JPS63178274A - Toner replenishing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent scattering of a toner by constituting the titled device so that a slide cover of a toner container interlocks with a sliding operation of a slide cover of a toner hopper and slides along an opening part together with a film seal at the time of replenishing the toner. CONSTITUTION:By setting a toner container 1 on the upper part of a hopper 40, a slide cover 50 and a holding member 32 of a film are combined respectively, and when one slide cover is slid, a cover 10 provided in accordance with the slide cover 50 is moved, and also, a film seal 20 provided in accordance with each of them is slid. Also, on a slide cover member 51 of the hopper side, a lock mechanism 55 is provided on its side member, and when the slide cover member 51 is moved,the lock member 55 locks the lower frame of the toner container 1, so that the container cannot be moved. In such a way, it does not occur that the toner which has adhered on the surface of the film seal scatters on the periphery, or stains operator's hands.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention is applicable to electronic copying machines, etc. that use dry toner to form a toner image on the surface of a photoreceptor drum and transfer the toner image to paper. Regarding a device that can easily replenish the toner hopper installed in an electronic copying machine with i-no. When moving in an interlocked state, a film seal provided to cover the slide lid moves in an interlocked manner,
The present invention relates to a device configured to open and close an opening.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, devices such as copying machines use dry toner, form a toner image on the surface of a photoreceptor drum with the toner, and transfer the toner image to paper. is used.

In such devices, the toner in the developing machine is gradually consumed as the number of copies increases.
It is necessary to replenish at regular intervals.

Furthermore, in devices such as the electronic copying machine that has been commonly used in the past, the toner used in the developing device of the electronic copying machine, etc. depends on the characteristics of the copying machine, in some cases using -component toner and in other cases using two-component toner. However, in either case, it is necessary to replenish the toner every predetermined number of copies.

As mentioned above, the most common method for replenishing toner in the developing device is to open the cartridge containing the toner and transfer it directly to the toner hopper.
When such a method is used, there are inconveniences such as the toner scattering around and staining the area around the developing device.

Therefore, a method has been used in which the toner is stored in a cylindrical cartridge and the cartridge is inserted into a hopper of a developing device. This type of cartridge has an opening in the longitudinal direction of the side of the cylinder that houses the toner, and the opening is covered with a sheet. After being installed in the developing device, the opening can be opened by pulling out the sheet. form and allow the toner to fall.

Therefore, in the case of such a type of toner replenishment device, the frontage of the cartridge is not exposed outside the copying machine body, so if the operator is careless, etc., the toner may scatter from the cartridge and the copying machine This is intended to prevent inconvenient situations from occurring, such as contaminating other equipment.

However, when using a cylindrical cartridge like the one mentioned above,
A device that is attached to a fixing device or a copying machine main body has a drawback that the cartridge housing portion thereof becomes a dead space. In addition, in small copying machines, the toner consumption is short, so a relatively small cartridge can be used, but in relatively large devices such as electronic copying machines that copy at high speed, the number of copies is proportional to the number of copies. As a result, the number of Tona's Uraga clans increased.

However, although the hopper of the developing unit Σ can be made relatively large, making the toner cartridge large increases the dead space of the cartridge housing, which limits other mechanisms of the copying machine. In order to overcome the drawbacks of the conventional devices, such as the addition of A toner receiving device has been proposed.

The toner receiving device shown in this conventional example is as shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. The opening is covered by a film seal 20a and a slide 110a.

Then, after loading the toner container 1a in the toner receiver provided in the toner hopper of the current device and fixing the position of the container lower frame 5a, the toner container 1a is placed on the side of the container lower frame 5a. When the slide M10a is slid along the provided protrusion 7a, the film seal 20a is peeled off from the area around the lower opening of the 1-ner container 1a. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 8, an opening 3a is formed in the lower part of the main body of the toner container 1a, and the toner falls from the opening into the toner hopper of the developing device.

