JP4389536B2 - Developing device and image forming apparatus including the same - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a developing device that is equipped in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer and visualizes a latent image on an image carrier with a developer. More specifically, the developer can be used economically. It is related with the means for making it.

  Conventionally, an electrostatic latent image is electrically formed on an image carrier using a photoconductive substance by various means, and the electrostatic latent image is visualized using a developer containing toner. Further, after transferring the visualized image on the image bearing member to a transfer medium such as paper, the transferred image is fixed by heating, pressurizing, solvent vapor, or the like. Forming devices are known.

In such an image forming apparatus, a developing device for supplying a developer is disposed on the image carrier. The developing device is provided with an accommodating portion for accommodating the developer, and the developer for preventing the developer from collecting or solidifying (blocking) in a certain portion of the accommodating portion in the accommodating portion. A stirring member, for example, a rotary agitator is provided. In addition, depending on the developing device, a swing member is provided in the housing portion separately from the agitator, the swing member is swung by the agitator, the developer housed in the housing portion is stirred, and the developer in the housing portion is stirred. Some are designed to prevent blocking (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP-A-5-303278

  However, since the swing member having such a configuration only swings and stirs in the stored developer reservoir, for example, as shown in FIG. 9, the developer adhered to the entire inner wall 132 of the storage portion 130. T could not be stripped off efficiently. That is, the developer in the container is not always economically used.

Therefore, the present invention provides a developing device that can efficiently peel off the developer attached to the inner wall of the housing portion and can economically use the developer in the housing portion, and an image forming apparatus including the developing device. The purpose is to obtain.

In order to achieve the above object, the developing device according to claim 1 according to the present invention is a developing device including a storage unit that stores a developer that visualizes a latent image on an image carrier. upper portion is fixed to the inner wall of the housing part, and while being arranged along the inner wall, toward the swinging member of the plurality of through holes are formed plate-like, from the lower end portion of the swinging member upward A pair of cuts are made partway, and a latching part formed by raising a portion sandwiched between the pair of cuts upward at a predetermined angle, and the latching part can be latched from below. is configured, the lower portion of the swinging member and a swinging means adapted to be moved in a direction away from said inner wall, said hook portion is hooked from below said moving means As a result, the rocking member is separated from the inner wall. Lifted to the direction that the engaging portion is disengaged from said oscillating means, said oscillating member is characterized in that return to the inner wall by its own weight.

In the invention of claim 1, the swing member of the upper portion is fixed plate along its inner wall disposed on the inner wall of the housing portion, the oscillating means, upward from the lower end portion of the swinging member with a pair of cuts are placed halfway site flanked by the pair cuts to lift the engaging portion formed in Rukoto brought into a predetermined angular erected upward, the lower portion of the swinging member Since it is made to move in the direction away from the inner wall, the developer adhering to the inner wall of the housing portion can be suitably peeled off. That is, when the swing member moves away from the inner wall, the developer attached to the swing member can be peeled off, and when the swing member returns to the inner wall side, The attached developer can be blown off by wind pressure. Therefore, the developer adhering to the inner wall of the housing portion can be efficiently peeled off, and the developer can be used economically.

In addition, since a plurality of through holes are formed in the swing member, air resistance when the swing member swings can be reduced. In addition, since there are a plurality of through-holes, there is no problem of solidifying the developer remaining on the inner wall when the swinging member returns to the inner wall side, and it is suitably blown off. be able to.

The developing device according to claim 2, in the developing device according to claim 1, wherein the swinging member, is characterized in that along the inner wall by its own weight.

In the invention of claim 2, since the swinging member follows the inner wall by its own weight, the biasing means for biasing the swinging member toward the inner wall becomes unnecessary. Therefore, the structure in the accommodating portion is not complicated.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the developing device according to the first aspect, the swinging member is along the inner wall by elastic restoration.

In the invention of claim 3, since the swinging member follows the inner wall by elastic recovery, the biasing means for biasing the swinging member toward the inner wall becomes unnecessary. Therefore, the structure in the accommodating portion is not complicated. In addition to the dead weight, the wind pressure can be increased with a simple configuration.

