JP2907441B2 - Developer supply container and electrophotographic device - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a developer supply container and an electrophotographic apparatus.

2. Description of the Related Art As a developer (hereinafter referred to as toner) replenishing device in a conventional electrophotographic apparatus, a configuration shown in FIGS. 4 to 9 of the accompanying drawings is known. As shown in FIG. 4, the toner bottle 50 as a developer replenishing means has a replenishing port 51, which is an opening of the toner bottle 50, all around or heat-sealed by a sealing material 52. The end 53 can be pulled out.
In use, the toner bottle 50 as described above is installed such that a storage port 55 as an opening of a hopper 54 as a developer storage container and a supply port 51 of the toner bottle 50 face each other as shown in FIG. While pressing the toner bottle 50 against the hopper 54, the sealing material 52 is pulled out in the direction of the arrow P to remove the sealing material.
Peel off 52. Thus, the supply port 51 of the toner bottle 50 communicates with the storage port 55 of the hopper 54, and the toner in the toner bottle 50 is supplied into the hopper 54.

However, in the above-described apparatus, since the toner bottle 50 is discarded after the toner supply is completed, there is a problem that a large amount of toner exceeding the opening surface of the hopper 54 cannot be supplied. If the toner bottle 50 is left on the hopper as shown in FIG. 6, a large amount of toner exceeding the opening of the hopper 54 can be supplied.

Further, a toner bottle 50 as shown in FIG. 7 has been proposed. As shown in FIG. 7, the toner bottle 50 has a supply port 51 divided into three places, and the supply port 51 is opened and closed by moving a movable shutter plate 56 as shown by an arrow Q. I have. The toner bottle 50 is inserted into the locking hole 57 of the hopper 54 shown in FIG.
By fitting the two-way shaft 58, it is possible to rotate as shown by the arrow C in FIG. Therefore, when replenishing, the toner supply port 51 of the toner bottle 50 and the hopper
The toner can be replenished by opening the shutter plate 56 with the 54 storage ports 55 aligned, and during maintenance work, the shutter plate 56 can be closed before the toner bottle 50 can be removed. Even if it does, it will not be scattered or lost from the toner bottle.

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] The present invention is a further development of the above-mentioned conventional technology. According to the present invention, there is provided a developer supply container capable of reducing a surrounding space required when a shutter is opened, and an electrophotographic apparatus in which developer is supplied using the developer supply container. It is an object.

Further, the present invention provides a developer supply container capable of preventing a malfunction such as closing a door with a shutter closed, and an electrophotographic apparatus in which developer is supplied using the developer supply container. The purpose is to do.

[Means for Solving the Problems] According to the present invention, the object is to provide a developer replenishing container with a removable developer replenishing device provided in an electrophotographic apparatus having an openable and closable door. In the container, a container main body for storing the developer, a developer supply opening for discharging the developer stored in the container main body, and a sealing position for sealing the developer supply opening. A shutter retractable from the sealing position and movable between an unsealing position for unsealing the developer replenishing opening, and a front end side can be bent in a moving direction of moving from the sealing position to the unsealing position. A shutter, when attached to the developer receiving device, when the shutter is located at the unsealing position, the shutter is folded in order to avoid interference between the shutter and the door. Allowing bending, and a regulating member that regulates the bending of the shutter to prevent the shutter from closing when the shutter interferes with the door when the shutter is located at the sealing position, , Which is achieved by:

Further, the object is to provide an electrophotographic apparatus capable of replenishing a developer using a developer supply container with respect to an electrophotographic apparatus using the developer supply container, comprising: a. A container main body for storing the developer, a developer supply opening for discharging the developer stored in the container main body, a sealing position for sealing the developer supply opening; A shutter capable of moving from an unsealing position to an unsealing position for unsealing the developer supply opening, the shutter being capable of bending a tip in a moving direction of moving from the sealing position to the unsealing position; When the shutter is in the unsealing position when mounted on the developer receiving device, the shutter is allowed to bend in order to avoid interference between the shutter and the door. When the shutter is located at the sealing position, the developer replenishing container having a regulating member that regulates the bending of the shutter to prevent the shutter from interfering with the door and preventing the door from closing is removed. A developer receiving device for removably mounting the developer receiving device, and c. Locking means for releasably locking the developer supply container mounted on the developer receiving device to the developer receiving device. Achieved by

According to the present invention, since the shutter for opening and closing the supply opening is configured to be bendable, the shutter is bent to reduce the protruding length in the sliding direction. The required space can be minimized.

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 together with a reference example.

Here, the embodiment described below is a developer storage container having a storage opening formed upwardly for storing the developer,
The developing device having a supply port for dropping and supplying the developer to the developer storage container in communication with the storage port when the developer storage container is disposed on the developer storage container, and a shutter plate for opening and closing the supply port; An electrophotographic apparatus comprising: a developer supply unit that is detachable from a developer container; wherein the developer supply unit is a shutter plate that slides to open and close the supply port; Is formed to be bendable with a bending member, forms a single flat plate inside the developer supply means, closes the supply port, and is bent outside the developer supply means. Thus, the protruding length from the developer replenishing means in the sliding direction is reduced.

Further, the developer replenishing means has a member for restricting bending of the shutter plate at a closed position outside the developer replenishing means.