In the conventional toner replenishing device as described above, all that is required is to set the toner container in the toner hopper of the developing device and move the slide lid together with the film seal.
An opening can be formed in the container, and toner can be replenished in a substantially sealed state without contaminating the surrounding area of the developing device.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the toner replenishing device having the above-described configuration, when the film seal is peeled off from the lower part of the main body of the toner container and moved along the F surface of the slide lid, The surface of the film seal that was in contact with the toner was
The toner is exposed on the underside of the slide lid, which often causes the area around the toner hopper of the developing device or other parts of the copying machine other than the developing device to be contaminated by scattered toner. .

To deal with this, a method is used in which a cover member is provided near the upper opening of the toner hopper to prevent the dirt at the bottom of the film seal from scattering to the surrounding area. Even if you use such means,
The effect of preventing scattering of toner cannot be sufficiently exhibited.

In addition, in the conventional device described above, the mechanism for toner sealing on the toner popper side is complicated and has a large number of parts, which tends to affect the manufacturing cost of the developing device or toner cartridge. Ta.

(Object of the Invention) The present invention solves the above-mentioned drawbacks of the conventional device.The present invention simplifies the structure of the toner cartridge, prevents the toner from scattering to the surroundings, and prevents the toner from scattering. The purpose is to provide a device that can easily replenish toner to a hopper, and further,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a toner replenishing device provided with a mechanism capable of holding a toner container in a fixed position when replenishing toner by letting the toner container into an opening of a toner hopper.

(Means and effects for solving the problem) The toner replenishing device of the present invention is provided with a lid member that can be opened and opened at the opening of the toner hopper of the developing device provided in the main body of the copying machine, and the toner replenishing device is set on the opening of the toner hopper of the developing device provided in the main body of the copying machine. The toner container for supplying toner is also provided with an openable lid member.

Each of the above-mentioned lid members is constituted by a slide lid and a film seal, and the portion of the slide lid that contacts 1 to 2 is covered with the film seal, and a film holding member is attached to the end of the film. The film holding members are configured to have the same shape.

Therefore, in the toner replenishing device of the present invention, 1-
By setting the container at the top of the hopper, the slide lid and the film holding member are combined, and when one slide lid is slid, the lid provided corresponding to the slide lid is opened. are moved, and the corresponding film seals are slid.

Further, the sliding lid member on the hopper side of the present invention is provided with a locking mechanism on the side member, and when the sliding lid member is moved, the locking member locks the lower frame of the toner container and locks the lower frame of the toner container. Prevent the container from moving.

Therefore, in the toner replenishing device of the present invention, when the upper and lower slide lid parts I are slid, the dirty surfaces of the upper and lower film seals are overlapped when the film seals are slid. This prevents inconvenient conditions such as toner adhering to the surface of the film seal from scattering around the toner hopper and staining the operator's hands.

Furthermore, in the toner replenishing device of the present invention, while replenishing toner from the toner container, the lock mechanism prevents the container from moving, so even if the operator makes a mistake in operation, the container will not move. This prevents the container from coming off, thereby ensuring that the container is securely fixed during toner replenishment.

(Embodiment) The configuration of the toner replenishing device of the present invention will be described according to the illustrated embodiment.

In the embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of each component, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 8-△ in FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, in the main body of the copying machine, a toner hopper 40 provided in the developing device includes a slide lid 50 and a film seal 3 that is moved together with the slide lid 50.
0.

Then, the slide lid 50 and the film seal 30
When the toner hopper 40 is set in the fixed position,
When the opening 42 of the toner hopper is closed, the slide lid 50 is moved together with the slide lid 10 of the toner container 1, as will be described later, to close the opening 42 of the toner hopper.
It is designed to open.

The toner hopper 40 of the present invention also has an opening 42.
A slide lid 50 is provided to cover. This slide lid 50 is integrally provided with side members 51 on both sides in the longitudinal direction. The side member 51 is provided with a groove 54 on its inner surface, and is provided with a recess 52 on the upper surface of both ends, into which a protrusion 15 provided on the side member 11 of the toner container 1 is engaged, as will be described later. ing.

