JP4642438B2 - Image forming apparatus and toner cartridge - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and a toner cartridge, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a recording material with toner, such as an electrophotographic copying machine or a printer, and a toner cartridge used therefor.

  Conventionally, in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, the surface of an image carrier such as a photosensitive drum is charged, image exposed, developed with toner, transferred to a recording material such as paper, and fixed to the toner. After that, a toner image is formed on the recording material. The toner remaining on the image carrier after the transfer is removed by a cleaning device.

  By the way, since the toner stored in the developing device is gradually consumed when the above image forming process is repeated, the toner is supplied to the developing device from a toner cartridge that stores a predetermined amount of toner in advance.

  Such a toner cartridge is incorporated in the developing device when the image forming apparatus is shipped from the factory. However, in order to prevent the toner from leaking and to prevent moisture, an opening for supplying the toner is provided. Is sealed with a film-like sealing member. This seal member is peeled off when the image forming apparatus is set up.

  If the device is set up and started up with the seal member unopened, the toner in the cartridge is transported to the opening sealed by the transport member built in the cartridge, and the toner packing, etc. There is a risk that the drive unit will be damaged.

  If the user runs out of toner during use, it will be replaced with a new toner cartridge. In this case, however, if the user forgets to remove the seal member at the opening, the same problem will occur.

  Therefore, Patent Document 1 is configured such that a handle that interferes with the cover of the apparatus main body is provided on the toner cartridge, and the cover does not close due to the handle interfering with the cover unless the cartridge is attached and the seal member is peeled off. An image forming apparatus is disclosed.

However, this apparatus has a problem that if the toner cartridge is shipped from the factory while being installed in the apparatus, the cover is in a half-open state, so that the apparatus packaging becomes larger and complicated.
JP 2001-188457 A

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to prevent a problem such as toner packing in the cartridge or damage to the drive unit even if the toner seal member is forgotten to be peeled off, and it is also necessary to ship the cover in a half-open state. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus and a toner cartridge.

In order to achieve the above object, an image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes:
In an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a recording material with toner contained in a developing device,
A toner cartridge that is detachable from the developing device and for supplying toner to the developing device;
The toner cartridge includes a storage container for storing toner, an opening formed in the storage container for supplying toner to the developing device, and an opening formed on the outer surface of the storage container. A film-like sealing member for sealing, and a rotating member provided in the container for moving the toner in the container,
The rotating member is connected to a driving unit of the image forming apparatus when the toner cartridge is mounted on the image forming apparatus, and is disconnected when the toner cartridge is taken out, and the connecting part with the driving unit is the opening part. Are arranged on different surfaces of the container,
The seal member is attached to the outer surface of the receiving container over the surface where the opening is formed and the surface where the connection portion is disposed, so that one end of the seal member covers the connection portion. When the rotating member is disconnected from the driving portion and the seal member is peeled off from the opening, the one end is also peeled off from the connecting portion, and the rotating member and the driving portion are connected. Being
It is characterized by.

The toner cartridge according to the present invention is
In a toner cartridge that is detachable from a developing device of an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a recording material with toner and replenishes the developing device with toner,
A storage container for storing toner, an opening formed in the storage container for supplying toner to the developing device, and a film that seals the opening by being attached to the outer surface of the storage container And a rotating member provided in the container for moving the toner in the container,
The rotating member is connected to the drive unit of the image forming apparatus when mounted on the image forming apparatus, and the connection is released when the rotating member is taken out. Placed on different sides of the container,
The seal member is attached to the outer surface of the receiving container over the surface where the opening is formed and the surface where the connection portion is disposed, so that one end of the seal member covers the connection portion. When the rotating member is disconnected from the driving portion, and the seal member is peeled off from the opening, the one end is also peeled off from the connecting portion, and the rotating member and the driving portion are connected. Being
It is characterized by.

