JPH0614235B2 - Toner recycling device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of application] The present invention is an improvement of a toner recycling apparatus in which toner used in, for example, an electrophotographic copying machine is returned from a container in a cleaning device to a developing device for reuse. Regarding

[Conventional technology]

Generally, in an electrostatic recording device such as a transfer type electrophotographic copying machine, a rotating drum type image carrier having a photoconductive photosensitive layer on its outer peripheral surface is used, and the photosensitive layer is fixed on the photosensitive layer while rotating the image carrier. A latent image is formed and developed with toner, and the obtained toner image is transferred to a recording sheet. After the transfer is completed, the residual toner that has adhered to the outer peripheral surface of the image carrier is peeled off and cleaned by the cleaning device to form an electrostatic latent image again, and a new image is transferred. The toner removed by the cleaning device is stored in the device and is discarded at a stage where it is accumulated to some extent. However, in order to save the waste of toner and reduce the amount of waste and to use the toner economically, cleaning is performed recently. The toner collected in the device is returned to the developing device again and reused. Since the image transfer section is provided between the cleaning device and the developing device for collecting the toner, they are usually installed with a considerable gap and a vertical drop, and in order to circulate the collected toner to the developing device. Requires a toner transport device connecting them.

As such a conveying device, for example, JP-A-47-740 is used.
No. 33 disclosed in JP-A No. 47-45933 and one disclosed in JP-A No. 47-45933 disclosed in JP-A No. 56-1147.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 56-30161 in which toner is conveyed by a chain-like member that circulates and rotates, or a toner is adsorbed onto a belt by a magnet and is conveyed. There is also a device disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. JP-A-2003-264, and a device for conveying toner by a rotating spiral screw, a coil spring, or the like is also proposed.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

Generally, there are many obstacles between the cleaning device that discharges toner and the developing device that reuses the toner, for example, because the rotating shaft of the image carrier is concretely present. In many cases, it is impossible to linearly convey the toner to the toner receiving portion of the developing device.

As a method suitable for such a case, a toner recycling apparatus provided with a conveying means such as a plurality of spiral screws has been proposed and has many advantages.

However, in the conventional toner recycling apparatus provided with a conveying means such as a plurality of spiral screws, the toner conveyed by the previous conveying means is delivered to the next conveying means and conveyed. The toner is not delivered and conveyed smoothly at the joint part of the toner, the toner locally accumulates and accumulates, the power required to drive the toner conveyance becomes abnormally large, or the toner conveyance failure occurs. It was something that had.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, and is a toner recycling device that is transferred by a plurality of conveying means to perform toner recycling, and toner is congested especially at its joint portion. It is an object of the present invention to provide a toner recycling device that can be smoothly transported without any problems.

[Means for solving problems]

The above-mentioned object has a toner conveying means for collecting the toner collected in the cleaning device provided around the image carrier of the recording device to the developing device provided around the image carrier, A toner recycling device in which the toner transporting means is composed of a plurality of toner transporting sections including a transporting cylinder in which a transporting screw having spiral blades is provided around a rigid shaft, and a toner relay section connecting the transporting sections in series. In the toner relay portion, a cross-sectional shape in a direction perpendicular to a toner conveying direction is formed on a W axis in which two substantially semicircles along the spiral blade are in contact with each other, and is close to the spiral blade. A toner having an outer wall having an inner surface formed so that the inner surface of the outer wall has a shape raised from below toward the closest portion of the spiral blade. It is achieved by recycling apparatus.

〔Example〕

The first embodiment of the toner recycling device according to the present invention will be described below.
The embodiment of the present invention is not limited to this, which will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an electrophotographic copying machine as an example of a recording apparatus. First, the outline of each step in the copying machine will be described.

The image carrier 10 is a drum-shaped photoconductor in which a photoconductive substance is laminated on a conductive metal substrate to have a certain thickness, and is rotatably configured to rotate in a certain direction so that its photoconductive surface has a plurality of surfaces. It goes through the processing stations in sequence.

The image carrier 10 is charged by the charger 11 and the image carrier 1 is charged.
The zero surface holds the charge uniformly. The image carrier 10 whose photoconductive surface is uniformly charged rotates to enter the exposure unit 20.

In the exposure section 20, the reflected light from the document is applied to the photoconductive surface of the image carrier 10 through an optical system such as a mirror and a lens,
The electric charge of the exposed part is discharged to form an electrostatic latent image of the original on that part. The image carrier 10 on which the electrostatic latent image is formed rotates and enters the developing device 30.

The electrostatic latent image is developed by the developing device 30, and a developer containing charged toner particles is adhered to the latent image to visualize a copied image of the original.

The image carrier 10 carrying the toner image visualized by the toner rotates and passes through the transfer device 40.