Further, a protruding strip 53 is provided on the outside of the side member 51, and the protruding strip 53 is connected to the hopper upper member 4 of the toner hopper 40.
1, the slide lid 50 is engaged with the guide groove 471 of the locking member 43 provided in a protruding state on the upper surface thereof, and is provided so as to be slidable along the guide groove 44.
The opening 42 of the gutter hopper 40 can be closed and moved to open the opening.

In addition, the side member 51 of the slide lid 50 of the present invention is provided with a knob 56 and a lock member 55 on its upper portion. This knob 56 is provided so that the operator can easily reach it when moving the slide lid 50, and the lock member 55 engages with the lower frame 5 of the toner container 1. This is used to enable the toner container 1 to be set in a locked state during the toner replenishment operation.

The toner container 1 of the present invention, which is positioned at the upper part of the toner hopper 40 configured as described above and is used for replenishing toner, has a container F frame 5 provided at the lower part of the approximately rectangular container body 2. An opening 3 is formed in the container lower frame 5. The container lower frame 5
has grooves 6 and ridges 7 formed on both sides in the longitudinal direction, and the slide 1 is inserted through these grooves and ridges.
10 is supported on slide n1.

The slide 1110 has side members 11 integrally provided on both sides of the toner container 1 in the longitudinal direction. This side member 11 is provided with an F groove 13 and a lower groove 14 in the upper and lower parts so as to sandwich the slide lid 10 therebetween.

Then, the protrusion 12 forming the upper part of the upper groove 13 is engaged with the groove 6 of the container lower frame 5, and the protrusion 7 of the container lower frame 5 is engaged with the upper groove 13. Therefore, the relationship between the two members is such that the slide lid 10 can slide with respect to the container lower frame 5.

Further, projections 15 are provided on the lower surface of both ends of the side member 11, and these projections 15 cause the slide 150 of the toner hopper 40 to slide when the toner container 1 is set in the toner hopper 40. It is locked in a recess 52 of a side part 4451 that is integrally provided on the side part.

Film seals 2 are provided on the slide lid 10 of the toner container 1 and the slide lid 50 of the toner hopper 40, respectively.
0 and 30 are integrally provided, and the openings of each member are brought into close contact with the slide lid.

One end of these film seals 20 and 30 on the side of the slide lid 10 is adhered to the lower surface of the container lower frame 5 via the adhesive part 21, and the other end is attached to the film holding part. It is glued to the end of member 22.

The film seal 20 covers the top surface of the slide lid 10, and the other end of the slide 110 is
It extends to a film holding member 22 arranged on the lower surface thereof.

Both ends of the film seal 30 are connected to a film holding member 32 disposed on the upper surface of the slide n50, and when the slide lid 5O is slid, the film holding member 32 is integrated into the ffl fJJ Do the same action. During this sliding, the film seal 30
is set to be twice the moving distance of the slide lid 40.

As shown in FIG. 4, the film seal 20 of the present invention
The film holding members 22 and 32 that fix the ends of the film holding members 22 and 30, respectively, are configured as members of the same shape, and have concave portions and convex portions on their surfaces facing each other. Articles are provided.

When the film holding members 22 and 32 are fitted together, the recess 23 is engaged with the protrusion 34, and the protrusion 24 is engaged with the recess 33, so that the upper and lower film holding members 22, 32 are engaged with each other.
will be able to move as one.

In the toner replenishment device of the present invention constructed as described above, before the toner container 1 is installed in the toner hopper of the copying machine, the lower frame 5 of the toner container 1 is
Insert the film seal 20 so as to cover the opening 3.
is adhered thereto, and a slide lid 10 is attached to the lower surface of the film seal 2o. Each of these members is positioned in the relationship shown in FIG.

Further, in the upper member 41 of the toner hopper 40, a slider 50 is provided in a guide groove 44 formed by a locking member 43.
The slide M50 and the film seal 30 are provided so as to cover the opening 42 of the gutter hopper 40 with the protrusion 53 locked.

