JP6614856B2 - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus using electrophotographic technology, such as a printer, a copying machine, a facsimile machine, or a multifunction machine.

  In the image forming apparatus, residual toner remaining on the photosensitive drum and the intermediate transfer belt after the transfer is removed by a cleaning device, or deteriorated toner is forcibly discharged from the developing device. These untransferred toner and deteriorated toner (hereinafter collectively referred to as “collected toner”) are transported through a collected toner transport section fixed in the apparatus main body and stored in a collection container. This collection container is provided so as to be insertable / removable from / to the apparatus main body, so that the user can appropriately replace it with an empty collection container. In order to prevent the collected toner from being scattered when the collecting container is inserted and removed, a shutter is provided in each of the collected toner conveying portion and the collecting container. Conventionally, when the collection container is mounted, the shutter of the collection container is brought into contact with the collection toner conveyance unit to shift from the closed state to the open state, and the shutter of the collection toner conveyance unit is brought into contact with the collection container to change from the closed state to the open state. It was migrated. In other words, the respective shutters are opened and closed when the collected toner conveying portion and the collecting container are in contact with each other.

  As an image forming device, a process cartridge that integrates a photosensitive drum, a developing device, etc., a recovered toner transport unit, and a recovery container are held in an image forming housing (drawable tray), and they are integrated with the image forming housing. An apparatus that can be inserted and removed is known (Patent Document 1). In this case, the user can replace or check the process cartridge, the collection container, and the collection toner transport unit after pulling out the image forming housing from the apparatus main body.

JP 2009-86417 A

  When trying to increase the capacity of the collection container in the apparatus described in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, the image forming housing must be enlarged, but this increases the weight, and the user can install the image forming housing. It becomes difficult to insert and remove. In order to avoid this, it is conceivable that the collection container is provided separately from the apparatus main body side without being held in the image forming housing together with the process cartridge and the collection toner conveyance unit. However, even in such a case, it is necessary to provide a shutter for each of the collected toner conveying portion and the collecting container from the viewpoint of preventing the collected toner from scattering.

  As described above, conventionally, the opening and closing of the shutter is performed by the contact between the collection toner transport unit and the collection container. For this reason, when there is no collection toner transport section in the apparatus main body, there is no partner in contact with the collection container, and the shutter of the collection container is not opened or closed. In other words, the conventional shutter opening / closing operation is performed with the collected toner conveyance unit, and no consideration is given to the case where there is no collected toner conveyance unit. Therefore, in the case of a configuration in which the collection container is not held in the image forming housing and is left on the apparatus main body side, when the collection container is mounted on the apparatus main body, the image forming housing is attached before the collection container is mounted. It is necessary to attach it to the device body. On the other hand, when pulling out the image forming housing from the apparatus main body, it is necessary to first remove the collection container from the apparatus main body. However, if an insertion / extraction order is generated between the image forming housing (particularly, the collected toner conveying portion) and the collection container, it takes time and labor to replace the process cartridge and the collection container.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide an image forming apparatus that can be inserted into and removed from the apparatus main body without causing the collection toner conveyance section and the collection container to be in order.

The image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes: a holding portion for holding a plurality of process cartridges provided to be wearing de, the toner discharged from the plurality of process cartridges are collected and discharged recovered bets toner discharge and a collected toner conveying unit having an outlet, a housing provided to be drawn out to the image forming apparatus, detachably attached to the image forming apparatus, collecting discharged before Symbol recovery toner conveying unit A storage container having a receiving port for receiving toner; a first shutter provided in the collected toner conveying section ; movable between an opening position and a closing position; and provided in the storage container. a second shutter movable between a closed and a position opening the inlet position, and fixed provided et al is in the image forming apparatus, the recovery preparative and the discharge port and the receiving port so as to communicate Detachably and said container and over the conveying section, respectively, comprises a tubular connecting member having both ends opened, wherein the connecting member comes into contact with the first shutter in accordance with the mounting operation of the housing is moved to the open position from the position for closing the outlet Te, said the second shutter in accordance with the mounting operation of the container abuts Before moving to the open position from the position for closing said inlet opening, and wherein the To do.