Further, the developing device according to claim 4, in the developing device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the lower end portion of the swing member, and extends to near the bottom of the housing part It is characterized by being.

In the invention of claim 4, since the lower end portion of the swinging member extends to the vicinity of the bottom portion of the housing portion, the developer adhering to the inner wall near the bottom portion can be reliably peeled off.

Further, the developing device according to claim 5, in the developing device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, the characterized in that said swinging member is formed of a flexible material Yes.

In the fifth aspect of the invention, since the swing member is formed of a flexible material, it can be suitably placed along the inner wall.

The developing device according to claim 6, in the developing device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the swinging member is characterized by being formed by a Mylar film.

In the invention of claim 6, since the swinging member is formed of a mylar film, it can be suitably placed along the inner wall.

The developing device according to claim 7, in the developing device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the oscillating means is a agitator rotary stirring the developer, The rocking member is periodically peeled off from the inner wall by hooking the latching portion on the agitator.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the latching member is periodically peeled off from the inner wall by the latching portion being latched by the rotary agitator that stirs the developer. There is no need to separately provide a mechanism for swinging the member. Therefore, the structure in the accommodating portion is not complicated.

The developing device according to claim 8, the developing device according to claim 7, characterized in that a plurality form the hooking portion in the rotation axis direction of the agitator.

In the invention of claim 8, since the plurality of latching portions are formed in the rotational axis direction of the agitator, the swinging member can be swung substantially in parallel. Therefore, there is no problem that the swing member is twisted.

The image forming apparatus according to claim 9 of the present invention, the image bearing member and, claim 1 and a developing device according to any one of claims 8, an opening portion formed in the developing device And an optical writing device for emitting scanning light applied to the image carrier and forming a latent image on the image carrier.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the developer attached to the inner wall of the accommodating portion can be efficiently peeled off, so that the developer in the accommodating portion can be used economically.

  DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail based on examples shown in the drawings. For convenience of explanation, the arrow X direction shown in FIG. 1 is the front side, and the opposite direction is the rear side. Further, the left-right direction is defined when the image forming apparatus is viewed from the front side. Accordingly, FIG. 1 is a schematic right side view showing the overall configuration of the image forming apparatus, and FIG. 2 is a schematic left side view showing the main part of the developing device.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a discharge unit 20 for discharging sheets (not shown) is provided in the upper part of the image forming apparatus 10, and for example, two stages of paper feed cassettes 12 and 14 are provided in the lower part. Yes. Pickup rolls 16 and 18 are disposed in the vicinity of the rear ends of the paper feed cassettes 12 and 14, and retard rolls 22 and 24 and feed rolls 26 and 28 are arranged behind the pickup rolls 16 and 18. It is installed.

  Further, a conveyance path 30 as a path for conveying the sheet is formed at the rear of the image forming apparatus 10. The conveyance path 30 is formed in a substantially vertical direction from the pickup roll 18 of the lower sheet feeding cassette 14 to a discharge port 38 through a fixing device 40 described later, and a large number of upstream of the fixing device 40 on the upstream side. A sheet conveyance guide 36 having a vent hole (not shown), a transfer device 34 and an image carrier 48, which will be described later, are sequentially arranged, and a pair of resists are provided upstream of the transfer device 34 and the image carrier 48. A roll 32 is provided. A discharge roll 46 is disposed in the vicinity of the discharge port 38 of the conveyance path 30.

  Accordingly, the sheet fed from one of the paper feeding cassettes 12 and 14 by the pick-up rolls 16 and 18 is passed by the retard rolls 22 and 24 and the feed rolls 26 and 28 and guided to the conveyance path 30, and by the registration roll 32. Paused. Then, the temporarily stopped sheet is sent between the transfer device 34 and the image carrier 48 with timing, and the developer image is transferred by passing between the sheets. The developer image transferred to the sheet is fixed by the fixing device 40, and the sheet on which the developer image is fixed is discharged from the discharge port 38 to the discharge unit 20 by the discharge roll 46.

