JPH0695250B2 - Toner supply device - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improvement of a toner replenishing device for replenishing toner to a developing device used in an electrostatic copying machine, a facsimile machine or the like.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, in order to prevent the toner contained in the toner cartridge from aggregating and causing clogging of the supply, for example, as shown in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 58-4161, a cylindrical cylindrical rotating body is used. It is possible to apply a shock to the toner in the toner cartridge by means such as displacing the toner cartridge in the axial direction by a traverse cylinder, or rotationally displacing a rotary rod provided at the shaft end portion of the toner cartridge by a drive arm. Has been done.

However, in the case of using the traverse cylinder, there is a restriction that the length of the toner cartridge must be shorter than the length of the developing device because it is necessary to provide a space for moving the toner cartridge in the axial direction. Since the bearing and the rotation shaft of the toner cartridge have to be supported slidably in the axial direction, the structure of the bearing portion becomes complicated and the assembling work is complicated.

Further, in the one provided with the above-mentioned rotating rod and drive arm,
It is necessary to form the toner cartridge in a cylindrical shape so as to be rotatable, and a wasteful space is formed between the toner replenishing portion, which is usually a rectangular parallelepiped shape, and the toner cartridge, and the circumference of the cartridge is If the toner adheres to the surface, there is a problem that the toner is rubbed against the holding frame or the like during the rotation operation of the cartridge and crushed.

(Object of the Invention) The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and has a simple structure and is easy to assemble, and also prevents a wasteful space from being formed in the toner replenishing portion. Accordingly, the present invention provides a toner replenishing device capable of downsizing the device and preventing deterioration of the toner.

(Structure of the Invention) The present invention is a toner including a toner cartridge detachably mounted in a toner replenishing portion of a developing device, and a toner replenishing roller for replenishing the toner accommodated in the toner cartridge into the developing device. In the replenishing device, a rotation shaft of the toner replenishing roller is provided with a cam mechanism for moving the toner cartridge up and down on the rotation shaft of the toner replenishing roller, and the cam mechanism includes a cam body that rotates integrally with the rotation shaft. The cam main body has a push-up portion for raising the toner cartridge, and when the push-up portion reaches a predetermined position in the rotational direction, the toner cartridge is rapidly lowered.

With this configuration, when the toner is replenished, the toner cartridge is moved up and down through the cam mechanism in accordance with the rotation of the toner replenishing roller, and the toner accommodated inside is impacted to crush the lump and the developing device is in an appropriate state. Can be replenished within.

(Embodiment) In FIGS. 1 and 2, 1 is a toner cartridge containing replenishment toner, and 2 is a toner replenishing section of a developing device in which the toner cartridge 1 is mounted. The toner cartridge 1 has a cartridge body 3 having an outer surface formed in a shape corresponding to the toner replenishing portion 2 and having a toner filling opening on the lower surface, and is swingably mounted in the cartridge body 3. And the cover 4 that is opened. One end of the lid 4 is pivotally supported by a side plate 6 of the cartridge body 3 by a mounting screw 5, and the other end is fixed to a rotation operation rod 8 pivotally supported by a side plate 7 of the cartridge body 3. As a result, it is configured to be swingably displaced through the rotation operation rod 8 between the position for closing the toner filling opening and the position for opening the opening.

The rotation operating rod 8 has a bearing portion 9 protruding from the side plate 7.
It is rotatably supported by the bearing 9, and the range of rotation is regulated by the step portions 10 and 11 formed at the tip of the bearing portion 9. That is, when the projecting piece 12 provided on the circumferential surface of the rotating operation rod 8 contacts the step portions 10 and 11, the lid body 4 is locked at the open position and the closed position of the toner filling opening. It is configured to be.

A seal member 13 made of sponge, felt, or the like is provided between the rotary operation rod 8 and the bearing portion 9. Further, a handle 14 for detaching operation is provided on the upper end of the side plate 7 of the cartridge body 3 so as to project therefrom.

The toner replenishing section 2 includes a holding frame 15 for holding the toner cartridge 1, and a leaf spring 16 for pressing and locking the upper end of the toner cartridge 1 above one end of the holding frame 15.
And a cartridge mounting opening 17 is formed at the other end of the holding frame 15. In addition, the holding frame 15
An opening 18 for toner replenishment is formed on the bottom surface of, and a toner replenishing roller 19 is provided below it. The toner replenishing roller 19 is a drive unit that rotates in response to a toner replenishing signal output based on a detection value of a toner sensor (not shown).
It is driven to rotate by 20.