According to the present invention, and contact the connecting member to open and close the first shutter of the recovery toner conveying portion with the mounting operation of the housing having a collected toner conveying unit, connected with the mounting operation of the container the second shutter contact with container members are opened and closed. As a result, the collected toner conveying section and the container can be attached to and detached from the image forming apparatus without causing the order.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment. Sectional drawing which shows a drum cleaning apparatus. Sectional drawing which shows a belt cleaning apparatus. Sectional drawing which shows a developing device. FIG. 3 is a schematic view of an image forming apparatus for explaining a positioning member as viewed from the front side. The perspective view which shows an image forming housing | casing. It is the schematic which shows a collection | recovery toner conveyance part, a collection | recovery container, and a conveyance path connection member, (a) is a mounted state, (b) is a non-mounted state.

<Image forming apparatus>
Hereinafter, the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7B. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment. An image forming apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 1 is a color image forming apparatus using electrophotographic technology, and an image forming unit 600 of four colors is attached to an intermediate transfer belt 61 in an apparatus main body 60 as an image forming unit used for image formation. This is an intermediate transfer tandem type apparatus arranged opposite to each other.

  An outline of the recording material conveyance process of the image forming apparatus 100 will be described. The recording material S is stored in a form that is stacked in a paper cassette 62 that can be inserted into and removed from the apparatus main body 60, and is fed by the paper feed roller 63 in accordance with the image formation timing. For paper feeding from the paper cassette 62, for example, a friction separation method is used. The recording material S sent out by the paper supply roller 63 is conveyed to a registration roller 65 arranged in the middle of the conveyance path 64. Then, after the skew correction and timing correction of the recording material S are performed in the registration roller 65, the recording material S is sent to the secondary transfer portion T2. The secondary transfer portion T2 is a transfer nip portion formed by the opposing secondary transfer inner roller 66 and secondary transfer outer roller 67, and applies a predetermined pressure and electrostatic load bias on the recording material S. The toner image is adsorbed to the toner.

  A process of forming an image sent to the secondary transfer portion T2 at the same timing as the conveyance process of the recording material S to the secondary transfer portion T2 described above will be described. First, the image forming unit 600 will be described. Since the configurations of the image forming units 600 of the respective colors are basically the same except for the color of the toner, the black (BK) image forming unit 600 will be representatively described below. explain.

  The image forming unit 600 includes a photosensitive drum 1 as an image carrier, a charging device 2, a developing device 3, a drum cleaning device 5, and the like. The surface of the photosensitive drum 1 to be rotated is uniformly charged in advance by the charging device 2, and then an electrostatic latent image is formed by the exposure device 68 that is driven based on the image information signal. Next, the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 1 is visualized through toner development by the developing device 3. Thereafter, a predetermined pressing force and an electrostatic load bias are applied by the primary transfer device 4 disposed so as to face the photosensitive drum 1 and the intermediate transfer belt 61, and the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 1 is transferred to the intermediate transfer belt. Primary transfer is performed on the belt 61. The drum cleaning device 5 removes the primary transfer residual toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 1 after the primary transfer. The image forming unit 600 described above has four sets of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (BK) in the structure shown in FIG. However, the number of colors is not limited to four, and the color arrangement order is not limited to this.

  An intermediate transfer belt 61 as an image carrier is an endless belt that is stretched by a tension roller 6, a secondary transfer inner roller 66, and driven rollers 7a and 7b and is conveyed and driven in the direction of arrow C in the figure. Here, the secondary transfer inner roller 66 also serves as a driving roller for driving the intermediate transfer belt 61. The image forming process of each color processed in parallel by the image forming unit 600 of each color of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black described above is a timing for sequentially superimposing on the upstream color toner image transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 61. Done in As a result, a full-color toner image is finally formed on the intermediate transfer belt 61 and conveyed to the secondary transfer portion T2.

  As described above, with the conveyance process and the image forming process described above, the timing of the recording material S and the full-color toner image coincide with each other in the secondary transfer portion T2, and the secondary transfer is performed. After the secondary transfer, the recording material S is conveyed to the fixing device 9, and the toner image is melted and fixed on the recording material S by a predetermined pressure and heat. The recording material S on which the image has been fixed is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 601 according to the forward rotation of the paper discharge roller 69.

  The belt cleaning device 8 removes secondary transfer residual toner remaining on the intermediate transfer belt 61 after passing through the secondary transfer portion T2, that is, after secondary transfer. The primary transfer residual toner removed by the drum cleaning device 5 and the secondary transfer residual toner removed by the belt cleaning device 8 are sent to the collected toner conveyance unit 20. The drum cleaning device 5 and the belt cleaning device 8 can be connected to the upper surface side of the collected toner conveying portion 20, and the collecting container 10 can be connected to the lower surface side of the collected toner conveying portion 20. Then, the collected toner sent to the collected toner conveying section 20 is discharged from the collected toner conveying section 20 by a second conveying screw 43 (see FIG. 7A described later) provided in the collected toner conveying section 20. It is conveyed toward the outlet 20a. In this way, the toner removed from the photosensitive drum 1 and the intermediate transfer belt 61 is transported through the recovered toner transport unit 20 and is stored in the recovery container 10.

  In the present embodiment, the developing device 3 can forcibly discharge toner that has deteriorated along with the image forming operation from the developing container. Then, the forcibly discharged deteriorated toner is conveyed to the collection container 10 through the collection toner conveyance section 20 and stored in the collection container 10 in the same manner as the primary transfer residual toner. The collection container 10 is provided so as to be insertable / removable with respect to the apparatus main body 60.

<Drum cleaning device>
The drum cleaning device 5 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the drum cleaning device 5 includes a casing 51, a cleaning blade 52, and a toner conveying screw 53. The cleaning blade 52 is an elastic blade made of, for example, polyurethane rubber or the like, and is in contact with the rotation direction of the photosensitive drum 1 (the direction of the arrow R1 in the drawing) in the counter direction. The cleaning blade 52 rubs the rotating photosensitive drum 1 to mechanically scrape the primary transfer residual toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 1 after the primary transfer to remove it from the photosensitive drum 1. The primary transfer residual toner removed from the photosensitive drum 1 falls into the casing 51 and is discharged from the casing 51 in the rotation axis direction (longitudinal direction) of the photosensitive drum 1 by the toner conveying screw 53 disposed in the casing 51. It is conveyed to the exit (not shown). Since the discharge port of the casing 51 is connected to the collected toner conveyance unit 20 (see FIG. 1), the primary transfer residual toner removed from the photosensitive drum 1 is sent to the collected toner conveyance unit 20.

<Belt cleaning device>
The belt cleaning device 8 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the belt cleaning device 8 includes a casing 81, a cleaning blade 82, and a toner conveying screw 83. The cleaning blade 82 is an elastic blade made of, for example, polyurethane rubber and is in contact with the rotation direction of the intermediate transfer belt 61 (the direction of arrow C in the figure) in the counter direction. The cleaning blade 82 rubs the rotating intermediate transfer belt 61 to mechanically scrape the secondary transfer residual toner remaining on the intermediate transfer belt 61 after the secondary transfer to remove it from the intermediate transfer belt 61. The secondary transfer residual toner removed from the intermediate transfer belt 61 falls into the casing 81 and is moved in the width direction intersecting the rotation direction of the intermediate transfer belt 61 by the toner conveying screw 83 disposed in the casing 81. It is conveyed to a discharge port 81 (not shown). Since the discharge port of the casing 81 is connected to the collected toner conveyance unit 20, the secondary transfer residual toner removed from the intermediate transfer belt 61 is sent to the collected toner conveyance unit 20.

<Developing device>
The developing device 3 will be described with reference to FIG. The developing device 3 is divided into a developing chamber 3a on the right side of the drawing and a stirring chamber 3b on the left side of the drawing in a horizontal direction in a developing container 30 forming a housing by a wall portion 35 extending in the vertical direction in the drawing at a substantially central portion. Has been. That is, the developing device 3 shown in FIG. 4 is a lateral stirring type developing device in which the developing chamber 3a and the stirring chamber 3b are horizontally arranged. A developing screw 31 and a stirring screw 32 are rotatably disposed in each of the developing chamber 3a and the stirring chamber 3b. The developing screw 31 and the agitation screw 32 have a screw structure having conveying blades (screw blades) spirally provided around the rotation axis. When the developing screw 31 and the agitating screw 32 are rotated, the developer is circulated and conveyed between the developing chamber 3a and the agitating chamber 3b while being agitated.

  In the developing device 3, a replenishment developer including both toner and carrier is replenished into the developing container 30 from a developer replenishing device (for example, a hopper) in order to supplement the toner consumed in the image forming process. When the replenishment developer is replenished as needed during the image forming operation, the amount of developer in the developing container 30 gradually increases. This is because the toner is consumed during image formation, but the carrier is not consumed and remains in the developing container 30. However, when the developer in the developing container 30 becomes excessive, the developer is not sufficiently stirred, causing density unevenness and fogging, or the developer overflows from the developing container 30. Therefore, in order to discharge excess developer (including deteriorated toner) from the developing container 30, the stirring chamber 3b is provided with a discharge port (not shown) on the most downstream side in the rotation direction of the stirring screw 32. The developer conveyed to the discharge port by the stirring screw 32 is discharged out of the developing container 30 from the discharge port. In this case, the developer is discharged little by little from the discharge port. Since the discharge port of the developing device 3 is connected to the collected toner conveying unit 20, the deteriorated toner discharged from the developing device 3 is also sent to the collected toner conveying unit 20.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the image forming units 600 of the respective colors (Y, M, C, and BK) are provided as process cartridges that can be attached to and detached from the apparatus main body 60. In the image forming apparatus 100 of the present embodiment, a plurality of image forming units 600 are held by an image forming housing 200 (drawer tray). In addition to the image forming units 600 of the respective colors, the collected toner transport unit 20 is held by the image forming housing 200. Therefore, the image forming unit 600 can be inserted into and removed from the apparatus main body 60 together with the collected toner transport unit 20.

  On the front side of the apparatus main body 60 (the front side in FIG. 1), an unillustrated opening / closing door is provided so as to be openable and closable toward the front surface of the apparatus main body 60. When the opening / closing door is opened and the front surface of the apparatus main body 60 is opened, the image forming housing 200 is exposed. The image forming housing 200 as a holding member has a pair of rail members 201 extending on the side surface from the front side of the apparatus main body 60 toward the rear side (from the front side to the back side in FIG. 1). The image forming housing 200 is held by the apparatus main body 60 through the rail member 201 so as to be slidable in the front-rear direction (rotational axis direction of the photosensitive drum 1) in the apparatus main body 60 (so-called front loading method). As a result, the image forming housing 200 in the mounted state is pulled out to the front side of the apparatus main body 60, and the image forming unit 600 of each color can be detached from the image forming housing 200. Then, when the image forming housing 200 in the non-mounted state is pushed into the rear side of the apparatus main body 60, the image forming unit 600 of each color can be in a mounted state in which an image can be formed. The collected toner conveying unit 20 may be provided so as to be detachable from the image forming housing 200 as in the image forming unit 600, that is, to be detachable from the apparatus main body 60.

  The collection container 10 as a storage container is provided to be able to be inserted into and removed from the apparatus main body 60 independently of the image forming housing 200. The collection container 10 can be inserted into the apparatus main body 60 from the front side (front side) in FIG. 1 to the back side (rear side) in the same manner as the image forming housing 200, and from the back side to the front side in FIG. It is provided so that it can be pulled out. When the collection container 10 is attached to the apparatus main body 60 when the image forming housing 200 is in the mounted state, the collection container 10 is connected to the collection toner transport unit 20 and the transport path connecting member 41 held by the image forming housing 200. Communicate via Alternatively, when the collection container 10 is attached and the image forming housing 200 is attached to the apparatus main body 60, the collection toner transport unit 20 held by the image forming housing 200 is connected to the collection container 10 and the transport path. It communicates via the connecting member 41. Specifically, the collection container 10 and the developing device 3 and the drum cleaning device 5 included in each color image forming unit 600 are communicated with each other.

