JP6519740B2 - Waste developer container, toner cartridge, image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a waste developer container, a toner cartridge having a waste developer container, and an image forming apparatus in a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile, or a composite machine thereof having a waste developer container.

  In an image forming apparatus in a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile machine, or a composite machine thereof, the developer remaining on the surface of the photosensitive member after the transfer operation and the developer remaining on the intermediate transfer belt after the intermediate transfer are cleaned After being scraped off by a member, it is conveyed by a screw or the like and stored in a waste developer container.

  By the way, when the waste developer is stored in the waste developer container, it is desirable that the waste developer be stored all over the inside of the container so that the storage space inside the container can be utilized to the maximum extent. For this reason, the invention of the waste developer container which conveys the waste developer inside a container by the conveyance member provided in the inside of the waste developer container and accommodates the waste developer without deviation is already made.

  For example, in Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent No. 4845655), as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the eccentric cam 102 is rotated by the rotation of the cam shaft 101 inside the waste toner recovery box 100, and the stirring plate 103 is It moves in the direction of arrows M1 to M4 in FIG. As a result, the waste toners stored by the respective transport units (respective grid portions in FIG. 9) provided on the stirring plate 103 are respectively transported in the direction of the arrows in FIG. 9 and sequentially into the areas N1 to N4. It can be filled with waste toner.

  In the waste toner collection box of Patent Document 1, waste toner can be stored in each of the areas N1 to N4, and bias of the waste toner to be stored can be eliminated. However, in the method of storing the waste toner in each area as the stirring plate rotates, the force for compressing the waste toner to be stored does not work. For this reason, there is a possibility that the waste toner can not be stored efficiently because there is a space between the waste toners.

  Under such circumstances, it is an object of the present invention to provide a waste developer container capable of efficiently containing a large amount of waste developer.

In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides a storage port for storing waste developer in a container, and a first conveying screw and a second transport screw for conveying waste developer in a predetermined direction in the container. A waste developer container having a transport screw and mounted to an image forming apparatus, wherein the first transport screw is provided, and a first storage unit for storing a waste developer entering from the storage port When the a second housing part second conveying screw is provided, further comprising a partition member for partitioning the said second housing part and the first housing portion, an image forming equipped with the waste developer container In the horizontal mounting state of the apparatus, the second storage portion is provided above the first storage portion, and the transport direction of the waste developer of the first transport screw and the second transport screw is opposite to each other. The transport direction of the first transport screw The first accommodation is on the flow side, the downstream side of the transport direction of the second transport screw, and the downstream side of the transport direction of the first transport screw, and the upstream side of the transport direction of the second transport screw. parts and the second housing portion and is characterized in that to have a communication hole that communicates.

  In the waste developer container of the present invention, the waste developer can be conveyed in a predetermined direction while being compressed by the respective conveying screws provided inside, so the waste developer can be efficiently contained in the container without gaps. It can be accommodated. In addition, by providing a partition member between the first storage portion and the second storage portion, it is possible to prevent the waste developer from naturally falling from the second storage portion to the first storage portion, and in the direction different from the transport direction. It is possible to prevent the outflow of waste developer.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an image forming apparatus. FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing the conveyance of waste toner. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a waste toner transport pipe. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of a small-volume toner cartridge. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a small-volume toner cartridge as viewed from the side. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a toner cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the toner cartridge according to the embodiment of the present invention as viewed from above. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the toner cartridge according to the embodiment of the present invention as viewed from the side. It is a schematic block diagram of the conventional waste toner container. It is a schematic block diagram of the conventional waste toner container.

  Hereinafter, embodiments according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, the same or corresponding parts are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the redundant description will be appropriately simplified or omitted.

  In the monochrome image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1, a process unit 2 is detachably provided. The process unit 2 is a drum-shaped rotating body capable of carrying toner as a developer on the surface thereof, a photosensitive drum 10, a charging roller 11 for uniformly charging the surface of the photosensitive drum 10, and a photosensitive body The developing device 12 supplies toner to the surface of the drum 10, and the cleaning blade 13 for cleaning the surface of the photosensitive drum 10.

  Adjacent to the developing device 12, a toner cartridge 22 is provided. In the toner cartridge 22, a toner replenishing container 23 as a developer replenishing container for containing toner supplied to the developing device 12 and a waste toner container 24 for containing waste toner as a waste developer container are integrally formed. Provided. The toner cartridge 22 is detachably provided to the process unit 2. Further, the toner cartridge 22 is detachably provided to the image forming apparatus 1 integrally with the process unit 2.

