JP2013037254A - Toner cartridge and image forming device using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

A toner cartridge that prevents toner in a toner cartridge from being staggered and stagnates, conveys the toner to a discharge port while being stirred and circulated, and an image forming apparatus using the toner cartridge.
In the toner cartridge 21, a toner discharge port 49 for supplying toner to a developing device is formed on one end side of a main body casing 42. When the toner cartridge 21 is attached to the printer 1 on the end surface of the one end side, the printer is used. A coupling 44 that engages with the drive system on one side is provided. Inside the main casing 42, a large-diameter coil spring 52a extending spirally along the longitudinal direction and a small-diameter coil spring 52b extending spirally inside are arranged, and one end of each is coupled to the coupling 44. The large-diameter coil spring 52a conveys toner toward the toner discharge port 49 and the small-diameter coil spring 52b moves the toner away from the toner discharge port 49 when the drive shaft 48 is rotated in the same direction. Transport to.
[Selection] Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a toner cartridge used in an image forming apparatus such as a facsimile machine, a printer, and a copying machine, and in particular, contains toner to be supplied to a developing unit and is detachably attached to the main body of the image forming apparatus. The present invention relates to a toner cartridge and an image forming apparatus using the toner cartridge.

  Conventionally, a toner image is formed on a photoreceptor by electrophotography using toner, the toner image is primarily transferred to a belt, the primary transfer image is secondarily transferred to a sheet, and the transferred toner image is transferred by a fixing device. An image forming apparatus that forms a monochrome or full-color image by fixing on a sheet is known.

  In such an image forming apparatus, when the toner stored in the developing tank of the developing device is consumed by printing and the remaining amount of toner in the developing tank falls below a certain level, the remaining amount detection device operates to indicate that there is no toner. The user is notified and the operation of the apparatus is stopped.

  The user removes the toner cartridge from which the toner has become empty from the developing device, replaces it with a new toner cartridge, and restarts the printing operation. In the replacement of the toner cartridge, the front door of the image forming apparatus main body is usually opened, and the toner cartridge is pulled out in the longitudinal direction of the developing device, that is, in the front direction of the opened door, and replaced with a new toner cartridge.

  By the way, in a general cylindrical toner cartridge, for example, when a toner discharge port (toner supply port to the developing device) is provided on the back side, in order to transport the toner in the container from the front side to the back side, It is common to use a screw with a fin on a long shaft, a helical coil spring, or the like.

  However, in the above transport method, when viewed over time, the toner is driven to the back side and the bulk ratio increases, the toner is tightened, and the driving torque for rotating the screw or coil spring becomes heavy. Had the problem of locking.

  In order to solve this problem, that is, in order to prevent the toner conveying screw from locking due to solidification of toner near the toner discharge port of the toner cartridge, the vicinity of the toner discharge port of the toner cartridge is narrowed. It has been proposed. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1.)

JP 2011-13438 A

  However, in the technique of Patent Document 1, the shape near the toner discharge port is narrowed so that the toner near the discharge port is easily conveyed to the discharge port. This is not taken into consideration.

  Further, in the technique of Patent Document 1, the shape of the toner cartridge is a square container with a step in order to narrow the shape near the toner discharge port. Since the toner cartridge having such a shape has a change in shape, there is a high possibility that the handling of the toner cartridge when attached to or detached from the apparatus body is restricted.

  If the shape of the toner cartridge is greatly changed, the design of the mounting portion of the toner cartridge is restricted as well as the toner cartridge itself, and a complicated mold is used for molding the toner cartridge and the mounting portion. Therefore, there is also a problem that the cost increases.

