JPS6087369A - Developing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To convey a developer to a supplement roller side smoothly and increase the capacity of a hopper by positioning the supplement roller and a supply roller near the supplement port of the internal bottom part of the hopper and rotating them to below the internal wall surface of the hopper. CONSTITUTION:The supplement roller 41 and supply roller 48 are provided successively near the supplement port 39 formed in the internal bottom surface 38a of the hopper 38, and both rollers are rotated in such directions that toner T is scraped off along the slopes of internal wall surfaces 38b and 38c, so the toner T is carried invariably downward without sticking the wall surfaces. Therefore, even when the internal bottom surface 38a is wide, the toner T is gathered to the supplement roller side to increase the capacity of the hopper 38 and also convey the toner smoothly to the supplement roller 41.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a developing device used, for example, in an electronic copying machine.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems]

Conventionally, in this type of developing device, particularly in a device that replenishes developer to a supply device body that attaches developer to the surface of an image bearing member such as a photoreceptor, a developer replenishment roller is installed in a replenishment port opened at the bottom of a hopper. The rotational drive of this replenishment roller is used to

The hopper is configured to be able to replenish a predetermined amount of developer in the hopper, but since it has a simple structure with only one replenishment lawn facing the replenishment port side of the hopper, it is difficult to use the replenishment roller. Due to the pushing force, the developer adheres to the inner wall surface of the developer scraping side and hardens like a nest, making it impossible to smoothly convey the developer to the replenishment roller side, and replenishing the developer. In order for the developer to fall smoothly to the roller side, the inner wall of the hopper must be sloped at a steep angle of 20 to 300 degrees, which results in various inconveniences such as limiting the capacity of the hopper. there were.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention has been made under the above-mentioned circumstances, and its object is to supply the developer in the hopper by providing another supply roller in the hopper together with the developer supply roller. Smoothly conveys it to the replenishment roller side and prevents
The object of the present invention is to provide a device that can increase the capacity of the network.

[Summary of the invention]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention includes a replenishment roller located close to a replenishment port opened at the inner bottom surface of a hopper containing developer, and a supply roller adjacent to the replenishment roller. It is characterized by having the following features:

[Embodiments of the invention]

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the external appearance of an electronic copying machine incorporating a developing device of the present invention, and numeral 1 in the figure is the main body of the copying machine. A paper feed cassette 2 capable of automatic or manual paper feeding is installed on the right side of the copying machine body 1, and a paper ejection tray 3 is installed on the left side of the cassette 2, on which originals (not shown) are placed. An original table 4 is provided on the upper original placing plate and is capable of reciprocating in the left-right direction (direction of arrow a). Note that 5 in the figure is a display 6 provided on the front edge of the upper surface of the copying machine main body 1.
, numeric keypad 7, exposure setting? This is an operation display section for the keypad 8, print key 9, etc.

Next, the internal mechanism of the copying machine main body 1 will be explained with reference to FIG.

In the figure, reference numeral 10 denotes a drum-shaped photoreceptor as an image carrier that is rotatably supported approximately at the center of the copying machine main body 1, and is moved in the direction of the arrow in synchronization with the document table 4 by a drive mechanism (not shown). It is designed to be rotatably driven. This photoreceptor 1o
The original image, which has been uniformly charged by a charger 11 and uniformly irradiated by an exposure lamp 12, is transferred to a focusing light transmitter (product name: Cell 7 Oxygen Lens Array) 13. Form an electrostatic latent image by forming an image on a photoconductor lo, and develop the electrostatic latent image by applying a developing side (hereinafter referred to as toner) to this electrostatic latent image using a developing device described below. This developer image (hereinafter referred to as a toner image) is sent to the transfer charger 14 side.

The transfer charger 14 is formed on the photoreceptor 1θ on the copy paper P or P' that is fed from the paper feed cassette 2 which is slid or manually fed via the paper feed roller 15 and the pair of registration rollers 16 and 16. After the transfer, the copy paper P-strapping P' is peeled off from the photoreceptor 10 by a peeling charger 17 using AC corona discharge, and passed through a conveyance path 18 to a fixing device 19 where the toner image is transferred. The sheet is melted and fixed and then discharged onto the paper discharge tray 3 by a pair of discharge rollers 20 and 20.