FIG. 1 shows a reference example, in which 1 is a hopper which is a developer storage container for storing the developer, and the hopper 1 is formed with a storage opening 2 opened upward. The storage port 2 communicates with a supply port 4 of a toner bottle 3 which is a developer supply means disposed on the hopper 1 to allow the developer in the toner bottle 3 to fall and be replenished. The third supply port 4 can be opened and closed by a shutter plate 5. The main body of the toner bottle 3 is also rotatable about the two-way shaft 6 by attaching the two-way shaft 6 formed outside the toner bottle 3 to the groove 7 formed in the hopper 1. The storage port 2 and the supply port 4 communicate with each other without shifting. When the storage port 2 and the supply port 4 are communicated with each other, a lock lever 9 serving as a holding member for holding a protrusion 8 provided on the toner bottle 3 for bringing the hopper 1 into close contact with the toner bottle 3 is provided. The hopper 1 is movably disposed. The lock lever 9 has a holding groove 11 formed therein. After the projection 8 formed on the toner bottle 3 is fitted with the guide groove 12 formed on the hopper 1, the holding groove 11 is The toner bottle 3 and the hopper 1 are fixed to each other while holding the portion 8.

Next, the shutter plate 5 will be described in detail.
The shutter plate 5 is slidably attached to the toner bottle 3 and has a single flat plate shape inside the toner bottle 3, so that the supply port 4 is closed as in the conventional example shown in FIG. It can be closed. Further, when the toner bottle 3 is outside the toner bottle 3, it can be bent around the shaft 13 serving as a bending member as shown in FIG. There is no interference with the door 14 of the photographic apparatus main body.

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b). The same parts as those in the above-described embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

In the apparatus of the present embodiment, outside the toner bottle 3,
As shown in FIG. 3 (a), a regulating groove 15 for regulating the bending of the shutter plate 5 at the closed position is formed. In the closed position as shown in FIG. 3 (b), the movement of the shutter plate 5 in the direction in which the shutter plate 5 is bent (the direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 3 (b)) is restricted by the restriction groove 15. In such a closed position, the protruding portion in the sliding direction is long and extends to the outside of the door 14, so that the door 14 cannot be closed. Therefore, the door 14
In order to close the shutter plate, it is necessary to move the shutter plate 5 to the open position indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 3 (a), and the same effect as that of the reference example is obtained while the shutter plate 5 is closed. An erroneous operation such as closing the door 14 can be prevented.

In the above embodiment, the handle portion 16 of the lock lever 9 shown in FIG. 1 is extended so that the shutter plate 5 in the open position and the position of the lock lever 9 when releasing the holding interfere with each other. Thus, in addition to the above-described effects, it is possible to prevent an erroneous operation of removing the toner bottle 3 with the shutter plate 5 kept open.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, since the shutter is configured to be bendable, it is necessary to attach the developer supply container to the developer receiving device and supply the developer. The space can be reduced, and the size of the main body of the electrophotographic apparatus can be reduced.

Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to prevent an erroneous operation such as closing the door with the shutter closed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a schematic configuration of a reference example apparatus of the present invention,
FIG. 2 is a front view showing a schematic configuration around a shutter plate of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 (a) is a front view showing a schematic configuration of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 4 (a) is a plan view around a shutter plate of the apparatus, FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a conventional developer replenishing device, and FIG. FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a conventional developer replenishing device to which the apparatus of FIG. 4 is detachably attached, FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a conventional developer replenishing device having a shutter plate, and FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a conventional developer accommodating container to which the device shown in FIG. 7 can be attached, and FIG. 9 is a front view showing a state where the device shown in FIG. 7 is attached to the container shown in FIG. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Developer storage container (hopper) 2 ... Storage opening 3 ... Developer supply means (toner bottle) 4 ... Supply port 5 ... Shutter plate 9 ... Holding member (lock lever) 13 ... Bending Element

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References Japanese Utility Model Sho-63-135359 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model Sho-63-174360 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model Sho-49-10902 (JP, U) 128694 (JP, U) J. 55-10290 (JP, Y2) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G03G 15/08

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] A developer supply container detachably mountable to a developer receiving device provided in an electrophotographic apparatus having an openable and closable door, comprising: a container main body for storing a developer; A developer supply opening for discharging the developer, a sealing position for sealing the developer supply opening, and an opening position for retracting from the sealing position and opening the developer supply opening. A shutter that can be bent at the tip end in the moving direction from the sealing position to the unsealing position, and the shutter is mounted in the developer receiving device when the shutter is in the unsealing position. When the shutter is located at the sealing position, the shutter is allowed to bend to avoid interference between the shutter and the door. A developer supply container, comprising: a regulating member that regulates bending of the shutter to prevent the shutter from interfering with the door and closing the door. 2. An electrophotographic apparatus capable of replenishing developer using a developer replenishing container, comprising: a. An openable and closable door; b. A container body for storing the developer; A developer supply opening for discharging the developer, a sealing position for sealing the developer supply opening, and an opening for retracting from the sealing position and opening the developer supply opening. A shutter whose tip can be bent in a moving direction of moving from the sealing position to the unsealing position; and a shutter which is mounted on the developer receiving device when the shutter is in the unsealing position. When the shutter is in the closed position, the shutter is allowed to bend in order to avoid interference between the shutter and the door. A regulating member that regulates the folding of the shutter to prevent the door from closing due to interference; a developer receiving device for removably mounting a developer supply container having: c. The developer receiving device An electrophotographic apparatus, comprising: a locking means for releasably locking the developer supply container mounted on the apparatus to the developer receiving device.