JPS6219752B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a toner accumulating device for a cleaning device in a copying machine or the like.

In a copying machine or other recording device that forms a latent image on the surface of an image carrier, visualizes the latent image with toner, and then transfers the toner image to a transfer sheet, the image after the transfer is It is unavoidable that toner remains on the image carrier surface, and if this is left unattended, the next transfer sheet will be contaminated, so the remaining toner on the surface of the image carrier is cleaned by a cleaning device. In this case, it is also well known that the powdered or liquid toner removed from the image carrier is collected by a toner accumulating device and the collected toner is reused or disposed of. Generally, this type of toner accumulating device is configured to transport the toner removed from the image carrier to a toner collection container and store the toner in this container, and when the toner in this container reaches a predetermined amount, the toner is collected. The detection means can detect this and display that the full container should be replaced with another empty container. In this case, in the conventional toner accumulating device, the toner collection container is supported so as to be able to move up and down, and when the toner in the container reaches a predetermined amount, the container moves downward due to its weight, and this movement causes the detection means to be activated. configured to be activated. On the other hand, generally, the toner receiving port of the toner collection container is provided with a flexible seal for preventing toner leakage, and a toner discharge port is fitted into this seal. This toner is prevented from leaking out of the container from the toner receiving opening of the container. However, as mentioned above, when the amount of toner in the container increases and the container is configured to move downward, when the container moves downward, the toner outlet strongly hits the seal, deforming the seal. As a result, a large gap is created between the toner discharge port and the seal, and there is a possibility that the toner may flow out through this gap, resulting in a drawback that the original purpose of the seal may be lost. Further, as described above, if the toner discharge port and the seal strongly contact each other, there is a risk that the detection of the amount of toner in the container may malfunction, and there is also the drawback that accurate detection of the amount of toner cannot be performed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention aims to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks of the conventional art, and to provide a toner accumulating device that can suppress toner leakage from the toner receiving opening of a toner collection container and accurately detect the amount of toner in the container.

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

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing the main parts of a copying machine, and numeral 1 in the figure is an image carrier configured as a photosensitive drum. When this photosensitive drum 1, which is rotatably supported by the copying machine main body, is driven to rotate in the direction of arrow A, the surface of the drum is charged by the charger 2, and this charged portion is shown in the figure as indicated by arrow B. An electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the drum when it is irradiated with light from an original document. When this latent image passes through the developing device 3, it is visualized by toner powder,
The toner image thus formed is transferred to the transfer sheet 4 fed in the direction of arrow C. After the transfer, the transfer sheet 4 is separated from the drum 1 and sent to a fixing device (not shown). 5,5a
are chargers used during the transfer and separation operations, respectively.

It is inevitable that a small amount of residual toner will adhere to the surface of the photosensitive drum after the transfer has been completed as described above, and this residual toner is cleaned by the cleaning device 6. The drum portion that has been cleaned is again neutralized by the static eliminating charger 5b, and one copying cycle is completed.

The cleaning device 6 has a casing 7 extending along the drum 1, in which:
A blade 8 that contacts the surface of the rotating drum 1 with its tip to scrape off toner, a blade holder 9 that holds this blade, and a conveying member that transports the toner scraped off by the blade 8 to the outside of the casing. A sealing member 8a is fixedly disposed on the casing and prevents toner from leaking out of the casing.The conveying member in this example is constituted by a screw 10 in which a wire is spirally wound. The casing and the elements 8, 8a, 9, 10 installed therein form one unit 11.

The blade 8 is made of an elastic material such as rubber, and has an elongated shape that can contact the drum 1 over almost the entire width thereof. Further, the sealing member 8a also extends in parallel to the drum 1 over almost the entire length thereof, and its tip portion is in contact with the drum surface.

Furthermore, as clearly shown in FIG.
The toner conduit 12 extends into a toner conduit 12 secured to the toner collection container 13 according to the present invention.
It serves as a conveyance path for conveying toner. The screw 10 is rotationally driven by a drive motor (not shown).

The screw 10 and the toner collection container 14 constitute a toner accumulation device in this example.