  The exposure unit 3 is disposed below the process unit 2. The exposure unit 3 is configured to emit a laser beam based on image data.

  Further, at a position in contact with the photosensitive drum 10, a transfer roller 14 for transferring an image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 10 is disposed. A contact portion between the transfer roller 14 and the photosensitive drum 10 forms a transfer nip. Further, a predetermined direct current voltage (DC) and / or an alternating current voltage (AC) is applied to the transfer roller 14.

  A sheet feeding unit 4 is located at a lower portion of the image forming apparatus 1, and a sheet feeding cassette 15 containing sheets P as a recording medium, and a sheet feeding roller for discharging the sheets P from the sheet feeding cassette 15 to the conveyance path 5 It consists of 16 mag. A registration roller 17 is disposed downstream of the feed roller 16 in the conveyance direction.

  The fixing unit 6 includes a fixing roller 18 heated by a heat source, a pressure roller 19 capable of pressing the fixing roller 18, and the like.

  A sheet discharge unit 7 is provided at the end of the conveyance path 5. The sheet discharge unit 7 includes a pair of sheet discharge rollers 20 for discharging the sheet P to the outside, and a sheet discharge tray 21 for stocking the discharged sheet P.

  The process unit 2, the exposure unit 3, the fixing unit 6 and the like are image forming units for forming an image on the sheet P.

  The basic operation of the image forming apparatus 1 will be described below with reference to FIG.

  When an image forming operation is started, first, the surface of the photosensitive drum 10 is charged by the charging roller 11. Then, a laser beam is irradiated from the exposure unit 3 based on the image data, and the potential of the irradiated portion is lowered to form an electrostatic latent image. The toner is supplied from the developing device 12 to the surface portion of the photosensitive drum 10 on which the electrostatic latent image is formed, and the toner image (developer image) is visualized. Then, toner and the like left on the photosensitive drum 10 after transfer are removed by the cleaning blade 13 and stored in a waste toner container described later.

  On the other hand, when the image forming operation is started, in the lower part of the image forming apparatus 1, the sheet P accommodated in the sheet feeding cassette 15 is conveyed to the conveyance path 5 by the sheet feeding roller 16 of the sheet feeding unit 4 being rotationally driven. Be sent out.

  The sheet P fed to the conveyance path 5 is timed by the registration roller 17 and conveyed to the nip portion between the transfer roller 14 and the photosensitive drum 10 at the timing facing the toner image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 10 Is transferred.

  The sheet P to which the toner image has been transferred is conveyed to the fixing unit 6 and heated and pressed by the fixing roller 18 and the pressure roller 19 which are heated, whereby the toner image is fixed to the sheet P. Then, the sheet P on which the toner image is fixed is separated from the fixing roller 18, conveyed by the conveyance roller pair, and discharged to the sheet discharge tray 21 by the sheet discharge roller 20.

  Here, a process until waste toner as waste developer remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 10 is stored in the waste toner container 24 will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the cleaning blade 13 abuts on the rotating photosensitive drum 10 and scrapes off the transfer residual toner on the surface of the photosensitive drum 10. The scraped off residual toner is conveyed inside the waste toner conveyance pipe 26 in the direction of the arrow in the figure by the flexible screw 25 and is stored in the waste toner container 24 as waste toner.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the waste toner transport pipe 26 has one end 26a provided on the side of the photosensitive drum 10, the other end 26b provided on the side of the waste toner container 24, and a substantially right angle between both ends thereof. And curved two curved portions 26c.

  By forming a U-shape in which two curved portions 26 c are provided in the waste toner conveying pipe 26, a conveying path for waste toner is provided outside the axial direction end of the photosensitive drum 10, and the photosensitive drum 10 etc. The waste toner can be transported to the waste toner container 24 by avoiding each member.

  The flexible screw 25 is formed of a flexible member such as an elastomeric rubber. Thus, the flexible screw 25 can be provided along the curved surface portion 26c of the waste toner transport pipe 26 described above, and the waste toner in the waste toner transport pipe 26 can be transported by one flexible screw 25. The flexible screw 25 may be replaced by a coil for transporting waste toner.