On the other hand, the residual toner on the photoreceptor 10 after the toner image is transferred onto the copy paper P'-1, P' is removed by the cleaning device 21.
The photoreceptor 10 is then cleaned by the static eliminating run 22, and the potential on the photoreceptor 10 is brought down to a certain level or less, making it ready for the next copying operation.

Further, inside the copying machine main body 1, an upper frame and a lower frame (not shown) are pivotally supported so as to be openable and closable at a desired angle (for example, 30°). A charger 11 is placed around this photoreceptor 10.
, exposure lamp 12, focusing light transmitter 13, cleaning device 21
, a static elimination lamp 22, a developing device to be described later, and other devices are attached to the upper unit by appropriate means, while a transfer charger 14, a peeling charger 17, a fixing device 19, and a discharge device are attached to the lower frame. Laura vs. 20.
Each device such as 20 and other mechanisms such as a power supply unit (not shown) are attached to form a lower unit, and both units can be opened and closed with the conveyance path 18 of copy paper P or P' as a boundary for repair, inspection, etc. is facilitated.

Further, numeral 23 in the figure is a developing device positioned around and facing the photoreceptor 1o. As shown in detail in FIGS. 3 and 4, this developing device 23 consists of a supply device body 24 that supplies the toner T to the surface of the photoreceptor 1θ in a brush-like manner. The installed printed circuit board 25
A toner concentration detector 26 is attached to the toner concentration detector 26 . The toner concentration detector 26 includes a rotating sleeve 27 made of a non-magnetic material and a fixed magnet 28 disposed within the sleeve 27 to adhere and supply the toner T to the surface of the photoreceptor 10 provided within the main body 24 of the supply device. Magnet row 2 consisting of
When the detected value of the toner concentration reaches a certain level in the afternoon, the developer replenishment roller of the replenisher, which will be described later, is rotated to remove the toner T in the replenisher.
can be dropped and fed into the feeder main body 24.

By the way, in the magnet row 229, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, one end of the support shaft 28a of the fixed magnet 28 consisting of magnetic poles N1+S1°N2 and S2 is rotatably attached to the side wall 24a of the feeder main body 24. An adjustment bolt 32 is supported on the shaft and is fitted with an adjustment plate 30 with a rotation stopper applied to the support shaft 28a. Then, the triangular pointer part 30a at one end of the adjustment plate 30 is aligned with the groove-shaped mark 33 formed on the upper surface of the side wall 24a, and then the adjustment bolt 32 is attached with a nut (not shown) or the like. The fixing magnet 28 is fixed to the side wall 24a using an appropriate fixing means, thereby fixing the fixed magnet 28 so as not to rotate, and the N pole of the fixed magnet 28 is connected to the photoreceptor 1.
Fine adjustment is possible so that it can be positioned at an appropriate angular position with respect to 0. On the other hand, in order to change and adjust the angle of the fixed magnet 28, loosen the adjustment bolt 32 and move it laterally within the range of the elongated hole 31 as shown by arrow C, and move the adjustment plate 30 as shown by arrow d. If it is rotated, the fixed maguite 28 will also be rotated at the same time, so when the desired proper position is reached, the adjustment bolt 32 can be tightened and fixed. In this adjustment part, the pointer part 30'a is the reference mark 3.
This can be confirmed by the deviation with respect to 3. In addition, mark 3 of the base material
You may use a scale instead of 3.

Furthermore, inside the feeder main body 24, there is a doctor 34 for regulating the layer thickness of the toner T adhered to the magnet roller 29, an agitation roller 35 as an agitation member for agitating the toner T, and a surface of the magnet roller 29. A screener 36 or the like is provided to scrape off the toner T that has not been subjected to development and guide it to the toner scraping side of the stirring roller 35.

A replenisher 37 is removably mounted on the supply device main body 24, and the replenisher 37 is removably mounted as a unit.
7 has a hopper 38 in which the toner T to be replenished is accommodated in the supply device main body 24, and this hopper 38 has a wide inner bottom surface 38a in which a replenishment port 39 opens, and the supply port 38 is formed on the lower edge of the inner bottom surface 38a. It has a shape in which a support leg 40 that fits into the container main body 24 side is integrally formed and protrudes, and a developer replenishment row 24 facing the replenishment port 39 is rotatably mounted on the inner bottom surface 38a. supported.

