JP7484266B2 - Image forming device - Google Patents

Description

This invention relates to an image forming device.

Conventionally, image forming apparatuses equipped with multiple developer containers that store developer that is individually replenished to multiple developing devices are known, for example, from those described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 below.

Patent Document 1 describes an image forming apparatus in which four developer containers are detachably mounted side-by-side in a box-shaped main body above an image forming unit and an intermediate transfer belt.
Patent Document 2 describes an image forming apparatus in which four developer containers, or toner cartridges, are replaceably installed in a portion (toner supply portion) of the apparatus main body diagonally above a plurality of process cartridges that are dedicated to forming four-color toner images, and to the side of a writing portion. Patent Document 2 also describes that a carrier cartridge that stores a carrier is installed in a carrier supply portion near the toner supply portion of the apparatus main body.

JP 2014-106473 A (paragraph 0038, FIG. 1, etc.) JP 2007-101598 A (paragraphs 0064, 0077, Figs. 1, 4, etc.)

This invention provides an image forming device that can prevent the height of the housing in which the image forming unit is installed from increasing due to the need to secure space to mount the multiple developer containers, compared to when the multiple developer containers are not mounted by being inserted and removed from a second side (e.g., the back) that faces a first side of the housing from which at least a portion constituting the image forming unit in the housing is pulled out.

This invention (1) is,
A housing having a plurality of sides;
an image forming section that is installed in the housing and that forms an image made of a developer supplied individually from a plurality of developing devices having developing device housings that are long in one direction, and transfers the image onto a recording medium;
a plurality of developer containers removably mounted within the housing and configured to accommodate developers to be individually replenished to the plurality of developing devices;
Equipped with
at least a portion of the image forming unit is pulled out from a first side surface of the housing, the first side surface being one of the plurality of side surfaces, in a direction along the one direction of the developing device housing;
The multiple developer containers are detachable from and inserted in a direction along the one direction of the developing device housing from a second side surface of the housing that faces the first side surface, among the multiple side surfaces.

In addition, the present invention (2) is
a housing having a back surface;
an image forming section that is installed in the housing and that forms an image made of a developer supplied individually from a plurality of developing devices having developing device housings that are long in one direction, and transfers the image onto a recording medium;
a plurality of developer containers removably mounted within the housing and configured to accommodate developers to be individually replenished to the plurality of developing devices;
Equipped with
At least a portion of the image forming unit is pulled out from a front surface of the housing opposite to the rear surface in a direction along the one direction of the developing device housing,
The plurality of developer containers are detachably attached to the image forming apparatus by being inserted from the rear surface of the housing in a direction along the one direction of the developing device housing .

The present invention (3) is an image forming device according to the above invention (1), in which the mounting positions at which the multiple developer containers are mounted are closer to the second side surface than the multiple developing devices.

The invention (4) is an image forming device according to the invention (2) above, in which the mounting positions at which the multiple developer containers are mounted are closer to the rear surface than the multiple developing devices.

The invention (5) is an image forming apparatus according to any one of the inventions (1) to (4) above, in which the image forming unit has an intermediate transfer body that relays the image made of the developer and conveys it to a position where it is transferred to a recording medium, and each mounting position where the multiple developer containers are mounted is a position that does not overlap with the intermediate transfer body in the insertion/removal direction.

The present invention (6) is an image forming device according to any one of the above inventions (1) to (5), in which the mounting positions at which the multiple developer containers are mounted are such that the top of the developer container is lower than the top of the image forming unit.

According to the image forming device of the above invention (1), it is possible to suppress an increase in the height of the housing in which the image forming unit is installed due to the effect of securing space for mounting the multiple developer containers, compared to a case in which the multiple developer containers are not installed by inserting and removing them in a direction along one direction of the developing device housing from a second side surface opposite to a first side surface of the housing from which at least a part constituting the image forming unit is pulled out in a direction along one direction of the developing device housing.

According to the image forming device of the above invention (2), the increase in the height of the housing in which the image forming unit is installed due to the effect of securing space for mounting the multiple developer containers can be suppressed, compared to a case in which the multiple developer containers are not installed by inserting and removing them in a direction along one direction of the developing device housing from the back surface opposite the front surface of the housing from which at least a part constituting the image forming unit is pulled out in a direction along one direction of the developing device housing.

According to the above invention (3), the height of the housing can be reliably prevented from increasing due to the effect of securing space for mounting the multiple developer containers, compared to when each mounting position at which the multiple developer containers are mounted is not closer to the second side than the multiple developing devices.

According to the above invention (4), the height of the housing can be reliably prevented from increasing due to the effect of securing space for mounting the multiple developer containers, compared to when each mounting position at which the multiple developer containers are mounted is not closer to the rear than the multiple developing devices.

According to the above invention (5), the height of the housing can be reliably prevented from increasing due to the effect of securing space for mounting multiple developer containers, compared to when the mounting positions of multiple developer containers overlap in the direction in which the intermediate transfer body and the developer container are inserted and removed.

According to the above invention (6), the mounting positions at which the multiple developer containers are mounted can be reliably prevented from increasing due to the effect of securing space for mounting the multiple developer containers, compared to when the top of the developer container is located above the top of the image forming unit, and the mounting positions of the multiple developer containers can be lowered.

