JP2921914B2 - Image forming device - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying machine or a laser beam printer, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus in which a developer is supplied by a developer supply container.

(Prior Art) There are many image forming apparatuses in which a developer (toner) is supplied using a developer supply container having a slide-type opening / closing lid.

Various methods are conceivable for replenishing toner with the developer replenishing container. For example, after the developer replenishing container is attached to the apparatus main body, the opening / closing lid of the developer replenishing container and the apparatus main body side are used. By fixing the opening / closing lid and sliding the opening / closing lid on the apparatus main body side, the opening / closing lid on the developer supply container side is also slid, and toner is supplied to the apparatus main body side by the developer supply container. Is known.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, even when the opening / closing lid on the apparatus main body side and the opening / closing lid of the developer supply container are simultaneously opened / closed, the opening / closing timing of the opening by the opening / closing lid of the developer supply container cannot be improved. The opening / closing timing of the opening by the opening / closing lid on the apparatus main body side does not always coincide with the opening / closing timing of the developer supply container. Is attached to the opening / closing lid on the side of the apparatus main body, and the apparatus main body is contaminated with the developer.

The same can be said for the case where the opening of the developer supply container is closed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide an image forming apparatus in which, when replenishing a developer with a developer replenishing container, the apparatus main body side is not stained with the developer. is there.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a developer supply comprising a first opening for supplying a developer, and a first opening / closing lid for opening and closing the opening. A container, a mounting portion to which the developer supply container is removably mounted, and receiving a supply of developer from the opening of the developer supply container when the developer supply container is mounted to the mounting portion. And an opening and closing lid for opening and closing the second opening, the second opening and closing when the developer supply container is attached to the attachment portion. Prohibiting means for prohibiting opening of the first opening / closing lid before opening the lid, and prohibiting closing of the second opening / closing lid before closing the first opening / closing lid; The opening / closing lid determines whether the developer supply container is mounted on the mounting portion. It can be opened regardless of

(Function) According to the present invention, when the first and second opening / closing lids are opened to supply the developer in the developer supply container after the developer supply container is mounted on the mounting portion, the first and second lids on the mounting portion side may be used. Since the first opening / closing lid on the side of the developer supply container cannot be opened until after the opening / closing lid of No. 2 is opened, the developer in the developer supply container closes the second opening on the mounting section side. The apparatus main body including the mounting portion is not contaminated with the developer.

When the first and second lids are closed after the developer is supplied, the second lid cannot be closed only after the first lid on the developer supply container side is closed. In addition, the developer remaining in the developer supply container does not scatter to the apparatus main body including the mounting portion, thereby preventing contamination of the apparatus main body by the developer.

Further, since the second opening / closing lid on the mounting portion side can be opened even when the developer supply container is not mounted on the mounting portion,
Even before the detection of the absence of the developer in the apparatus main body is activated, it is possible to open the second opening / closing lid to check how much developer remains in the apparatus main body, and to close the second opening / closing lid. Open for easy maintenance.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First, the overall configuration of the image forming apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. 2. In the figure, reference numeral 30 denotes a photosensitive drum serving as an image carrier, and a primary charging device 31, a developing device 32, and a transfer charging device are provided around the photosensitive drum 30. A cassette 33, a paper feed roller 36, a registration roller 37 are provided on the upstream side of the photosensitive drum 30, and a transport belt 38, a fixing device 39, a paper discharge roller 40, etc. are provided on the downstream side. Are arranged. A document positioning unit 42 for positioning the document on the placing glass 41 above the photosensitive drum 30 and a document for scanning the document on the placing glass 41 and exposing the image light L on the photosensitive drum 30 Scanning unit 43
Are arranged.

That is, the photosensitive drum uniformly charged by the primary charger 31
When image light L is exposed on document 30 via document scanning unit 43, an electrostatic latent image is formed on photosensitive drum 30.
The electrostatic latent image is supplied with a developer (toner) by a developing device 32 to be visualized as a toner image. Then, the toner image is transferred onto the transfer paper P via the transfer charger 33.