In the apparatus of the present invention, in order to replenish toner to the toner hopper of the fixing device of the copying machine, a new toner container 1
When the used toner book is set at the top of the toner hopper 40, the protrusions 15 of the slide lid 10 provided at the bottom of the used toner book are respectively locked in the recesses 52 of the slide lid 50, as shown in FIG. and 50 can be moved together.

Further, the holding members 22 and 32 provided at the respective ends of the film seals 20 and 30 have their respective recesses and protrusions engaged with each other. In this state, one protruding part of the lower frame 5 is inserted under the upper guide 45 of the toner hopper, and the other protruding part is set in contact with the rising part 46 of the upper member 41. The container 1 is positioned with respect to the toner hopper, and the toner container is fixed.

In this state, put your finger on the knob 56 and slide the lid side member 5.
1 in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 5, the lock member 55 is initially engaged with the upper surface 5b of the lower frame 5,
The locking member comes to slide along the F surface of the legal frame 5b. In this state! - The toner container 1 is held on one side by the upper guide 45 and on the second side by the locking member 55, so that it is locked onto the toner hopper 40.

By moving the locking member 55 to the right in the figure, the sliding lid 50 is slid through the side member 51 in which the locking member 55 and the knob 56 are integrally provided. The slide lid 10 of the toner container 1 is moved together with the lid 50.

As shown in FIG. 6, when the slide lid 50 is slid, the film seal 30 wrapped around the slide 1W50 is moved. vl
fii X will now be moved by 2x,
At the same time, the movement ffix of the slide lid 10 and the movement 111ffI2xt of the film seal 20 are obtained.

The reason why the movement of the film seal is twice that of the slide lid is because a part of the film seal 30 is fixed to the upper member 41 on the toner hopper side via the film adhesive part 31. Regarding the film seal 30,
As shown in the figure, the film seals 20 which are interlocked with each other through the holding members 32 and 22 are overlapped with each other so that the portions in contact with the toner are in contact with each other.

That is, in the apparatus of the present invention, the toner hover 40
The lower surfaces of the film seal 30 provided to cover the opening of the toner container 1 and the film seal 20 that contacts the toner at the bottom of the toner container 1 are moved so as to overlap each other as shown in FIG. Therefore, the toner that has adhered to the surface of these film seals is not exposed to the outside, but is wrapped between the film seals.

Therefore, the toner contained in the toner container 1 is transferred to the opening 4.
Even when the toner falls from 2 into the toner hopper 40, the dirt on the surface of the film seal caused by the falling toner is wrapped between the upper and lower film seals 20, 30, and the connection between the toner container and the toner hopper 1 to 1. Since no gaps are formed between the parts, the toner cloud is also prevented from scattering to the outside.

Then, when the operation of replenishing the tonneau is completed and the slide lid 50 is moved to the left via the knob 56, the upper and lower slide lids and film seals pass through the movement paths opposite to those when opening, respectively. The opening 41 of the toner hopper 40 and the lower part of the toner container 1 are returned to a state where they are respectively covered.

In this case, the toner-stained surface of the upper film seal is gradually separated as the film seal moves and returns to its original position, so that the toner-stained surface is not exposed to the outside. Become something.

Also, while toner is being replenished from the toner container 1, one side of the frame 5 of the toner container is moved by the upper guide 115, and the other two sides are Since each is fixed to the upper part of the toner hopper, the toner container 1 does not leave the toner hopper, thereby ensuring that unexpected accidents such as toner scattering occur. It will be possible to prevent it.

In the toner replenishing device of the present invention having the above-described mechanism, the specification of the toner container 1 is kept constant L T ! F.J.
The toner container 1 can be configured to contain 300g or 500g of L, e.g.
By setting the lower frame 5 to the same standard and changing the height of the toner container according to the toner storage can, the configuration of the upper member of the toner popper provided in the developing device of the copying machine body can be made to the same standard. This makes it possible to use a common toner container.