1 is a schematic diagram showing an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment as viewed from the front side; FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an image forming unit in the image forming apparatus of FIG. 1 . 2 is a schematic diagram showing the image forming apparatus of FIG. 1 as viewed from the rear side. FIG. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the image forming apparatus of FIG. 1 as viewed from above. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the image forming apparatus of FIG. 1 as viewed from the right side. FIG. (A) is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a toner container, a developer supply device, and a developing device, (B) is a schematic diagram showing the state when the toner container is attached to the supply device of (A), and (C) is a schematic diagram showing the state when the developing device is separated from the supply device of (B). 1A is a schematic diagram showing the state of a developer replenishing device as seen from the rear side, and FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram showing the toner replenishing state when a toner container is attached to the replenishing device of FIG. FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing a modified example of the image forming apparatus as viewed from above. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus according to a comparative example. FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of another comparative image forming apparatus as viewed from the right side.

The following describes the embodiment of the invention with reference to the drawings.

Embodiment 1.
1 and 2 are diagrams showing a first embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 1 shows an entire image forming apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment, and Fig. 2 shows an image forming section in the image forming apparatus 1.
The arrows indicated by the symbols X, Y, and Z in each of the drawings such as Figure 1 and Figure 2 indicate the left-right direction (horizontal direction), the up-down direction (vertical direction), and the front-back direction (horizontal direction), respectively. Also, the circle at the part where the arrows of the X and Y directions intersect in the drawings indicates that the Z direction is pointing vertically downward in the drawings.

<Image forming apparatus>
As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 1 has a housing 10 having a required external shape, and in the internal space of the housing 10, an image forming unit 2, a paper feeding unit 4, a fixing unit 5, a power supply unit, a control unit, etc. (not shown) are provided.

First, the housing 10 is a structure formed into the required structure and shape by combining various support members, exterior materials, etc. The housing 10 in the first embodiment has an external shape that combines a first housing part 10A that is relatively large in height and width with a second housing part 10B that is relatively smaller in height and width than the first housing part 10A. The first housing part 10A and the second housing part 10B are a composite structure that is composed of separate structures and integrated by detachably connecting them, but they may also be configured as an integrated structure from the beginning.

The first housing part 10A of the housing 10 in the first embodiment is formed to have an external shape like a horizontally elongated box that is relatively long in the left-right direction X, and has an internal space 11A. The first housing part 10A has, broadly speaking, a total of four side surfaces 10a, 10b, 10c, 10d, one top surface 10e, and a bottom surface 10f. In the first embodiment, for example, the side surface 10a facing the front side in the front-rear direction X is treated as the front surface (front face), and the remaining three side surfaces 10b, 10c, 10d are treated as the back surface (rear face), left side surface, and right side surface, respectively (see FIG. 1, FIG. 4, etc.).
The second housing portion 10B of the housing 10 is formed to have an external shape resembling a horizontally elongated box that is relatively shorter in the left-right direction X than the first housing portion 10A, and has an internal space 11B.

The first housing 10A is structured so that a part of the internal space 11A can be exposed by opening and closing the door, allowing necessary work such as inspection of the image forming unit 2 arranged in the internal space 11A to be performed. The first housing 10A and the second housing 10B have their internal spaces 11A, 11B partitioned as necessary. In FIG. 1 etc., the reference numeral 12 denotes a leg having a function such as height adjustment, and the reference numeral 95 denotes an installation surface on which the image forming device 1 is installed.

Next, the image forming unit 2 is a part that forms an image made of developer supplied individually from a plurality of developing devices 24 and transfers it onto paper 9, which is an example of a recording medium. When a two-component developer containing, for example, toner and carrier is used as the developer, the image made of developer becomes a toner image made of the toner in the two-component developer.

As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming unit 2 in the first embodiment is disposed in a position that occupies approximately half of the right side of the internal space 11A of the first housing portion 10A of the housing 10. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the image forming unit 2 is composed of four image forming devices 20A, 20B, 20C, and 20D that form toner images made of toner as a developer, and an intermediate transfer device 30 having an intermediate transfer body that relays each toner image formed by the four image forming devices 20 (A, B, C, and D) and transports them to a position where they are transferred to paper 9.

The image forming device 20 (A, B, C, D) is a device that forms a toner image made of four toners (A, B, C, D) of different colors or types for individual use. Examples of toner images made of toners of different colors or types include, but are not limited to, normal toner images made of chromatic or achromatic toners such as yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K).

All of the image forming devices 20 (A, B, C, D) are configured in almost the same way, except that the four toners (A, B, C, D) used are different from each other. The four toners (A, B, C, D) can be, for example, the four colors of toners mentioned above: yellow, magenta, cyan, and black.

That is, as shown in FIG. 2 etc., the image forming device 20 (A, B, C, D) has a photosensitive drum 21 that rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow, and is configured by arranging devices such as a charging device 22 that charges the image forming surface of the outer circumferential surface of the photosensitive drum 21 to a required potential around the photosensitive drum 21, an exposure device 23 that exposes the charged image forming surface of the photosensitive drum 21 to light processed according to image information input from the outside to form an electrostatic latent image, developing devices 24A, 24B, 24C, 24D that develop the electrostatic latent image with toner of a corresponding color or type to form a toner image, and a drum cleaning device 26 that removes unnecessary adhesions from the image forming surface of the photosensitive drum 21 and cleans the image forming surface.
In FIG. 2, the reference numerals 21 to 24 and 26 are all shown only for the image forming apparatuses 20A and 20D, and only some of them are shown for the other image forming apparatuses 20B and 20C.

Of these, developing devices 24 (A, B, C, D) indicate that they are four developing devices that each contain one of the four toners (A, B, C, D) and perform development. For example, developing device 24A indicates that it contains toner A and performs development, and developing device 24B indicates that it contains toner B and performs development.