As explained above, when the part of the drum 1 that has completed the transfer reaches the position of the blade 8, the remaining toner on the drum surface is scraped off by the blade 8 that is pressed against the drum 1, and the scraped toner is scraped off. is guided to the screw 10 by a guide plate 14.
At this time, the screw 10 is being rotated by the driving means, so that the toner that has fallen onto the screw 10 is conveyed from the casing through the conduit 12 to the toner collection container 13.

Next, the configuration of the toner collection container will be described in detail.

2, 3, and 4, the toner collection container 13 has a container main body 100 and a cylindrical lid 101 that is placed over the upper opening of the main body. Toner receiving port 102
A seal 103 for preventing toner leakage made of a flexible material such as sponge is adhered to the toner. This seal 103 has a circular hole 104.
A continuous notch 105 is formed in this circular hole (see FIG. 5). The toner discharge port 12a of the toner conduit 12 protruding from the casing is inserted into the circular hole 104, so that the toner can be conveyed from the conduit 12 into the container body. Reference numeral 106 denotes a leaf spring provided around the lid 101. Two support pins 107 are fixed to this leaf spring at opposing positions, and the inwardly protruding ends of these support pins are attached to the peripheral wall of the lid 101. An annular groove 1 formed in the neck of the container body 100 through the
It is involved in 2008. In this case, the tip of the support pin is pressed against the groove 108 by the action of the leaf spring 106, whereby the container body 100 and the lid 101 are held integrally.

A supporting plate 109 is fixed to the side plate 15 of the main body of the copying machine, and a rotating member 111 is pivotally attached to the supporting plate 109 via a pivot 110. The rotating member 111 moves around the pivot 110 as shown by the arrow in FIG. It is rotatable in the direction indicated by D. A support member 112 that supports a container is pivotally attached to the rotation member 111 by a pin 111a provided integrally therewith.
has two sets of arms 114 and 115 protruding from its base 113 in a bifurcated shape. A notch 116 is formed in each of the upper arm pairs 114 , and the outer ends of the above-mentioned support pins 107 are placed in the notches, whereby the container 13 is supported by the support member 112 . The lower arm pair 115 is the container body 10
It serves to hold down the body of the container and help hold the container body.

A projecting pin 117 that passes through the rotating member is protruded from the upper part of the base 113 of the support member 112, and a relatively weak tension spring 118 is configured between the projecting pin 117 and the rotating member 111. An elastic member is tensioned so that the container 13 is stretched around the pin 111a together with the support member 112.
A slight rotational habit is given in the clockwise direction in the figure. In this case, when there is no or little toner in the container 13, the container 13 and the support member 1
12 is located in a slightly inclined use position as schematically indicated by the chain line in FIG. 2, and is held in the position shown by the chain line by a stopper (not shown).

Furthermore, an actuating member 119 is fixed to the lower arm 115 of the support member 112 and extends in the direction of the rotating member 111.
The actuator 121 of the switch 120 as a toner amount detecting means disposed in the switch 120 is actuated.

As described above, the screw disposed in the toner conduit 12 and driven to rotate sequentially conveys the toner in the casing 7 into the container 13. In this case, the toner outlet 12a of the toner conduit 12 is connected to the seal 101.
Since the toner is fitted into the circular hole 104 of the container 100 without any gap, the toner is prevented from leaking out of the container 100 from the toner receiving opening 102 of the container 100. Containers 1 are sequentially sealed while maintaining this sealing condition.
When the toner flows into the container 13 and the amount of toner in the container is small, the container 13 is located in the dashed line state (FIG. 2) and the actuating member 119 actuates the actuator 121 of the switch. Never. When the amount of toner in the container 13 becomes large or full, the weight of the toner causes the container 13 to spring 1.
18 around the pin 111a.
It rotates slightly counterclockwise in the figure to reach the quantitative position shown by the solid line in FIG. At this time, the actuating member 119
actuates the actuator 121, and the switch 120 is turned on. It is thus detected that the container is full of toner, and the signal generated thereby prevents, for example, starting operation of the copying machine or causes an indicator lamp (not shown) to be illuminated. be able to. If the container 13 is replaced with an empty one, the container will remain in the state shown by the chain line in FIG. 2, and the switch 120 will turn on again.
It can be turned off to start a predetermined copying operation. As mentioned above, the amount of toner in the container can be detected by simply rotating the container 13 slightly.
Coupled with the fact that the pin 111a is provided in the toner receiving port 102, the pin 111a hardly moves in the vertical direction. Therefore, substantially no gap is formed between the toner conduit 12 and the hole 104 of the seal 103, and toner leakage can be conveniently prevented (this advantage is, as mentioned above, that the toner This can be better understood by comparing the case where the container is moved downwards due to changes in the weight of the toner to detect the amount of toner.In this case, as the container moves downward, the toner conduit hits the upper end of the seal hole , an increasingly large gap is formed between the toner conduit and the lower end of the seal hole, from which the toner leaks). Further, the axis of the pin 111a is substantially perpendicular to the extending direction of the toner conduit 12 as shown in the figure, so that the container 13 does not move in the left-right direction due to rotation.

