JPH04346857A - Device for collecting and recovering powder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain an inexpensive device for collecting and recovering the powder to be used in a printer, etc., without need for an expensive wear countermeasure by surely recovering a high-hardness powder such as a carrier at the preceding stage of a cyclone and preventing the wear in the cyclone. CONSTITUTION:A cyclone 2 is provided to a gas suction line to recover a powder 6 from a gas contg. the powder 6. A powder collecting vessel 10 is exchangeably furnished to the suction line at the preceding stage of the cyclone 2, and an inlet pipe 11 for introducing the gas into the vessel 10 from the suction line is opened toward the inner wall surface of the vessel 10 and close to the inner wall surface.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a powder dust collecting and collecting device for collecting and collecting powder used in printers and the like.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a conventional powder dust collecting and collecting device, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a cyclone container thereof.
4 and 5, 1 is a developing machine that plays a role in developing the electrophotographic process section using toner (resin type) and carrier (iron powder), and 2 is a cyclone container. The cyclone container 2 includes an upper cylindrical part 7 and a conical part 8 connected to the lower part of the cylindrical part 7 and whose diameter decreases downward.

Further, 3 is a filter, 4 is a blower for sucking air, and 5 is a collection container connected to the lower opening of the conical portion 8 of the cyclone container 2 to collect powder 6 (described later) collected by the cyclone container 2. , 6 are powders such as toner (resin-based) and carrier (iron powder) scattered from the developing machine 1, toner (resin-based) collected from the cleaning machine 9 (described later), and 9 is used in the cleaning process to remove toner. It is a cleaning machine that collects waste.

Next, the operation will be explained. Powder 6 such as toner and carrier scattered from the developing machine 1 and toner collected from the cleaning machine 9 is provided in the cylindrical part 7 of the cyclone container 2 by the air suction operation of the blower 4, as shown by arrow A. It flows in from the entrance.

According to the cyclone dust collection theory, the flow of air flowing into the cyclone container 2 descends while rotating along the inner wall of the cylindrical part 7, and when it reaches the conical part 8, the radius of rotation gradually becomes smaller. , the rotation continues to decrease while increasing the speed based on the principle of constant rotational moment.

When the air flow reaches near the lower end of the conical portion 8, it begins to reverse and rise as shown by the arrow in FIG.
While rotating the center of the cyclone container 2, it rises to the outlet at the upper end of the cylindrical portion 7.

At this time, powder 6 such as toner and carrier
The particles move toward the inner wall of the cyclone container 2 due to centrifugal force, and after reaching the wall surface, they slide down along the wall surface while drawing a spiral trajectory, fall into the collection container 5 through the opening at the bottom of the conical part 8, and are collected. Ru.

[0008] Here, the vortex inside the cyclone container 2 can be expressed by the following equation. vθ=r・ω or vθ/r=ω=constant
vθ·(r to the power of n)=constant (n<1) where r is the rotation radius and vθ is the rotation speed. Also,
In FIG. 4, air retention points occur in portions indicated by symbols B and C.

[0009] More than 90% of the powder 6 is recovered by such a cyclone container 2, and the remaining few percent that could not be recovered are
After the powder 6 is removed by the filter 3, the air is discharged to the outside by the blower 4.

Note that the cyclone container 2 is made of aluminum in consideration of weight reduction and low cost, and is resistant to wear due to the inflow of carrier (iron powder) from the developing machine 1, which is harder than aluminum. As a countermeasure, no coating was applied inside the cyclone.

[0011]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Since the conventional powder dust collection device is constructed as described above, if the cyclone container 2 is made of lightweight and inexpensive aluminum without coating, the cyclone container At the air retention points B and C inside the cyclone container 2, abrasion occurs particularly in the carrier from the developing device 1, which may lead to a decrease in the recovery rate of the powder 6 by the cyclone container 2.

[0012] A cyclone dust collector as shown in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 62-227457 has been proposed. In this cyclone dust collector, in the front stage of the cyclone container,
A storage tank is provided that can collect powder with a relatively large specific gravity, but since the structure is only to allow air to pass through this storage tank, it is not possible to reliably collect the powder in the air. Even powders with relatively high specific gravity, such as carriers, often flow directly into the cyclone container without falling within the storage tank.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is possible to reliably collect hard powder such as carriers at the front stage of the cyclone container, thereby reducing wear inside the cyclone container. The purpose of the present invention is to provide an inexpensive powder dust collecting and collecting device that prevents the occurrence of dust and does not require expensive wear countermeasures.

[0014]

[Means for Solving the Problems] A powder dust collecting and collecting device according to the present invention is constructed by interposing a cyclone container in a gas suction system for collecting powder from a gas containing powder. A powder dust collection container is replaceably interposed in the suction system upstream of the cyclone container, and an inflow side pipe for flowing gas from the suction system into the powder dust collection container is connected to the powder dust collection container. It is opened near the inner wall surface of the container toward the inner wall surface.

[0015]

[Operation] In the powder dust collection device of the present invention, the gas flowing along the suction system flows into the powder dust collection container before flowing into the cyclone container. At this time, the gas flows out toward the inner wall of the powder dust collection container through the inlet pipe, so the dust collection effect between the powder in the gas and the inner wall of the powder dust collection container causes the gas to flow out. The powder contained in the is collected.

