JPH0830095A - Toner supplying device and image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent toner from being scattered at the time of supplying the toner from a toner cartridge by blocking its attachment when it is not in a normal supplying position. CONSTITUTION:An attachment blocking means for blocking the attachment of the toner cartridge 12, when it is not in the normal toner supplying position is provided. In other words, the attachment blocking means is constituted in such a manner that a projecting part 19 is provided in the vicinity of a tuning part on the inside surface of an opening/closing cover 15. When an operator opens it and tries to lock the cartridge 12 by a locking means 18 without inserting the inserted part 12b of the cartridge 12 into a recessed part, 16, the inserted part 12b of the cartridge 12 is engaged with the projecting part 19 of the opening/closing cover 15, to press the projecting part 19 downward. Therefore, the cover 15 is turned to try to close. Thus, the cover 15 interferes with the cartridge 12 and its attachment is blocked.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a toner replenishing device for replenishing toner to an image forming device that forms an image using toner, and an image forming device provided with the toner replenishing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Toner in a toner supply container attached to a developing device of an image forming apparatus is consumed as the image forming process progresses, so it is necessary to replenish the toner at a proper time. Generally, replenishment is performed by mounting a toner cartridge in the replenishing port of the toner replenishing container of the image forming apparatus main body, opening the toner discharge opening of the toner cartridge, and transferring the toner to the replenishing container.

Since the toner is an ultrafine particle having a high fluidity, it is easily scattered, and the toner is scattered during the transfer of the toner from the toner cartridge to the toner supply container or immediately after the toner cartridge is removed from the toner supply container. However, the scattered toner may contaminate the surroundings.

Therefore, in recent years, there has been a toner cartridge provided with a shutter plate that is manually slid to open and close the toner discharge opening. Since such a toner cartridge can be removed from the toner supply container by closing the toner discharge opening with the shutter plate after the toner is supplied to the toner supply container,
This is convenient because it is possible to prevent the toner remaining in the cartridge from scattering to the outside.

In an apparatus for replenishing toner by using a toner cartridge having the shutter plate, the toner cartridge is locked when it is mounted at the replenishment position of the toner replenishing container, and the shutter plate can be opened when the toner cartridge is locked. There are things I am trying to do. by this,
The toner is prevented from scattering at the time of toner supply.

[0006]

However, in an apparatus for replenishing toner by using the toner cartridge having the shutter plate, the toner cartridge may be in a locked state even when the toner cartridge is not mounted at the regular replenishment position. In that case, the shutter plate can be opened even if the toner cartridge is not properly mounted.

If the shutter plate is opened while the toner cartridge is not mounted in the normal position, the toner may not be accurately replenished in the toner replenishing container and may be scattered outside the container.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a toner replenishing device capable of reliably mounting a toner cartridge at a normal replenishing position without causing toner scattering. And an image forming apparatus having the toner supply device.

[0009]

A typical structure according to the present invention for achieving the above object is a toner replenishing container provided in the image forming apparatus main body and containing toner to be replenished to a developing means, and a toner cartridge. In a toner replenishing device for supplying toner by using a toner cartridge, a mounting means for mounting a toner cartridge at a toner replenishing position with respect to a toner replenishing container, and a mounting of the toner cartridge when the toner cartridge is not located at the replenishing position. It is characterized in that a mounting preventing means for preventing the above is provided.

[0010]

In the above construction, when the toner cartridge is not in the normal replenishment position, the mounting prevention means prevents the cartridge from being mounted. Therefore, when the toner cartridge is installed, it is always in the normal replenishment position,
Even if toner is replenished from the toner cartridge in that state, the toner does not scatter.

[0011]

Next, as one embodiment according to the present invention, a copier as an image forming apparatus equipped with a toner replenishing device will be described.
This will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.

[First Embodiment] FIGS. 1 to 6 show a first embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a perspective explanatory view of the toner replenishing device, FIG. 2 is a structural explanatory diagram of the locking means, FIG. 3 is a structural explanatory diagram of a copying machine equipped with the toner replenishing device, and FIGS. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of toner cartridge mounting.

As an order of description, the overall structure of the image forming apparatus will be described first, and then the structure of the toner supply device will be described.