When using the toner replenishing device of the present invention, it is possible to adjust the toner capacity by simply changing the height of the toner container, and the copier is large and consumes a large amount of toner. In case of a copy machine, the capacity of the toner hopper will naturally increase, so it is better to use several canisters, and for a small copying machine, it is better to use one small toner canister. be.

Furthermore, the film holding members that lock the ends of the respective films of the toner hopper and toner container of the present invention are not limited to the configurations of the embodiments described above, but may be of the configurations shown in the drawings. The shape is not particularly limited as long as the mechanism is such that both members are reliably locked when combined in this state.

(Effects of the Invention) Since the toner replenishing device of the present invention has the above-described configuration, a slide lid of the same standard is installed on the toner hopper side of the current device of the copying machine and the opening of the toner container. and film stickers, so the type of copying machine,
Even if the toner containers have different toner storage capacities, the same toner containers can be used.

Furthermore, in the toner replenishing device of the present invention, simply by setting the toner container at the top of the toner hopper, the film holding member that fixes the end of the film seal is reliably engaged with the upper and lower slide lids. As a result, the film is slid along with the film, so that openings in the upper and lower members are reliably formed, and the operation of replenishing toner can be easily performed through the openings.

Then, while the toner container of the present invention is attached and the toner hopper is being replenished with toner, the lock IX14M
Since the toner container is fixed to the upper part of the hopper, accidents such as toner scattering around can be prevented from occurring.

Furthermore, when replenishing toner using the toner container of the present invention, the surface of the film seal contaminated with toner is moved by the sliding of the slide lid in a superimposed state, so that the surface adheres to the film seal. The collected toner is not exposed to the upper part of the toner hopper or its surroundings, and surrounding equipment, the operator's hands, etc. are prevented from being contaminated by the toner.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing the configuration of the toner replenishing device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A in FIG. 1, FIG. Figure 4 is a perspective view showing the relationship between the upper and lower film seals and the holding member, Figure 5 is an explanatory view showing the toner container set in the toner hopper, and Figure 6 is an explanatory view showing the toner container opened. , 7th
The figure is a perspective view showing the structure of a conventional toner container.
This figure is a sectional view showing the toner container shown in FIG. 7 in a state where the slide lid is opened. Reference numeral 1 in the figure: toner container; 2: container body;
3... Frontage, 5... F frame, 6...
... Concave groove, 7 ... Convex strip, 10 ... Slide lid, 11 ... Slide rose side member, 12.
...Convex ridge, 13...Upper groove, 14...
... Lower groove, 15 ... Protrusion, 20 ...
・Film seal, 21...Film adhesive part,
22... Holding member, 23... Concavity, 2
4...Convex strip, 30...Film seal, 31...Film adhesive part, 32...
Holding member, 33... - recess, 34... protrusion, 40... toner hopper, 41...
- Upper member, 42... Frontage, 43... Locking member, 44... Guide groove, 45... Upper guide, 46...・Rising part, 50...
...Sliding lid, 51...Sliding lid side member,
52... Concavity, 53... Protrusion, 54.
...Concave groove, 55...Lock member, 5 first
Figure 8 Figure 2 Figure 3 Hehe Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 7 Figure 8

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A lid member that can be opened and closed is provided at the opening of a toner hopper of a developing device provided in the main body of the copying machine, and the lid member is provided with a slide lid and so as to cover the slide lid. A part of the film seal is fixed to the upper part of the toner hopper via an adhesive part, and a locking member is integrally provided on the side member of the slide lid, and the opening of the toner hopper is fixed to the opening of the toner hopper. A lid member that can be opened and closed is provided at the opening of the toner container that is set in the lower part of the toner container for replenishing toner, and the lid member is connected to a sliding lid and a film seal that covers the top surface of the sliding lid. The film holding members provided on the toner hopper side and the end of the film seal of the toner container are configured to have the same shape, and by fitting both members, the two upper and lower films are interlocked. and when replenishing toner from the toner container, the slide lid of the toner container is slid along the opening along with the film seal in conjunction with the sliding operation of the slide lid of the toner hopper. A toner replenishing device characterized by: