JPH04151170A - Image formation device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To use a toner recovery container which is relatively large in capacity and to facilitate its replacement by guiding toner to the toner recovery container which is arranged in at least one free space of a tray by a toner guiding means and storing it. CONSTITUTION:Toner which is transferred from on a photosensitive drum 11 to toner image transfer paper and then left on the drum is scraped with the blade 161 of a cleaner 16. Toner accumulated in the cleaner 16 is sent to the toner discharge opening 163 of the cleaner by the rotation of a recovery coil 162 provided to the cleaner and falls in a duct 6 from there and the toner is guided into the toner recovery container 4 above an uppermost-stage tray 31. Then when the tray 31 is drawn out of a feed part 3 for transfer paper supplementation, etc., a shutter 7 facing the lower end of the duct 6 projects through the operation of a spring 9 to close the lower end of the duct 6, thereby preventing the toner from falling. Consequently, the toner recovery container 4 which is simple in structure and relatively large in capacity is usable and its replacement is facilitated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to image forming apparatuses such as copying machines and printers.

[Conventional technology]

Image forming apparatuses such as copying machines and printers generally include a cleaner that cleans toner remaining on the electrostatic latent image carrier after transferring the toner image formed on the carrier to transfer paper. .

The toner accumulated in this cleaner is led to a toner collection bottle by an appropriate toner extraction means. When the bottle is full of toner, the bottle is replaced with an empty one, or the toner in the bottle is discarded and then the toner is collected. Reset the bottle.

Conventionally, the toner collection bottle has generally been placed on the front side of an image forming element group including an electrostatic latent image carrier, or in an empty space on the back side of an image forming apparatus. In addition, it may be placed at the bottom of the image forming apparatus.

Further, the empty space of the toner supply bottle or the internal space of the electrostatic latent image carrier may be used in place of the toner collection bottle.

[Problem that the invention attempts to solve]

However, when the toner collection bottle is placed in front of the image forming element, there are disadvantages such as it gets in the way during maintenance of the element and reduces work efficiency, the space for placing the bottle is small, and the bottle capacity becomes small. There are many points.

When placed in the empty space at the back of the device, the bottle capacity can be increased, but replacing the bottle and disposing of the toner inside the bottle requires moving the device and going around to the front of the device, making it difficult to clean. There is a problem.

Even when the toner collection bottle is placed at the bottom of the device, there is a problem in that it is difficult to replace the bottle.

In addition, in order to collect toner into the toner replenishment bottle, it is necessary to use a specially prepared toner replenishment bottle that has a space that can accommodate the collected toner as new toner decreases due to toner replenishment. Bottles are generally difficult to obtain.

When toner is collected into the internal space of the electrostatic latent image carrier, there is a limit to the amount of collected toner, and it is difficult to dispose of the collected toner from the interior of the electrostatic latent image carrier.

An object of the present invention is to solve such conventional problems.

[Means to solve the problem]

As a result of repeated research in order to solve the above problems, the present inventor has found that
An image forming apparatus in which a paper feed tray can be inserted into and taken out from one side of the periphery of the apparatus, such as a so-called front loading type image forming apparatus in which paper is fed by a tray that can be inserted into and taken out from the front side of the apparatus. In general, one or more of the trays are formed to be large enough to accommodate transfer paper of various sizes, and even if the transfer paper is accommodated, there is still a large empty space. The present invention was developed based on the realization that by utilizing this empty space, a relatively large-capacity toner collection container can be used and its replacement becomes easy.

That is, in the present invention, paper can be fed by a tray that can be taken in and out of the device from one side of the peripheral side of the device, and after the toner image on the electrostatic latent image carrier is transferred to the transfer paper, the toner image remains on the carrier. In an image forming apparatus equipped with a cleaner for cleaning residual toner), the toner in the cleaner is guided and stored in a toner collection container disposed in at least one empty space of the tray by a toner extraction means. The present invention provides an image forming apparatus characterized by the following features.

[Function] According to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the toner accumulated in the cleaner is guided and stored in the toner collecting container on the tray by the toner deriving means. When the collection container is full, the tray on which the collection container is placed can be pulled out, and the container can be replaced, the toner in the container can be disposed of, and the toner can be reset. Refer to and explain.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a copying machine which is an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the uppermost paper feed tray.

This copying machine is comprised of an image forming section 1 in an upper stage and a paper feeding section 3 provided below.

The image forming section 1 includes a photosensitive drum 11 in the center, and around the photoreceptor drum 11 there is a charging medium 12 and an inter-image eraser 1.
7a, a developing device 13, a transfer charger 14, a separation charger 15, a cleaner 16, and an eraser 17 are arranged in this order.

