JP2927622B2 - Developer supply device in image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a developer supply device for efficiently supplying a developer into a developing tank when the developer is replaced in an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying machine or a laser printer. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 7 shows an example of a developer supply device in a conventional image forming apparatus. 1 is a developing tank, 2 is a magnet roller (only the lower half is shown), 3 is an agitator, 3a is an agitator blade, 4 is a developer conveying screw, 5 is a developer discharging screw, 6 is a discharge port, 7 is a toner supply tank, Reference numeral 8 denotes a toner conveying screw, 9 denotes a toner supply roller, 10 denotes a developer supply tank, 11 denotes a developer supply screw, and 12 denotes a developer storage bag.

Here, in order to supply the developer D to the developing tank 1, the magnet roller 2, the agitator 3, and the developer supply screw 11 in the developing tank 1 are driven by a key operation. When the developer D in the developer storage bag 12 is supplied from the opening of the developer supply tank 10, the developer D is transported by the developer supply screw 11 to the developer transport screw 4, and the developer transport screw 4
To the agitator 3. Then, since the agitator blade 3a has good stirring properties in the radial direction, the developer D is uniformly supplied into the developing tank 1 after several minutes. In addition,
The developer discharging screw 5 is driven only when the developer is discharged.

[0004]

In the prior art, when the developer D is supplied into the developing tank 1, the amount of the developer D is
What has been measured in advance in a specified amount according to the developing tank has to be put in the developer accommodating bag 12 or bottle.

However, the size of the developing tank varies depending on the size (the number of copies) of the image forming apparatus main body. If the size of the image forming apparatus main body is large, a large developing tank is required. For this reason, the amount of the developer D to be put therein differs depending on the apparatus main body. For example, when the number of copies is several sheets / minute, the developer D may be several hundred g, but when the number of copies is 100 sheets / minute, several kg of the developer D is required.

Therefore, when trying to use the same developer D in some of these machines, several types of developer storage bags 12 or bottles are required.

In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a developer supply device capable of efficiently supplying a developer regardless of the size of an image forming apparatus main body.

[0008]

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention SUMMARY According to claim 1, as shown in FIG. 1 and 2, old in the developing tank 22 Waste
Image type for developing by replacing developer D with new developer D
A deposition apparatus, wherein the developing tank 22 developer supply tank 24 for supplying a predetermined amount of the developer D to a detection means 27 for detecting the amount of developer is introduced into the developer supply tank 24, the the detection means 27 in which a notification means 28 for notifying when it is detected that the developer D is specified amount charged into the developer replenishing tank 24 is provided.

According to the second aspect, the developer supply tank 24 and the developing tank
Opening and closing body 2 for opening and closing a supply port 25 formed between
Includes a 6, after the developer D is defined amount charged is informed, supplying means 29 for supplying the developer D in the developing tank 22 by opening the closing member 26 is provided in the developer supply tank 24 It is a thing.

[0010]

According to the above-mentioned means for solving the above problems, in the developing tank 22
When the developer D is replaced with a new developer D, when the developer D is charged into the developer supply tank 24, the detecting means 27 detects the amount of the developer D. Then, when the developer D is supplied up to the specified amount, the notification unit 28 notifies.

Thereafter, the supply of the developer D is stopped, the opening / closing member 26 is operated to open the supply port 25, and the developer D is supplied to the developing tank 22.

[0012]

FIG. 1 is a structural view of a developer supply device showing one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the same developing device, and FIG. 3 shows a structure of a ceramic vibrator for detecting a developer amount. FIG. 4A is a front view, FIG. 4B is a side view thereof, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the amplitude of the ceramic vibrator at the time of detection, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the amplitude of the ceramic vibrator at the time of non-detection.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a developing device of an image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a developing tank 22 arranged around a photosensitive member 21.
And a toner replenishing tank 23 mounted above the developing tank 22.
And

Then, a developer tank 2 is used as a developer supply device.
And a supply port 25 formed between the developer supply tank 24 and the developer tank 22.
An opening / closing body 26 that opens and closes, a detection unit 27 that detects the amount of developer charged into the developer supply tank 24, and a predetermined amount of the developer D is supplied to the developer supply tank 24 by the detection unit 27. And a notifying means 28 for notifying that the developer D has been supplied to the developer replenishing tank 24, and then supplying the developer D to the developing tank 22 by opening the opening / closing member 26 Means 29 are provided.