On the other hand, the transfer paper P in the paper supply cassette 35 is taken out one by one by the paper supply roller 36, and then sent to the registration roller 37, and the timing is adjusted by the registration roller 37 toward the photosensitive drum 30. Conveyed. Then, when the toner image on the photosensitive drum 30 is transferred onto the transfer paper P by the transfer charger 33, the transfer paper P is sent to the fixing device 39 via the conveyor belt 38, and the fixing device 39 The toner image is fixed as a permanent image. Then, the transfer paper P on which the fixing has been completed is stacked on a paper discharge tray 44 by a paper discharge roller 40.

Here, a toner hopper 10 for supplying toner to the developing device 32 is provided above the developing device 32, and a hopper upper cover 10a above the toner hopper 10 is provided with a hinge cover 45 provided at an upper portion of the apparatus main body. It is arranged below. And
To supply toner into the toner hopper 10, the hinge lid 45 is opened, the developer supply container 20 is mounted on the hopper upper lid 10a, and the toner in the developer supply container 20 may be dropped.

As shown in FIG. 1, the developer supply container 20 surrounds a container main body 21 having a toner for replenishment therein and a first opening 21a (see FIG. 3) at a lower portion of the container main body 21. Positioning protrusions 22a are provided at the four outer peripheral corners (see FIG. 4 or FIG. 5).
The guide member 22 includes a container opening / closing lid 23 that is a first opening / closing lid that reciprocates in a sliding manner with respect to the guide member 22 to open and close the opening 21a of the container body 21. .

Then, as shown in FIG. 3, the developer supply container 20 is positioned on the container mounting portion 11 of the hopper upper lid 10a, and the container opening / closing lid 23 is located forward (A direction) or rearward (B direction) in FIG. , And the toner in the developer supply container 20 is supplied into the toner hopper 10.
In FIG. 3, reference numeral 25 denotes a seal member for the container opening / closing lid 23.

As shown in FIG. 3, the container mounting portion 11 of the hopper upper lid 10a is provided with a second opening 12 for toner supply, and the opening 12 is a second opening / closing lid provided above the opening. It can be opened and closed by a hopper opening / closing lid 15. The hopper opening / closing lid 15 is perpendicular to the sliding direction of the container opening / closing lid 23 with respect to the hopper upper lid 10a (C or D in FIG. 3).
Direction), and a seal member 16 is provided around the outer periphery thereof, and a hopper opening / closing lid 15 is provided.
With the slide, the seal member 16 prevents the toner from leaking to the outside.

As shown in FIG. 3 or FIG. 6, around the opening 12 of the container mounting portion 11, there is provided a mounting portion 13 for mounting and sliding the developer supply container 20. The mounting part
Angle-shaped guide members 14, 14 are attached to the left and right opposite two sides of 13 so as to sandwich the positioning projection 22a of the developer supply container 20 from above.

As shown in FIG. 6, the positioning projections 22a of the developer supply container 20 are provided on the front and rear end sides of the guide members 14, 14, respectively.
Four notches 14a of the same shape and slightly larger in size
The notch portion 14a and the positioning protrusion 22a are aligned up and down, so that the developer supply container 20 is placed in a state of being pushed onto the placement portion 13 of the container mounting portion 11 of the hopper upper lid 10a. You. Then, in this state, the developer supply container 20 is slid forward (in the direction A in FIG. 1 or FIG. 6) until the positioning protrusion 22a or the like on the front side abuts against the positioning end 13a of the container mounting portion 11. As a result, the opening 12 of the container
And the opening 21a of the developer supply container 20 coincides with the top and bottom, so that the developer supply container 20 is positioned on the hopper upper lid 10a.