  Here, the fixing device 40 includes, for example, a heating roll 42 and a pressure roll 44, and the heating roll 42 and the pressure roll 44 are in pressure contact with each other to form a nip portion. By passing, the developer image is fixed on the sheet. Moreover, the discharge part 20 is low in the discharge port 38 side, and is inclined so as to gradually increase toward the arrow X direction (front surface). The discharge unit 20 is pivotally supported at the lower end, and is configured to be rotatable in the vertical direction around the lower end. Accordingly, the process cartridge 50 described later can be attached and detached by rotating the discharge part 20 upward to open the upper surface.

  In the process cartridge 50, an image carrier 48, a charging device 52, a developing device 60, and a cleaning device 54 are accommodated and integrated. The image carrier 48 is made of, for example, a photoconductor, and a latent image is formed by an optical writing device 72 described later. A transfer device 34 made of, for example, a transfer roll is disposed opposite to the image carrier 48. Further, the charging device 52 is constituted by a charging roll, for example, and rotates in contact with the image carrier 48 to uniformly charge the image carrier 48. Further, the cleaning device 54 includes, for example, a cleaning blade 55 and a developer recovery chamber 56, and the developer scraped off by the cleaning blade 55 is recovered in the developer recovery chamber 56.

  Further, the process cartridge 50 includes a shutter 58 that opens and closes the upper peripheral surface of the image carrier 48 on the transfer device 34 side. The shutter 58 is guided by a guide (not shown) so as to be opened and closed in conjunction with the attachment / detachment of the process cartridge 50. That is, before the process cartridge 50 is mounted, the shutter 58 closes the upper surface of the image carrier 48 with an elastic body (not shown) to protect the image carrier 48. After the process cartridge 50 is mounted, The elastic body is moved to a retreat position where the upper peripheral surface of the image carrier 48 is opened against the elastic body.

  The developing device 60 visualizes the latent image formed on the image carrier 48 with a developer, and includes a housing 62 that extends in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction. In the housing 62, a developer accommodating chamber 64, a developer stirring chamber 66, and a developing chamber 68 are provided. The developer storage chamber 64 and the developer agitation chamber 66 are arranged vertically with the opening 70 interposed therebetween, and communicate with each other via supply paths 100 and 102 (see FIG. 3) described later. The opening 70 is formed so that scanning light L from an optical writing device 72 described later can pass therethrough.

  The optical writing device 72 is disposed in front of the image forming apparatus 10 so as to be parallel to the paper feed cassettes 12 and 14. Inside the optical writing device 72, a polygon unit 74 comprising a polygon mirror and a motor for rotating the polygon mirror (both not shown), a semiconductor laser (not shown), and other optical components such as a plastic lens (not shown) The scanning light L is emitted from an emission window 76 formed on the process cartridge 50 side of the optical writing device 72, and the scanning light L passes through the opening 70 of the process cartridge 50. 48 is irradiated.

  A blower fan 78 for sending air from the front side to the rear side of the image forming apparatus 10 is provided above the optical writing device 72. A first duct 82 is provided on the upstream side of the blower fan 78 so as to take in air from intake holes (not shown) formed on the left and right side surfaces of the image forming apparatus 10. A power supply device 80 for supplying electricity to each part of the image forming apparatus 10 is disposed in the vicinity of the air intake hole so that the power supply device 80, the optical writing device 72, and the like are cooled by the air sucked from the air intake hole. It has become.

  A second duct 84 is provided on the downstream side of the blower fan 78. The second duct guides air to the inner surface side of the discharge portion 20, and a large number of air guide ribs 86 are formed on the inner surface of the discharge portion 20. Therefore, the air guided to the inner surface of the discharge unit 20 passes between the discharge unit 20 and the process cartridge 50 by the air guide rib 86. The shutter 58 is provided with a number of through holes 58A through which air passes, so that the air flows toward the sheet conveyance guide 36 side.