  The waste toner is transported inside the waste toner transport pipe 26 in the direction of the arrow B1 in the figure, and is transported to the other end 26b. Then, the waste toner is conveyed from the other end 26 b in the direction of the arrow B 2, and is stored in the waste toner container 24 provided at the end.

  Next, the configuration of the toner cartridge will be described. The toner cartridge according to the embodiment of the present invention is configured to be able to accommodate more toner and used waste toner inside by increasing the capacity. In the following description, first, the configuration of a toner cartridge having a smaller capacity than that of the embodiment (hereinafter, referred to as a small-capacity toner cartridge) will be described, and then, the toner cartridge of the present embodiment will be described.

  The small capacity toner cartridge 22 shown in FIG. 4 is integrally provided with a toner supply container 23 disposed above it and a waste toner container 24 disposed below it.

  The toner supply container 23 has a stirring conveyance paddle 27 and a toner supply screw 28 as a supply member provided in the vicinity of the outlet 23 a. The agitation conveyance paddle 27 can convey the toner in the toner replenishment container 23 to the side of the toner replenishment screw 28 while agitating the toner. The toner replenishing screw 28 conveys the toner to the outlet 23 a provided on one end side in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface by conveying the toner in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. 4.

  The toner supply container 23 is connected to the developing device 12 at the outlet 23 a, and the toner conveyed to the side of the outlet 23 a by the toner supply screw 28 is conveyed in the direction of arrow C and supplied to the developing device 12. .

  The waste toner container 24 is provided with a conveying screw 29. The waste toner having been transported through the waste toner transport pipe 26 (see FIG. 3) is stored into the interior of the waste toner container 24 from the storage port 24 a. The waste toner contained in the waste toner container 24 is conveyed in the direction of arrow D by the conveyance screw 29 as shown in FIG.

  With respect to the small-capacity toner cartridge described above, the toner cartridge of the present embodiment increases the capacities of the toner supply container 23 and the waste toner container 24 so as to be able to store more toner.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 6, the toner supply container 23 is increased in capacity, and has two toner containing portions on the left and right sides thereof, and stirring and conveying paddles 271 and 272 are respectively provided.

  Further, the waste toner container 24 has a first accommodating portion 241 in which the first conveying screw 291 is provided and a second accommodating portion 242 in which the second conveying screw 292 is provided. A partition member 30 is provided between the first housing portion 241 and the second housing portion 242, and divides two housing portions.

  The second accommodation portion 242 is provided above the first accommodation portion 241 when the image forming apparatus 1 is placed on the horizontal surface. A bottom surface 242 a of the second accommodation portion 242 is provided continuously to the horizontal bottom surface 241 a of the first accommodation portion 241. The bottom surface 242 a of the second housing portion 242 is inclined from the side of the first housing portion 241 to the opposite side, and is continuous with the bottom surface 241 a of the first housing portion 241 at its lower end.

  The partition member 30 is provided between the first accommodation portion 241 and the second accommodation portion 242, and prevents the waste toner accommodated in the second accommodation portion 242 from naturally falling to the first accommodation portion 241 side. ing.

  The first accommodation portion 241 has an accommodation port 24 a for accommodating the waste toner conveyed upward. A space above the second accommodation portion 242 is provided wider than that of the first accommodation portion 241.

  FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the waste toner container 24 as viewed from above. The first conveying screw 291 and the second conveying screw 292 are provided in parallel in the left-right direction of the drawing, and the partition member 30 is provided between them. The first accommodation portion 241 and the second accommodation portion 242 are partially communicated with each other by the first communication hole 31 and the second communication hole 32 as communication holes provided at two right and left positions in FIG. In the other parts, the partitioning member 30 is provided over the entire length of the waste toner container 24 in the left-right direction in the drawing. A flexible sheet member 33 is provided on a shaft portion of a portion of the first conveyance screw 291 facing the first communication hole 31.

  The first conveyance screw 291 conveys the waste toner in the direction of the arrow B3. Then, the second conveyance screw 292 conveys the waste toner in the direction of the arrow B5 in the opposite direction to the first conveyance screw 291.

  The first communication hole 31 is provided downstream of the first conveyance screw 291 in the conveyance direction, and upstream of the second conveyance screw 292 in the conveyance direction. Further, the second communication hole 32 is provided on the upstream side in the transport direction of the first transport screw 291 and on the downstream side in the transport direction of the second transport screw 292.

