JP3168722B2 - Toner supply device and developer storage container - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for supplying toner to a developing device in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as the above-mentioned toner replenishing device, a drop hole is provided at one end side of an outer cylinder portion of a cylindrical bottle, and toner is intermittently fed out from the drop hole while rotating the bottle to replenish toner. It has been known.

[0003]

However, in the above-described toner replenishing device, the toner that has moved to one end of the bottle is simply dropped without being measured, and as shown in FIG. There is a problem that the replenishment amount is extremely large, and then the toner replenishment amount tends to rapidly decrease, and a stable toner replenishment amount cannot be obtained.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems. A drop hole is provided at one end of an outer cylindrical portion of a cylindrical bottle, and the drop hole is rotated while rotating the bottle. In the toner replenishing apparatus in which the toner is intermittently dropped and replenished via a bottle, a measuring portion surrounding the drop hole is provided in an inner peripheral portion or an outer peripheral portion of the bottle, and the measuring portion is provided in front of the measuring portion in the bottle rotating direction. An opening is provided in a part or a rear part. The bottle may include a spiral guide portion that conveys the toner inside the bottle toward the drop hole according to the rotation of the bottle. Further, the weighing unit may be provided on a cap attached to one end of the bottle,
It may be constituted by a wall protruding from the inner or outer peripheral surface of the bottle, and a cap attached to one end of the bottle.
Another toner replenishing device of the present invention is a toner replenishing device in which a drop hole is provided at one end side of an outer cylindrical portion of a cylindrical bottle, and toner is intermittently dropped and replenished via the drop hole while rotating the bottle. In the device, a cap is provided on one end side of the bottle, the cap has a measuring portion outside the drop hole, and a front or rear portion of the measuring portion with respect to the rotation direction of the bottle is covered with an openable valve body. And the valve body is opened at a predetermined position with the rotation of the bottle. Another toner replenishing device of the present invention includes:
A dropping hole is provided at one end side of the outer cylinder portion of the cylindrical bottle, and the toner replenishing device is configured to intermittently drop and replenish toner through the dropping hole while rotating the bottle. A close valve, a closeable open valve provided outside the close valve at a predetermined distance from the close valve, and an operating member for opening the close valve inward in response to the closing operation of the open valve. The opening valve is opened and closed at a predetermined position by a guide member according to the rotation of the bottle. The developer storage container of the present invention is a developer storage container for replenishing the developer, and includes a drop hole for replenishing the developer and a measuring unit surrounding the drop hole. The developer accommodating container may be provided with a spiral guide portion for transporting the developer to the drop hole inside the container. The measuring section may be provided outside the container. Further, the measuring section may be a space formed between the cap attached to the container and the surface of the container. Furthermore, a valve body may be provided in the drop hole. Another developer accommodating container of the present invention is a developer accommodating container for replenishing the developer, provided on a peripheral surface on one end side of the cylindrical bottle, and a drop hole for replenishing the developer, A first opening which can be opened or closed with respect to the falling hole, and closes the falling hole from the inner peripheral side of the cylindrical bottle;
And a second valve that can be opened or closed with respect to the drop hole and closes the drop hole from the outer peripheral surface side of the cylindrical bottle.

[0005]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 shows an image forming unit 1 detachably mounted on an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer. The image forming unit 1 includes a photosensitive drum, a developing device, and a toner replenishing device 2 according to the present invention. And so on.

The toner replenishing device 2 includes a main body 3 for transporting the replenished toner to the developing device, a bottle 4 containing the toner, and a driving unit 5 for holding the bottle 4 and transmitting rotation to the bottle 4. It is configured.

The bottle 4 is, as shown in FIGS.
It comprises a cylindrical toner storage bottle main body 6 having an opening 7 at one end, and a cap 8 covering the opening 7. The bottle body 6 is formed with a spiral guide portion 9 projecting inward from one end side to the other end side. A drop hole 10 penetrating inside and outside near the opening 7, 1
0, projecting inward from the side of
L-shaped wall portion 1 opening forward with respect to side and arrow a direction
1 are formed, and a concave portion 12 is formed at the bottom center (see FIG. 1). On the other hand, the cap 8 includes a lid main body 13 that is drivingly connected to the driving section 5 and a cylindrical regulating section 15 that protrudes from one side surface of the lid main body 13 and has a conical cone section 14 at the tip. As shown in FIG. 3, the restricting portion 15 is inserted into the opening 7 and fixed. Then, with the cap 8 attached, the outer peripheral surface of the restricting portion 15 abuts on the upper end surface of the wall portion 11, and the restricting portion 15, the wall portion 11, and the lid body 13 surround the drop hole 10, and an arrow a A pocket-shaped measuring chamber 16 opened toward the direction is formed.