Incidentally, the casing 7 in the cleaning device,
A unit 11 consisting of blades 8 etc. is connected to a drum 1.
For example, if the blade 8 and the drum 1 can be moved away from each other (to the right in FIG. 1),
When a transfer sheet becomes jammed between the drums 1 and 1, the unit 11 is moved away from the drum 1, making it easier to inspect and remove the jammed sheet, which is convenient. In this case, in the conventional device, when the unit 11 was moved, the tip of the toner conduit 12 would hit the seal 103 of the container 13, which could impede the movement of the unit 11. I had to separate the container from the copier body. However, in the illustrated configuration according to the present invention, when the toner conduit 12 also moves due to the movement of the unit, the tip of this toner conduit can enter the notch 105 of the seal 101, so that the container 13 is not damaged in any way when the unit is moved. There is no need to move it and there is no risk that the seal 103 will be damaged by the conduit 12.

Furthermore, if the unit 11 is constructed so that it can be pulled out from the copying machine main body in the left direction in FIG. It may be rotated in the direction of arrow D in the figure. This allows the unit 11 to be attached and detached without being obstructed by the container 13. Even when the rotating member 111 rotates, the tip of the toner conduit 12 is rotated by the seal 1.
03, the rotation of the container is not obstructed by the toner conduit 12.

FIG. 6 shows another configuration example of the toner conduit. In this configuration example, a shaft 12b is inserted into the toner conduit 12, and in this case, the end of the shaft 12b on the toner discharge port side is One end of the screw is locked, and the other end of the shaft is fixed to a positioning pin of the casing 7. With this configuration, the shaft is driven to rotate together with the screw during operation, thereby increasing the toner conveying force and preventing the screw from jumping out of the toner conduit.

As can be seen from the above description, according to the present invention, leakage of toner from the toner collection container can be suppressed, and since the seal of the container does not come into strong contact with the toner outlet, it is possible to detect the amount of toner. It is also possible to reduce the occurrence of malfunctions.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing a copying machine to which a toner accumulating device according to the present invention can be attached, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line -- in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a plan view of the toner accumulating device according to the present invention. 4 is a front view of the toner collection container, FIG. 5 is a developed view of the seal, and FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view showing another example of the configuration of the toner conduit. 1... Image carrier, 6... Cleaning device, 10
... Conveyance member, 13 ... Toner collection container, 103 ... Seal, 102 ... Toner receiving port, 120 ... Detection means.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A toner conduit through which the toner removed from the image carrier is conveyed and which extends in a substantially horizontal direction, a toner collection container for accommodating the toner conveyed through the toner conduit, and a part of the toner conduit. In a toner accumulating device of a cleaning device in a copying machine, etc., which has a flexible seal for preventing toner leakage provided at the toner receiving opening of the container into which the toner enters, when a predetermined amount of toner is contained in the container, the weight of the toner is The container is supported so that the container can be rotated from a use position to a metering position;
an elastic member that applies a rotational force to the container in a direction to hold the container in the use position; and a detection means that detects that the container has been rotated to the quantitative position, the center of rotation of the container being The toner accumulating device is provided near the toner receiving port, and the container is rotated about an axis substantially perpendicular to the direction in which the toner conduit enters.