  Further, an exhaust fan 88 is provided at the rear portion of the image forming apparatus 10, and an air discharge port 90 is formed on the rear wall of the image forming apparatus 10 facing the exhaust fan 88. Accordingly, the air in the image forming apparatus 10 is exhausted from the air exhaust port 90 by the exhaust fan 88.

  That is, the air flow generated by the blower fan 78 is guided between the inner surface of the discharge unit 20 and the process cartridge 50, passes through the through hole 58 </ b> A of the shutter 58, and cools the peripheral portions of the process cartridge 50 and the fixing device 40. To do. Then, the air flow is sucked by the exhaust fan 88 through the vent hole (not shown) of the sheet conveyance guide 36 and is exhausted to the outside through the air discharge port 90. Since the exhaust fan 88 is provided, air is also sucked from the air vent 92 formed above the fixing device 40, and this air also cools the peripheral portion of the fixing device 40 and passes through the air exhaust port 90. Exhausted to the outside.

  Here, the developing device 60 will be described in detail. As described above, the developing device 60 includes the housing 62 that extends in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction. As shown in FIG. 2, a developer storage chamber 64 is formed in the upper portion of the housing 62, and the developer is stored in the developer storage chamber 64.

  In addition, an agitator 94 as a developer stirring member for stirring the developer is provided at the bottom of the developer storage chamber 64. As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the agitator 94 is constructed in such a manner that, for example, a substantially “ko” -shaped wire whose center is slightly bent is installed in the left-right direction with both ends supported by the housing 62. (Not shown) is configured to be rotationally driven in the arrow Y direction. Then, the tip portion rotates so as to be close to the inner wall 64A near the bottom of the developer accommodating chamber 64, and the developer in the developer accommodating chamber 64 is agitated and conveyed in the left-right direction.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the developer storage chamber 64 and the developer agitation chamber 66 communicate with each other via supply paths 100 and 102 formed at the left and right end portions in the housing 62. The developer stirring chamber 66 is also provided with a plurality of developer stirring members 96. Accordingly, the developer stirred and conveyed in the left-right direction by the agitator 94 falls into the developer stirring chamber 66 through the supply paths 100 and 102 and is further conveyed to the developing chamber 68 by the developer stirring member 96 provided therein. Is done. The opening 70 described above is formed between the supply paths 100 and 102 provided on the left and right sides.

  The developing chamber 68 is formed on the image carrier 48 side of the housing 62 so as to communicate with the developer stirring chamber 66, and a developing roll 98 in which a sleeve is wound around a magnet roll is disposed therein. Yes. The developing roller 98 faces the image carrier 48 and supplies developer to the image carrier 48. In other words, the developer image is carried on the latent image of the image carrier 48 by the developing roll 98. The layer thickness regulating member 104 made of, for example, resin is in contact with the developing roll 98, and the layer thickness of the developer attached to the surface of the developing roll 98 is regulated by the layer thickness regulating member 104. It has become so.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a mylar film 110 as a swinging member is inclined toward the supply paths 100 and 102 in a side view on the upper part of the housing 62 constituting the developer accommodating chamber 64. It is attached along the inner wall 64A. As shown in FIG. 5, the mylar film 110 is integrally formed upward from the action portion 112 formed to have a width substantially the same as the width in the left-right direction of the housing 62, and from the upper edge portions on the left and right ends of the action portion 112. And the length in the vertical direction including the mounting portions 114 and 116 and the action portion 112 is substantially the same as the length in the vertical direction of the inner wall 64A. It has become.

  Each attachment portion 114, 116 is provided with a rectangular through-hole 118, and the action portion 112 has a plurality of rectangular through-holes 120 elongated in the short direction (longitudinal direction). 10 pieces are drilled at a predetermined interval. Then, at a predetermined position between the through holes 120, a pair of cuts are made in parallel with the short direction from the lower end side to the middle, and a portion sandwiched by the pair of cuts is predetermined upward. The latching part 122 is formed by raising the angle.