  The transport path connecting member 41 as a connecting member is fixed to a predetermined position of the apparatus main body 60, that is, provided so as not to move with respect to the apparatus main body 60. The conveyance path connecting member 41 is connected to the discharge port 20a of the collection toner conveyance unit 20 at one end when the image forming housing 200 is attached to the apparatus main body 60, and when the collection container 10 is attached to the apparatus main body 60. The receiving port 10a and the other end of the collection container 10 are connected. As will be described in detail later (see FIGS. 7A and 7B), the discharge port 20a of the collected toner transport unit 20, the receiving port 10a of the collection container 10, and the transport path connecting member 41 can be opened and closed. Each shutter is provided.

  As shown in FIG. 5, when the image forming housing 200 is attached to the apparatus main body 60, a positioning pin (not shown) that protrudes toward the rear surface side of the apparatus main body 60 on the image forming housing 200 side, It fits into a positioning hole 202 provided on the apparatus main body 60 side corresponding to the positioning pin. On the other hand, when the collection container 10 is attached to the apparatus main body 60, a positioning pin (not shown) that protrudes toward the rear surface side of the apparatus main body 60 on the collection container 10 side corresponds to the positioning pin. It fits in the positioning hole 13 provided on the 60 side. As a result, the accuracy of the respective mounting positions of the image forming housing 200 and the collection container 10 with respect to the transport path connecting member 41 is ensured, and high sealing performance can be maintained between the image forming housing 200 and the transport path connecting member 41. This can contribute to the prevention of scattering of the collected toner when the 200 or the collection container 10 is inserted or removed.

<Imaging housing>
FIG. 6 shows the image forming housing 200. As described above, the image forming housing 200 can hold the image forming units 600 of the respective colors and the collected toner transport unit 20. The image forming housing 200 is provided with a pair of rail members 201 on the left and right side surfaces. The image forming unit 600 intersects the rotational axis direction of the photosensitive drum 1 such that the rotational axis direction of the photosensitive drum 1 included in the image forming unit 600 is directed to the insertion / extraction direction of the imaging housing 200. They are arranged in the width direction. The collected toner conveyance unit 20 is held by the image forming housing 200 so as to cover one end portions of the plurality of image forming units 600 arranged in parallel on the front side of the apparatus main body 60. The collected toner conveying unit 20 is connected to the drum cleaning device 5 and the developing device 3 of each image forming unit 600 in the image forming housing 200. Although not shown, the collected toner transport unit 20 can be connected to the belt cleaning device 8.

<Recovered toner transport unit>
Next, the collected toner conveyance unit 20, the collection container 10, and the conveyance path connecting member 41 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 7 (a) and 7 (b). First, the collected toner transport unit 20 will be described. As shown in FIG. 7A, a first conveying screw 42 is rotatably disposed in the collected toner conveying unit 20. The first conveying screw 42 is pivotally supported at both ends in the longitudinal direction intersecting the insertion / extraction direction of the image forming housing 200 so as to be substantially horizontal and rotatable. The 1st conveyance screw 42 is a screw structure which has the conveyance wing | blade (screw blade | wing) provided helically around the rotating shaft. Therefore, the collected toner in the collected toner conveying unit 20 is conveyed by the rotation of the first conveying screw 42. In the present embodiment, a discharge port 20 a is provided on the lower surface side of one end side of the collected toner transport unit 20. The collected toner is conveyed through the collected toner conveying unit 20 to the discharge port 20a by the first conveying screw 42, falls from the discharge port 20a, and is discharged out of the collected toner conveying unit 20.