Further, the developing devices 24 (A, B, C, D) have substantially the same configuration except for the developer (toner in the case of a two-component developer) that they contain.
The developing device 24 (A, B, C, D) is configured by arranging components such as a developing roll 241 that holds developer and supplies it to the photosensitive drum 21 for development inside a housing (casing) 240 that has a developer storage section and a development opening, a transport member 242 that transports the developer while stirring it, and an adjustment member 243 that adjusts the amount (layer thickness, etc.) of developer held by the developing roll 241 (see FIG. 6, etc.) at one end of the housing 240 in the longitudinal direction. A developer supply section 245 is provided at one end of the housing 240 in a form that protrudes from the end.

Further, the developing device 24 (A, B, C, D) includes toner containers 6A, 6B, 6C, and 6D, which are examples of four developer containers that store toners (A, B, C, and D) as developers that are individually replenished according to consumption, as shown in Figures 3 to 5. The toner containers 6 (A, B, C, and D) are used by being detachably attached to the inside of the first housing portion 10A, as shown in Figures 4 and 5.
The details of the installation of the toner containers 6 (A, B, C, D) will be described later.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the intermediate transfer device 30 is configured by arranging an intermediate transfer belt 31, which is an example of an intermediate transfer body, a primary transfer device 33, a secondary transfer device 35, a belt cleaning device 36, etc.

The intermediate transfer belt 31 is an endless belt of the required width and length, and is configured to hold a toner image on its outer circumferential surface. The intermediate transfer belt 31 is supported by a number of support rolls 32a-32c arranged on its inner circumferential surface side so that it passes sequentially through the primary transfer positions facing each of the photosensitive drums 21 of the image forming device 20 (A, B, C, D) and also through the secondary transfer position facing the paper 9, and is maintained in a state of rotation (circular movement) in the direction indicated by arrow B. Of the multiple support rolls 32a-32c, for example, the support roll 32a is configured as a drive roll, and the support roll 32c is configured as a secondary transfer backup roll.

The primary transfer device 33 is a device that performs primary transfer of each toner image formed on each photosensitive drum 21 of the image forming device 20 (A, B, C, D) onto the outer circumferential surface of the intermediate transfer belt 31 by electrostatic action or the like. For example, the primary transfer device 33 may have a primary transfer roll that rotates while pressing the intermediate transfer belt 31 against each photosensitive drum 21 at the primary transfer position and is supplied with a primary transfer bias.

The secondary transfer device 35 is a device that performs secondary transfer of the toner image that has been primarily transferred onto the outer peripheral surface of the intermediate transfer belt 31 onto the paper 9 by electrostatic action or the like. For example, the secondary transfer device 35 may have a secondary transfer roll that rotates in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the intermediate transfer belt 31 at a secondary transfer position supported by a support roll 32c and is supplied with a secondary transfer bias.
The belt cleaning device 36 is a device that removes unnecessary deposits from the outer peripheral surface of the intermediate transfer belt 31 and cleans the outer peripheral surface.

As shown in FIG. 1 and other figures, the intermediate transfer device 30 in the first embodiment has an intermediate transfer belt 31 wound around a plurality of support rolls 32a-32c in the internal space 11A of the first housing section 10A of the housing 10 in a form having a horizontal running region, a downwardly inclined running region, and an upwardly inclined running region.

The horizontal running area is an area in which the rollers run while being supported in a nearly horizontal state in the left-right direction X by support rolls 32a and 32b at an upper position in the internal space of the housing 10. The downward inclined running area is an area in which the rollers run while being supported in a downward state while being inclined from right to bottom left by support rolls 32b and 32c. The upward inclined running area is an area in which the rollers run while being supported in an upward state while being inclined from bottom to top left by support rolls 32c and 32a.

In addition, the four image forming devices 20 (A, B, C, D) in embodiment 1 are arranged in the following state as shown in Figures 1 and 2 due to the above-mentioned wrapping configuration of the intermediate transfer belt 31.

The two image forming devices 20 (A, B) are arranged so as to be lined up almost horizontally at a fixed interval (the interval between the primary transfer positions) in the left-right direction X in the horizontal running area of the intermediate transfer belt 31. The remaining two image forming devices 20 (C, D) are arranged so as to be lined up diagonally at the same interval as the above-mentioned fixed interval in the downwardly inclined running area of the intermediate transfer belt 31. The image forming devices 20B and 20C, which are arranged separately in the upper horizontal running area and the lower downwardly inclined running area, are also arranged so that the interval between their primary transfer positions is the same as the above-mentioned fixed interval.

Furthermore, the secondary transfer device 35 in embodiment 1 is positioned in the middle of the upward inclined running area of the intermediate transfer belt 31.

Next, the paper feed unit 4 is the part that stores and sends out the paper 9 to be fed to the position where the image forming unit 2 transfers the image.

1, the paper feed unit 4 in the first embodiment is disposed in the internal space 11B of the second housing portion 10B of the housing 10. The paper feed unit 4 is also configured with a container 41 that stores a plurality of sheets of paper 9 stacked in a required orientation, a feed device 42 that feeds the sheets of paper 9 stored in the container 41 one by one, and the like.
The paper 9 can be any recording medium that can be transported within the housing 10 (10A, 10B) and onto which a toner image can be transferred and fixed, and there are no particular restrictions on the material, shape, etc.

In addition, because the image forming unit 2 is configured to include the intermediate transfer device 30, the paper feed unit 4 is configured to supply the paper 9 to a secondary transfer position in the intermediate transfer device 30. In this paper feed unit 4, the paper 9 sent out from the container 41 is transported to the secondary transfer position via the paper feed transport path 45.