  That is, a plurality of the latching portions 122 are formed in the longitudinal direction (left and right direction) of the action portion 112 (four in the drawing) at predetermined intervals, and are hung on the agitator 94 as will be described later. It is configured to be able to stop. In addition, it is preferable that the terminal part of the notch | incision put in in order to form the latching | locking part 122 notch circularly. If it does in this way, problems, such as a notch part being cut further and Mylar film 110 being cut, will not occur.

  Further, mounting holes 114A and 116A for screwing and engaging holes 114B and 116B for positioning are formed adjacent to each other on the upper end portions of the mounting portions 114 and 116, respectively. As shown in FIG. 6, the upper end portion of the housing 62 is provided with a boss portion 106 having a screw hole and a positioning projection 108. Therefore, in the attachment portions 114 and 116 of the mylar film 110, the protrusions 108 are inserted into the engagement holes 114B and 116B, respectively, and the screws 124 are screwed into the screw holes of the boss portion 106 through the attachment holes 114A and 116A, respectively. Thereby, the upper part is fixed to the upper end part in the housing 62.

  At this time, since the mylar film 110 has a certain amount of weight and elasticity (flexibility), the attachment portions 114 and 116 and the action portion 112 are inclined in the developer accommodating chamber 64 (housing 62). (Preferably in contact) along the inner wall 64A. That is, the mylar film 110 is arranged in a state of being biased with a predetermined force toward the inner wall 64A of the developer storage chamber 64 (housing 62) by its own weight and elasticity (flexibility).

  Therefore, an urging means for urging the mylar film 110 toward the inner wall 64A is unnecessary, and there is no problem that the structure in the developer accommodating chamber 64 (housing 62) is complicated. Although the swing member is not limited to the mylar film 110, the elastic member can be brought into contact with the inner wall 64A by its own weight in order not to complicate the structure in the developer storage chamber 64 (housing 62). The swing member is preferably formed of a material having (flexibility).

  Further, the latching portions 122 formed in a plurality (four in the drawing) in the longitudinal direction of the mylar film 110 (the rotational axis direction of the agitator 94) are periodically (intermittently) latched on the agitator 94. It is like that. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the latching portion 122 of the mylar film 110 has a length (in a side view) that can be sufficiently latched with the agitator 94 when the mylar film 110 is in contact with the inner wall 64A. The length of the agitator 94 is approximately half the height of the agitator 94).

  Therefore, when the agitator 94 is rotated in this state, as shown in FIG. 7, the plurality of the latching portions 122 that have been cut and raised are all latched on the agitator 94 from below, and the entire working portion 112 is as it is. It is lifted upward (in a direction away from the inner wall 64A). Thereby, at least the action part 112 of the mylar film 110 is peeled off from the inner wall 64A. Thereafter, when the agitator 94 further rotates and the agitator 94 reaches substantially the uppermost portion, as shown in FIG. 8, the latching portion 122 is detached from the agitator 94, and the action portion 112 of the Mylar film 110 is caused by its own weight and elastic recovery. It falls (returns) to the inner wall 64A side.

  In other words, when the agitator 94 rotates, the Mylar film 110 swings periodically (intermittently) with the upper portions of the mounting portions 114 and 116 as fulcrums, whereby the developer attached to the inner wall 64A is efficiently used. It is peeled off well. That is, when the mylar film 110 moves away from the inner wall 64A, the developer adhering to the mylar film 110 is peeled off, and when the mylar film 110 moves back (toward the inner wall 64A). When falling), the developer adhering to the inner wall 64A is blown off by the wind pressure.

  Note that a mechanism for swinging the mylar film 110 may be provided separately. However, when the mylar film 110 is swung by the agitator 94 as described above, the structure inside the developer accommodating chamber 64 (housing 62) is provided. Can be prevented from becoming complicated, which is preferable. Further, since a plurality of the latching portions 122 are provided in the longitudinal direction of the mylar film 110 (the rotation axis direction of the agitator 94), the mylar film 110 swings in parallel with the inner wall 64A. Therefore, the malfunction that the mylar film 110 twists from the middle does not occur.