<Recovery container>
A second transport screw 43 is rotatably disposed in the collection container 10. The second conveying screw 43 is pivotally supported at both ends in the insertion / extraction direction of the collection container 10 so as to be substantially horizontal and rotatable. As can be understood from FIGS. 7A and 7B, in this embodiment, the transport direction of the recovered toner of the first transport screw 42 of the recovered toner transport unit 20 and the second transport screw 43 of the recovery container 10 is determined. They are orthogonal to each other. The 2nd conveyance screw 43 is a screw structure which has the conveyance blade (screw blade | wing) provided helically around the rotating shaft. Therefore, the recovered toner in the recovery container 10 is transported by the rotation of the second transport screw 43. In the present embodiment, the receiving port 10a is provided on the upper surface of a location away from the end of the collection container 10 toward the center. The collected toner that has fallen into the collection container 10 from the receiving port 10a is distributed and conveyed toward the both ends of the collection container 10 by the second conveying screw 43, so that the collected toner is distributed substantially uniformly in the collection container 10. Can be done.

<Conveying path connecting member>
The transport path connecting member 41 is hollow inside and is open at both ends. In other words, the transport path connecting member 41 is a cylindrical member that penetrates in the vertical direction from the upper end to the lower end, for example, is formed in a rectangular shape. The transport path connecting member 41 can be connected to the discharge port 20a of the collected toner transport unit 20 at the upper end and to the receiving port 10a of the recovery container 10 at the lower end. Therefore, when the image forming housing 200 and the collection container 10 are attached to the apparatus main body 60, the collected toner collected in the collected toner transport unit 20 falls from the discharge port 20a and passes through the transport path connecting member 41. Then, it is accommodated in the collection container 10 from the receiving port 10a.

  In the image forming apparatus 100 having such a configuration, if the discharge port 20a is left open when the image forming housing 200 is inserted and removed, the collected toner may leak from there. Therefore, in order to prevent the collected toner from leaking from the discharge port 20a, the collected toner transport unit 20 is provided with a discharge port shutter 90 that opens and closes the discharge port 20a in the insertion / extraction direction. The discharge port shutter 90 as the first shutter is provided so as to be slidable in the moving direction of the image forming housing 200 between a position where the discharge port 20 a is closed and an open position in accordance with the insertion / extraction operation of the image forming housing 200. ing. In the present embodiment, the discharge port shutter 90 is always urged in a direction to close the discharge port 20a by an elastic member such as a spring (not shown). Therefore, when the image forming housing 200 is not mounted, the discharge port shutter. 90 is maintained in the closed position. That is, the discharge port shutter 90 moves to a position where the discharge port 20a is opened when the image forming housing 200 is mounted, and moves to a position where the discharge port 20a is closed when the image forming housing 200 is pulled out.

  Similar to the image forming housing 200, if the receiving port 10a is left open when the collection container 10 is inserted and removed, the collected toner may leak from there. Therefore, in order to prevent leakage of the collected toner from the receiving port 10a, the collecting container 10 is provided with a receiving shutter 91 that opens and closes the receiving port 10a in the insertion / removal direction. The receiving shutter 91 as the second shutter is provided so as to be slidable in the moving direction of the collecting container 10 between a position where the receiving opening 10a is closed and a position where the receiving container 10a is opened in accordance with the insertion / extraction operation of the collecting container 10. Since the receiving shutter 91 is always urged in a direction to close the receiving port 10a by an elastic member such as a spring (not shown), the receiving shutter 91 is maintained at the closed position when the collection container 10 is not attached. The That is, the receiving shutter 91 moves to a position for opening the receiving port 10a when the collection container 10 is mounted, and moves to a position for closing the receiving port 10a when the collection container 10 is pulled out.