An optical system 18 is provided above the photoreceptor drum 11, and a document placement glass 18a is further provided above the optical system 18.

On the upstream side (left side in FIG. 1) of the transfer charger 14, a manual paper feed tray 19, a manual paper feed roller 20, a paper separation roller 21, and a timing roller 22 are arranged in this order.

On the downstream side (right side in FIG. 1) of the separation charger 15, a transfer paper conveying belt 23, a fixing roller 2-4, a paper ejection roller 25, and a paper ejection tray 26 are arranged in this order.

Each part of the image forming section l described above has a structure that is already known per se.

The paper feed section 3 includes paper feed trays 31, 32, and 33 in three upper and lower stages.

Each paper feed tray can be freely inserted into and taken out from the front side of the paper feed section 3 like a drawer by means of a guide device (not shown).

The paper feed tray 31 is provided with a paper feed roller 311 and a paper separation roller 312, and the paper feed tray 32 is provided with a paper feed roller 321 and a paper separation roller 322. The paper feed tray 33 is also provided with a paper feed roller 331 and a paper separation roller 332.

Inside the paper feed tray 31, there is a paper push-up plate 31a.
A paper push-up plate 33a is provided in the tray 33, and a paper push-up plate 33a is provided in the tray 33.When the tray is inserted into a predetermined position in the paper feed section 3, these paper push-up plates themselves become known in number. The uppermost layer of paper among the sheets of paper placed on the push-up plate is pushed up by a push-up plate drive device (not shown) and brought into contact with a paper feed roller.

A paper guide path 34 for guiding paper to the timing roller 22 of the image forming section is provided on the side of the three-stage tray and in a part of the image forming section 1.
41, 342, 343 and 344 are sequentially arranged from bottom to top.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the paper feed tray 31 has two regulation plates 31b and 31c for regulating the position of the transfer paper P.
The position is adjustable.

Such regulating plates are also provided on each of the lower trays 32 and 33.

In the example shown in FIG. 2, B5 size transfer papers are stacked on the tray 31, and the side and rear end surfaces are connected to the regulation plate 3.
The position is regulated by 1b and 31c.

In this example, the tray 32 further stores A4 size transfer paper, and the tray 33 stores B4 size transfer paper.

As described above, the B5 size transfer paper P is stored in the uppermost tray 31, and there is empty space behind and behind it.

A toner collection container 4 is placed in the empty space on the back side, and a spare toner collection container 5 is placed in the empty space on the rear side.

These toner collection containers have a toner receiving opening 41 on the top surface.
It is equipped with 51.

Incidentally, the cleaner 16 is of a known type, and includes a plate river 61 for scraping off residual toner adhering to the surface of the photoreceptor drum 12, and a plate river 61 for scraping off residual toner adhering to the surface of the photoreceptor drum 12, and a plate river 61 for scraping off residual toner adhering to the surface of the photoreceptor drum 12. It is equipped with a collection coil 162 for discharging the air to the tank.

The upper end of the toner collection duct 6 is connected to the toner discharge port 163 of the cleaner facing the toner collection coil 162.
The lower end of the duct 6 is arranged so as to face the upper opening 41 of the toner collection container 4 on the tray 31 housed in a predetermined position within the paper feed section 3 .

Further, a duct opening/closing device 70 is provided at the lower end of the duct 6. This opening/closing device includes a shuntough that can reciprocate in the same direction as the direction in which the tray 31 is taken in and taken out, and the duct 6 can be opened and closed by the shuntough.

The shutter 7 is movably supported by a shutter support frame 8 provided within the paper feed section 3. A spring contact plate 71 is suspended from the lower surface of the shutter, and a spring 9 is fitted between this and the shutter support member 8.

This spring 9 always pushes the shutter 7 in the direction of closing the duct 6, and when the tray 31 is pulled out, the shutter 7 moves to the position where the duct 6 is closed.
push and move. On the other hand, when the tray 31 is set at a predetermined position in the paper feed section 3, the spring contact plate 71 on the lower surface of the shutter shutter 7 is pushed by the tray 31, so that the shutter retreats against the spring 9, and the duct 6 will be held.

FIG. 2 shows the duct 6 in an open state.

According to the copying machine described above, first, in the image forming section 1, the photosensitive drum 11 is rotated counterclockwise in the figure, and the surface of the photosensitive drum is uniformly charged by the charger 12.

An image corresponding to the original on the original platen glass 18a is exposed from the optical system 18 to the thus obtained charged area, and the drum 11
An electrostatic latent image is formed thereon. Continuing with the inter-image eraser 17
Erase processing is performed by a.

The electrostatic latent image is developed into a toner image by a developing device 13, and transferred to a transfer paper sent to a transfer charger 14 by the charger.