  The present invention solves the above-described conventional problems, and prevents the toner in the toner cartridge from moving toward the discharge port or the like with a simple configuration, and constantly discharges the toner while stirring and circulating the toner. It is an object of the present invention to provide a toner cartridge that is conveyed to the surface and an image forming apparatus using the same.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, a toner cartridge according to the present invention is provided in a detachable manner in an image forming apparatus and contains toner for supplying toner to a developing unit disposed in the image forming apparatus. A toner cartridge main body provided with a discharge port for supplying the toner to the developer on the side, and the toner cartridge main body disposed inside the toner cartridge main body, and the image when the toner cartridge main body is mounted on the image forming apparatus A conveying coil spring that engages with a driving system provided in the forming apparatus and transmits a rotational driving force from the driving system, and the conveying coil spring extends spirally along the longitudinal direction of the cartridge body. A large-diameter coil spring, and a small-diameter coil spring spirally extended inside the large-diameter coil spring, the winding method of the large-diameter coil spring The winding direction of the small diameter coil spring is formed in the opposite hand, as configured.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, an image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes the above-described toner cartridge as a toner cartridge that contains toner for supplying toner to a developing device disposed in the apparatus main body. .

  The present invention provides a toner cartridge that prevents toner in a toner cartridge from moving toward a discharge port and stagnates with a simple configuration, and constantly agitates and circulates the toner to the discharge port, and an image forming apparatus using the same. Can be provided.

1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an internal configuration of a full-color image forming apparatus (printer) including a toner cartridge according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a toner cartridge according to Embodiment 1. FIG. (a), (b) is the external appearance perspective view which looked at the toner cartridge of FIG. 2 changing the viewing angle about 90 degree | times. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a conveyance coil spring that is an internal structure of the toner cartridge shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B together with a link member.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an internal configuration of a full-color image forming apparatus (hereinafter simply referred to as a printer) including a toner cartridge according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

  A printer 1 shown in FIG. 1 is an electrophotographic secondary transfer tandem color image forming apparatus, and includes an image forming unit 2, a transfer belt unit 3, a toner supply unit 4, a paper feeding unit 5, and a belt type fixing device. It comprises a unit 6 and a transport unit 7 for duplex printing.

  The image forming unit 2 is in contact with the lower running surface 8a of the transfer belt 8 of the transfer belt unit 3 and has four developing devices 9 (9k, 9c, 9m, 9y) arranged in a multistage manner from right to left in FIG. Configured. The image forming unit 2 is held by a frame of the printer 1 main body so as to be movable up and down from a printing execution position shown in FIG. 1 to a maintenance position below it.

  Of the four developing devices 9, three developing devices 9c, 9m, and 9y on the upstream side (the left side in the figure) are cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y), which are subtractive three primary colors, respectively. A mono-color image is formed with the color toner, and the developing device 9k forms a monochrome image mainly with black (K) toner used for characters and dark portions of the image.

  Each of the developing devices 9 has the same configuration except for the color of the toner that develops the image. Therefore, the configuration of the developing device 9y for yellow (Y) toner will be described below as an example.

  The developing device 9 includes a photosensitive drum 10 at the top. The photosensitive drum 10 has a peripheral surface made of, for example, an organic photoconductive material. A cleaner 11, a charging roller 12, an optical writing head 13, and a developing roller 15 of the developing device 14 are disposed in contact with or around the periphery of the photosensitive drum 10.

  The developing device 14 includes a housing 16 that covers the outside, a partition wall 17 provided inside, a developing roller 15, a first stirring and conveying screw 18, and a second stirring and conveying screw 19. Although not specifically shown, the first and second agitating and conveying screws 18 and 19 include a screw shaft and a fin that is integrally formed with the screw shaft and rotates.

  The developing unit 14 includes a toner cartridge 21 of the toner supply unit 4 disposed above the transfer belt unit 3, and black (K), cyan (C), K, C, M, and Y shown in FIG. Either magenta (M) or yellow (Y) toner is supplied.

  The transfer belt unit 3 has an endless transfer belt 8 that extends in the shape of a flat loop in the left-right direction in the figure at approximately the center of the main unit, and the transfer belt 8 is stretched over the transfer belt 8. A driving roller 22 and a driven roller 23 are provided to circulate and move counterclockwise as indicated by an arrow a in the figure.

  A secondary transfer roller 24 is brought into pressure contact with the driving roller 22 via the transfer belt 8, and a secondary transfer toner image on the transfer belt 8 is secondarily transferred to a sheet as a transfer medium conveyed here. The next transfer portion is formed.

  The transfer belt 8 includes a primary transfer roller 25 integrated with the unit. The primary transfer roller 25 is disposed so as to sandwich the transfer belt 8 with respect to the photosensitive drum 10.