  In this embodiment, the transport path connecting member 41 is also provided with a connecting portion shutter 92. The connecting portion shutter 92 as the third shutter is slidable in the moving direction of the collecting container 10 between a position where the opening 41c of the transport path connecting member 41 is closed and a position where the opening 41c of the conveying path connecting member 41 is opened in accordance with the insertion / extraction operation of the collecting container 10. The lower end portion of the transport path connecting member 41 is provided. Since the connecting portion shutter 92 is constantly urged in the direction to close the transport path connecting member 41 by an elastic member such as a spring (not shown), when the collection container 10 is not attached, the connecting portion shutter 92 is in the closed position. Maintained. That is, the connecting portion shutter 92 moves to a position where the transport path connecting member 41 is opened when the collection container 10 is mounted, and moves to a position where the transport path connecting member 41 is closed when the recovery container 10 is pulled out. By providing the connecting portion shutter 92 on the transport path connecting member 41, it is possible to prevent the collected toner remaining in the transport path connecting member 41 from being scattered, particularly when the collection container 10 is not attached.

  The shutter opening / closing operations of the outlet shutter 90, the receiving shutter 91, and the connecting portion shutter 92 described above will be described. The discharge port shutter 90 operates in accordance with the insertion / extraction operation of the image forming housing 200, but moves from the position where the discharge port 20a comes into contact with the transport path connecting member 41 to the position where the discharge port 20a is opened. That is, the transport path connecting member 41 has a first contact portion 41 a that can contact the discharge port shutter 90, and the first contact portion 41 a contacts the discharge port shutter 90 when the image forming housing 200 is mounted. When the first contact portion 41a contacts the discharge port shutter 90, the first contact portion 41a is discharged to a position where the discharge port 20a is opened against the urging force of a first spring (not shown) that urges the discharge port shutter 90 to the closed position. The exit shutter 90 is moved. On the contrary, when the image forming housing 200 is detached, the first contact portion 41a is separated from the outlet shutter 90 following the movement of the image forming housing 200 and does not come into contact therewith. Then, the discharge port shutter 90 is moved to a position where the discharge port 20a is closed by the biasing force of the first spring.

  The receiving shutter 91 operates in accordance with the insertion / extraction operation of the collection container 10. However, the receiving shutter 91 abuts on the conveyance path connecting member 41 and moves from the position for closing the receiving port 10 a to the position for opening. That is, the transport path connecting member 41 has a second contact portion 41 b that can contact the receiving shutter 91, and the second contacting portion 41 b contacts the receiving shutter 91 when the collection container 10 is mounted. When the second abutting portion 41b abuts on the receiving shutter 91, the second abutting portion 41b is received at a position where the receiving port 10a is opened against a biasing force of a second spring (not shown) that biases the receiving shutter 91 to a position where the receiving shutter 91 is closed. The entrance shutter 91 is moved. On the other hand, when the collection container 10 is detached, the second contact portion 41b is separated from the receiving shutter 91 following the movement of the collection container 10 and does not contact. Then, the receiving shutter 91 is moved to a position where the receiving port 10a is closed by the biasing force of the second spring.

  Further, the connecting portion shutter 92 operates in accordance with the insertion / extraction operation of the collection container 10, but moves to a position where the opening 41 c of the transport path connecting member 41 is opened from a position where the connection portion shutter 92 abuts on the collection container 10 along with the mounting operation. That is, the connecting portion shutter 92 abuts on the collecting container 10 when the collecting container 10 is mounted, and opens the opening 41c against the urging force of a third spring (not shown) that urges the connecting portion shutter 92 to the closed position. Move to position. On the contrary, when the collection container 10 is detached, the connecting portion shutter 92 follows the movement of the collection container 10 and is separated from the collection container 10 and does not come into contact therewith. Then, the connecting portion shutter 92 is moved to a position where the opening 41c is closed by the biasing force of the third spring.