After the toner image has been transferred, the transfer paper is separated from the drum 11 by the separation charger 15, conveyed to the fixing roller 24 by the conveyor belt 23, where the toner image is fixed, and then discharged onto the paper discharge tray 26 by the paper discharge roller 25. be done.

The conveyance of the transfer paper to a certain transfer section during transfer charging is performed as follows.

In the case of manual paper feed, the transfer paper is placed on the manual feed tray 19, and the paper feed roller 20 moves the transfer paper to the timing roller 2.
2 and is sent onto 14 while charging.

In the case of automatic paper feeding, the transfer paper stored in one of the paper feed trays 31, 32 and 33 set in the paper feed section 3 is pulled out by the paper feed roller, and the transfer paper is conveyed one by one by the separating roller. From path 34 it is fed to timing roller 22 and from there onto charger 14.

In any case, the timing roller 22 is the photosensitive drum l.
The transfer paper is sent to the transfer section in synchronization with the toner image on the paper.

After the toner image is transferred from the photosensitive drum 11 to the transfer paper, the toner remaining on the drum is scraped off by the blade 161 of the cleaner 16. Further, residual charges are erased by the eraser 17.

The toner accumulated in the cleaner 16 is sent to the toner outlet 163 of the cleaner by the rotation of a collection coil 162 provided in the cleaner, and falls from there into the duct 6.
The toner is guided into the toner collection container 4 on the uppermost tray 31.

When the tray 31 is pulled out from the paper feed section 3 for replenishing transfer paper, etc., the shutter 7 facing the lower end of the duct 6 is projected by the action of the spring 9 to close the lower end of the duct and prevent toner from falling.

When the tray 31 is placed in the predetermined position within the paper feed section 3 again, the shutter 7 is pushed back by the inner part of the tray 31 against the spring 9, and the lower end of the duct 6 is opened, and the collected toner is sent to the duct 6 again. Then, the toner can be stored in the toner collection container 4.

Even if some toner spills from the duct 6 when loading and unloading the tray 31 in this way, since the toner collection container 4 and the duct 6 are located further back than the transfer paper P, the toner will not be spilled onto the paper P. There is no risk of it falling and contaminating it.

Also, when loading and unloading the tray 31, the tray 3
1 is inevitably accompanied by some vibration, but the vibration causes the toner collection container 4 to also vibrate, which causes the container 4 to vibrate.
The collected toner inside spreads uniformly within the container 4, and the space within the container 4 can be sufficiently used for toner collection.

When the toner collection container 4 becomes full, the tray 31 may be pulled out and the container 4 replaced with another container 4, or a spare toner collection container 5 may be set in the position where the container 4 was. .

Alternatively, after taking out the collection container 4 and discarding the toner inside, the container 4 may be set in its original position again.

There is an advantage that the toner collection container can be replaced extremely easily simply by pulling out the tray 31 in this way.

Furthermore, when the tray 31 is pulled out for paper replenishment or the like, it is possible to easily check by observing the toner collection container whether or not the container is still usable.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments,
It can also be implemented in various other ways.

For example, the duct 6 is fixedly arranged, but it can be replaced with a flexible or expandable duct,
A configuration may be adopted in which when the tray 31 is pulled out, the duct is also pulled out together.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, paper can be fed by a tray that can be taken in and out of the device from one side of the peripheral side of the device, and after the toner image on the electrostatic latent image carrier is transferred to the transfer paper, the toner image is transferred to the transfer paper. In an image forming apparatus equipped with a cleaner for cleaning residual toner remaining on the body, a toner collection container with a simple structure and a relatively large capacity is used as a toner collection container for collecting toner accumulated in the cleaner for maintenance of other parts. The toner collection container can be used without interfering with the toner collection container, and the toner collection container can be replaced very easily.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the overall configuration, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a part of the uppermost tray and toner collecting means. ■...Image forming section 11...Photoconductor drum 16...Cleaner 161...Blade 162...Collection coil 163...Toner discharge port 3...Paper feed section 31.32.33. ... Paper feed tray P ... Transfer paper 4 ... Toner collection container 5 ... Spare toner collection container 6 ... Toner collection duct 70 ... Duct opening/closing device 7 ... Shutter 8 ... Shutter Support member 9... coil spring

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) Paper can be fed by a tray that can be taken in and out of the device from one side of the peripheral side of the device, and residual toner remains on the electrostatic latent image carrier after the toner image on the electrostatic latent image carrier is transferred to the transfer paper. In the image forming apparatus, the toner in the cleaner is guided and stored in a toner collection container disposed in an empty space in at least one of the trays by a toner extracting means. image forming device.