  The primary transfer roller 25 directly transfers (primary transfer) the toner image to the lower running surface 8a of the transfer belt 8 that circulates downward. The transfer belt 8 conveys the toner image to the secondary transfer unit in order to further transfer (secondary transfer) the toner image to a sheet.

  Further, a belt cleaner 26 is disposed on the transfer belt 8 so as to abut on the surface of the driven roller 23. Below the belt cleaner 26, a waste toner collecting container 27 for storing waste toner removed from the transfer belt 8 by the belt cleaner 26 is detachably disposed.

  The toner supply unit 4 includes the above-described four toner cartridges 21 disposed above the upper running surface of the transfer belt 8. Although not particularly shown, the toner supply unit 4 is held on the frame of the printer 1 main body so as to be able to be raised and lowered from the printing execution position shown in FIG. 1 to a maintenance position above it.

  The four toner cartridges 21 of the toner supply unit 4 contain black (K), cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y) toner, respectively.

  These toner cartridges 21 are detachably attached to and removed from the main body of the printer 1 in the front direction, that is, the front side in the depth direction of the drawing. The toner cartridge 21 has a toner discharge port for supplying toner to the developing unit 9 although it is not visible in FIG.

  The toner discharge port communicates with a toner supply path extending upward from the rear of the developing device 9 when the toner cartridge 21 is mounted on the main body of the printer 1, and the toner is supplied to the developing device 9 through the toner supply path. Replenish. Although not visible in FIG. 1 because of a cross-sectional view, the toner supply path is arranged around the rear of the transfer belt unit 3.

  On the left side of the toner supply unit 4, an electrical unit 29 is disposed from the left side to the upper side of the belt cleaner 26. A circuit board on which a control device composed of a plurality of electronic components is mounted is mounted on the electrical component 29.

  The paper feed unit 5 includes two paper feed cassettes 31 (31a, 31b) arranged in two upper and lower stages. A paper take-out roller 32, a feed roller 33, a separating roller 34, and a standby conveyance roller pair 35 are arranged in the vicinity of the paper feed opening (right side in the drawing) of the two paper feed cassettes 31, respectively.

  The secondary transfer portion described above is formed in the paper conveyance direction (vertical upward direction in the drawing) of the standby conveyance roller pair 35. A belt-type heat fixing unit 6 is disposed downstream (upward in the drawing) of the secondary transfer portion.

  On the further downstream side of the belt-type heat fixing unit 6, a pair of carry-out rollers 36 for carrying out the fixed paper from the belt-type heat fixing unit 6, and a paper discharge tray 37 formed on the upper surface of the apparatus. A paper discharge roller pair 38 for paper discharge is provided.

  The conveyance unit 7 for double-sided printing also serves as an opening / closing member whose outer surface (right outer surface in the drawing) opens or shields the inside of the printer 1 from the side surface to the outside.

  This duplex printing transport unit 7 has a start return path 39a that branches rightward in the figure from just before the paper discharge roller pair 38, an intermediate return path 39b that bends downward, and further turns leftward to finally return. A return path 39 having an end return path 39c for reversing the paper is provided.

  In the middle of the return path 39, five pairs of return rollers 41 (41a, 41b, 41c, 41d, 41e) are arranged. The exit of the end return path 39 c joins the conveyance path to the pair of standby conveyance rollers 35 corresponding to the sheet feeding cassette 31 b below the sheet feeding unit 5.

  FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the toner cartridge 21 used by being mounted on the printer 1 having the above configuration.

  FIGS. 3A and 3B are external perspective views of the toner cartridge 21 shown in FIG. 2 when the viewing angle is changed by about 90 degrees.

  FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a conveyance coil spring, which is an internal structure of the toner cartridge 21 shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, together with a link member.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the toner cartridge 21 includes a cylindrical main body casing 42. A side cover 43 is disposed at the end of the toner cartridge 21 that is the back side (right side in the drawing) when the toner cartridge 21 is attached to the attachment portion of the printer 1 main body.

  A coupling 44 is disposed in the center of the side cover 43. On the outside, the coupling 44 is driven to rotate by engaging with a drive system on the printer 1 main body side when the toner cartridge 21 is mounted on the mounting portion of the printer 1 main body.