  In addition, since a plurality of through holes 120 are formed in the working portion 112 of the mylar film 110 in the longitudinal direction, and the through holes 118 are also formed in the mounting portions 114 and 116, the agitator 94 is provided with a mylar. The air resistance when lifting the film 110 can be reduced. Moreover, when such through holes 118 and 120 are formed, the developer remaining on the inner wall 64A is hardened when it falls (returns) to the inner wall 64A side (when it comes into contact with the inner wall 64A). Therefore, it can be suitably blown away.

  Next, the operation of the image forming apparatus 10 (developing apparatus 60) will be described. First, the image carrier 48 is uniformly charged by the charging device 52. The charged image carrier 48 is irradiated with the scanning light L emitted from the optical writing device 72 based on the image signal to form a latent image. At this time, the scanning light L from the optical writing device 72 passes through the developing device 60 through the opening 70. Then, the latent image of the image carrier 48 formed by the optical writing device 72 is visualized by a developer.

  The developer accommodated in the developer accommodating chamber 64 of the developing device 60 is agitated and conveyed to the left and right sides by the rotation of the agitator 94 and guided to the supply paths 100 and 102. Then, it passes through the supply passages 100 and 102 and falls toward the lower developer stirring chamber 66. By repeating such agitation and conveyance, the developer in the developer accommodating chamber 64 gradually decreases, but when the developer is sufficiently accommodated in the developer accommodating chamber 64, the agitator 94 rotates. However, the mylar film 110 does not lift upward due to the weight of the developer.

  Further, when such agitating and transporting is repeated and the developer in the developer storage chamber 64 decreases, the mylar film 110 is peeled off from the inner wall 64A by the rotation of the agitator 94 as shown in FIG. It is. That is, when the latching portion 122 of the mylar film 110 is latched by the agitator 94, the action portion 112 is lifted upward with the upper portions of the mounting portions 114 and 116 that are screwed as fulcrums. Then, the developer remaining on the mylar film 110 is peeled off by the movement of the mylar film 110 and falls downward.

  Then, when the agitator 94 further rotates and reaches a substantially uppermost portion in the side view of FIG. 2, the latching portion 122 is detached from the agitator 94 as shown in FIG. 8. Then, the mylar film 110 falls toward the inner wall 64A due to its own weight and elastic recovery (returns to the original position). At this time, wind pressure is generated on the inner wall 64A side of the developer storage chamber 64 (housing 62) by the mylar film 110, so that the developer remaining on the inner wall 64A is blown off by the wind pressure and falls downward. To do.

  As the agitator 94 rotates in this way, the above operation is performed periodically (intermittently) continuously, so that the developer does not remain in the developer storage chamber 64, and the developer agitation chamber 66 is not left. Fall. The developer that has fallen into the developer agitating chamber 66 is agitated and conveyed to the developing chamber 68 by the developer agitating member 96 and supplied to the image carrier via the developing roll 98.

  On the other hand, one of the paper feeding cassettes 12 and 14 is selected by a size signal or the like, and the sheets stored in one of the paper feeding cassettes 12 and 14 are sent out by pickup rolls 16 and 18. The sheets fed by the pick-up rolls 16 and 18 are rolled by the retard rolls 22 and 24 and the feed rolls 26 and 28 and guided to the conveyance path 30 and temporarily stopped by the registration roll 32.

  The sheet temporarily stopped by the registration roll 32 is guided between the transfer device 34 and the image carrier 48 with timing. The developer on the image carrier 48 is transferred to the sheet guided between the transfer device 34 and the image carrier 48 by the transfer device 34. The sheet onto which the developer has been transferred passes through the nip portion of the fixing device 40, whereby the developer image is fixed, and the sheet on which the developer image has been fixed is discharged from the discharge port 38 to the discharge unit 20.

In any case, the developer adhering to the inner wall 64A of the developer storage chamber 64 (housing 62) can be efficiently and reliably obtained only by a simple configuration in which the mylar film 110 is disposed along the inner wall 64A. Stripped off. Moreover, since the lower end portion of the mylar film 110 is extended to the vicinity of the bottom portion of the developer accommodating chamber 64, the developer remaining in the gap between the agitator 94 and the inner wall 64A near the bottom portion is surely peeled off. be able to. Therefore, the developer can be used effectively to the end and can be used extremely economically.

