JPH11327401A - Toner carrying device for image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a toner carrying device using a carrying belt capable of surely removing waste toner in an image forming device and making the residual amount of toner as small as possible. SOLUTION: The belt 4 carrying and discharging the waste toner comprises an elastic member and is constituted of a belt base part 9 and a belt blade part 10. A cleaning member 11 provided to abut on the inside of the base part 9 scrapes the toner 2 abutting to the inside of the base part 9 and prevents the toner 2 from advancing to a roller sliding surface and the belt 4 from slipping. The belt 4 is pressed to a lower part of a pipe 6 by the member 11, so that the springing of the belt 4 is restrained and the toner 2 which is being carried is prevented from dropping because of the floating of the belt 4.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a toner conveying device for an image forming apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a toner conveying device of an image forming apparatus in which a toner conveying portion is constituted by an elastic belt provided with a plurality of blades, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-186980, Some use a belt having an elastic protrusion, and some use a belt provided with a plurality of magnets to transfer the toner accumulated in the toner receiving portion as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 2-104371.

[0003]

Problems to be Solved by the Invention
In the apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 80-80, an elastic belt is used for the toner conveying section. However, since the toner placed on the upper surface of the belt is merely dropped by the gravity at the turn section of the belt, the toner adheres to the belt. And there is no means to remove the adhered toner. 2-10437
In the apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-2004-115, a toner is not directly received by a belt, but a magnet is provided below a toner conveying surface, and the toner is conveyed by its magnetic force. The transport force lacks certainty.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, the present invention has been made in consideration of the above-described conventional problems, and it is possible to reliably remove waste toner in a toner discharge section using a transport belt and to minimize the amount of residual toner in an image forming apparatus. It is intended to provide a device.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a toner conveying device for an image forming apparatus, wherein a toner conveying unit is formed by an elastic belt provided with a plurality of blades. In the toner conveying device of the image forming apparatus having the above structure, a cleaning member for removing toner is provided inside the elastic belt.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the elastic belt base has a hole for dropping toner.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the hole is commonly used for driving a belt.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the cleaning member is commonly used as a belt holder.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of one embodiment of a toner conveying device of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a toner discharge screw, 2 is a toner, 3 is a toner conveying section, 4 is a belt, 5 is a pipe, 6 is a pipe below, 7 is a driving roller, 8 is a driven roller, and 9 is a base of the belt 4. A portion (hereinafter, referred to as a belt base portion) 10 is a blade portion of the belt 4 (hereinafter, referred to as a belt blade portion). In the figure, reference numeral 11 denotes a cleaning member, and 14 denotes a waste toner bottle.

In the apparatus of the present embodiment, the toner 2 scraped off from the surface of the photoreceptor by a cleaning blade (not shown)
Carry to. The toner transport unit 3 includes a belt 4, an upper pipe 5 for storing the belt 4, a lower pipe 6, a driving roller 7 for driving the belt 4, and a driven roller 8. Further belt 4
Is made of an elastic member, and includes a belt base 9 and a belt blade 10. The toner 2 conveyed to the toner conveying unit 3 is conveyed by the belt blade 10 so as to be pressed on the surface of the lower pipe 6, and is collected in the waste toner bottle 14. Belt blade 1 that has transported toner 2
0 turns at the position of the driven roller 8 and returns.

FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view showing the operation of one embodiment of the toner conveying device shown in FIG. The cleaning member 11 provided so as to be in contact with the inside of the belt base 9 is provided with the toner 2 attached to the inside of the belt base 9.
By scraping off the toner, the toner 2 is prevented from entering the roller sliding surface, thereby preventing the belt 4 from slipping. Also, by pressing the belt 4 with the cleaning member 11, the belt 4
The belt 4 is prevented from falling down due to the belt 4 being lifted up.

The belt base 9 has an opening 12 as shown in FIG.
The toner 2 scraped off by the
From the belt to the toner conveying surface, and is discharged by the belt blade 10.

Further, a boss 13 is provided on the driving roller 7 around which the belt 4 is wrapped, and an opening 12 provided in the belt base 9 has a pitch determined so as to fit into the pos 13. In addition, since the driving force of the belt 4 is obtained by fitting the boss 13 and the opening 12, it is possible to prevent a reduction in the driving force due to elongation of the belt 4.

[0014]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the toner conveying device of the image forming apparatus is provided with the member for cleaning the inside of the elastic belt constituting the toner conveying section, as described above, This has the effect of preventing the elastic belt from slipping due to toner entering between it and the driving roller.

In the toner conveying device of the image forming apparatus according to the second aspect, as described above, since the hole is provided in the base of the elastic belt, in addition to the above-described common effects,
The toner scraped by the cleaning member is dropped on the toner conveying surface through the hole, preventing the toner from re-adhering to the elastic belt, and has an effect that the toner can be quickly discharged.

In the toner conveying device of the image forming apparatus according to the third aspect, as described above, since the hole at the base of the elastic belt is shared for driving, the elastic belt is driven in addition to the above common effects. There is an effect that the driving of the elastic belt can be reliably performed without newly providing a hole to be formed.

In the toner conveying device of the image forming apparatus according to the fourth aspect, as described above, since the cleaning member of the elastic belt is shared as the conveying belt presser, in addition to the above-described common effects, a new effect is obtained. There is an effect that the floating of the elastic belt can be suppressed without adding a component to the toner and the toner can be reliably discharged.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of an embodiment of a toner conveying device of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating an operation of the embodiment of the toner conveying device shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view illustrating a structure of a belt base of the toner conveying device illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view illustrating a structure of a driving unit of the toner conveying device illustrated in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Toner discharge screw 2 Toner 3 Toner conveying part 4 Belt 5 Upper pipe 6 Lower pipe 7 Drive roller 8 Follower roller 9 Belt base 10 Belt blade 11 Cleaning member 12 Opening 13 Boss 14 Waste toner bottle

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A toner conveying device of an image forming apparatus comprising an elastic belt provided with a plurality of blades to form a toner conveying unit, wherein a cleaning member for removing toner is provided inside the elastic belt. A toner conveying device of an image forming apparatus. 2. A toner conveying device for an image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a hole for dropping toner is provided in said elastic belt base. 3. The toner conveying device for an image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said holes are shared for driving a belt. 4. A toner conveying device for an image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said cleaning member is shared as a belt presser.