  As described above, the upper end portion is connected to the collected toner conveying portion 20 of the image forming housing 200 and the lower end portion is connected to the collecting container 10 so that these can be communicated to form a conveying path for the collected toner. The connecting member 41 is provided fixed to the apparatus main body 60. The transport path connecting member 41 includes a first contact portion 41a and a second contact portion 41b. By doing so, the insertion / extraction order does not occur between the image forming housing 200 (particularly, the collected toner transport unit 20) and the collection container 10. In other words, even when the collection container 10 is attached after the image forming housing 200 first, even when the collection container 10 is attached first after the image forming housing 200, the outlet shutter 90 is provided with the first contact portion 41a. In addition, the receiving shutter 91 is opened by contacting the second contact portion 41b. Further, even when the collection container 10 is detached after the image forming housing 200 first, even when the collection container 10 is first detached from the image forming housing 200 first, the discharge port shutter 90 is the first contact portion 41a. The inlet shutter 91 is closed by releasing the contact with the second contact portion 41b. In this manner, since the outlet shutter 90 and the inlet shutter 91 are opened and closed independently, the outlet shutter 90 and the inlet shutter 91 are correctly opened and closed regardless of the insertion / removal order. Therefore, it is possible to insert / remove the collection toner transport unit 20 and the collection container 10 into / from the apparatus main body 60 without causing the order, and thus the usability when replacing the image forming unit 600 and the collection container 10 can be improved.

[Other Embodiments]
The connecting portion shutter 92 is not limited to the one that operates in accordance with the insertion / extraction operation of the collection container 10. The connecting portion shutter 92 only needs to be able to move from the position where the opening 41c is closed to the position where the opening 41c is opened by being in contact with either the recovery toner conveying portion 20 or the recovery container 10 of the image forming housing 200.

  In the above-described embodiment, after the primary transfer of each color toner image from the photosensitive drum 1 of each color to the intermediate transfer belt 61, the composite toner image of each color is collectively transferred to the recording material S. Although the apparatus has been described, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the image forming apparatus may be a direct transfer type that directly transfers from a photosensitive drum to a recording material.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Storage container (collection container), 10a ... Reception port, 20 ... Collected toner conveyance part, 20a ... Discharge port, 41 ... Connection member (conveyance path connection member), 41a ... First contact part, 41b ... Second contact Contact portion, 41c... Opening of transport path connecting member, 60... Apparatus main body, 61... Image forming portion (intermediate transfer belt), 70... Discharge port, 90 ... first shutter (discharge port shutter), 91. Receiving shutter), 92... Third shutter (connector shutter), 200... Holding member (image forming housing), 600... Image forming unit (image forming unit)

Claims (5)

A holding portion for holding a wear plurality of process cartridges are detachably provided, the collected toner conveying unit having an outlet to collect the toner discharged from the plurality of process cartridges, it discharges the recovered For toner, A housing provided so as to be capable of being pulled out from the image forming apparatus,
Provided detachably on the image forming apparatus, the container having a receiving opening for receiving the collected toner discharged from the previous SL collected toner conveying unit,
A first shutter that is provided in the collected toner conveyance section and is movable between a position where the discharge port is opened and a position where the discharge port is closed;
A second shutter provided in the container and movable between a position for opening and closing the receiving port;
The image forming apparatus by fixing provided et al is in, said the discharge port and the receiving port and the collected toner conveying portion so as to communicate with the container removably each tubular connection having both ends opened A member, and
The connecting member, along with the mounting operation of the housing is moved to a position to open the contact closes the discharge port located at the first shutter, the second shutter in accordance with the mounting operation of the container abuts Before moving to the open position from the position for closing said inlet opening,
An image forming apparatus. The collected toner conveying portion is provided to be attachable to and detachable from the casing.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1. It said connecting member is formed in a shape penetrating up and down, the outlet of the recovery toner conveying portion connected to the upper end, the receiving port of the container is connected to the lower end,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that. A third shutter provided on the connection member and slidable between a position where the opening of the connection member is opened and a position where the opening is closed;
The third shutter is moved to the open position from the contact closes an opening of said connecting member positioned in the housing container in accordance with the mounting operation of the container,
The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that. The first shutter is urged in a direction to close the discharge port, and moves from a position to open the discharge port to a position to close when the collected toner transport unit is detached,
The second shutter is biased in a direction to close the receiving port, and moves from a position to open the receiving port to a closing position when the receiving container is detached,
The third shutter is urged in a direction to close the opening of the connection member, and moves from a position to open the opening of the connection member to a position to close when the container is detached.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 4 .

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