JP4581577B2 - Toner cartridge - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a toner cartridge.

There is a toner cartridge which has a double U-shaped kamaboko shape in cross section, and each U-shaped inner space incorporates a rotary stirring paddle and a hollow coiled agitator. Conventionally, such a rotary stirring paddle of a toner cartridge has the following problems.
(A) The rotating stirring paddle has a structure including a rotating shaft and a single scraping film extending radially from the rotating shaft and stirring the toner. In the toner cartridge having such a structure, when the toner is unevenly distributed inside, the rotary agitation paddle requires a large rotational torque, and thus deforms or breaks the shaft. In particular, when the shaft is a metal and the scraping film that scrapes the toner is stiff, the rotating stirring paddle itself deforms, and when the shaft is a resin, the shaft breaks.
(B) When the bearing of the rotary stirring paddle is present in the toner cartridge and the fitting gap between the bearing portion and the shaft is small, toner aggregation (GRIT) occurs in the bearing portion, and this toner aggregation is an image quality defect of the image forming apparatus. Cause. Further, when the remaining amount of toner becomes small, a toner aggregation phenomenon occurs remarkably.
(C) When the rotary agitation paddle is assembled into the toner cartridge, the rotary agitation paddle is mounted with a slight deformation. However, a large force is required to increase the amount of deformation, and the bearing is damaged or the workability is deteriorated. To do. There is a structure in which a bush is used for the bearing and the bush is pushed from the outside of the container to form the bearing, but the number of parts increases and the cost increases.
(D) The hollow spiral coiled agitator is free at one end and interferes with the rotating agitation paddle to affect the conveyance, so a baffle plate must be installed at the boundary between the two. It adversely affects toner filling. When the baffle plate is in the immediate vicinity of the filling port, the toner filling resistance increases and toner filling becomes difficult.

  In a toner cartridge that has a double U-shaped kamaboko-shaped cross section, and each U-shaped inner space has a rotating stirring paddle and a hollow coiled agitator, if the toner is biased or compacted, When the shaft is made of resin, it may be damaged, and when the shaft is a metal shaft, the paddle may be deformed. Further, there is a problem that toner aggregation occurs inside the bearing of the rotary stirring paddle.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to reduce the torque by thinning a film for scraping toner of a rotary stirring paddle and to provide a material having an appropriate waist strength to ensure transportability. In addition, agglomeration is prevented from occurring in the bearing portion, and the mounting property is improved. Further, the structure is such that the toner filling property is not hindered.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and is a toner cartridge characterized by taking the following technical means. That is, according to the present invention, in a toner cartridge in which the cross section is a double U-shaped kamaboko shape and each U-shaped inner space includes a rotating stirring paddle and a hollow coiled agitator, the rotating stirring paddle is a hard synthetic A toner cartridge comprising a resin molded product and having a blade made of a synthetic resin film attached to a toner scraping portion.

  In the toner cartridge, the hard synthetic resin is preferably, for example, any resin selected from the group consisting of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), impact-resistant polystyrene (HIPS), and polycarbonate (PC). .

  If the synthetic resin film is a thin plate having a thickness of 0.3 mm to 0.8 mm selected from the group consisting of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polypropylene (PP), and polyethylene (PE), appropriate strength, rigidity, Abrasion is preferred. Thinning the film has the effect of suppressing the eccentricity of the shaft, making it difficult for the shaft to strike when the shaft rotates inside the bearing.

  Furthermore, it is preferable to provide a separator for preventing the interference between the space in which the rotating stirring paddle is built and the space in which the hollow coiled agitator is built in, thereby preventing mutual interference. If the position of the separator plate is in the vicinity of the toner filling port, the toner filling property is affected. As a result of a test, it was confirmed that if the separator is provided at a position 30 mm or more away from the toner filling port, the toner filling property is not adversely affected. Further, if it is provided at a position separated by 45 mm or more, there is no influence.

  If the bearing that supports one end of the shaft of the rotary stirring paddle has a shape in which a cylinder is divided into a plurality of parts and a gap is provided in the divided part, toner aggregation can be prevented at the bearing part.

  Furthermore, the shape of the bearing divided into a plurality of cylinders consists of three claws, and the protrusion height of the claws located on the side where the rotary stirring paddle is attached to and detached from the toner cartridge is lower by 0.3 mm to 1 mm than the other claws. This is preferable because the rotary stirring paddle can be easily attached and detached, and the toner cartridge can be easily assembled.

  The center of the bearing that supports one end of the shaft of the rotary stirring paddle is located within 8 mm from the end face of the toner filling port. As a result, the toner cartridge can be compactly formed, and if a distance of 8 mm or more can be obtained, a structure using a bush or the like can be used, so that the above-described bearing need not be used.

  According to the present invention, the film for scraping the toner of the rotating agitation paddle is made thin so as to reduce the torque and have an appropriate waist strength, and the rotating agitation paddle is not damaged or deformed. Further, the toner is not biased or compacted, and good transportability can be ensured.