This replenishment roller 41 is connected to the replenisher 3 as shown in FIG.
The rotary support shaft 41a facing the external side wall of 7 is the ratchet 42.
, is regulated by a ratchet mechanism composed of a ratchet lever 43, a ratchet link 44, and a spring 45, and its rotation is controlled by a solenoid 46 that operates the ratchet link 44 and a gear 47 that rotates the ratchet 42. This can be accomplished by operating the solenoid 46 and gear 47 in accordance with the signal detected by the toner concentration detector 26 described above.

Further, on the inner bottom surface 38a of the hopper 38, a stirring blade-shaped supply row 248 is rotatably supported in a horizontally adjacent state in parallel with the supply roller 41, and this supply roller 48 is connected to a gear 49 through said supply loan 4
In addition to being linked with ノ, these two mouths-241, 4
11 has a configuration in which it is rotated along the direction of scraping off the toner T from the upper side to the lower side with respect to the left and right inclined inner wall surfaces 38b and 38c of the hopper 38, as shown by arrows e and f.

In addition, 50 in the figure is the one side inclined wall surface 3 in the hopper 38.
8b is a toner enzyme lever rotatably supported on the upper end of the hopper for detecting the amount of toner in the hopper. As shown in FIG.
4 are spaced apart from each other and their free ends 52
a.

53m and 54th are formed wide in a T-shape so that they can be positioned close to the upper side of the supply row 241, and a magnet 55 is built into the free end 54a of the detection lever 54 on one side. . These detection levers s2.
ss, 541i, and moves downward under its own weight according to the amount of toner in the hopper 38.
Facing the outside where the gear 47 that rotationally drives the is arranged,
The operating lever 56 is engaged with an eccentric cam 57 provided coaxially with the gear 47, so that the rotation of the eccentric cam 57 causes the detection levers 52, 53, and 54 to constantly swing in the vertical direction. 4-
The toner T in 3fj can be stirred.

In addition, 58 in the figure is the printed circuit board 2 of the supply device main body 24.
6, the free end of the detection lever 54 is positioned corresponding to the detection lever 54 of the toner empty lever 50 provided in the hopper 38, and is in a hanging state when the amount of toner in the hopper is empty. It operates indirectly due to the magnetic effect caused by the proximity operation of the magnet 55 built in the portion 54Q, and thereby detects the empty state of the toner T in the hopper 38.

Further, reference numeral 59 in the figure is a hopper cover that covers the upper end opening of the hopper 38. This hopper cover 59
is formed with a toner supply port 6θ, and this supply port a
A cover plate 61 is pivotally supported at θ so as to be openable and closable. and,
An elastic sealing material 62 such as a sponge is provided on the back side of the lid plate 61.
is attached, and its pivot end edge 61a side faces the printed circuit board 25 side of the supply device main body 24. As shown in FIG. 9, an inverted-shaped link 64 with a built-in magnet 63 is rotatably provided on one side of the pivot end edge 61m of the cover plate 6. A reed switch 65 is attached to the printed circuit board 25 of the supply device body 24 with the end portion 64g adjacent to the toner engagement switch 58 when the lid plate 61 is closed. The reed switch 65 is actuated by the magnetic action caused by the proximity operation, and the closed state of the cover plate 61 is detected.

Further, as shown in FIG. 10, the hopper cover 59
A sealing material 66 such as a polyester sheet having a thickness of 0.03 to 0.05 m is interposed in the gap between the opening edge 60g of the supply port 60 and the pivot edge 61a of the cover plate 61. One end 66th of the sealing material 66 is clamped and fixed between the lid plate 6) and the elastic sealing material 62, and the other end 66b is bent toward the back side of the hopper cover 59 and fixed with adhesive or the like. Yota, hopper 3 when opening and closing the lid plate 61
This prevents the toner T in 8 from scattering to the outside.