  In the present invention, after the toner cartridge is mounted on the image forming apparatus, the seal member is peeled off from the toner supply opening. Before the peeling, the rotating member of the toner cartridge at one end of the seal member cuts off the connection with the drive unit on the device side, so even if you forget to remove it and start the device, the rotational drive force will rotate the toner cartridge. It is not transmitted to the member, and there is no problem such as toner packing inside the cartridge and damage to the drive unit due to it. In addition, the cover of the apparatus is not half-opened in order to notify the non-peeling of the seal member, and the size and complexity of the packaging at the time of factory shipment can be eliminated.

  In the image forming apparatus and the toner cartridge according to the present invention, the rotating member is, for example, a toner conveying member for conveying toner in the toner cartridge to the opening. Moreover, it is preferable that the drive part is urged | biased by the elastic member at the rotation member side.

  Embodiments of an image forming apparatus and a toner cartridge according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(Schematic configuration of image forming apparatus, see FIG. 1)
An image forming apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1 is an electrophotographic copying machine or printer, and is generally configured around a photosensitive drum 11 that is an image carrier, and around the photosensitive drum 11, the rotation direction thereof. Along with (see arrow A), the charging charger 12, the laser scanning optical unit 13 that exposes an image with a laser beam, the developing device 14, the transfer charger 15, the separation charger 16, the residual toner cleaning device 17, and the residual charge eraser lamp. 18 is arranged.

  In the image forming step, first, a predetermined charge is charged on the surface of the photosensitive drum 11 by the charging charger 12, and a predetermined image is formed as an electrostatic latent image by the laser scanning optical unit 13. Thereafter, toner is supplied from the developing device 14 to form a toner image, and the toner image is transferred onto the paper P conveyed from a paper feeding device (not shown) by the transfer charger 15. The sheet P is separated from the photosensitive drum 11 by the separation charger 16 while transferring the toner, conveyed to a fixing device (not shown), fixed with toner, and discharged onto a tray (not shown).

  The detailed configuration and operation of the various image forming elements are well known, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  The developing device 14 includes a developer tank 14a including a developing roller 14b and developer stirring / conveying rollers 14c and 14d. A toner cartridge 20 for replenishing toner is detachably attached to the developer tank 14a. It has been. As shown in FIG. 2, the toner cartridge 20 includes an opening 21 for supplying toner T contained therein to the developer tank 14a, and a conveying member that conveys the toner T to the opening 21 while stirring. 22 is installed. The opening 21 has a cylindrical shape in this embodiment, and replenishes toner T to the upstream side in the transport direction of the rollers 14b and 14c.

  The toner conveying member 22 is attached to a crank-shaped rotating shaft 23, and a coupling 24 having a connecting claw 25 is fixed to one end of the rotating shaft 23. As shown in FIG. 3B, the coupling 24 engages with a coupling claw 31 of a coupling 30 that is coupled to a driving source built in the image forming apparatus 10, and rotational driving force is generated from the coupling 30. Communicated. The coupling 30 is elastically biased in the direction of arrow C by a coil spring 32 and is coupled to the coupling 24 by this biasing force.

  Reference numerals 27a and 27b in FIG. 1 denote a light emitting element and a light receiving element, which detect the remaining amount of toner T in the toner cartridge 20. The detection signal is input to the control unit 40, and when the control unit 40 determines that the toner is empty, a message to that effect is displayed on the operation panel 41 to alert the user.

  When the toner cartridge 20 is in a new state, the toner cartridge 20 is sealed with a film-like sealing member 26 in order to prevent leakage of toner T from the opening 21 and moisture absorption. The seal member 26 is attached to the bottom of the toner cartridge 20 to seal the opening 21, and one end extends to the back side of the toner cartridge 20 to cover the coupling 24.