The paper feed transport path 45 is a paper transport path that transports the paper 9 in the paper feed unit 4 so as to supply it to the secondary transfer position at the required timing. This paper feed transport path 45 is configured by arranging, for example, a number of transport rolls 46a to 46d that clamp and transport the paper 9, and a number of guide members (not shown) that ensure a transport space for the paper 9 and guide the transport of the paper 9. In this embodiment, the paper feed transport path 45 is arranged in a position that occupies a lower space close to the lower surface 10f of the first housing unit 10A, spanning from the internal space 11B of the second housing unit 10B to the internal space 11A of the first housing unit 10A.

Next, the fixing unit 5 is the part that fixes the toner image transferred by the image forming unit 2 onto the paper 9.

As shown in FIG. 1, the fixing unit 5 in the first embodiment is disposed in a position that occupies approximately half of the left side of the internal space 11A of the first housing portion 10A of the housing 10. The fixing unit 5 performs a fixing process in which the toner is heated to a required temperature to melt it and is pressurized to a required pressure.

The fixing section 5 is composed of a fixing device in which devices such as a heating rotor 51 and a pressure rotor 52 are arranged in the internal space of a housing 50 in which an inlet and outlet for the paper 9 are provided. The heating rotor 51 is a rotor in the form of a roll, a belt-pad, or the like, which is heated to a required temperature by a heating means (not shown) and rotates. The pressure rotor 52 is a rotor in the form of a roll, a belt-pad, or the like, which rotates while being pressed against the heating rotor 51 with a required pressure. The pressure rotor 52 may be heated by a heating means.

In the fixing section 5, the area where the heating rotor 51 and the pressure rotor 52 come into contact serves as a fixing processing section (nip section) where the paper 9 onto which the unfixed toner image has been transferred is passed through while being sandwiched, and where heat, pressure, and other processes are performed to fix the toner image to the paper 9 as it passes through.

In addition, in the image forming device 1, as shown in FIG. 1, paper transport paths such as a relay transport path 47 and a discharge transport path 48 are arranged inside the first housing unit 10A.

The relay transport path 47 is a paper transport path that relays and transports the paper 9 after the secondary transfer in the image forming unit 2 is completed so as to introduce it into the fixing unit 5. The relay transport path 47 is configured, for example, by disposing a suction type belt transport device or the like between the secondary transfer position of the image forming unit 2 and the fixing unit 5.
The discharge conveying path 48 is a paper conveying path that conveys the paper 9 after the fixing in the fixing unit 5 to the discharge port 13 for the paper 9 in the left side surface 10c of the first housing unit 10A and then conveys the paper 9 to be discharged into a storage unit (not shown). The discharge conveying path 48 is configured by arranging a conveying roll 49, a plurality of guide members, etc.

In the image forming device 1, as shown in FIG. 1, the side portion of the housing 10 where the first housing unit 10A and the second housing unit 10B join serves as a boundary wall 15, which separates the internal space 11A of the first housing unit 10A from the internal space 11B of the second housing unit 10B. The boundary wall 15 is formed by the portion where the right side surface 10d of the first housing unit 10A and the left side surface of the second housing unit 10B join when they are connected. In addition, an opening such as a passage opening 15a that allows the transported paper 9 to pass through is provided at the bottom of the boundary wall 15.

Furthermore, in the image forming device 1, as shown in Figures 4 and 5, at least a portion of the image forming unit 2 is configured to be pulled out to the outside of the first housing portion 10A in the housing 10.

In the first embodiment, for example, the four image forming devices 20 (A, B, C, D) in the image forming section 2 are each unitized as a unit to be pulled out, and are structured so that they can be individually pulled out from the front surface 10a of the first housing section 10A to the outside (front side: front side in the front-rear direction Z). Specifically, the image forming devices 20 (A, B, C, D) are integral structures in which the photosensitive drum 21, charging device 22, exposure device 23, developing device 24, drum cleaning device 26, and other devices are each attached to a support frame for the unit, and are arranged so that the support frame can be moved via a moving means such as a guide rail. By using the moving means, the image forming devices 20 (A, B, C, D) can be individually pulled out from the front surface 10a of the first housing section 10A.

As a result, in the image forming device 1, the inspection and replacement of the devices constituting the image forming device 20, such as the photosensitive drum 21, charging device 22, exposure device 23, developing device 24, and drum cleaning device 26, can be performed in a state where they are pulled out and exposed outside the housing 10. Arrow J1 in Figures 3, 4, 5, etc. indicates the direction in which the image forming device 20 is pushed in when installed, and arrow J2 indicates the direction in which the image forming device 20 is pulled out.

<Configuration regarding attachment of developer container, etc.>
As shown in Figures 3, 4, 5, etc., the image forming device 1 is configured so that the four toner containers 6 (A, B, C, D) as developer containers can be attached and detached by inserting them from a second side surface opposite to a first side surface from which at least a portion of the image forming unit 2 in the first housing portion 10A of the housing 10 is pulled out.

Here, the second side surface in the first embodiment is the rear surface 10b as the side surface opposite to the front surface 10a, which is the first side surface, because at least the image forming devices 20 (A, B, C, D) constituting the image forming unit 2 are pulled out from the front surface 10a (corresponding to the first side surface) of the first housing portion 10A of the housing 10 as described above. Therefore, the toner containers 6 (A, B, C, D) in the first embodiment are detached by being inserted into and removed from the rear surface 10b of the first housing portion 10A of the housing 10.
3, 4, 5, etc., an arrow M1 indicates the direction in which the toner container 6 is inserted when it is attached, and an arrow M2 indicates the direction in which the toner container 6 is pulled out when it is removed. The double-headed arrows M are the directions in which the toner container 6 is inserted and removed.