As shown in FIG. 1, the cap 4 is connected to the drive unit 5, and the support shaft 17 provided in the image forming apparatus main body (not shown) is inserted into the recess 12, and the bottle 4 is rotated as shown in FIG. Supported as possible. The supported bottle 4 is rotated in the direction of arrow a based on the driving of the driving unit 5. Thereby, the toner 19 contained in the bottle 4 is conveyed in the direction of the arrow b according to the rotation of the spiral guide portion 9 and, as shown in FIG. Is periodically dropped from the drop hole 10 and supplied to the supply port 18 formed in the main body 3,
It is transported to the developing device by a transport device (not shown). The toner 19 scooped into the measuring chamber 16 is
Therefore, the amount is constant, and the toner supply amount is stable. Further, in the toner replenishing device 2 of the present embodiment, since the measuring chamber 16 is formed by a combination of the cap 8 and the wall portion 11, the measuring chamber 16 can be easily obtained as compared with the case where the measuring chamber 16 is formed by a single member.

FIG. 11 shows the change over time of the toner replenishing amount by the toner replenishing device 2. As shown in this figure, in the toner replenishing device 2 according to the present invention, it can be understood that a substantially constant amount of toner is replenished until the amount of toner in the bottle 4 becomes small, and a stable toner replenishing property can be obtained.

In the above embodiment, the measuring chamber 16 for the bottle 4
Was made by combining the wall portion 11 of the bottle body 6 and the cap 8, but as shown in FIG. 5, a frame 21 was provided on the outer peripheral portion of the bottle 4, and the measuring chamber 16 was provided outside the drop hole 10. It may be formed. In this case, the measuring chamber 16
An opening is formed on the downstream side in the rotation direction, and as shown in FIG. 6, a certain amount of toner flowing into the measuring chamber 16 according to the rotation of the bottle 4 is periodically dropped and supplied from the opening 16a. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the measuring chamber 16 and the opening 16a can be enlarged, and there is no restriction due to the configuration inside the bottle.

Another embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. In the toner supply device of this embodiment, the holder 30
Is a cylindrical body whose one end is open, an opening 31 for toner supply is formed in the outer peripheral portion, and a through hole 32 for driving connection is formed in the end surface.
Are formed. Outside the opening 31, an arch-shaped frame 33 having one end fixed to an outer peripheral portion, and an opening between the outer peripheral portion of the cylindrical body and a spring 34 rotatably attached to a free end of the frame 33. The frame 33 and the valve body 35 are covered with a valve body 35 that releasably seals 33a, and a measurement chamber 36 for storing replenishment toner is formed outside the opening 31 with the frame 33 and the valve body 35. The valve body 35
Project from the end face of the holder 30 by a predetermined distance δ. On the other hand, a drive transmission unit 37 is provided in the main body 3 of the toner replenishing device, and the drive transmission unit 37 rotates in the direction of arrow a based on the drive of a drive source (not shown). Further, the toner replenishing device is provided with an engaging portion 38 that engages with the projecting portion of the valve body 35.

In the toner replenishing apparatus having the above configuration, the holder 30 is provided on the bottle 4 and the drive connection through hole 32 is provided.
To the concave portion 22 provided in the cap 8. Further, the bottle 4 is connected to the driving unit 5 of the toner replenishing device via the holder 30.
And the drive transmission part 37 is
2 is fitted. As shown in FIG. 8, the bottle 4 connected to the drive unit 5 is rotated in the direction of arrow a by the rotating drive transmission unit 37, and the valve body 35 that rotates together with the bottle 4 is periodically engaged with the engagement unit 38. The opening 33a is thus opened. Then, a certain amount of toner flowing into the measuring chamber 36 through the opening 33a according to the rotation of the bottle 4,
, The toner is replenished to the toner replenishing device main body 3 periodically. Further, since the toner is accurately measured by the presence of the valve body 35, the toner supply amount is more stable as compared with the toner supply device of the first invention.