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Note that in the drawings, the same reference numerals as those in the description indicate the same parts, so the explanation thereof will be omitted.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes a powder dust collection container replaceably interposed in a suction system (formed by suction by a blower 4) between the developing machine 1 and the cyclone container 2;
11 is the air (
The inlet pipe 11 is connected near the bottom of the powder dust collection container 10 so as to open toward the bottom.

Reference numeral 12 denotes an outflow side pipe that guides the air flowing into the powder dust collection container 10 to the cyclone container 2, and this outflow side pipe 12 is designed to open near the top surface of the powder dust collection container 10. It is connected to the.

Next, the operation of the apparatus of this embodiment will be explained. In this embodiment, the toner and carrier powder 6 scattered from the developing machine 1 is sucked into the powder dust collection container 10 by the suction force of the blower 4. pass through.

At this time, the air containing the powder 6 flows into the powder dust collection container 10 from the inlet pipe 11, flows out toward the bottom of the powder dust collection container 10, and collides with the bottom.
This becomes an internal turbulent airflow and flows out from the outflow side pipe 12 to the cyclone container 2.

[0021] Among the powder particles 6, the carrier having a relatively high specific gravity is easily subjected to the dust collection effect of colliding with the bottom surface of the powder dust collection container 10, and is collected on the bottom surface of the powder dust collection container 10.

Due to this collision dust collection effect, the amount of carrier flowing into the cyclone container 2 as powder 6 can be reduced to about 1/5 or less of that in the case where the powder dust collection container 10 is not provided.

The air flowing out from the powder dust collection container 10 through the pipe 12 is discharged to the outside through the same route as in the past, while the powder 6 in the air is transferred to the cyclone container 2 according to the cyclone dust collection theory. and collected into the collection container 5.

As described above, according to the powder dust collecting and collecting device of this embodiment, when the cyclone container 2 is constructed without internal coating with aluminum, the greatest effect on the internal wear of the cyclone container 2 is achieved. The amount of highly hard carrier that flows into the cyclone container 2 can be reduced to about 1/5 or less, so there is no significant impact on the cyclone recovery rate, and the amount of carrier that flows into the cyclone container 2 can be reduced to less than 1/5. It is possible to obtain an apparatus that does not reduce the recovery rate from the cleaning machine 9.

The carrier collected in the powder dust collection container 10 is
By discharging at regular intervals, it is possible to prevent a decrease in the recovery rate of the powder dust collection container 10. Here, powder dust collection container 1
0 is replaceable, so the powder dust collection container 10
Either remove the powder dust collection container 10 and replace it with another powder dust collection container 10, or remove the powder 6 such as a carrier collected in the powder dust collection container 10 and then attach the powder dust collection container 10. It can be fixed.

The powder dust collecting container 10 may be constructed as shown in FIGS. 3(a) to 3(c) in order to increase the recovery rate of carrier (iron).

In the powder dust collection container 10 shown in FIG. 3(a),
A donut-shaped disk (orifice) 13 is attached to the opening of the outflow pipe 12. As a result, carriers that could not be collected due to the impact dust collection effect on the bottom surface of the powder dust collection container 10 can be collected by colliding with the donut-shaped disk 13, and the collection rate by the powder dust collection container 10 is can be improved.

In the powder dust collection container 10 shown in FIG. 3(b),
By arranging the permanent magnet 14 on the outer periphery near the bottom, the carriers are attracted by magnetic force and the recovery rate is greatly improved.

In the powder dust collection container 10 shown in FIG. 3(c),
A coil 15 is wound instead of the permanent magnet 14, and an electromagnetic field is generated by energizing the coil 15. With such a configuration, an electromagnetic field can be created as needed by turning on/off the current, so if the current is turned off when replacing the powder dust collection container 10, the inner peripheral surface of the powder dust collection container 10 can be The collected carrier can be easily disposed of without the carrier being stuck to the surface, improving maintainability.

[0030]

[Effects of the Invention] As detailed above, according to the powder dust collection device of the present invention, the gas flowing along the suction system can be
The powder is made to flow into the powder dust collection container before flowing into the cyclone container, and the powder in the gas is collected by the collision dust collection effect between the powder in the gas and the inner wall surface of the powder dust collection container. Therefore, highly hard powder can be reliably collected in the powder dust collection container before the cyclone container, and wear caused by the powder inside the cyclone container is reliably prevented, without the need for expensive wear countermeasures. This has the effect of producing an inexpensive product that does not cause internal wear.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway configuration diagram showing a powder dust collecting and collecting device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the powder dust collection container of this embodiment.

FIGS. 3A to 3C are schematic side sectional views showing modified examples of the powder dust collecting container.

FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway configuration diagram showing a conventional powder dust collecting and collecting device.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a cyclone container.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 Cyclone container 4 Blower 5 Collection container 6 Powder 10 Powder dust collection container 11 Inflow side pipe 12 Outflow side pipe 13 Donut-shaped disk (orifice) 14 Permanent magnet 15 Coil

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A powder dust collecting and collecting device comprising a cyclone container interposed in the gas suction system to collect powder from a gas containing the powder, wherein the suction system upstream of the cyclone container A powder dust collection container is interposed so as to be replaceable, and an inflow side pipe that allows gas to flow into the powder dust collection container from the suction system is connected to the inner wall surface of the powder dust collection container near the inner wall surface of the powder dust collection container. A powder dust collection device characterized by being open toward the direction.