  Further, the bearing of the present invention has no problem of toner aggregation inside, and can easily be attached with a rotating stirring paddle.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 5 is a plan view showing an example of the toner cartridge 10 to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. 6 is a side sectional view thereof. The toner cartridge 10 is surrounded by a cylindrical U-shaped casing 11 having a double U-shaped cross section and an upper lid 12, and has a thin cross section and a long shape in the axial direction. The length is about 40 mm and the length is about 450 mm.

  The upper lid 12 is provided with a suspension 13 on the upper surface, an arrow 14 in the direction of insertion into the device is shown, and a toner discharge port 15 is provided on the lower side of the casing on the back side of the insertion. A handle 16 is provided at the end on the front side of the insertion.

  1 and 2 are perspective views showing a part of one end side excluding the upper lid 12 of the toner cartridge 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along the rotary stirring paddle shaft shown in FIG. These are the AA arrow line views of FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the casing 11 has a cross-sectional shape in which U-shapes are arranged in parallel, and a rotary stirring paddle 20 and a hollow coil-shaped agitator 30 are incorporated in the internal space. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the inside of the casing 11 with the built-in rotary stirring paddle 20 and the hollow coiled agitator 30 removed.

  The rotating agitation paddle 20 includes a large number of paddles 22 extending in a radial direction from a shaft 23 and a single blade 21 which is long in a film-like axial direction. It rotates while drawing the tip circles 25 and 26, and the toner is sent from one U-shaped casing into the U-shaped casing on the hollow coiled agitator 30 side.

  The rotary stirring paddle 20 is a molded article having a high strength such as a hard synthetic resin molded article, such as acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), high impact polystyrene (HIPS), and polycarbonate (PC). The blade 21 made of a synthetic resin film attached to the toner scraping portion is a thin plate having a thickness of 0.3 mm to 0.8 mm made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polypropylene (PP), and polyethylene (PE). (Rigid) and flexible.

  The hollow coil-shaped agitator 30 feeds the toner in the axial direction while rotating, and discharges the toner from a discharge port 15 (see FIG. 6) provided in the lower surface of the longitudinal end portion of the U-shaped casing 11.

  The hollow coil-shaped agitator 30 is formed by winding a steel wire 31 in a spiral coil shape, and has a rotational drive gear 32 at one end and the other end 33 as a free end. Rotates along the inner surface of the U-shaped trough. By this rotation, the toner is conveyed in the longitudinal direction and discharged from the toner discharge port 15.

  As shown in FIG. 4, a separator 18 is provided at the boundary between the space in which the rotary stirring paddle 20 is built and the space in which the hollow coiled agitator 30 is built in to prevent interference between the two. The separator plate 18 may be provided intermittently in the longitudinal direction of the toner cartridge 10. The separation plate 18 and the opening surface of the toner filling port 40 are spaced apart from each other so as not to become an obstacle when filling the toner. This distance is 30 mm or more.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 3, the bearing 17 that supports one end of the shaft of the rotary stirring paddle has a shape in which a cylinder is divided into a plurality of parts and a gap is provided in the divided part. As a result, toner aggregation can be prevented from occurring at the bearing portion. The shape of the bearing 17 is formed by three projecting claws so as not to cause toner aggregation, and the projecting height of the claws located on the toner cartridge 10 on the side where the rotary stirring paddle 20 is loaded and unloaded. Is made 0.3 mm to 1 mm lower than the other claws so that the rotary stirring paddle 20 can be easily attached and detached. The center of the bearing was provided at a position within 8 mm from the end face of the toner filling port 40.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a part of one end side excluding an upper cover of the toner cartridge according to the exemplary embodiment. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a part of one end side excluding the upper lid 12 of the toner cartridge 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along the rotary stirring paddle shaft shown in FIG. 2. It is an AA arrow line view of FIG. 2 is a plan view illustrating an example of a toner cartridge. FIG. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Toner cartridge 11 Casing 12 Top lid 13 Hanging handle 14 Insertion direction arrow 15 Toner discharge port 16 Handle 17 Bearing 18 Separating plate 20 Rotating stirring paddle 21 Blade 22 Paddle 23 Shaft 24 Gear 25, 26 Tip circle 30 Hollow coil agitator 31 Steel wire 32 gear 33 other end

Claims (4)

A storage chamber for storing toner;
A rotary stirring member that is provided in the storage chamber and has a rotation shaft and rotates to stir the toner stored in the storage chamber ;
Having a shape obtained by dividing the cylinder into a plurality of parts, and having a support part for supporting one end of the rotary shaft of the rotary stirring member,
The toner cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the support portion has a gap in the divided portion . The rotary stirring member is a made of a synthetic resin molded article of hard synthetic resin of the hard is selected from the group consisting of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), high impact polystyrene (HIPS) and polycarbonate (PC) The toner cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the toner cartridge is a resin. The rotary stirring member has a blade made of a synthetic resin film , and the synthetic resin film has a thickness of 0.3 mm to 0 selected from the group consisting of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polypropylene (PP), and polyethylene (PE). 3. A toner cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the toner cartridge is a thin plate of 8 mm. The shape of the support part obtained by dividing the cylinder into a plurality of parts consists of three claws, and the protruding height of the claws located on the toner cartridge on the side where the rotary stirring member is mounted / removed is lowered by 0.3 mm to 1 mm compared to other claws. The toner cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the toner cartridge is a toner cartridge.

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