Another embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In this toner replenishing device, the drop hole 10 of the bottle 4 is openably closed by a closing valve 23 extending at one axial end of the drop hole 10. A cap 40 attached to one end of the bottle 4 has an opening 4
1 is formed, an opening valve 42 is formed to extend one end in the axial direction of the opening 41 and project obliquely outward, and an operating member 43 extending toward the closing valve 23 is provided at a free end of the opening valve 42. It is provided. An opening 51 is formed obliquely downward in the cylindrical guide member 50 that supports the bottle body 4 via the cap 40.

In the toner supply device having the above configuration, the rotation of the driving source is transmitted to the cap 40,
0 and the bottle 4 rotate integrally. And the release valve 42
Is in contact with the inner peripheral surface of the guide member 50, the opening valve 42 closes the opening 41, and the operating member 4
3 presses the closing valve 23 to open the opening 10 (see FIG. 9A). The opened closing valve 23 scoops the toner according to the rotation of the bottle 4 and stores the toner in a measuring chamber 44 formed between the closing valve 23 and the opening valve 42 [FIG.
(See (b)). Then, when the opening valve 42 enters the opening 51 of the guide portion 50 according to the rotation of the cap 40, the opening valve 42 is opened outward by its own elasticity, and the toner contained in the measuring chamber 44 drops and It is supplied to the supply device. At this time, the first valve body 23 is
3 is released from the pressing force, and the falling hole 10 is closed.
Further, since the replenished toner is measured in a fixed amount in the measuring chamber 44, the fixed amount of toner can be accurately replenished, and the opening and closing of the valves 23 and 42 prevents the cross-linking of the toner. is there.

The opening valve 42 is provided on the cap 40. However, as shown in FIG.
2 and the operating member 43 may be provided.

[0016]

As is apparent from the above invention, the measuring chamber having the opening surrounding the drop hole provided at one end of the outer cylindrical portion of the cylindrical bottle according to the present invention is provided at the inner peripheral portion or the outer peripheral portion of the bottle. , A fixed amount of toner that has flowed into the measuring chamber as the bottle rotates is intermittently replenished, and stable toner replenishment becomes possible.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an image forming unit.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the bottle.

FIG. 3 is an end perspective view of a cap and a bottle main body.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a toner supply state.

FIG. 5 is an end perspective view of the bottle body.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a toner supply state.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a bottle body and the like according to another embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a toner supply state.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of a bottle main body and the like for explaining a toner supply state of a toner supply device according to another embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view of a bottle main body and the like showing a modification of the toner supply device.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a supply time and a toner supply amount by the toner supply device according to the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a supply time and a toner supply amount by a conventional toner supply device.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 ... toner replenishing device, 4 ... bottle, 10 ... drop hole, 16
... weighing room.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Masato Yasui 2-3-13 Azuchicho, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Osaka International Building Minolta Camera Co., Ltd. In-house (72) Inventor Hiroshi Nishiuchi, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Osaka International Building Minolta Camera Co., Ltd. 2-3-113 Azuchicho Osaka International Building Minolta Camera Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Futa Sugiura Osaka International Building Minolta Camera Co., Ltd. 2-3-13 Azuchicho, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Koji Miyata Osaka International Building Minolta Camera Co., Ltd. 2-3-113 Azuchicho, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Inventor (72) Inventor Toshihiro Hagiwara 2-3-113 Azuchicho, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Osaka International Building Minolta Camera (72) Inventor Keiji Oe 2-3-13 Azuchicho, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Minolta Camera Co., Ltd. In-house (72) Inventor Shunsuke Satake 2-3-3 Azuchicho, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Osaka International Building Minolta Camera Co., Ltd. In-house (56) References JP-A-3-203760 (JP, A) JP-A-3-2881 (JP, A) JP-A 55-123942 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G03G 15/08 G03G 15/10

Claims (11)