Therefore, the developer supply container 20 is dropped onto the mounting portion 13 of the container mounting portion 11 of the hopper upper lid 10a, and this developer supply container
When the developer supply container 20 is slid forward by a predetermined amount, the developer replenishing container 20 is positioned on the container mounting portion 11. Next, the hopper opening / closing cover 15 of the hopper upper cover 10a is slid in the C direction to thereby cause the container mounting portion 11 to slide. After the opening 12 is opened, the container opening / closing lid 23 of the developer supply container 20 is slid in the direction A to open the opening 21a, and the toner in the developer supply container 20 is supplied into the toner hopper 10. The Rukoto.

As shown in FIG. 8, a front side of the container opening / closing lid 23 of the developer supply container 20 is formed with a grip portion 23a that curves upward, and an elastic claw 24 is guided below the grip portion 23a. Member 22
When the grip 23a is pulled forward in the direction of arrow A, the container opening / closing lid 23 is slid open as shown in FIG. 9, and the toner in the container main body 21 is removed by the toner hopper.
In addition, the elastic claw 24 is pushed down by the container opening / closing lid 23 and is engaged with the groove 17 of the hopper upper lid 10a, so that the developer supply container 20 is prevented from sliding forward and backward, and the hopper upper lid 10a Can not be removed from

Now, when toner is supplied into the toner hopper 10 by the developer supply container 20, the container opening / closing lid 23 slides, and before the opening 21a of the developer supply container 20 opens, the hopper opening / closing lid 15 slides to mount the container. If the opening 12 of the section 11 is not opened, the toner in the developer supply container 20 is accumulated on the hopper opening / closing lid 15, and the toner contaminates around the container mounting section 11 of the hopper upper lid 10a.

Therefore, the present invention provides a prohibiting means for preventing the container opening / closing lid 23 of the developer supply container 20 from sliding unless the hopper opening / closing lid 15 slides and the opening 12 of the container mounting section 11 is opened. Opening / closing mechanism is provided.

That is, as shown in FIG. 3, a rib 26 extending in the left-right direction is provided on the lower surface of the container opening / closing lid 23, and the projection 18 engaging with the rib 26 is provided on the hopper opening / closing lid 15. Although the left end of the rib 26 in FIG. 3 reaches near the inner surface of the guide member 22, the right end of the rib 26 is disposed only to a position slightly separated from the inner surface of the guide member 22. , This rib 26
Only when the projection 18 of the hopper opening / closing lid 15 has moved to the disengagement position 27 formed between the right end of the guide member 22 and the inner surface of the guide member 22, the container opening / closing lid 23 of the developer supply container 20 can slide. I have.

Thus, when the developer supply container 20 has just been positioned at the container mounting portion 11 of the hopper upper lid 10a, as shown in FIG. Since the container opening / closing lid 23 is slid in the direction A in this state, the opening 21a of the developer supply container 20 cannot be opened.

On the other hand, after the hopper opening / closing lid 15 is slid in the direction C and the opening 12 of the container mounting portion 11 is opened, the projection 18 of the hopper opening / closing lid 15 has no rib 26 as shown in FIG. In order to move to the engagement releasing position 27, the container opening / closing lid 23 can be slid in the direction A in this state, and the opening 21a of the developer supply container 20 can be opened.

Therefore, in the present invention, the opening 21a of the developer supply container 20 cannot be opened by sliding the container opening / closing lid 23 unless the hopper opening / closing lid 15 is slid and the opening 12 is opened. The toner in the supply container 20 does not stain the hopper opening / closing lid 15. 7, reference numeral 28 denotes a guide rib provided on the hopper opening / closing lid 15.

Although the case where the openings 12, 21a are opened by the hopper opening / closing lid 15 and the container opening / closing lid 23 has been described above, the case where the openings 12, 21a are closed by the hopper opening / closing lid 15 and the container opening / closing lid 23, If the opening 12 is closed by the hopper opening / closing lid 15 before the opening 21a is closed, the residual toner is scattered in the developer supply container 20 on the hopper opening / closing lid 15, and the toner surrounds the container mounting portion 11 of the hopper upper lid 10a. Will be polluted.