In the developing tank 22, a developing roller 30 and
A stirring roller 31 and a transport body 32 for transporting the supplied developer D are rotatably mounted inside. A developer discharging screw 33 is disposed in a recess at the bottom of the developing tank 22 and is housed in a carry-out cylinder 34 protruding from the developing tank 22, and both ends thereof are rotatably supported via bearings.

A discharge port 35 is formed in the carry-out cylinder 34, and the discharge port 35 is connected to a collection container 37 via a discharge pipe 36. An opening / closing shutter 38 is provided at the discharge port 35 so as to be openable and closable, and is closed during the copying operation.

As shown in FIG. 1, the transport body 32 has a screw 32a on one side and an agitator 32b on the other side for agitating the developer D in the circumferential direction. One side of the carrier 32 is provided inside a carry-in tube 39 protruding from the developing tank 22, and the shaft 40 of the carrier 32 is fixed to the wall of the developer tank and the carry-in tube 39.
The end is rotatably supported via a bearing. In addition,
In FIG. 2, 41 is a doctor, 42 is a sink plate, and 43 is a toner density sensor.

A toner supply roller 44 and a pair of toner conveying screws 45 are rotatably provided in the toner supply tank 23 and communicate with the developing tank 22 through a toner supply port 46.

The developer replenishing tank 24 is arranged on the front side of the image forming apparatus main body so as to easily replenish the developer D, and the upper part of the developer replenishing tank 24 is opened so as to easily supply the developer D. ing. The bottom of the developer supply tank 24 is inclined toward the supply port 25 so that the developer D can easily flow into the developer supply tank 24, and a developer supply pipe 47 communicated with the carry-in tube 39 is provided below the bottom. In the developer supply pipe 47, a developer supply screw 48 is rotatably mounted.

The opening / closing body 26 is a shutter for opening and closing the supply port 25. The shutter 26 is rotatably provided in the supply port 25, is driven by a motor (not shown), and is closed during copying.

The detecting means 27 is a piezoelectric weight sensor, is provided above the supply port 25 on the inclined surface of the developer replenishing tank 24, and the detecting section 49 of the weight sensor 27 is constituted by a ceramic vibrator. It faces the inner wall of the developer supply tank 24. The amount of the developer D in the developer supply tank 24 is detected based on how much pressure of the developer D is applied to the ceramic vibrator 49.

The ceramic vibrator 49 has a main pole 50, a vibration pole 51, and a detection pole 52 as shown in FIG.
A constant input signal is input between 0 and the vibrating pole 51. As the amount of the developer D increases, the amplitude of the vibration decreases. The magnitude of the amplitude is detected by the detection pole 52 and sent to the detection circuit of the microcomputer. In this way, as shown in FIG. 4, when the amount of the developer D is large, the pressure increases, so that the amplitude of the ceramic vibrator 49 decreases. When the amount of the developer D is small, the pressure decreases. Thus, the amplitude of the ceramic vibrator 49 increases.

The notifying means 28 is constituted by an LED or the like. When the weight sensor 27 detects a predetermined amount of the developer D which is set in advance according to the capacity of the developing tank 22 or the like, the notification from the weight sensor 27 is made. LE by output signal
D is turned on.

When the developer supply key is turned on after the LED of the notification means 28 is turned on based on a signal from the microcomputer, the supply means 29 opens the shutter 26, and the developer supply screw 48 , And the carrier 32 and the stirring roller 31 are driven by a driving device (motor, gear, etc.) not shown.

In the above configuration, when the old waste developer D is discharged and replaced with the new developer D, the developer discharging screw 33 is rotated by a driving device (not shown), and the opening / closing shutter 38 is opened. The waste developer D inside moves in the direction A by the rotation of the developer discharge screw 33, drops from the discharge port 35 of the discharge tube 34, and is guided to the collection container 37.

Next, in order to supply a new developer D, the developer D stored in the developer bottle 53 is supplied to the developer supply tank 2.
4 through the opening. In the developer bottle 53,
A prescribed amount of developer D is stored several times.

At this time, since the supply port 25 has the shutter 26 closed, the developer D charged into the developer supply tank 24 gradually accumulates in the developer supply tank 24. As the pressure by the developer D increases, the amplitude of the ceramic vibrator 49 gradually decreases, and the output signal from the weight sensor 27 decreases.