<Overall Structure of Image Forming Apparatus> As shown in FIG. 3, this copying machine uses a document reading means 1 including a light source 1b, a mirror 1c, a lens 1d, and the like for reading a document 2 placed on a platen glass 1a. The light image is optically read, and the light image is applied to the photosensitive drum 3 which is an image carrier to form an electrostatic latent image. In the copying machine according to this embodiment, the automatic document feeder 1f is mounted on the original glass table 1a.
Multiple originals can be automatically separated and fed.

The photosensitive drum 3 has a photosensitive layer on its surface and can be rotated in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 3 by the main motor 4 in accordance with the image forming operation. Around the photosensitive drum 3, a charging unit 4 for uniformly charging the surface of the photosensitive drum 3, a developing unit 5 for visualizing the latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 3 with toner, A transfer unit 6 for transferring the toner image to the recording medium and a cleaning unit 7 for removing the toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 3 after the transfer of the toner image are arranged.

The surface of the rotating photosensitive drum 3 is uniformly charged by the charging means 4, and an electrostatic latent image is formed by the exposure from the document reading means 1, and the electrostatic latent image is developed by the developing means 5. Toner is transferred to the image to form a toner image. The developing means 5 sends the toner in the toner containing portion 5a to the developing roller 5c having a fixed magnet built therein by the stirring member 5b, rotates the developing roller 5c, and
A toner layer to which a triboelectric charge has been applied by the developing blade 5d is formed on the surface of the developing roller 5c, and the toner is transferred to the photosensitive drum 3 according to the latent image to form a toner image and visualize it. To do.

Then, the toner image is transferred onto the recording medium 9 conveyed by the conveying means 8 by the voltage application of the transfer means 10. The transfer means 6 includes a transfer charger 6a and a separation charger 6b.
And a voltage having a polarity opposite to that of the developing toner is applied by the transfer charger 6a to transfer the toner image to the conveyed recording medium 9, and the separation charger 6b is attached to the recording medium 9 after the image transfer. Is applied to separate the photosensitive drum 3 from the photosensitive drum 3.

The toner remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 3 after the toner image is transferred to the recording medium 9 is scraped off by the cleaning blade 7a and collected in the waste toner container 7b.

On the other hand, in the construction of the conveying means 8, upper and lower cassettes 8a1 and 8a2 are mounted below the main body of the apparatus, and the recording mediums 9 accommodated in the respective cassettes 8a1 and 8a2 are picked up one by one by the pickup rollers 8b1 and 8b2. The recording medium 9 which can be supplied to the registration roller pair 8c and is supplied from the cassette 8a1, 8a2 or the manual feed tray 8d is conveyed by the registration roller pair 8c being driven in synchronization with the image forming operation by the photosensitive drum 3. Then, the toner image is transferred at the position of the transfer unit 6 as described above. Then, the recording medium 9 after the image transfer is conveyed by the conveying belt 8e to the fixing means 10 including the driving roller 10a and the heating and pressing roller 10b having a built-in heater, and the fixing means 10 applies heat and pressure to the transferred image. Is fixed and is discharged to the outside of the apparatus by a pair of discharge rollers 8f.

Further, in order to supplement the toner consumed by the developing means 5 due to the development, the toner T is transferred from the toner replenishing container (hereinafter referred to as "toner hopper") 11 to the toner containing portion 5a by the toner conveying means 11a such as a screw conveyor. Supplied.

{Construction of Toner Replenishing Device} When the toner T in the toner hopper 11 becomes less than the allowable amount, the operator replenishes the toner in the hopper 11. Next, the toner replenishment configuration for the hopper 11 will be described with reference to FIGS.

In the copying machine of this embodiment, toner is supplied to the hopper 11 by using the toner cartridge 12 shown in FIG. A slide lid 12a is attached to the toner discharge port provided in the lower portion of the toner cartridge 12, and the toner can be discharged by sliding and opening the lid 12a.

A toner replenishing port is provided above the toner hopper 11, and a slidable slide lid 13 is provided at this replenishing port. Further, an opening / closing cover 15 rotatable by a shaft 14 (see FIG. 3) is attached to the upper part of the hopper 11, and when the toner is not supplied, the opening / closing cover 15 is closed to cover the toner supply port.