  Further, since the mylar film 110 is swung by the agitator 94, it is not necessary to provide a separate swinging mechanism or the like. Therefore, there is no problem that the structure in the housing 62 (the structure of the developing device 60) is complicated. Furthermore, a plurality of (preferably at regular intervals) the latching portions 122 that are latched by the agitator 94 are provided in the longitudinal direction of the mylar film 110 (in the rotational axis direction of the agitator 94), so that the mylar film 110 swings. There is no problem of twisting. Therefore, the developer attached to the inner wall 64A can be stably peeled off.

  Further, since the mylar film 110 is used as the swinging member, the biasing means for biasing the swinging member toward the inner wall 64A becomes unnecessary. That is, since the mylar film 110 itself has a certain amount of weight and elasticity (flexibility), it is suitably disposed along the inclined inner wall 64A. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a problem that the structure in the housing 62 (the structure of the developing device 60) is complicated.

  Further, since the mylar film 110 has a plurality of through holes 118 and 120, the weight of the mylar film 110 can be reduced to some extent, and the air resistance when rocking can be reduced. . Therefore, the mylar film 110 is preferably rocked by the agitator 94. In addition, since the through holes 118 and 120 are formed, there is no problem that the developer adhering to the inner wall 64A is hardened when the mylar film 110 drops (returns) to the inner wall 64A side. , Can be blown off suitably.

Schematic side view showing overall configuration of image forming apparatus Schematic side view showing the main parts of the developing device Schematic front view showing the main parts of the developing device Perspective view of agitator Mylar film perspective view Schematic perspective view explaining how to attach Mylar film to housing The schematic perspective view which shows a mode that the latching part of a mylar film is latched by an agitator The schematic perspective view which shows a mode that the latching | locking part of a mylar film remove | deviates from an agitator Schematic side view showing the main parts of a conventional developing device

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Image forming apparatus 50 Process cartridge 60 Developing apparatus 62 Housing 64 Developer storage chamber (accommodating part)
64A inner wall 66 developer stirring chamber 68 developing chamber 94 agitator (swinging means)
110 Mylar film (rocking member)
112 action part 114,116 attachment part 118,120 through-hole 122 latching part

Claims (9)

In a developing device including a storage unit that stores a developer that visualizes a latent image on an image carrier,
Upper portion is fixed to the inner wall of the housing part, and while being arranged along the inner wall, a plate-shaped oscillating member having a plurality of through holes are formed,
A pair of cuts are made from the lower end portion of the swinging member halfway upward, and a portion sandwiched by the pair of cuts is formed by raising a predetermined angle upward. ,
Is configured to be hooked from below the hook portion, and a swinging means for the lower portion of the swing member configured to be moved in a direction away from the inner wall,
With
When the latching portion is latched by the swinging means from below, the swinging member is lifted away from the inner wall, and when the latching portion is detached from the swinging means, the swinging member is lifted. A developing device, wherein the moving member returns to the inner wall side by its own weight.   The developing device according to claim 1, wherein the swinging member follows the inner wall by its own weight.   The developing device according to claim 1, wherein the swinging member follows the inner wall by elastic restoration. The lower end portion of the swinging member, a developing device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it extends to near the bottom of the receiving portion. The developing device according to claim 1 , wherein the swing member is formed of a flexible material . The swinging member, a developing device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it has been formed in the Mylar film. The rocking means is a rotary agitator that stirs the developer, and the rocking member is periodically peeled off from the inner wall by hooking the latching portion on the agitator. an apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the. The developing device according to claim 7 , wherein a plurality of the latching portions are formed in a rotation axis direction of the agitator . An image carrier;
The developing device according to any one of claims 1 to 8,
An optical writing device that emits scanning light applied to the image carrier through an opening formed in the developing device, and forms a latent image on the image carrier;
An image forming apparatus comprising:

Images