In addition, in the first embodiment, the toner container 6 (A, B, C, D) is composed of two toner containers 61 (A, B, C, D), 62 (A, B, C, D) that are attached to each of the developing devices 24 (A, B, C, D) for use. For example, the toner container 6A is composed of two toner containers 61A, 62A that are attached to the developing device 24A for use, and the toner container 6B is composed of two toner containers 61B, 62B that are attached to the developing device 24B for use.

The two toner containers 61 and 62 have the same configuration. For example, the toner container 61A and the toner container 62A are containers having the same cylindrical shape capable of storing the same amount of the same toner A.
6 , each of the two toner containers 61, 62 is provided with a discharge section 65 with an opening/closing shutter at a predetermined location of the container (for example, the end on the leading end side when the container is inserted and attached), and is provided with a transport member 66 that rotates and transports the toner inside the container to the discharge section 65. The toner containers 61, 62 are also provided with a handle section 67 that is used when attaching and detaching the containers, and a passive transmission joint (for example, a sprocket) (not shown) that connects to a drive transmission joint (described later) that transmits rotational power to the transport member 66.

As shown in Figures 6 and 7, the image forming device 1 is configured so that the toner containers 6 (A, B, C, D) are connected to the developing devices 24 (A, B, C, D) via developer supply devices 70 (A, B, C, D) provided on the rear surface 10b side of the housing 10.

First, in the image forming apparatus 1 , as shown in Fig. 4 and Fig. 5, the internal space 11A of the first housing part 10A in the housing 10 is divided into a front internal space 11Af and a rear internal space 11Ab by a virtual boundary surface 16. The boundary surface 16 can be a boundary wall that can actually divide the space. When a boundary wall is used, an opening that penetrates the boundary wall may be provided in a necessary portion thereof.

As shown in FIG. 6, each of the developer replenishing devices 70 (A, B, C, D) is disposed in the rear internal space 11Ab of the first housing portion 10A of the housing 10.
On the other hand, the image forming section 2 (four image forming devices 20 and intermediate transfer device 30), paper feed section 4, fixing section 5, paper transport path, etc. are arranged in the front internal space 11Af of the first housing section 10A, as shown in Figures 4 to 6.

As shown in Figures 6 and 7, each of these replenishing devices 70 (A, B, C, D) has a container mounting section 71 for mounting a toner container 6 (A, B, C, D) and a transport section 75 for transporting the developer toner stored in each toner container 6 (A, B, C, D).

The container mounting section 71 has a shape and structure that allows it to detachably hold two toner containers 61, 62. When an opening and closing door (not shown) provided on the rear surface 10b is opened, the container mounting section 71 exposes necessary parts (for example, the end holding section described below) to the outside on the rear surface 10b side.

As shown in Figure 6, for example, this container mounting portion 71 is composed of an installation portion 71a where two toner containers 61, 62 are installed, an end holding portion 71b that holds one longitudinal end of the toner containers 61, 62, and an end fixing portion 71c that holds and fixes the other longitudinal end of the toner containers 61, 62 (the end that becomes the front when inserted during mounting).
The end holding portion 71b is provided with two mounting holes 72 that guide and pass through when attaching and detaching the toner containers 61, 62. The end fixing portion 71c is also provided with a receiving port (not shown) that faces the discharge portion 65 of the toner containers 61, 62, a drive transmission coupling (e.g., a sprocket) 73 that transmits power to the conveying member 66, and the like.

The transport section 75 has a shape and structure that allows it to connect between the end fixing section 71c of the container mounting section 71 and the developer supply section 245 of the developing device 24 and transport the required amount of toner.

As shown in FIG. 6, for example, this transport section 75 is composed of a first transport section 75a extending from the end fixing section 71c in the container mounting section 71 along the installation section 71a, a supply transport path 75b that transports the amount of toner required for the developer supply section 245 in the developing device 24, and a connecting transport path 75c that connects the first transport section 75a and the supply transport path 75b.

The first transport section 75a, the supply transport path 75b, and the connection transport path 75c are provided with a transport member 76 that rotates to transport toner. The transport member 76 is rotated by a drive device (not shown) according to the required supply amount. The supply transport path 75b is provided with a connection discharge port 77 that connects to a connection receptacle 246 in the developer supply section 245 of the developing device 24 and discharges toner. The connection transport path 75c has conditions such as the length and position of the transport path adjusted according to differences in the distance and positional relationship between the supply device 70 and the developer supply section 245 of the developing device 24.

The supply devices 70 (A, B, C, D) are arranged in the rear internal space 11Ab of the first housing part 10A of the housing 10 at positions that correspond approximately to the positions of the developing devices 24 (A, B, C, D) shown by dotted lines in the front internal space 11Af, as shown in FIG. 3.

In the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, all of the replenishing devices 70 (A, B, C, D) are arranged so as to be located above the respective developing devices 24 (A, B, C, D) that are the targets of replenishing. In addition, the replenishing devices 70 (A, B, C, D) are configured so that each of the toner containers 6 (A, B, C, D) that are attached to each of the container attachment portions 71 are located above the respective developing devices 24 (A, B, C, D) that are the targets of replenishing.

As shown in Figures 4 to 6, the supply device 70 (A, B, C, D) is configured so that the mounting positions at which the toner containers 6 (61, 62) are mounted in each container mounting section 71 are all closer to the rear surface 10b, which is the second side surface, than the four developing devices 24 (A, B, C, D).

Specifically, each image forming device 20 equipped with a developing device 24 (A, B, C, D) is disposed in the front internal space 11Af of the first housing part 10A of the housing 10, while each container mounting part 71 for mounting the toner container 6 (61, 62) is disposed in the front internal space 11Af including the rear surface 10b of the first housing part 10A of the housing 10. In other words, each mounting position for mounting the toner container 6 (61, 62) is set to be located closer to the rear surface 10b than the end 240b on the leading end side of the pushing direction J1 of the image forming device 20 in the housing 240 of each developing device 24 (A, B, C, D) as shown in Figs. 4 to 6.

