JPS6332192B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a waste toner recovery device in an image forming apparatus, and more particularly to a device for efficiently storing powdered waste toner removed from the surface of an image carrier into a storage container.

Conventionally, image forming devices such as copying machines and laser beam printers that use electrostatic latent images formed on photoreceptors or insulators, and magnetic printers that use magnetic latent images formed on magnetic drums are known. .
In such an image forming apparatus, for example, a copying machine, the powder toner remaining on the photosensitive drum is removed by a cleaning means, and the waste toner after removal is collected in a storage container. This recovery device is different for liquid toner and powder toner. In other words, liquid toner spreads out in a flat shape within the container, but
In the case of powder toner, it is stored in piles. Therefore, in the case of powdered toner, the storage capacity is small, and the capacity of the container cannot be fully utilized, resulting in poor efficiency.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks, and by applying rocking force to the mountain-shaped waste toner, it can break the mountain and level it into a substantially horizontal surface, making it possible to fully utilize the volume of the storage container. An object of the present invention is to provide a waste toner recovery device that does the following.

The present invention achieves the above object, and when storing waste toner removed from the surface of an image bearing member such as a photoreceptor drum or a magnetic drum in a storage container, a swinging member in the container is intermittently operated, This is to level out the pile of toner inside. The driving force of the swinging member is mainly generated by the cassette, photosensitive drum, optical system,
Obtained from the movement of a movable member such as a document table. With this configuration, the pile of waste toner can be leveled and the storage container can be fully utilized to its full capacity without requiring a special driving source.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an apparatus showing one embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a waste toner transporting device, which transports residual toner on an image bearing member such as a photosensitive drum or a magnetic drum to a storage device 4 after it is removed by a cleaning device. 2 is a case of this conveyance device, and 3 is a screw which is a conveyance means. Reference numeral 2a denotes an opening hole formed in the case 2, through which the waste toner T is dropped into the storage device 4.

In the storage device 4, 5 is a main container, 6 is an upper lid of the main container 5, and 6a is an opening hole formed in the upper lid 6 for toner passage. In the vicinity of the opening hole of the upper cover 6, the protrusion 2b around the case opening hole 2a
is loosely fitted into the upper lid opening hole 6a, forming a substantially sealed state. Reference numeral 6b is a hinge portion that connects the upper lid 6 and the main container 5. A locking means (not shown) for connecting the upper lid 6 and the main container 5 is also provided.

A sub-container 7 is built into the main container 5, and this sub-container substantially stores toner. Subcontainer 7
is a ``disposable'' container that facilitates the disposal of toner, and is made of vinyl chloride resin material with a thickness of approximately 0.3 to 0.7 mm, which is currently used as packaging material, and is made by vacuum forming. ing.
In addition to the materials listed above, the materials used for this sub-container include:
Any material may be used as long as it is easy to process, inexpensive, and disposable, such as synthetic resins such as polyacrylic and polypropylene, paper, and cloth.

The main container 5 and the upper lid 6 are integrally molded and made of polypropylene with a thickness of 1.5 to 2.5 mm. Therefore, the main container 5 is more robust and has much greater strength than the sub-container 7.

As is clear from the figure, an outer ring-shaped peak is formed around the opening hole 6a, making it easy to displace in the vertical direction in the figure. Since the upper lid 6 always has an upward habit, it is in contact with the case 2 with light pressure.

8 is a waste toner capacity detection device. This device 8 includes a receiving plate 9 having a size slightly larger than the bottom area of the main container 5 so that the main container 5 can be placed thereon, a shaft 10 that rotatably supports the receiving plate 9, and one end of the receiving plate 9. It has an arm portion 9a formed in the same direction as the arm portion 9a, and a tension spring 11 having one end hung on the arm portion 9a. Further, an actuating portion 9b is formed at the other end of the receiving plate 9, and is in contact with an actuator 12a of the micro switch 12. Reference numeral 13 denotes a stopper which abuts against the arm portion 9a to support the receiving plate 9 in a fixed position.

The micro switch 12 is activated when the amount of waste toner in the subcontainer 7 exceeds a specified amount.
Therefore, the tension of the spring 11 is adjusted to about 90% of the specified detected weight of toner. This is to improve detection accuracy, and a spring with a small spring constant is provided.

In addition, 14 is a micro switch, which is arranged at a position that emits a signal depending on the presence or absence of the main container 5. With this switch 14, the presence or absence of the main container can be confirmed, and when there is no container, the conveying device can be stopped to prevent waste toner from spilling out.

In the figure, reference numeral 15 denotes a swinging member, which is rotatably supported by a shaft 16 installed at one end of the upper lid 6. The swinging member 15 has an operating part 15a and a passive part 1.
5b, and an operating portion 15a at one end.
is configured so that the top surface of the waste toner comes into contact with the upper surface of the waste toner. An arm 17 has one end 17a in contact with the passive part 15b of the swinging member 15, and is rotatably supported by a shaft 19 installed on a fixed member such as the side plate 18 of the main body. Actuating part 1 at one end of the arm 17
7a is in contact with the passive part 15b of the shaking member 15, and the passive part 17b at the other end is in contact with the cassette 2 for storing copy paper.
0 (indicated by a dashed line).

FIG. 2 is a partial view from the cassette to the swinging section. The driven part 15b of the swinging member 15 shown in the figure engages with the actuating part 17a of the arm 17, and the actuating part 17a has one end engaged with a spring installation member 21 installed on a part of the side plate 18 of the main body, and the other end of the actuating part 17a. It is pulled to one side by the tension of a spring 22 attached to the arm. Further, one end 21a of the spring installation member 21 also serves as a stopper for the arm 17.