In the transfer device 40, the recording paper is conveyed in synchronization with the toner image, and the toner image is transferred onto the recording paper. The recording paper on which the toner image is transferred is used as a transfer paper as a separator 41.
The image is separated from the image carrier 10 by the fixing device 50, fixed by the fixing device 50, and discharged to the outside of the apparatus. The discharged recording paper is taken up by a sorter 70 having guide means at the discharge port of the copying machine, and page alignment is performed. On the other hand, the image carrier 10 separated from the recording paper by the separator 41 enters the cleaning device 60 while carrying the untransferred residual toner, where the residual toner on the image carrier is removed and a new copy cycle is entered. Be prepared to do so.

The toner recycling device according to the present invention is the above-mentioned developing device 3.
0 is a device for circulating toner between the cleaning device 60 and the cleaning device 60.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the toner recycling device according to the present invention.

This toner recycling device, horizontal conveying screw 81,
It is composed of an oblique conveying screw 82, a toner relay box 83, a horizontal conveying cylinder 84, an oblique conveying cylinder 85, a toner receiving opening 86, a toner discharging opening 87, and a driving means 88.

The horizontal conveying screw 81 is a spiral screw in which a metal thin plate is wound around and fixed to a metal round bar having a diameter of 5 mm, and the spiral portion of the screw has a plate thickness of 1 mm, a pitch of 15 mm, and a spiral winding direction. The outer diameter is 13 mm on the left.

The oblique conveying screw 82 is a spiral screw in which a thin metal plate is wound around and fixed to a metal round bar having a diameter of 5 mm, and the spiral portion of the screw has a plate thickness of 1 mm, a pitch of 15 mm, and a spiral winding direction. The outer diameter is 13 mm on the right.

The toner relay box 83 is a box body made of synthetic resin and having a hollow portion and an opening portion at an upper portion thereof. The toner relay box 83 is a toner relay portion that receives toner from the horizontal direction and sends the toner obliquely through the hollow portion. is there.

The horizontal transfer cylinder 84 and the oblique transfer cylinder 85 are made of synthetic resin and have a hollow cylindrical shape.
Further, the oblique conveying screw 82 is internally provided to form a guide for conveying the toner.

The toner receiving port 86 is made of a synthetic resin and has a hollow cylindrical shape. An opening is formed in the circumference of the horizontal transporting cylinder 84 so that the toner receiving port 86 is fitted and fixed to the end of the horizontal transporting cylinder 84 and is aligned with the toner discharge port of the cleaning device.

The toner discharge port 87 is made of synthetic resin and has a hollow cylindrical shape. The toner discharge port 87 is provided with an opening portion at its circumferential portion which is fitted and fixed to the end portion of the oblique transport cylinder 85 and is aligned with the toner intake port of the developing device.

The driving means 88 is composed of a plurality of gears, and a rotational driving force is transmitted from a driving spur gear G1 fixed to the shaft end of a pressure feeding screw (not shown) for discharging toner of the cleaning device.

The cleaning device 60 has a built-in pressure feed screw (not shown) that is provided horizontally below the frame body, and the toner collected below the frame body is conveyed to one side of the frame body by the rotational movement of the pressure feed screw. And is taken out from the downward discharge opening 90.

Further, the developing device 30 is provided with an upward toner intake opening 91 on one side of the frame, and the toner intake opening 9 is provided.
The toner introduced from No. 1 into the frame of the developing device 30 is uniformly distributed and collected inside the frame by a rotation movement of a collecting screw (not shown).

The toner conveying path of the toner recycling device is connected to the toner receiving port 86 installed at a position facing the discharge opening 90 of the cleaning device, the horizontal conveying cylinder 84 following the toner receiving port 86, and the end of the horizontal conveying cylinder 84. The toner relay box 83, the oblique transport cylinder 85 extending from the toner relay box toward the toner intake opening 91 of the developing device 30, and subsequently to the position facing the toner intake opening of the developing device 30. Toner outlet 8 installed
7 and 7.

In the horizontal transport cylinder 84 and the diagonal transport cylinder 85, the horizontal transport screw 81 and the diagonal transport screw 82 placed in the toner relay box 83 in an intersecting state are rotatably positioned. Both screws are arranged so that the horizontal conveying screw 81 is located on the right side and the oblique conveying screw 82 is located on the left side as viewed from the direction in which the toner is conveyed, that is, both screws of the toner relay box 83 from the developing device 30. To be

The drive means 88 includes a spur gear G2 that meshes with a drive spur gear G1 that is fixed to a shaft attachment of a pressure-feeding screw (not shown) for discharging toner from the cleaning device, and a spur gear G3 that meshes with the spur gear G2. A spur gear G4 that meshes with the spur gear G3 and a bevel gear G5 that is coaxial with the spur gear G4 and integrally provided on the spur gear G4. The bevel gear is formed by integrating the G4 and G5. The portion beyond G5 is a rotational driving force transmitting portion to the horizontal conveying screw 81, and the portion beyond the spur gear G4 is a rotational driving force transmitting portion to the oblique conveying screw 82.