  Further, a toner loading port 45 shown in FIG. 2 is formed at the end of the coupling 44 that is on the near side (left side in the figure) when the coupling 44 is mounted on the mounting portion of the printer 1 main body. 45 is fitted with a loading port cap 46 shown in FIGS. 2, 3, and 4.

  The end of the main body casing 42 outside the cap 46 is composed of an annular edge 47a and a plate-like body 47b formed in the diameter direction through the center of the annular edge 47a. A handle 47 is attached.

  On the other hand, the drive shaft 48 extends from the center of the coupling 44 to a position slightly closer to the end than the toner discharge port 49 inside the main body casing 42. A notch 51 is formed at the tip of the drive shaft 48 along the diameter direction and the axial direction.

  Inside the toner cartridge 21, as shown in FIGS. 2, 4 (a) and 4 (b), two large and small conveying coil springs 52 that are spirally extended along the longitudinal direction of the cartridge body are disposed. ing.

  The two conveying coil springs 52 are constituted by a large-diameter coil spring 52a and a small-diameter coil spring 52b extending inside the large-diameter coil spring 52a. The winding direction of the small diameter coil spring 52b is formed opposite to the winding direction of the large diameter coil spring 52a.

  More specifically, the winding direction of the large-diameter coil spring 52 a is the winding direction for transporting the toner toward the toner supply port 49, and the winding direction of the small-diameter coil spring 52 b is the winding for transporting the toner away from the toner supply port 49. It has become a direction.

  The two conveying coil springs 52 have the inner side of the toner cartridge 21, that is, the end on the toner discharge port 49 side, bent inward in the diametrical direction, and as shown in FIGS. The drive shaft 48 is engaged with a notch 51 at the tip.

  In addition, since the two conveyance coil springs 52 are collectively held at the tip of the drive shaft 48 of the coupling 44, the two conveyance coil springs 52 may be configured as an integral part, not as separate parts.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4A, the front ends of the two conveying coil springs 52 have a bearing boss on the outer periphery of the edge extending inside the toner loading port 45 in the large-diameter coil spring 52a. In the small-diameter coil spring 52b, the outer periphery of the sealing portion protruding inside the loading port cap 46 is used as a bearing boss.

  These two conveying coil springs 52 are collectively rotated in the same direction by the drive shaft 48 of the coupling 44. By this driving, as shown in FIG. 2, the large-diameter coil spring 52a conveys the toner to the toner discharge port 49 as indicated by the outer arrow along the inner circumferential surface of the main body casing 42 along the longitudinal direction.

  The other small-diameter coil spring 52b is disposed on the inner side of the inner peripheral surface of the main body casing 42, that is, on the inner side of the large-diameter coil spring 52a. Transport from one end side to the other end side.

  As described above, according to the toner cartridge 21 of the present example, the toner in the cylindrical main body casing 42 can be circulated while stirring, so that the toner does not stagnate near the toner discharge port. Therefore, the driving torque of the coupling 44 is stabilized and the conveyance system is prevented from being locked.

  Further, since the main body casing 42 of the toner cartridge 21 is cylindrical, when the toner cartridge 21 is mounted on the printer 1, the toner cartridge 21 is simply inserted all the way into the mounting portion, and the coupling 44 is connected to the drive system on the printer 1 main body side. It only needs to be pushed in while being rotated by the handle 47 so as to be engaged.

  Thus, the toner cartridge 21 of this example is easy to handle when being attached to and detached from the mounting portion, and is not subject to any particular restrictions. In addition, since the main body casing 42 is cylindrical, it is easy to design and mold, and both are not subject to special restrictions.

Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described, the present invention is included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalents thereof. Hereinafter, the invention described in the scope of claims of the present application will be appended.
[Appendix 1]

In a toner cartridge that is detachably provided in an image forming apparatus and contains toner to be supplied to a developing device provided in the image forming apparatus,
A toner cartridge body provided with a discharge port for supplying the toner to the developer on one end side;
Arranged inside the toner cartridge main body, and when the toner cartridge main body is mounted on the image forming apparatus, it engages with a drive system provided in the image forming apparatus to transmit a rotational driving force from the drive system. A transfer coil spring;
With
The conveying coil spring includes a large-diameter coil spring that spirally extends along the longitudinal direction of the cartridge body, and a small-diameter coil spring that spirally extends inside the large-diameter coil spring. The winding direction of the small-diameter coil spring is formed opposite to the winding direction of the coil spring.
A toner cartridge.
[Appendix 2]

The large-diameter coil spring conveys the toner along the longitudinal direction on the inner peripheral surface of the cartridge main body to the discharge port, and the small-diameter coil spring is located on the inner side of the inner peripheral surface of the cartridge main body in the longitudinal direction. The toner is conveyed from the one end side having the discharge port to the other end side along
The toner cartridge according to appendix 1, wherein:
[Appendix 3]

The large-diameter coil spring and the small-diameter coil spring are integrally attached to one coupling whose driven end portions engage with the driving system,
The toner cartridge according to appendix 1, wherein:
[Appendix 4]

  An image forming apparatus comprising the toner cartridge according to appendix 1, 2, or 3 as a toner cartridge containing the toner for supplying the toner to the developing unit disposed in the apparatus main body.

  The present invention can be used for a toner cartridge that accommodates toner to be supplied to the developing unit and is detachably attached to the main body of the image forming apparatus, and an image forming apparatus using the toner cartridge.

1 Full-color image forming device (printer)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 2 Image formation part 3 Transfer belt unit 4 Toner supply part 5 Paper feed part 6 Belt type fixing unit 7 Conveyance unit for double-sided printing 8 Transfer belt 8a Lower traveling surface 8b Back surface 9 (9y, 9m, 9c, 9k) Developing device 10 Photosensitive Body drum 11 Cleaner 12 Charging roller 13 Optical writing head 14 Developer 15 Developing roller 16 Housing 17 Bulkhead 15 Developing roller 18 First agitating and conveying screw 19 Second agitating and conveying screw 21 Toner cartridge 22 Drive roller 23 Followed roller 24 Secondary transfer roller 25 Primary transfer roller 26 Belt cleaner 27 Waste toner collection container 29 Electrical unit 31 (31a, 31b) Paper feed cassette 32 Paper take-out roller 33 Feed roller 34 Rolling roller 35 Standby transport roller pair 36 Transport roller pair 37 Discharge Paper tray 38 Paper discharge roller pair 39 Return path 39a Start return path 39b Intermediate return path 39c End return path 41 (41a, 41b, 41c, 41d, 41e) Return roller pair 42 Cylindrical body casing 43 Side cover 44 Coupling 45 Toner loading port 46 Loading port cap 47 Handle 47a Toroidal edge 47b Plate 48 Drive shaft 49 Toner outlet 51 Notch 52 Conveying coil spring 52a Large diameter coil spring 52b Small diameter coil spring

Claims (4)

In a toner cartridge that is detachably provided in an image forming apparatus and contains toner to be supplied to a developing device provided in the image forming apparatus,
A toner cartridge body provided with a discharge port for supplying the toner to the developer on one end side;
Arranged inside the toner cartridge main body, and when the toner cartridge main body is mounted on the image forming apparatus, it engages with a drive system provided in the image forming apparatus to transmit a rotational driving force from the drive system. A transfer coil spring;
With
The conveying coil spring includes a large-diameter coil spring that spirally extends along the longitudinal direction of the cartridge body, and a small-diameter coil spring that spirally extends inside the large-diameter coil spring. The winding direction of the small-diameter coil spring is formed opposite to the winding direction of the coil spring.
A toner cartridge. The large-diameter coil spring conveys the toner along the longitudinal direction on the inner peripheral surface of the cartridge main body to the discharge port, and the small-diameter coil spring is located on the inner side of the inner peripheral surface of the cartridge main body in the longitudinal direction. The toner is conveyed from the one end side having the discharge port to the other end side along
The toner cartridge according to claim 1. The large-diameter coil spring and the small-diameter coil spring are integrally attached to one coupling whose driven end portions engage with the driving system,
The toner cartridge according to claim 1.   An image forming apparatus comprising: the toner cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the toner cartridge stores the toner for supplying the toner to the developing unit disposed in the apparatus main body. apparatus.