That is, according to the above-mentioned configuration, the supply roller 48 is provided on the inner bottom surface 38a of the replenishment roller 4-38 of the replenisher 37 so as to be adjacent to the replenishment roller 41 in a horizontal direction, so that toner can be supplied to the replenishment roller. The direction of rotation of both rollers 41 and 48 is rotated from the center to the inner wall surface 3.
Since the toner T is rotated in the direction of scraping off the toner T from top to bottom along the inclination directions of 8b and 38c, the toner T near the wall surface is always subjected to a downward force, which causes the toner to adhere to the wall surface. Even if the inner bottom surface 38a of the hopper is wide, the toner T that tends to accumulate on one side can be smoothly conveyed by the supply roller 48 to the supply roller 41 side until it is emptied. Bottom 38h
By widening the width and forming a protruding supporting leg portion 40 that fits with the feeder main body 24 on the periphery of the lower end, the capacity inside the hopper can be increased, and the hopper 38 can also be used for supplying toner when exchanging toner, etc. Even if the container is removed from the main body 24 and placed on the floor, etc., it can be placed in a stable state, and since the replenishment roller 4 is provided inside the hopper and is located higher than the floor by the height of the support leg 40, it can be placed on the floor, etc. without touching the
In addition to preventing deformation if the supply roller 41 is damaged,
The floor etc. will not get dirty.

Further, the two-chip mechanism of the replenishment row 24 whose rotation is controlled by a signal from the toner concentration detector 26 depending on the toner concentration of the magnet row 229 is operated by a solenoid 46 and can be easily controlled.

Further, a toner empty lever 50 for detecting the amount of toner in the emptying wheel is provided with a group of detection levers 52, 53, and 54 having wide tips, and coaxially with the gear 47 that interlocks the replenishment roller 41. Since the eccentric cam 570 rotates to freely swing up and down in the direction away from the toner empty switch 58, when there is enough toner in the hole i4-, the detection levers 52゜5:i, 54
Toner easily enters between the switch 58 and the switch 58 corresponding to the outside, and the gap between them can be maintained reliably, increasing the reliability of the switch. The toner in the hopper can be stirred at the same time by swinging the levers 52, 53, and 54, and the toner can be smoothly transported to the supply roller 41 side.

Furthermore, an opening/closing detection switch 65 for the opening/closing cover plate 6 provided on the hopper cover 59 that closes the upper end of the hora-zo-38 is installed on the same printed circuit board 25 on the side of the main body 24 of the feeder together with the toner empty switch 58. By doing so, the parts required for these attachments can be omitted.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, E.

Since the developer replenishment roller and the supply roller are provided adjacent to each other on the inner bottom surface of the tank, developer can be actively supplied to the replenishment roller, and both rollers can be placed on the inner bottom surface of the container. On the other hand, since they are rotated in the direction in which the developer is scraped off, the inner bottom surface of the hollow and the bottom can be made wider due to the presence of the supply lawn, and the capacity of the hollow and the motherboard can be increased. The supply roller scrapes off the developer on one side of the wall and smoothly transports it to the supply roller, which prevents the developer from sticking to the hopper wall as in the case of conventional systems. It's a wife thing. .

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an external view of an electronic copying machine incorporating a developing device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view schematically showing the internal structure of the electronic copying machine, and FIG. 3 is a developing device according to the present invention. Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical sectional view, and Fig. 5 is an external view showing an embodiment of
The figure is also an explanatory view of the main part showing the adjustment state of the magnet roller, FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken from the arrow direction along the line Vi-V in FIG. 5, and FIG. , FIG. 8 is an explanatory view showing the state in which the toner empty lever is attached, FIG. 9 is an external view of the other side of the developing device, and FIG. 10 is an enlarged sectional view of the main part of the hopper cover. 23...Developing device, 24...Supplier main body, 37...
・Replenisher, 38... Horanoku-138a... Inner bottom surface, 39... Replenishment port, 41... Developer replenishment roller, 4
8... Current Sakai agent supply loan. Applicant's Representative Patent Attorney Takehiko Suzue Figure 3 η Figure 4 34 Jb Figure 6 Figure 7 η Figure 8 Figure 10 Figure 9

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1) A supply body that supplies developer to a to-be-developed area, and a supply body that supplies developer to this supply body, the supply body comprising:
The present invention is characterized by comprising a hollow chamber for accommodating developer, a replenishment roller located close to a replenishment port opening in the inner bottom surface of the hollow chamber, and a supply roller adjacent to this replenishment roller. developing device. 2) The developing device according to claim 1, wherein the replenishment roller and the supply roller are respectively rotated in a direction along a downward direction of the inclined inner wall surface of the conch.