The rotational driving force transmission part to the horizontal conveyance screw 81 is
A bevel gear G6 that meshes with the bevel gear G5, and this G
6, a transmission shaft 92 for fixing 6 to the shaft end, and the transmission shaft 9
2 and the spur gear G7 fixed to the other end of the horizontal conveying screw 81 and the spur gear G7 fixed to the shaft end of the horizontal conveying screw 81.
7 and a spur gear G8 meshing with 7.

The rotational driving force transmission section for the diagonal conveying screw 82 is
Spur gear G9 meshing with the spur gear G4 and the spur gear G
9, a spur gear G10 that is formed integrally with the spur gear G9 and has its number of teeth increased by about 15%, a spur gear G11 that meshes with the spur gear G10, and a spur gear G11 that is coaxial with the spur gear G11. The bevel gear G12 is provided integrally with the spur gear G11, and the bevel gear G13 is fixed to the shaft end of the oblique conveying screw 82 and meshes with the bevel gear G12.

FIG. 1a is a perspective view of the toner relay box 83, and FIG. 1b is a sectional view of the relay box 83. Further, FIG. 3 shows A of the relay box 83 in FIG.
It is a -A 'sectional view. In FIGS. 1a and 1b, the horizontal conveying screw 81 conveys the toner from the cleaning device on the rear side of the paper surface. The diagonal conveying screw 82 further conveys toner from the toner relay box 83 toward the developing device 30. The cross-sectional position shown in FIG. 1b is where the horizontal conveying screw 81 and the diagonal conveying screw 82 intersect on the same horizontal plane. At this point the two screws are the closest in the crossed condition.

The horizontal conveying screw 81 rotates counterclockwise in the arrow direction, and the diagonal conveying screw 82 rotates clockwise in the arrow direction. Therefore, at the cross-sectional position shown in FIG. Rotate toward the contact point recently.

In the cross-sectional position shown in FIG. 1b, that is, at the position where the horizontal conveying screw 81 and the diagonal conveying screw 82 intersect on the same horizontal plane, the distance between the outermost spiral blades of both screws, That is, the distance between the two spiral blades at the closest position to each other is set to a maximum of 1.2 mm, preferably 1 mm, more preferably 0.8 mm.

In FIGS. 1a, 1b and 3, the toner relay box 83 has the shape of the hollow portion provided therein, which is the core at the cross-sectional position shown in the figure, that is, at the position closest to both the spiral blades. Before and after that, on the side of the horizontal conveying screw, the upper left portion is notched around the axis of the screw shaft, and on the side of the oblique conveying screw, the axis of the screw shaft is centered. The hollow portion is formed by notching the upper portion corresponding to the width of the screw. Under both screw shafts, a semi-circle is formed into a substantially W shape so that they are in contact with each other. Particularly, the partition wall is raised from the lower part to the closest position of both spiral blades, and the toner is It is configured such that the horizontal transfer screw side can be smoothly moved to the diagonal transfer screw side.

The horizontal conveying screw 81 and the diagonal conveying screw 82
And in the toner relay box 83 where they intersect on the same horizontal plane, that is, where the two screws are closest to each other, the distance between the two screws, specifically, the distance between the axes of the two screws, The radius of the horizontal carrying screw 81 and the radius of the diagonal carrying screw 82,
It is a value obtained by adding the required distance between both screws, and in the present embodiment, the required distance between both screws is 1.
By setting it to 2 mm, preferably 1 mm, and more preferably 0.8 mm, the transfer of toner from the horizontal conveying screw 81 to the oblique conveying screw 82 in the hollow portion of the toner relay box 83 is delayed or temporarily accumulated or Was confirmed to be efficiently carried out without causing aggregation.

The toner relay box 83 of the toner recycling apparatus of the present invention
On the horizontal conveying screw side, the shape of the hollow portion internally provided in the screw 81 is such that only half of the diagonal conveying screw side is exposed in the hollow portion, and on the diagonal conveying screw side, the screw 82 is Since the upper half is formed so as to be exposed in the hollow portion, the toner conveyed from the cleaning device 60 by the horizontal conveying screw 81 reaches the toner relay box 83 and the oblique conveying screw of the horizontal conveying screw 81. As the half of the side guide wall is opened, the spiral blades of the horizontal conveying screw receive a biasing force to the advancing direction of the screw or to the side of the oblique conveying screw and cause the screw to move to the side of the oblique conveying screw.

The shape of the hollow portion in the toner relay box as described above is from the horizontal conveying screw 81 to the oblique conveying screw 82.
It was convinced that the toner had a necessary and sufficient shape without causing any trouble such as delay or aggregation when the toner was transferred to the toner.

