal frame 39 that extends in parallel with the screw shaft 32. 39 is integrally provided with a wall 40 projecting to the opposite side of the inclined surface 30a. In this case, the wall 40 protrudes in the direction of the vertical line O of the inclined surface 30a in a side view as viewed from the axial direction of the screw shaft 32 in a state where the vertical frame 38 is entirely overlapped with the inclined surface 30a ( In other words, the wall 40 is in a posture substantially orthogonal to the vertical frame 38 in a side view. The protruding dimension H of the group of wall portions 40 is set so as to increase from the uppermost stage toward the lowermost stage.

  The lower ends of the left and right vertical frames 38 in the scraping member 37 converge on one arm 41, and the arm 41 extends toward the screw shaft 32. On the other hand, a crank body 42 is integrally formed at one end of the screw shaft 32 in a state where the screw shaft 32 is divided, and the tip of the arm 41 in the scraping member 37 is relative to the crank pin 42a of the crank body 42. It fits in a rotatable manner. The tip of the arm 41 is a substantially C-shaped holding portion 41a so as to be fitted into the crankpin 42a by elastic deformation.

(3) Summary In the above configuration, the scraping member 37 reciprocates in the vertical direction while drawing an elliptical locus while maintaining the state where the tip of the scraping member 37 is in contact with the inclined surface 30a by the rotation of the screw shaft 32. Move. For this reason, the waste toner 43 introduced into the fifth waste toner receiving port 21 is scraped toward the bottom 25a of the container body 25 without adhering to the inclined surface 30a, and is accumulated to the extent that the screw blades 36 come into contact. Then, the waste toner 43 that is equal to or higher than the reference height is conveyed toward the center of the container body 25. Therefore, the waste toner 43 is conveyed so as to spread inside the container body 25.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 7, the removed waste toner collection container 24 may be turned over. In this case, since the scraping member 37 is provided with the wall 40, the waste toner collection container 24 falls over. However, the waste toner 43 can be prevented or remarkably suppressed from flowing out from the fifth waste toner receiving port 31 (since the waste toner 43 has low fluidity, the wall portion 40 can effectively suppress the outflow).

  In addition, as shown by a one-dot chain line in FIG. 6, when the scraping member 37 is in the most elevated state, only the upper end thereof is in contact with the inclined surface 30a, and each horizontal frame 39 and the wall 40 are separated from the inclined surface 30a. Each horizontal frame 39 and the wall portion 40 approach the inclined surface 30a while descending. For this reason, the scraping function of the waste toner 43 is not inhibited by providing the wall portion 40.

  When the waste toner collecting container 24 is turned over, the waste toner 43 flows into the inclined surface 30a. However, the height of the waste toner 43 that has flowed into the inclined surface 30a decreases as the fifth waste toner receiving port 31 is approached. . In this embodiment, the protruding dimension H of the wall 40 is set so as to increase from the uppermost stage toward the lowermost stage, so that the waste toner 43 flows out from the inclined surface 30a to the fifth waste toner receiving port 31. This can be accurately prevented by the wall 40 and does not hinder the waste toner 43 from dropping from the fifth waste toner receiving port 31 into the container body 25.

  The wall 40 can be inclined with respect to the vertical line O of the vertical frame 38, as shown in FIG. In the two-dot chain line in FIG. 6, the wall portion 40 is in a posture that falls down, but can also be in a posture in which the wall portion 40 is raised upward.

(4). Other Embodiments In the second embodiment shown in FIG. 8, each horizontal frame 39 and the wall portion 40 face the inclined surface 30a so that the portion facing the middle portion of the container body 25 is higher. It is inclined as seen from the direction. Therefore, the waste toner 43 is guided so as to flow in the direction of the left and right intermediate portions of the container body 25 by the downward movement of the scraping member 37. Therefore, the waste toner 43 can be prevented from accumulating below the inclined surface 30a and can be stored in the container body 25 in a uniform state.

  In the embodiment shown in FIG. 9, a plurality of horizontal frames 39 are provided in one vertical frame 38, and a wall 40 is provided in each horizontal frame 39. Contrary to this embodiment, it is also possible to employ three or more vertical frames.

(5). Others The present invention can be embodied in addition to the above embodiments. For example, it is possible to open each waste toner inlet corresponding to each image forming unit upward and form a lower surface thereof as an inclined surface, and dispose the scraping member of the present invention at each inclined surface. Conversely, it is also possible to provide only one waste toner receiving port in the container body, and collect and put the waste toner of each image forming unit and the waste toner of the secondary transfer belt into this waste toner receiving port.

  The shape of the container body can be arbitrarily set as necessary. As the image forming apparatus is made more compact, the shape of the container body is often restricted, and due to such restrictions, it is often necessary to provide a protruding portion on the container body to form a waste toner receiving port. It can be said that the present invention can accurately cope with such a case.

  The present invention is useful when applied to an image forming apparatus such as a multifunction machine or a printer. Therefore, it can be used industrially.

2 Secondary transfer belt 11Y to 11K Image forming unit 14 Developing device 15 Photosensitive drum cleaning device 19 Transfer belt cleaning device 22 Toner bottle 23 Toner supply unit 24 Waste toner collection container 25 Container body 26 to 29 Waste from image forming unit Toner receiving port 30 Overhang portion 30a Inclined surface 31 Fifth waste toner receiving port to which waste toner of the secondary transfer belt is fed 32 Screw shaft 37 Scratching member 38 Vertical frame 39 Horizontal frame 40 Wall portion 41 Arm 42 Crank body

Claims (9)

A container body having a waste toner receiving port that is open upward; and a slope that moves the dropped waste toner toward the bottom of the waste toner collecting container below the waste toner receiving port of the container body And a scraping member that forcibly moves the waste toner downward is disposed inside the container body so as to move substantially vertically along the inclined surface.
The scraping member is provided with a wall portion protruding on the opposite side to the inclined surface.
Waste toner collection container for image forming apparatus. A screw shaft for conveying and leveling waste toner is disposed substantially horizontally inside the container body, the inclined surface is inclined in a state viewed from the axial direction of the screw shaft, and the screw By attaching the scraping member to the crank body provided on the shaft, the scraping member is adapted to move up and down.
A waste toner collecting container for an image forming apparatus according to claim 1. The scraping member is in the form of a ladder in which horizontal frames extending in a substantially horizontal direction are provided in multiple stages on a vertical frame extending in a substantially vertical direction, and at least one of the horizontal frames has a plate-like wall portion. Have
A waste toner collecting container for an image forming apparatus according to claim 1. The wall is provided in the plurality of horizontal frames,
A waste toner collecting container for an image forming apparatus according to claim 3. The wall portion protrudes in the direction of the perpendicular of the inclined surface in a side view,
A waste toner collection container for an image forming apparatus according to claim 1. The wall portion is inclined with respect to the normal of the inclined surface in a side view;
A waste toner collection container for an image forming apparatus according to claim 1. The plurality of wall portions are arranged in multiple stages, and the plurality of wall portions are set so that the protruding dimension from the inclined surface becomes smaller as going up.
A waste toner collecting container for an image forming apparatus according to claim 1. The container body has a shape that is long in the horizontal direction, and the waste toner receiving port is formed at one end or the other end of the container body facing in the longitudinal direction, and the inclined surface is a longitudinal axis of the container body. The horizontal frame and the wall portion of the scraping member are inclined when viewed from the direction, and the portion close to the middle portion of the container body is low when viewed from the horizontal direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the container body. So as to be inclined,
A waste toner collecting container for an image forming apparatus according to claim 1.   An image forming apparatus comprising the waste toner collecting container according to claim 1.

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