As shown in Figures 4 and 5, the supply device 70 (A, B, C, D) is also configured so that the mounting positions of the toner containers 6 (61, 62) in the container mounting sections 71 do not overlap with the intermediate transfer belt 31 of the intermediate transfer device 30 in the image forming section 2 in the direction M in which the toner containers 6 (61, 62) are inserted and removed. In this case, the insertion and removal direction M can be replaced with, for example, the width direction of the intermediate transfer belt 31 or the direction K which is the rotation axis direction of the support roll 32.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 3 etc., this replenishing device 70 (A, B, C, D) is also configured so that for each mounting position where the toner container 6 (61, 62) is mounted in each container mounting section 71, the top of the toner container 6 (61, 62) is positioned below the top position (Ph) of the image forming section 2.

The two-dot chain line marked with the symbol Ph in Figures 1 to 3 indicates the (height) position of the almost common top portion of each exposure device 23 in the image forming devices 20A and 20B, which form the uppermost portion of the image forming unit 2. Also, the two-dot chain line marked with the symbol Th in Figure 3 indicates the (height) position of the almost common top surface portion of the toner containers 6A and 6B, which form the uppermost portion of the toner container 6 (61, 62).

In the image forming device 1 configured as described above, the toner container 6 (61, 62) is inserted into and removed from each container mounting portion 71 of the corresponding replenishing device 70 (A, B, C, D) on the rear surface 10b of the first housing portion 10A of the housing 10.

As shown in Figures 6(A) and 6(B), the toner container 6 (61, 62) is attached by pushing the toner container 6 (61, 62) to be attached from the rear surface 10b of the first housing 10A toward each container mounting portion 71 of the target replenishing device 70 (A, B, C, D) in the insertion direction M1, and holding and fixing it. Prior to this attachment, an opening and closing door (not shown) on the rear surface 10b of the first housing 10A is opened to expose the end holding portion 71b of each container mounting portion 71 to the rear surface 10b.

When the toner in the development device 24 (A, B, C, D) to be replenished is consumed by the development operation and it is time to replenish the toner container 6 (61, 62) attached to each container attachment section 71, the replenishing device 70 (A, B, C, D) that requires replenishment starts up in response to a control command from a control section (not shown) and is used to replenish the toner.

As shown by the dashed line with an arrow and the symbol Gt in FIG. 6(B), the toner is replenished by the toner in the toner container 6 (61, 62) being sent out by the transport member 66, transported via the transport section 75 in the replenishing device 70, and finally sent to the developer replenishing section 245 in the developing device 24 to be replenished.

In addition, when the stored toner has been almost consumed and reduced by the toner replenishment operation, the toner container 6 (61, 62) is removed by pulling the toner container 6 (61, 62) to be replaced from the rear surface 10b of the first housing portion 10A in the housing 10 in the pulling direction M2 from each container mounting portion 71 of the replenishment device 70 (A, B, C, D), as shown in Figures 6 (A) and (B).

Therefore, with this image forming device 1, the height Hm (FIG. 1) of the first housing part 10A of the housing 10 where at least the image forming part 2 is installed is prevented from increasing due to the effect of ensuring space for mounting the multiple toner containers 6 (61, 62), compared to when the multiple toner containers 6 (61, 62) are not installed by inserting them from the back side 10b, which is the second side opposite the front side 10a of the first housing part 10A of the housing 10 from which the image forming device 20 (A, B, C, D), which is an example of at least a part constituting the image forming part 2 in the housing 10, is pulled out.

The height Hm of the first housing part 10A in the housing 10 of this image forming device 1 is the dimension from the installation surface 95 of the top surface 10e of the area of the housing 10 where at least the image forming part 2 is arranged (first housing part 10A). Similarly, the width Wm of the first housing part 10A in the housing 10 is the dimension between the left and right side surfaces 10c, 10d surrounding the area of the housing 10 where at least the image forming part 2 is arranged (first housing part 10A).

Here, as a comparative image forming device 100, as shown in FIG. 9, we will assume that the image forming unit 2 (image forming device 20 and intermediate transfer device 30) is arranged in a similar manner as in the image forming device 1 of embodiment 1, and that the image forming device is configured so that multiple toner containers 6 (61, 62) are attached by inserting them into and removing them from the front surface 10a, which is the first side surface of the first housing portion 10A of the housing 10.

In the image forming apparatus 100 of this comparative example, from the viewpoint of securing a space for inserting and removing the toner container 6 (61, 62) from the front surface 10a and mounting it, the replenishing devices 70 (A, B) corresponding to the two image forming devices 20A, 20B disposed at the upper positions need to be disposed with a space secured at a position above the image forming devices 20A, 20B, as illustrated in Fig. 9. For this reason, the upper surface 10e of the housing 10 needs to be made higher by an amount sufficient to secure the space, like an upper surface 10ex having a height as indicated by a two-dot chain line.
As a result, in the image forming device 100, the height of the first housing part 10A in its housing 10 increases by a dimension α corresponding to the new upper surface 10ex compared to the height Hm of the first housing part 10A in the housing 10 of the image forming device 1 in embodiment 1.

From the same viewpoint, in the image forming apparatus 100 of the comparative example, the replenishing device 70C corresponding to the image forming device 20C at the right end, for example, located at the lower position, needs to be located to the right of the image forming device 20C with a space secured thereto, as illustrated in Fig. 9. For this reason, the right side surface 10d of the housing 10 needs to be shifted to the right by an amount sufficient to secure the space, as shown by the right side surface 10dx indicated by the two-dot chain line.
As a result, in the image forming device 100, the width of the first housing part 10A in its housing 10 increases by a dimension β corresponding to the new right side surface 10dx compared to the width Wm of the first housing part 10A in the housing 10 of the image forming device 1 in embodiment 1.