Further, a recess 16 for inserting the insertion portion 12b formed in the toner cartridge 12 and a guide 17 for guiding the insertion are formed in the upper part of the hopper 11, and the mounting for mounting the toner cartridge 12 at the replenishing position is provided. Constitutes a means. Then, when the toner cartridge 12 is inserted into the concave portion 16 and mounted on the hopper, the cartridge 12
Locking means 18 is provided for locking the lock and making it non-removable.

As shown in FIG. 2 (a), the locking means 18 has a locking member 18b biased in a counterclockwise direction by an elastic member (leaf spring) 18a, so that the locking claw 18b1 is provided on the sliding lid 13a. It engages with the slit 18c and prohibits the slide lid 13 from opening.

When the toner cartridge 12 is attached to this (the insertion portion 12b of the toner cartridge 12 is inserted into the recess 16 and attached), the protrusion 18d provided on the toner cartridge 12 presses the lock member 18b against the elastic member 18a. Then, it rotates about the rotary shaft 18b2 in the direction of arrow a (clockwise direction) in FIG. 2A, and the protrusion 18d and the lock claw 18b3 engage with each other. As a result, as shown in FIG. 2B, the toner cartridge 12 is locked so that it cannot be removed.

When the lock member 18b rotates, the locking claw
18b1 also rotates integrally, and as shown in FIG. 2B, when the toner cartridge 12 is in the locked state, the engagement between the locking claw 18b1 and the slit 18c of the slide lid 13 is released, and the slide lid 13 is indicated by the arrow b. It can be opened and closed by sliding in the direction.

On the other hand, when removing the toner cartridge 12, the slide lid 13 is closed as shown in FIG.
By further pushing in the direction of arrow c from the state shown in FIG. 2 (a), the R surface 13a of the slide lid 13 pushes the locking claw 18b1 of the lock member 18, and the lock member 18 resists the elastic member 18a and arrow d. By rotating in the direction (clockwise direction), the engagement between the locking claw 18b1 and the protrusion 18d of the toner cartridge 12 is released, and the toner cartridge 12 can be removed. After removing the toner cartridge 12, the restoring force of the elastic member 18a restores the state of FIG.

Further, when the toner cartridge 12 is not in the normal toner replenishing position, a mounting preventing means for preventing the mounting of the toner cartridge 12 is provided. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, a mounting portion 19 is provided by providing a protrusion 19 on the inner surface of the opening / closing cover 15 in the vicinity of the rotating portion. The projecting portion 19 is provided with the opening / closing cover 15 when the locking means 18 is to be locked without inserting the insertion portion 12b of the toner cartridge 12 into the recessed portion 16.
And has a function of preventing the toner cartridge 12 from being mounted.

In the toner replenishing device having the above structure, the case where the toner cartridge 12 replenishes the toner hopper 11 with toner will be described.

First, when the toner cartridge 12 is mounted, the opening / closing cover 15 is opened, and as shown in FIG. 4, the insertion portion 12b of the toner cartridge 12 is inserted into the recess 16 and the cartridge 12 is pressed downward. . Then, as described above, the lock means 18 (see FIG. 2) causes the cartridge protrusion 18d to engage with the lock claw 18b3, and
The locking claw 18b1 is disengaged from the slit 18c of 13.

In this state, the toner cartridge 12 is locked at the replenishment position and the slide lid 13 can be opened.
Therefore, the slide lid 13 is opened by sliding it in the direction of arrow e in FIG. As a result, the slide lid 12a of the toner cartridge 12 becomes slidable in the direction of the arrow f, and when the lid 12a is opened, the toner in the cartridge 12 drops to the lower toner hopper 11 by its own weight and is replenished. At this time, since the replenishment port of the toner hopper 11 is blocked by the toner cartridge 12, the toner does not scatter.
The above description is for the case where the toner cartridge 12 is mounted in the normal replenishment position. Next, the case where the toner cartridge 12 is not in the normal supply position and is about to be erroneously mounted will be described.

As shown in FIG. 5 (a), the opening / closing cover 15 is opened, and the insertion means 12b of the toner cartridge 12 is to be locked by the locking means 18 without being inserted into the recess 16.
Then, as shown in FIG. 5B, the toner cartridge is
The insertion portion 12b of 12 engages with the protrusion 19 of the opening / closing cover 15, and pushes the protrusion 19 downward. This will open and close the cover
15 rotates in the direction of arrow g (clockwise direction) in FIG. 5B and tries to close. For this reason, the opening / closing cover 15 interferes with the toner cartridge 12, and the mounting of the cartridge 12 is blocked.