  The toner cartridge 20 is mounted in the developer tank 14a with the seal member 26 adhered by sliding in the direction of arrow B shown in FIG. At this time, the coupling 24 is covered with one end of the seal member 26, and the coupling 30 on the main body side retreats in the direction opposite to the arrow C against the urging force of the coil spring 32 (FIG. 3). (See (A)).

  Thereafter, when the seal member 26 is peeled in the direction opposite to the arrow B, the coupling 30 is connected to the coupling 24 by the biasing force of the coil spring 32. As a result, the opening 21 is opened and the toner conveying member 22 can be rotated (see FIG. 3B).

  That is, in this embodiment, the seal member 26 cuts off the couplings 24 and 30 at one end thereof, and the couplings 24 and 30 are coupled by being peeled off. Therefore, even when the image forming apparatus 10 is set up or when the toner cartridge 20 is replaced, even if the apparatus 10 is started up by forgetting to remove the seal member 26, the rotational driving force is not transmitted to the toner conveying member 22. Problems such as the packing of the toner T in the cartridge 20 and the damage to the drive unit due to the packing are eliminated.

(Other examples)
The image forming apparatus and the toner cartridge according to the present invention are not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be variously modified within the scope of the gist.

  In particular, the present invention can be applied not only to the transfer type electrophotographic copying machine, printer, and facsimile shown in the above embodiment, but also to various image forming apparatuses such as a direct recording method in which toner is directly adhered onto paper. Further, the drive coupling mechanism can employ a mechanism other than the coupling, and the elastic biasing means is not limited to the coil spring.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating an embodiment of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a toner cartridge incorporated in the image forming apparatus. The coupling for rotation driving of the toner cartridge and the apparatus main body is shown, (A) is an explanatory diagram when not connected, and (B) is an explanatory diagram when connected.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Image forming apparatus 14 ... Developing apparatus 20 ... Toner cartridge 21 ... Opening part 22 ... Toner conveyance member 24, 30 ... Coupling 26 ... Seal member 32 ... Coil spring

Claims (5)

In an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a recording material with toner contained in a developing device,
A toner cartridge which is detachable from the developing device and for supplying toner to the developing device;
The toner cartridge includes a storage container for storing toner, an opening formed in the storage container for supplying toner to the developing device, and an opening formed on the outer surface of the storage container. A film-like seal member for sealing, and a rotating member provided in the container for moving the toner in the container,
The rotating member is connected to a drive unit of the image forming apparatus when the toner cartridge is attached to the image forming apparatus, and the connection is released when the toner cartridge is taken out. Are arranged on different surfaces of the container,
The seal member is attached to the outer surface of the receiving container across the surface where the opening is formed and the surface where the connection portion is disposed, so that one end of the seal member covers the connection portion. When the rotating member is disconnected from the driving portion and the seal member is peeled off from the opening, the one end is also peeled off from the connecting portion, and the rotating member and the driving portion are connected. Being
An image forming apparatus.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the rotating member is a toner conveying member for conveying toner in the toner cartridge to the opening.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the driving unit is biased toward the rotating member by an elastic unit. In a toner cartridge that is detachable from a developing device of an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a recording material with toner and replenishes the developing device with toner,
A storage container for storing toner, an opening formed in the storage container for supplying toner to the developing device, and a film that seals the opening by being attached to the outer surface of the storage container And a rotating member provided in the container for moving the toner in the container,
The rotating member is connected to the drive unit of the image forming apparatus when mounted on the image forming apparatus, and the connection is released when the rotating member is taken out. Placed on different sides of the container,
The seal member is attached to the outer surface of the receiving container over the surface where the opening is formed and the surface where the connection portion is disposed, so that one end of the seal member covers the connection portion. When the rotating member is disconnected from the driving portion, and the seal member is peeled off from the opening, the one end is also peeled off from the connecting portion, and the rotating member and the driving portion are connected. Being
Toner cartridge characterized by.   The toner cartridge according to claim 4, wherein the rotating member is a toner conveying member for conveying toner to the opening.

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