In FIG. 3, as described above, the toner relay box 83 is used.
The hollow part is formed by cutting out a half on the side of the horizontal conveying screw 81 from the axial center surface of the screw shaft on the side of the oblique conveying screw and on the side of the oblique conveying screw above the entire width of the spiral blade. hand,
The rotation direction of both screws is such a direction as to sneak from the front side of the paper toward the closest line of both spiral blades, so the toner conveyed in the horizontal conveyance cylinder 85 by the horizontal conveyance screw 81. Is reached to the toner relay box 83, and a part of the guide wall thereof, that is, the upper half of the diagonal conveying screw 82 side is opened, and is multiplied by the spiral blade of the horizontal conveying screw from diagonally rearward with respect to the diagonal conveying screw 82. It is biased and moves to the side of the diagonal conveying screw 82 over the top of the dividing line that separates both screws. As the transferred toner is rotated so that the oblique conveying screw sunk from the front side of the paper surface of FIG. 3 toward the direction where the spiral blades of both screws come closest to each other as described above, the toner does not stay at that place. The developing device 3 is urged by the spiral blades of the diagonal conveying screw 82 to move along the diagonal conveying cylinder 86.
Transported to 0.

Considering a case where the rotation direction of the horizontal conveying screw 81 is reversed and the winding direction of the spiral blade is right-handed, the toner conveyed in the hollow portion of the toner relay box 83 is conveyed by the oblique conveying screw 82. In the portion where the upper half of the side is opened, the horizontal conveying screw 81
Although it is urged by the spiral blade of No. 2, since the urging direction is from the upper direction to the advancing direction, it does not efficiently move to the side of the oblique conveying screw 82, and it accumulates in the vicinity of the partition wall that separates both screws.

Considering a case in which the direction of rotation of the oblique conveying screw 82 is reversed and the winding direction of the spiral blade is left-handed, the diagonal conveying screw 82 side is passed over the partition wall separating both screws in the toner relay box. The transferred toner is subjected to an upward or forward urging force by the spiral blades of the oblique conveying screw, and rather in the vicinity of the partition wall, the horizontal conveying screw 8 is partially
It behaves like pushing back the toner from the 1st side.

FIG. 4 is a side sectional view of the toner recycling device according to the present invention.

The toner discharged from the cleaning device 60 is taken into the horizontal conveying cylinder 84 through the toner receiving port 86, and is urged by the spiral blade of the horizontal conveying screw 81 by the rotation of the horizontal conveying screw 81, and the inside of the horizontal conveying cylinder 84 is shown in the arrow direction. It reaches the conveyed toner relay box 83. In the hollow portion of the box 83, the toner is first biased by the spiral blade of the horizontal conveying screw 81 toward the traveling direction or the side of the oblique conveying screw, and moves to the side of the oblique conveying screw 82. Next, the spiral blades of the diagonal conveying screw 82 receive the downward or forward urging force, and convey the slanting conveying cylinder 85 in the direction of the arrow without stopping at one place. Then, the toner is discharged from the toner outlet 87 to the toner intake opening 91 of the developing device 31.

〔The invention's effect〕

According to the present invention, even in a toner recycling device configured by a toner conveying means composed of a plurality of spiral screws,
By positioning each screw at a preferable interval and forming the shape of the connecting member provided in this portion to suit the toner transfer, the toner is smoothly transferred and conveyed between the means, and the toner is accumulated, accumulated, and aggregated. It has become possible to provide a toner recycling device that can eliminate the problems caused by the above.

[Brief description of drawings]

1a and 1b are a perspective view and a sectional view of a toner relay box of a toner recycling apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the toner recycling apparatus, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a side sectional view of the toner recycling device according to the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a copying machine. 10 ... Image carrier, 30 ... Developing device 60 ... Cleaning device 81 ... Horizontal conveying screw 82 ... Oblique conveying screw 83 ... Toner relay box, 84 ... Horizontal conveying cylinder 85 ... Oblique conveying cylinder, 86 ...... Toner receiving port 87 ...... Toner discharging port 88 ...... Driving means

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A toner conveying means for collecting toner collected in a cleaning device provided around an image carrier of a recording device to a developing device provided around the image carrier, The toner recycling means comprises a plurality of toner transporting parts, each of which is composed of a transporting cylinder in which a transporting screw having spiral blades is provided around a rigid shaft, and a toner relaying part connecting the transporting parts in series. In the apparatus, the toner relay portion has a cross-sectional shape in a direction perpendicular to a toner conveying direction formed in a W shape in which two substantially semicircles along the spiral blade are in contact with each other, and The toner has an outer wall having an inner surface formed so as to be adjacent to each other, and the inner surface of the outer wall has a shape raised from below toward the closest portion of the spiral blade. Recycling Equipment.