From the same viewpoint, in the image forming apparatus 100 of the comparative example, for the replenishing device 70D corresponding to the image forming device 20D on the lower side, for example, on the lower left side, it is also possible to arrange the replenishing device 70D in a position below the image forming device 20D with a space secured therebelow, as illustrated in Fig. 9. If the space can be secured in a position below the image forming device 20D, it becomes unnecessary to change the position of the right side surface 10d to a position shifted to the right, and as a result, it is possible to avoid an increase in at least the width Wm of the first housing portion 10A in the housing 10.
However, when arranged in this manner, the replenishing device 70D including the toner container 6D is positioned lower than the developing device 24D (the developer replenishing section 245) in the image forming device 20D, and therefore the toner contained in the toner container 6D must be transported upward (from bottom to top) toward the developing device 24D located above.
For this reason, with this arrangement, it becomes difficult to transport the powder toner well, and there is a risk of another problem occurring, such as the toner easily clogging the transport path, etc., so as a result, this is not an effective solution.

In addition, in the image forming device 1, the mounting positions at which the multiple toner containers 6 (61, 62) are mounted are configured to be closer to the rear surface 10b, which is the second side surface, than the multiple developing devices 24 (A, B, C, D). This reliably prevents the height Hm of the first housing portion 10A, where at least the image forming unit 2 is installed, from increasing due to the effect of ensuring space for mounting the multiple toner containers 6 (61, 62), compared to when the mounting positions are not closer to the rear surface 10b, which is the second side surface, than the multiple developing devices 24 (A, B, C, D).

For example, even if the toner container 6C (61, 62) is inserted and removed from the rear surface 10b, if the toner container 6C (61, 62) is installed in a position that overlaps with the developing device 24C in the insertion and removal direction M, as illustrated in FIG. 10, it is necessary to secure space and place it in a position above the image forming device 20C including the developing device 24C. For this reason, the top surface 10e of the first housing part 10A in the housing 10 must be made higher by the amount of space required, as shown by the two-dot chain line at the top surface 10ez, which increases the height Hm of the first housing part 10A.

In addition, in the image forming device 1, the mounting positions at which the multiple toner containers 6 (61, 62) are mounted are configured to be positions that do not overlap in the direction M in which the intermediate transfer belt 31 of the intermediate transfer device 30 in the image forming unit 2 and the toner containers 6 (61, 62) are inserted and removed. This reliably prevents the height Hm of at least the first housing portion 10A in the housing 10 where the image forming unit 2 is installed from increasing due to the effect of ensuring space for mounting the multiple toner containers 6 (61, 62), compared to when the mounting positions are positions that overlap in the direction M in which the intermediate transfer belt 31 and the toner containers 6 (61, 62) are inserted and removed.

Even if the toner container 6C (61, 62) is installed by inserting it from the rear surface 10b, as shown in FIG. 10, if the installation position of the toner container 6C (61, 62) overlaps with the intermediate transfer belt 31 in the direction M in which the toner container 6C (61, 62) is inserted and removed, it is still necessary to secure space and place it in a position above the image forming device 20C including the developing device 24C. For this reason, the top surface 10e of the first housing part 10A in the housing 10 must be made higher by the amount of space required, as shown by the two-dot chain line at the top surface 10ez, which increases the height Hm of the first housing part 10A.

Furthermore, in the image forming device 1, for each mounting position at which the multiple toner containers 6 (61, 62) are mounted, the top (height Th) of the toner container 6 (61, 62) is configured to be lower than the top position (Ph) of the image forming unit 2. Therefore, compared to a case where each mounting position is such that the top of the toner container 6 (61, 62) is higher than the top position (Ph) of the image forming unit 2, the height Hm of the first housing portion 10A in the housing 10 is more reliably prevented from increasing due to the effect of securing space for mounting the multiple toner containers 6 (61, 62), and each mounting position of the multiple toner containers 6 (61, 62) is lower.
In particular, in the image forming device 1, the mounting positions of the multiple toner containers 6 (61, 62) are lowered, and therefore the height to which the toner containers 6 (61, 62) need to be lifted when installing or removing them is also lowered, reducing the burden on the worker when installing or removing the toner containers, making the work easier.

Furthermore, in the image forming apparatus 1, the multiple toner containers 6 are composed of two toner containers 61, 62 that are each attached to one of the multiple developing devices 24 for use. Therefore, compared to the case where one toner container 6 is attached to each of the multiple developing devices 24, if the containers are both cylindrical and have approximately the same toner storage volume and container diameter, the dimension of the two toner containers 61, 62 in the direction M for insertion and removal is shorter than that of one toner container 6.
As a result, the image forming device 1 makes it possible to reduce the dimension in the direction M in which the first housing part 10A is inserted and removed from the housing 10 (strictly speaking, in this example, the front-to-rear dimension in the rear internal space 11Ab of the first housing part 10A) compared to the case in which one toner container 6 is attached each.

Variant examples.
The present invention is not limited to the contents exemplified in the above-mentioned first embodiment, but also includes, for example, the following modified examples.