That is, in this embodiment, unless the insertion portion 12b of the toner cartridge 12 is accurately inserted into the recessed portion 16,
The toner cartridge 12 cannot be mounted.

On the other hand, if the protrusion 19 is not provided, the opening / closing cover 15 can be opened even when the insertion portion 12b is not inserted into the recess 16 as shown in FIGS. 6 (a) and 6 (b). When the toner cartridge 12 is pressed downward in this state, the lock claw 18b3 is engaged with the protrusion 18d by the above-mentioned lock means 18, and the engagement between the locking claw 18b1 and the slit 18c of the slide lid 13 is released. To be done. Therefore, the slide lid 13 can be opened, and thus the slide lid 12a of the toner cartridge 12 can also be opened.

Therefore, the toner may be discharged even if the toner cartridge 12 is not in the normal replenishment position, and the toner may leak from the space between the insertion portion 12b and the recess 16 shown in FIG. is there.

In the present embodiment, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of the above situation, and thus to prevent the toner from scattering.

[Second Embodiment] In the first embodiment described above,
Although an example in which the protrusion 19 is provided on the opening / closing cover 15 is shown as the mounting prevention means of the toner cartridge 12, another example of the mounting prevention means will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 9 as a second embodiment.
The same members as those in the first embodiment described above are designated by the same reference numerals, and a duplicate description will be omitted.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, a seal member 20 is attached between the opening / closing cover 15 and the upper surface of the concave portion 16 to form the mounting preventing means. Other structures are the same as those of the first embodiment. It is the same.

The insertion portion 12b of the toner cartridge 12 is recessed.
When inserted in 16 and set in the normal supply position,
As shown in FIG. 5, the opening / closing cover 15 can be replenished with toner by sliding the slide lids 13 and 12a without closing the opening / closing cover 15 as in the first embodiment.

On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 9 (a) and 9 (b),
Open the open / close cover 15 and insert the toner cartridge 12
If b is to be locked by the locking means 18 without being inserted into the recess 16, the insertion portion 12b of the toner cartridge 12 pushes the seal member 20 in the direction of arrow h in FIG. 9B. As a result, the seal member 20 is pulled, so that the opening / closing cover 15 rotates in the direction of arrow i and closes. Therefore, the opening / closing member 15 interferes with the toner cartridge 12 and the cartridge
12 is blocked.

Therefore, even when the seal member 20 is provided, the same effect as that of the above-described first embodiment can be obtained, and in the case of this embodiment, even if toner is spilled on the seal member 20. , The sealing member 20 when the opening / closing cover 15 is closed
The upper toner has an effect of being collected in the toner hopper 11.

[Other Embodiments] Next, other examples of each part of the image forming apparatus will be described. First, the image carrier is not limited to the photosensitive drum, but includes, for example, the following. First, a photoconductor is used as the photoconductor, and as the photoconductor, for example, amorphous silicon,
Amorphous selenium, zinc oxide, titanium oxide, organic photoconductor (OPC), etc. are included. The shape on which the photoconductor is mounted includes, for example, a drum-shaped, belt-shaped rotating body, a sheet-shaped body, and the like. Generally, a drum-shaped or belt-shaped one is used. For example, in the case of a drum type photoconductor, a photoconductor is vapor-deposited or coated on a cylinder of aluminum alloy or the like. Is.

As the developing method, various known developing methods such as a two-component magnetic brush developing method, a cascade developing method, a touchdown developing method and a cloud developing method can be used.

As for the structure of the charging means, the so-called contact charging method was used in the above-mentioned first embodiment, but a tungsten wire which has been conventionally used as another structure is provided with a metal shield such as aluminum around the three sides, It goes without saying that a configuration may be used in which positive or negative ions generated by applying a high voltage to the tungsten wire are moved to the surface of the photosensitive drum to uniformly charge the surface of the drum.

The charging means may be a blade type (charging blade), a pad type, a block type, a rod type, a wire type or the like, other than the roller type.