When the amount of the developer D charged into the developer replenishing tank 24 reaches a specified amount, the level of the output signal from the weight sensor 27 becomes a predetermined level, and the specified amount of the developer is The weight sensor 27 detects that D has been inserted.

The microcomputer outputs a signal to the notifying means 28 based on the output signal from the weight sensor 27, and the LED is turned on. When the LED lights up,
The user stops charging the developer D.

Here, the error in the amount of the supplied developer differs depending on the accuracy of the weight sensor 27 used, and is usually ±
It is about 5% or less. For example, even if 1000 g of the developer D is added, there is a maximum error of about ± 50 g.

On the other hand, the developing tank 22 used has an error of ± 10% with respect to the amount of the developer D to be charged.
For example, a reference amount of 1000 g is designed with a margin of ± 100 g or more, so that the accuracy of the weight sensor 27 does not need to be increased more than necessary.

The above-mentioned margin includes, in addition to the capacity of the developing tank 22, stirring performance, toner density control, and the like.

Thereafter, when the developer supply key is turned on,
The shutter 26 is opened, and the developer supply screw 48, the conveyance body 32, and the stirring roller 31 are rotated by the driving device. Then, the developer D in the developer replenishing tank 24 flows into the carry-in cylinder 39 by the developer supply screw 48, is conveyed in the direction B by the screw 32a, is diffused in the circumferential direction by the agitator 32b, and is
1 causes the developing tank 22 to be filled with a prescribed amount of the developer D.

As described above, the developer supply tank 24 of the developing device
Within, the specified amount of the developer D can be measured, so there is no need to measure the amount of the developer according to the size of the image forming apparatus main body in advance and store it in a storage bag or a bottle,
If the developer D is put in a large-capacity bottle several times, one bottle can be used for several types of image forming apparatuses.

Therefore, even if the developer D is put into a large-capacity bottle several times, it is not necessary to measure the specified amount every time, so that the total working time can be shortened and the cost can be reduced.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it goes without saying that many modifications and changes can be made to the above-described embodiment within the scope of the present invention.

For example, in the above embodiment, the developer supply device using the piezoelectric weight sensor as the detecting means has been described. However, as shown in FIG. 6, a light source 54 and a light receiving element 55 such as a photodiode are used. Then, the level of the capacity of the developer D may be optically read.

The notifying means 28 of the above embodiment is an
It is not limited to D.

[0039]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, an old waste developer in a developing tank is replaced with a new developer.
When the developer is supplied , the developer can be measured by simply charging the developer into the developer supply tank, and the amount of the developer can be measured in advance according to the size of the image forming apparatus main body. There is no need to keep them in bottles. As a result, a single bottle can be used, so even if a large-capacity bottle contains several times of developer,
There is no need to transfer the developer to another container, and there is an excellent effect that the total working time can be shortened and the cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a developer supply device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the developing device.

3A and 3B are configuration diagrams of a ceramic vibrator for detecting a developer amount, wherein FIG. 3A is a front view and FIG. 3B is a side view;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an amplitude at the time of detection of a ceramic vibrator.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the amplitude of a ceramic vibrator when no detection is performed.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the detecting means of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram showing a conventional developing device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 22 developing tank 23 toner replenishing tank 24 developer replenishing tank 25 supply port 26 opening and closing body 27 detecting means 28 reporting means 29 supplying means 31 stirring roller 32 transporting body 48 developer supplying screw 53 developer bottle D developer

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] An old waste developer in a developing tank is replaced with a new developer.
Replaced by an image forming apparatus for developing the said developing developer supplying a predetermined amount of the developer in the tank supply tank, detecting means for detecting the amount of developer is introduced into the developer supply tank when the developing agent supply device in an image forming apparatus characterized by the informing means for informing when it is detected that the developer in the developer supply tank is defined amount charged by said detecting means is provided. 2. The developer supply device according to claim 1, wherein a supply port formed between the developer supply tank and the development tank is provided.
Comprising a closing member for opening and closing, said after the developer in the developer supply tank is specified amount charged is informed, that the supply means for supplying the developer to the developing tank by opening the opening and closing member is provided A developer supply device in the image forming apparatus.