8, in the case of an image forming apparatus 1B in which at least a part 2a (e.g., a developing device, a photosensitive drum, etc.) constituting the image forming unit 2 is pulled out from a left side surface 10c (corresponding to a first side surface) of a housing 10C, a second side surface opposite to the left side surface 10c, which is the first side surface, is a right side surface 10d. The housing 10C of this example image forming apparatus 1B is shaped such that the front-rear dimensions of the left and right side surfaces 10c, 10d are longer than the left-right dimension of the front surface 10a.
In the case of such an image forming apparatus 1B, the multiple toner containers 6A, 6B may be configured to be inserted and removed from the right side surface 10d, which serves as the second side surface, of the housing 10C.
In addition, in an image forming apparatus in which the first side surface is the right side surface 10d, the second side surface opposite to the first side surface is the left side surface 10c.

The image forming unit 2 may not use the intermediate transfer device 30 having the intermediate transfer belt 31 (e.g., a direct transfer type) as long as it is equipped with a plurality of developing devices 24. The number of developing devices 24 may be two or more. The type of the developing devices 24 may be of another type.
Also, with regard to the number of toner containers 6, it is sufficient that at least the number of toner containers 6 is equal to the number of the multiple developing devices 24.

In the image forming apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment, for example, when the developer is a two-component developer containing a toner and a carrier, a toner container that stores the toner for replenishment and a carrier container that stores the carrier for replenishment may be used as the developer container.

In this case, the carrier container 68 may be removably attached to a carrier container attachment portion 79 provided near the portion (container attachment portion 71) where the toner container 6 (61, 62) of the developer replenishing device 70 is attached, as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 7(A). The carrier container 68 may be, for example, a cylindrical container provided with a rotating transport member for transporting the carrier stored therein to the discharge outlet.

In the case where this carrier container 68 is applied, when it is time to replenish the developer carrier in the developing device 24, the replenishing device 70 starts and power is transmitted from a drive transmission means (not shown) in the carrier container mounting portion 79 to rotate the transport member. As a result, the carrier is sent out from the carrier container 68 and, as shown by the dotted line Gc with an arrow in Fig. 7B, is sent to the developer replenishing portion 245 in the developing device 24 to be replenished via the transport portion 75 of the replenishing device 70, and the carrier replenishing operation is performed.
The carrier container 68 can be attached and detached by inserting it through the rear surface 10b, which is the second side surface of the first housing portion 10A of the housing 10, in the same manner as the toner container 6 (61, 62).

In addition, the image forming apparatus 1 according to embodiment 1 may also be provided with a collection container 81 that collects cleaning materials (such as paper powder) and developers (such as toner) discharged from the cleaning device and developing device in the image forming unit 2 and is removably attached to the first housing portion 10A of the housing 10, as shown by the dotted line in FIG. 3.
In this case, the waste toner container 81 may be configured to be inserted and removed from the rear surface 10b, which is the second side surface, in the same manner as the toner container 6 (61, 62). Although one waste toner container 81 is shown in FIG. 3, the number of waste toner containers is not particularly limited.

Furthermore, in the image forming device 1 according to embodiment 1, the work of attaching and detaching the toner container 6 and the like is performed on the back surface 10b, which is the second side surface of the first housing portion 10A in the housing 10, so that a work space is provided behind the back surface 10b.
For this reason, in this image forming device 1, as illustrated by the dotted line in Figure 5, it is possible to temporarily store related parts such as spare or removed toner containers 6 (61, 62) in the work space behind the back surface 10b, which is in a blind spot from the front surface 10a of the first housing part 10A of the housing 10.

1 ... image forming apparatus 2 ... image forming section 6, 61, 62 ... toner container (an example of a developer container)
9. Paper (an example of a recording medium)
10, 10C... Housing 10a... Front side (an example of a first side surface)
10b... Rear surface (an example of a second side surface)
10a, 10b, 10c, 10d...Side (an example of multiple side)
24...Developing device 31...Intermediate transfer belt (an example of an intermediate transfer body)
M: Insertion/removal direction Ph: Topmost position of the image forming unit (one example)
Th: The top position of the toner container (one example)

Claims (6)

A housing having a plurality of sides;
an image forming section that is installed in the housing and that forms an image made of a developer supplied individually from a plurality of developing devices having developing device housings that are long in one direction, and transfers the image onto a recording medium;
a plurality of developer containers removably mounted within the housing and configured to accommodate developers to be individually replenished to the plurality of developing devices;
Equipped with
at least a portion of the image forming unit is pulled out from a first side surface of the housing, the first side surface being one of the plurality of side surfaces, in a direction along the one direction of the developing device housing;
The image forming apparatus includes a housing in which the developer containers are inserted and removed from a second side surface of the housing that faces the first side surface, the second side surface being one of the side surfaces of the housing, in a direction along the one direction of the developing device housing . a housing having a back surface;
an image forming section that is installed in the housing and that forms an image made of a developer supplied individually from a plurality of developing devices having developing device housings that are long in one direction, and transfers the image onto a recording medium;
a plurality of developer containers removably mounted within the housing and configured to accommodate developers to be individually replenished to the plurality of developing devices;
Equipped with
At least a portion of the image forming unit is pulled out from a front surface of the housing opposite to the rear surface in a direction along the one direction of the developing device housing,
The plurality of developer containers are detachably attached to and detached from the rear surface of the housing in a direction along the one direction of the developing device housing . The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each mounting position at which the multiple developer containers are mounted is closer to the second side surface than the multiple developing devices. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein each mounting position for mounting the multiple developer containers is closer to the rear surface than the multiple developing devices. The image forming unit has an intermediate transfer body that conveys the image formed of the developer to a position where the image is transferred onto a recording medium,
5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the mounting positions of the plurality of developer containers are positions that do not overlap with the intermediate transfer body in the insertion/removal direction. The image forming device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the mounting positions of the multiple developer containers are such that the top of the developer container is lower than the top of the image forming unit.

Images