Further, as a method for cleaning the toner remaining on the photosensitive drum, the cleaning means may be constituted by using a blade, a fur brush, a magnetic brush or the like.

Further, although the electrophotographic copying machine is exemplified as the image forming apparatus in the above-mentioned embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this, and other image forming apparatus such as a laser beam printer, a facsimile machine, a word processor or the like. It is also possible to use for.

[0049]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the toner cartridge is not in the normal replenishment position, the mounting preventing means prevents the cartridge from being mounted. For this reason, when the toner cartridge is mounted, it is always in the normal replenishment position, and it is possible to prevent the toner from scattering when replenishing the toner from the toner cartridge.

Further, by providing the locking means for locking the toner cartridge in the mounted state, it is possible to prevent the toner cartridge from being detached during toner supply and causing toner leakage.

Further, by providing the opening / closing cover with a protrusion or attaching a sheet member as the mounting preventing means, it is possible to easily know that the toner cartridge is not in a normal replenishing position, and a simple structure is provided. Therefore, it is possible to prevent toner scattering.

Therefore, in the image forming apparatus having the toner replenishing device, it is possible to prevent toner scattering due to erroneous mounting of the toner cartridge when replenishing the toner.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a toner replenishing device according to a first exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a structural explanatory view of a lock unit of the toner replenishing device.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a copying machine including a toner supply device.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a state in which a toner cartridge is set at a replenishment position and mounted.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of a state in which the toner cartridge is mounted without being normally set at the replenishment position.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a state in which the toner cartridge is mounted without being normally set at the replenishment position when the protrusion according to the present invention is not provided.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating a toner replenishing device according to a second exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view of a state in which the toner cartridge is set at the replenishment position and mounted.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory view of a state in which the toner cartridge is mounted without being normally set in the replenishment position.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Original reading means, 2 ... Original, 3 ... Photosensitive drum,
4 ... Charging means, 5 ... Developing means, 6 ... Transfer means, 7 ... Cleaning means, 8 ... Conveying means, 9 ... Recording medium, 10 ... Fixing means, 11 ... Toner hopper, 11a ... Toner conveying means, 12
... toner cartridge, 12a ... slide lid, 12b ... insertion part, 13 ... slide lid, 13a ... R surface, 14 ... shaft, 15 ... opening / closing cover, 16 ... recess, 17 ... guide, 18 ... locking means, 18a ...
Elastic member, 18b ... Lock member, 18b1 ... Locking claw, 18b2 ...
Shaft, 18b3 ... Lock claw, 18c ... Slit, 18d ... Protrusion, 19
... protrusion, 20 ... seal member

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A toner replenishing device for supplying toner using a toner cartridge to a toner replenishing container, which is provided in a main body of an image forming apparatus and contains toner to be replenished to a developing means, in a toner replenishing position for the toner replenishing container. 1. A toner replenishing device comprising: a mounting unit for mounting a toner cartridge; and a mounting blocking unit for blocking mounting of the toner cartridge when the toner cartridge is not located at the replenishment position. 2. The toner replenishing device according to claim 1, wherein the mounting unit has a lock unit that positions and locks the toner cartridge at the toner replenishment position. 3. A toner replenishing container has a cover capable of opening and closing a toner replenishing port, and the mounting preventing means operates to close the cover when the toner cartridge is mounted at a position other than the toner replenishing position. The toner replenishing device according to claim 1, characterized in that. 4. The toner replenishment according to claim 3, wherein the mounting prevention unit has a protrusion on the cover, and the toner cartridge rides on the protrusion to operate the cover in a closing direction. apparatus. 5. The mounting preventing means includes a sheet member provided between the toner supply container and the cover, and the toner cartridge rides on the sheet member to operate in the closing direction. 3. The toner replenishing device according to item 3. 6. An image forming apparatus for forming an image using toner, comprising: a developing unit that develops an image bearing member on which a latent image is formed with toner; and a transfer unit that transfers the developed image to a recording medium. A toner replenishing device for accommodating toner to be replenished to the developing means, the toner replenishing device for mounting the toner cartridge at a toner replenishing position with respect to a toner replenishing container containing toner to be replenished to the developing means. An image forming apparatus comprising: a mounting unit; and a mounting blocking unit that blocks mounting of the toner cartridge when the toner cartridge is not located at the replenishment position.