  The waste toner conveyed in the direction of arrow B2 and entering the waste toner container 24 from the accommodation port 24a is first accommodated in the first accommodation portion 241, conveyed by the first conveyance screw 291 in the direction of arrow B3, and It is conveyed to a position opposite to the communication hole 31.

  Then, the sheet member 33 provided at the position facing the first communication hole 31 is rotated by the rotation of the first conveyance screw 291, and the waste toner is moved in the direction of the arrow B 4 which is the side of the first communication hole 31. invite. Then, the waste toner which has been guided in the direction of the arrow B 4 and has passed through the first communication hole 31 moves from the first accommodation portion 241 to the second accommodation portion 242.

  The waste toner conveyed to the second accommodation portion 242 is conveyed by the second conveyance screw 292 in the direction of the arrow B5.

  The first conveying screw 291 and the second conveying screw 292 have a plurality of blade portions 29a in the conveying direction, and the outer diameter of the blade portion 29a is larger on the upstream side in the conveying direction than on the downstream side. As a result, the amount of conveyance on the upstream side can be increased to reduce the amount of conveyance on the downstream side, and waste toner can be collected at the center in the conveyance direction.

  Thus, the distribution of waste toner in the transport direction can be adjusted by adjusting the size of the outer diameter of the blade portion 29a of each transport screw. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, the outer diameter of the blade 29a changes at the middle of the transport direction, but the outer diameter of the blade 29a is gradually increased from the upstream side toward the downstream side, or It can also be made smaller.

  Further, the first conveying screw 291 has the conveying direction of the blade portion 29a in the opposite direction with the portion where the sheet member 33 is provided as a boundary. Thereby, the waste toner is conveyed to the side of the sheet member 33 and efficiently guided from the first accommodation portion 241 to the side of the second accommodation portion 242.

  A part of the waste toner transported to the downstream side by the second transport screw 292 moves in the direction of arrow B 6 through the second communication hole 32 and is returned again to the first storage portion 241.

  As described above, the waste toner container 24 of the present embodiment is provided by the first conveyance screw 291 and the second conveyance screw 292 so that the waste toner is conveyed inside. Thus, the waste toner can be transported to every corner of the waste toner container 24.

  The waste toner container 24 is desirably provided with a large capacity as much as possible in order to reduce the number of replacements, but since the capacity inside the image forming apparatus 1 is limited, the waste toner container 24 tends to have a complicated shape. However, as in the present embodiment, the waste toner can be transported to every corner of each storage unit by providing the transport screw in each storage unit.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the first accommodation portion 241 and the second accommodation portion 242 are provided at different heights, but by providing the partition member 30 between them, the waste toner can be removed from the second accommodation portion 242 A natural fall to the side of the one accommodation portion 241 is prevented. As a result, before the waste toner is sufficiently stored in the second storage portion 242, the waste toner is prevented from flowing out to the first storage portion 241 and the driving torque of the first conveyance screw 291 is prevented from rising.

  Each conveying screw can compress the waste toner while conveying it by applying a force to the waste toner in the conveying direction, so that a large amount of waste toner can be accommodated in the waste toner container 24.

  Further, by providing two communication holes in the first accommodation portion 241 and the second accommodation portion 242, the waste toner circulates in the waste toner container 24 in the direction of arrows B3 to B6 in FIG. In the present embodiment, the waste toner is stored from the downstream side in the transport direction of the second storage portion 242 to the upstream side of the first storage portion 241. Therefore, waste toner is sequentially accumulated on the upstream side in the transport direction against the transport direction, which causes an increase in the driving torque of the first transport screw 291 and the second transport screw 292. Therefore, by providing the second communication hole 32, it is possible to circulate the waste toner inside the waste toner container 24 and to reduce the increase of the driving torque of the conveying screw.

  The second communication hole 32 is provided on the downstream side in the conveyance direction of the second conveyance screw 292, so that the waste toner can be sufficiently compressed in the second accommodation portion 242. That is, if the second communication hole 32 is provided on the upstream side of the second conveyance screw 292, the waste is not conveyed to the back side (downstream side in the conveyance direction) of the second accommodation portion 242 and is returned to the first accommodation portion 241 The amount of toner increases, and the second container 242 prevents the waste toner from being compressed. Therefore, by providing the second communication hole 32 on the downstream side, the compression of the waste toner in the second accommodation portion 242 is not hindered.

  FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the toner cartridge 22 as viewed from the side. In particular, as shown in FIG. 8, the second communication hole 32 of the present embodiment is provided only in a part above the partition member 30. Thus, the waste toner is not transported from the second communication hole 32 to the first housing portion 241 until the height of the waste toner stored in the second housing portion 242 becomes equal to or more than a predetermined level. As a result, by providing the second communication holes 32, it is possible to prevent the above-mentioned compression of the waste toner as much as possible.

  Further, the first conveying screw 291 and the second conveying screw 292 are provided so as to rotate in conjunction with the toner replenishing screw 28 shown in FIG. Thus, only when the toner replenishing screw 28 replenishes the developing device 12 with toner, the first conveying screw 291 and the second conveying screw 292 are driven to convey the toner in the waste toner container 24. Thereby, the drive of the first conveyance screw 291 and the second conveyance screw 292 is minimized, and the load applied to the first conveyance screw 291 and the second conveyance screw 292 by the drive is minimized.

  The sheet member 33 is a flexible sheet-shaped member as long as it can guide the waste toner in the direction of the arrow B4, and for example, Mylar (registered trademark) or the like is used.

As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, Of course in the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention, a various change can be added.
The image forming apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to the monochrome image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1, but may be a color image forming apparatus, a copier, a printer, a facsimile, or a complex machine of these.

  In the embodiment described above, the waste toner container for containing the transfer residual toner of the photosensitive drum 10 is used. However, in an intermediate transfer type image forming apparatus, the waste toner container for containing the transfer residual toner on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt It is also good.

  The waste toner container according to the present embodiment is configured to have two storage units and two conveyance screws, but may be configured to have three or more.

1 Image Forming Device 22 Toner Cartridge 23 Toner Supply Container (Developer Supply Container)
24 Waste toner container (waste developer container)
24a accommodation port 241 first accommodation section 242 second accommodation section 28 toner replenishment screw (supply member)
291 1st conveyance screw 292 2nd conveyance screw 29a blade part 30 partition member 31 1st communicating hole (communication hole)
32 Second communication hole (communication hole)

Patent 4845655 gazette

Claims (8)

A storage port for storing the waste developer in the container, and a first conveyance screw and a second conveyance screw for conveying the waste developer in a predetermined direction in the container, and mounted on the image forming apparatus Waste developer container to be
A first accommodating portion provided with the first conveying screw and accommodating the waste developer entering from the accommodating port, a second accommodating portion provided with the second conveying screw , and the first accommodating portion further comprising a partition member for partitioning the said second housing part and,
The second storage portion is provided above the first storage portion in a horizontal mounting state of the image forming apparatus in which the waste developer container is mounted.
The conveying directions of the waste developer of the first conveying screw and the second conveying screw are provided in opposite directions,
On the upstream side of the transport direction of the first transport screw, on the downstream side of the transport direction of the second transport screw, and on the downstream side of the transport direction of the first transport screw, on the upstream side of the transport direction of the second transport screw , the waste developer container and said first housing part and said second housing portion, characterized in that for chromatic respectively communicating hole communicating. The first transport screw and the second conveyance screw, and the waste developer container of the partition member provided between these according to claim 1, wherein each Ru is arranged in parallel. A flexible sheet member is provided at a position facing the communication hole,
3. The waste developer container according to claim 1, wherein the sheet member guides the waste developer from the first storage portion to the second storage portion or from the second storage portion to the first storage portion . A plurality of rotating blade portions are provided along the conveying direction of the waste developer in the first conveying screw and the second conveying screw.
The outer diameter of the said 1st conveyance screw, the said 2nd conveyance screw, or the blade part of the both changes at any time in the middle of the conveyance direction of the said waste developer. Waste developer container as described . A plurality of rotating blade portions are provided along the conveying direction of the waste developer in the first conveying screw and the second conveying screw.
The outer diameter of the blade portion of the first conveyance screw, the second conveyance screw, or both of them decreases from the upstream side to the downstream side in the conveyance direction of the waste developer. The waste developer container according to item 1 or 2 . A toner cartridge in which a developer supply container for containing a developer to be supplied to a developing device and a waste developer container according to any one of claims 1 to 5 are integrally provided. The developer supply container has a supply member for supplying the developer to the developing device.
The toner cartridge according to claim 6, wherein the first conveyance screw, the second conveyance screw, or both are interlocked with the supply member . An image forming apparatus comprising: an image forming unit that forms an image on a recording medium; and the waste developer container according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

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