Therefore, in the present invention, the hopper opening / closing lid 15 of the hopper upper lid 10a cannot be slid unless the container opening / closing lid 23 slides and the opening 21a of the developer supply container 20 is closed.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, the container opening / closing lid 23 is slid to close the opening 21a of the developer supply container 20, and the hopper opening / closing lid 15 is slid to set the container mounting section.
The timing of closing the 11 openings 12 is not related to each other, and any of them can be closed first, but in this case,
For example, a pin that engages with the end of the hopper opening / closing lid 15 is provided on the container opening / closing lid 23 side with the opening 12 fully opened by sliding the hopper opening / closing lid 15, and the container opening / closing lid 23 is slid to develop. The hopper opening / closing lid 15 can be slid to close the opening 12 of the container mounting section 11 only after closing the opening 21a of the agent supply container 20 and disengaging the pin from the hopper opening / closing lid 15. You just need to make it impossible.

By the way, in the present embodiment, the hopper opening / closing lid 15 on the mounting portion 11 side can be opened even when the developer supply container 20 is not mounted on the container mounting portion 11, so that the detection of the absence of the developer in the apparatus main body can be performed. The hopper opening / closing lid 15 can be opened to check how much toner remains in the apparatus main body even before the operation, and the hopper opening / closing lid 15 can be opened for easy maintenance.

Note that a sealing member for sealing the opening 21a is attached to the opening 21a of the developer supply container 20, and the opening and closing cover is slid so that the sealing member is peeled off to open the opening 21a. Needless to say, the above-described invention can be applied to the supply container 20.

(Effects of the Invention) As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, after the developer supply container is mounted on the mounting portion, the first and second opening / closing lids are opened to develop the developer in the developer supply container. When replenishing the drug,
The first opening / closing lid on the developer supply container side cannot be opened until after the second opening / closing lid on the mounting section side is opened. 2
Can be reliably supplied through the opening, and contamination of the apparatus main body including the mounting portion by the developer can be prevented.

Further, when the first and second opening / closing lids are closed after supplying the developer, the second opening / closing lid cannot be closed unless the first opening / closing lid on the side of the developer supply container is closed. In addition, the developer remaining in the developer supply container does not scatter to the apparatus main body including the mounting portion, so that the developer on the apparatus main body can be prevented from being contaminated.

Further, since the second opening / closing lid on the mounting portion side can be opened even when the developer supply container is not mounted on the mounting portion,
Even before the detection of the absence of the developer in the apparatus main body is activated, it is possible to open the second opening / closing lid to check how much developer remains in the apparatus main body, and to close the second opening / closing lid. Open for easy maintenance.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 is a perspective view showing a state in which a developer supply container is attached to a container mounting portion of a hopper upper lid, FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of an image forming apparatus, and FIG. Sectional drawing showing the state of being attached to the mounting part, FIG.
Fig. 5 is a plan view of a guide member of the developer supply container, Fig. 5 is a side view of the guide member, Fig. 6 is a plan view of a container mounting portion of a hopper upper lid, and Fig. 7 is a container opening / closing lid and a hopper opening / closing lid. FIG. 8 is a partial sectional view of a developer supply container and the like around the container opening / closing lid, and FIG. 9 is an operation explanatory view of the container opening / closing lid. 10a ……………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….
... Projection (opening and closing mechanism), 20 ... Developer supply container, 23 ...
Container opening / closing lid (opening / closing lid of developer supply container), 26... Rib (opening / closing mechanism).

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A developer supply container having a first opening for supplying a developer, a first opening / closing lid for opening and closing the opening, and the developer supply container is detachably mounted. A mounting portion, a second opening for receiving a supply of developer from the opening of the developer supply container when the developer supply container is mounted on the mounting portion, and opening and closing the second opening. An opening and closing lid, wherein when the developer supply container is attached to the attachment portion, the first opening and closing lid is opened before opening the second opening and closing lid. Prohibiting means for prohibiting closing of the second opening / closing lid before closing the first opening / closing lid, wherein the second opening / closing lid has the developer supply container mounted on the mounting portion. Image that can be opened regardless of whether it is open Forming equipment.