(57) [Claims] 1. A toner replenishing apparatus comprising: a cylindrical hole; a drop hole provided in a peripheral surface of one end side of an outer cylinder portion; and a toner intermittently dropped and replenished through the drop hole while rotating the bottle. A measuring portion surrounding the drop hole is provided at an inner or outer peripheral portion of the bottle, an opening is provided at a front portion or a rear portion of the measuring chamber in a bottle rotating direction, and the measuring chamber is provided at one end of the bottle. A toner supply device provided on a cap mounted on the side of the toner supply device. 2. A toner replenishing apparatus, wherein a drop hole is provided on a peripheral surface of one end side of an outer cylinder portion of a cylindrical bottle, and toner is intermittently dropped and replenished via the drop hole while rotating the bottle. A weighing chamber surrounding the drop hole is provided on the inner or outer periphery of the bottle, an opening is provided at a front or a rear of the weighing chamber in a bottle rotation direction, and the weighing chamber is provided with a bottle for the bottle. A toner replenishing device comprising: a wall protruding from an inner peripheral surface or an outer peripheral surface; and a cap attached to one end of the bottle. 3. A toner replenishing apparatus, wherein a drop hole is provided in a peripheral surface of one end side of an outer cylinder portion of a cylindrical bottle, and toner is intermittently dropped and replenished through the drop hole while rotating the bottle. A toner replenishing device, wherein a measuring chamber surrounding the drop hole is provided in an outer peripheral portion of the bottle, and an opening is provided in a rear part of the measuring chamber in a bottle rotating direction. 4. The bottle according to claim 1, wherein the bottle is provided with a spiral guide portion that conveys the toner inside the bottle toward the drop hole according to the rotation of the bottle. Toner supply device. 5. A toner replenishing apparatus wherein a drop hole is provided in a peripheral surface of one end side of an outer cylinder portion of a cylindrical bottle, and toner is intermittently dropped and replenished via the drop hole while rotating the bottle. A cap is provided at one end of the bottle, and the cap has a measuring chamber outside the drop hole,
The measuring chamber has an opening at the front or rear with respect to the direction of rotation of the bottle, the opening has a valve element that can be opened, and the valve element is opened at a predetermined position with the rotation of the bottle. A toner replenishing device characterized by the above-mentioned. 6. A toner replenishing apparatus wherein a drop hole is provided at one end side of an outer cylinder portion of a cylindrical bottle, and toner is intermittently dropped and replenished via the drop hole while rotating the bottle. An opening valve which can be opened in the hole, a closing valve which is provided outside the closing valve at a predetermined distance from the opening valve, and the closing valve is opened inward in response to the closing operation of the opening valve; An operation member, wherein the opening valve is opened and closed at a predetermined position by a guide member in accordance with the rotation of the bottle. 7. A developer accommodating container in which a drop hole is provided in a peripheral surface on one end side of a cylindrical bottle, and the developer is intermittently dropped and supplied through the drop hole while rotating the bottle. A weighing chamber surrounding the dropping hole is provided, an opening is provided at a front portion or a rear portion of the weighing chamber in the bottle rotation direction, and the weighing chamber is provided on a cap attached to one end of the bottle. A developer container. 8. A developer container, wherein a drop hole is provided on a peripheral surface on one end side of a cylindrical bottle, and the developer is intermittently dropped and supplied via the drop hole while rotating the bottle. A weighing chamber surrounding the drop hole; an opening provided in a front or rear portion of the weighing chamber in a bottle rotating direction; and a wall in which the weighing chamber protrudes from an inner peripheral surface or an outer peripheral surface of the bottle. And a cap attached to one end of the bottle. 9. A developer accommodating container in which a drop hole is provided in a peripheral surface on one end side of a cylindrical bottle, and the developer is intermittently dropped and supplied through the drop hole while rotating the bottle. A developer container, wherein a weighing chamber surrounding the drop hole is provided on an outer peripheral surface of the container, and an opening is provided at a rear portion of the weighing chamber in a bottle rotation direction. 10. The developer container according to claim 7, wherein an openable valve body is provided at an opening of the measuring chamber. 11. A developer accommodating container for replenishing the developer, the container being provided on a peripheral surface on one end side of a cylindrical bottle,
A drop hole for replenishing the developer, a first valve that can be opened or closed with respect to the drop hole, and that closes the drop hole from the inner peripheral surface side of the cylindrical bottle; A second valve that is closable and closes a drop hole from the outer peripheral surface side of the cylindrical bottle.