Therefore, according to this configuration, when the cassette 20 is inserted in the direction of arrow B, the passive portion 17b of the arm 17 comes into contact with the end of the cassette 20, the arm 17 swings about the shaft 19, and the arm 17 The swinging plate 15 that engages with the swinging plate swings around the shaft 16.

The apparatus representing one embodiment of the present invention is constructed as described above. The effect will be explained below.

The residual toner T removed from the photosensitive drum surface is
It is transported in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 1 by the rotating screw 3. This toner T falls from the opening hole 2b of the case 2 and accumulates in the sub-container 7. At this time, the toner T accumulates in a mountain shape as shown by the dotted line in the figure. If there is no device for leveling the toner, the toner pile will continue to grow and the container will not be filled with enough toner. However, when a rocking force is applied by the rocking plate 15 as in the present invention, the mountain collapses and becomes approximately horizontal as shown by the solid line.

This embodiment of the present invention is characterized in that the arm 17 is actuated in accordance with the operation of attaching and detaching the cassette 20, and furthermore, the arm transmits drive to the swing plate 15 to apply force to the upper surface of the waste toner in the container. Of course, the structure may be such that the passive portion 15b of the swing plate 15 directly contacts the cassette without using the transmission arm. When the cassette 20 is inside the copying machine, the rocking plate 15 is in the position shown by the dotted line in FIG. The swing plate 15 is urged in the direction shown in FIG. The rocking force of the rocking plate 15 breaks up the waste toner that has grown into a mountain shape.

Here, since the rocking plate 15 in the embodiment of the present invention breaks up the waste toner that has grown into a mountain shape,
It is desirable that the position be directly below the case opening hole 2a of the transport device, that is, directly below the opening hole 6a for toner passage provided in the upper lid 6 of the storage device 4. These series of operations occur when the operator attaches and detaches the cassette, and are performed when the image forming apparatus is not operating, so that the series of rocking movements will not have an adverse effect on the main devices such as the optical device. In addition, there is no need for a series of oscillating movements when operating an operation that includes a copying movement, and no noise is generated during operation. Since the motion including movement occurs, the operator does not feel any discomfort. Furthermore, since the cassette is loaded and unloaded by the operator of the apparatus when it runs out of sheets, there is the advantage that the operation is performed every fixed number of sheets, that is, every fixed number of times the apparatus is operated. Moreover, since the impact is generated by attaching and detaching the cassette 20, a power source such as a motor is not required, and a drive generating device with a simple configuration and low cost can be provided.

Now, as the pile of waste toner is broken down, toner is accumulated in the subcontainer 7 one after another. The receiving plate 9 receives a load as the amount of toner increases, but does not displace until a specified amount is reached. When the amount of waste toner further increases, the receiving plate 9 is displaced downward against the accumulated force of the spring 11. As a result, the operating portion 9b of the receiving plate 9 separates from the actuator 12a of the micro switch 12, generates a detection signal (or cuts off the signal), and detects that the waste toner has reached the specified amount. . This signal indicates to the machine operator what to do with the waste toner or disables the copying operation.

To dispose of waste toner, first remove the main container from the device. The operator pushes the area around the opening 6a of the upper lid 6 downward to release the engagement with the protrusion 2b of the case and remove the main container 5. This method allows the operator to remove the container with a single touch.
This has the advantage of making the work easier. Next, the lock 6c with the upper lid 6 is released, the upper lid is opened, and the sub-container 7 filled with waste toner is taken out. Then, wrap this secondary container in a plastic bag, etc. and throw it away. According to this method, the operator can dispose of the toner together with the container, so that the operator does not get his or her hands dirty with the toner, and the toner can be easily stored. After this, the operator inserts a new sub-container 7 into the main container 5, and the capacity detection device 8 detects this main container 5.
Set.

However, if the copying operation is enabled even when the main container 5 is not set, there is a risk that the inside of the apparatus will be significantly contaminated with waste toner. In order to prevent this, it is preferable that the micro switch 14 is turned on when the main container 5 is set, and copying is then possible for the first time. Furthermore, if the user forgets to set the main container 5, a signal from the micro switch 14 may be used to indicate this fact.

In the above description of the embodiments of the present invention, an example has been shown in which the swing plate is oscillated by the loading and unloading operations of the cassette. It is also possible to obtain the driving force for the swinging member from the member that moves.
For example, a pin may be installed on the side surface of the photosensitive drum, and the swinging member may be caused to swing by this pin every rotation. The same applies to other moving members.

As described above, the present invention is configured so that a movable member in an image forming apparatus intermittently generates rocking motion and transmits this rocking motion to a movable plate installed in a waste toner storage container. No special driving means is required as a source, and the pile of waste toner in the storage container can be leveled with a simple configuration. Therefore, it is possible to utilize the storage container to its full capacity.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a device showing an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a partial view of the device of FIG. 1. In the figure, 1... waste toner conveying device, 3
...screw, 4...toner storage container, 5...
... Main container, 7 ... Subcontainer, 8 ... Waste toner capacity detection device, 9 ... Receiving plate, 11 ... Tension spring, 1
2, 14... micro switch, 15... rocking member, 17... arm, 20... cassette.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A swing member that swings within the container is provided in a storage container that stores waste toner removed from the surface of the image carrier, and the swing member is controlled by a movable member. A waste toner recovery device characterized in that it operates intermittently to transmit vibration to the waste toner in the storage container. 2. The waste toner recovery device according to claim 1, wherein the movable member is a cassette for storing copying materials. 3. The waste toner recovery device according to claim 1, wherein the storage container includes a main container and a sub-container which is housed within the main container and which actually accumulates waste toner.