The toner cartridge 1 is attached to the rotation shaft 21 of the replenishing roller 19.
A cam mechanism 22 for moving up and down is provided. As shown in FIG. 3, the cam mechanism 22 includes semi-arcuate push-up portions 23, 23.
Cam body 24 having a U-groove mounted on the rotary shaft 21
25 and a cam receiver 27 provided with a stepped portion 26 having a predetermined height. The cam receiver 27 is moved up and down by the cam body 24 in accordance with the rotation of the toner replenishing roller 19, and the holding frame 15 The toner cartridge 1 can be moved up and down through a cam receiver 27 that appears in and out of an opening 28 formed in the bottom surface. That is, the cam body 24 is the rotary shaft.
The toner cartridge 1 rotates together with the toner 21, and the toner cartridge 1 is pushed up by the pushing-up portion 23 via the cam receiver 27 with the rotation. Then, when the push-up portion 23 reaches a predetermined position in the rotational direction, the toner cartridge 1 suddenly descends, and specifically, the step portion on the terminal end side of the push-up portion 23 having a semi-arcuate shape is the cam receiver 27. When reaching the stepped portion 26, the stepped portion causes the cam receiver 27 and the toner cartridge 1 to rapidly descend.

Also. Below the vicinity of the cartridge mounting opening 17 provided in the toner replenishing section 2, the toner cartridge 1
There is provided a toner scraping member 29 made of an elastic sealing material or the like, which comes into contact with the lower surface of the scraping member when it is attached and detached, and a recess 30 for accommodating the scraped toner. Further, on the bottom portion of the holding frame 15 located near the recess 30, there is formed a locking step portion 31 that comes into contact with the end portion of the bottom wall of the toner cartridge 1 in the mounted state.

In the above-described structure, in order to replenish the toner in the toner cartridge 1 to the developing device, first, the toner filling opening of the toner cartridge 1 is closed by the lid 4, and the handle 14 is used to mount the toner. The toner cartridge 1 is inserted into the holding frame 15 through the opening 17, and the leaf spring 16 is pressed against the upper surface of one end of the toner cartridge 1 as shown in FIG. The toner cartridge 1 is mounted in the state of being brought into contact with the locking step portion 31. The lid 4 is swingably displaced by holding the turning operation rod 8 to open the toner filling opening, so that the toner inside is replenished with the toner replenishing roller of the toner replenishing unit 2.
Supply over 19.

The toner is replenished to the inside of the developing device through the toner replenishing opening 18 by the rotation of the toner replenishing roller 19. When the toner replenishing roller 19 rotates, as shown in FIG. 5A, after the cam receiver 27 is gradually pushed up by the pushing-up portion 23 of the cam body 24, the
As shown in FIG. 6B, when the push-up portion 23 reaches the stepped portion 26 of the cam receiver 27, the cam receiver 27 rapidly descends.
As a result, the toner cartridge 1 is pressed by the leaf spring 16 and is suddenly pushed down, and the impact causes the cartridge 1
The lumps of toner inside are crushed and supplied to the developing device in an appropriate state.

As described above, since the toner cartridge 1 is moved up and down by the cam mechanism 22 to pulverize the lump of toner, a space for moving the cartridge in the axial direction is provided like a traverse cylinder is provided. Alternatively, there is no structural restriction such as forming the cartridge into a cylindrical shape as in a conventional apparatus such as one in which the toner cartridge is rotationally displaced. Therefore, by forming the shape of the toner cartridge 1 according to the shape of the toner replenishing section 2, it is possible to prevent the useless space from being formed between the toner cartridge 1 and the toner replenishing section 2 and effectively use the space. It is possible to reduce the size of the device. Further, unlike the case where the toner cartridge is slidably supported in the axial direction, it is not necessary to form a complicated bearing portion, and the toner adhered to the peripheral surface of the toner cartridge as when the toner cartridge is rotationally displaced. Since it is not crushed, there is an advantage that the structure can be simplified and the deterioration of the toner can be prevented.

Further, the cam mechanism 22 is a rotating shaft of the toner replenishing roller 19.
Since it is provided in 21, it is not necessary to provide a special drive source, and the toner in the toner cartridge 1 is impacted only when the toner replenishing roller 19 rotates to replenish the toner. Therefore, the toner is not deteriorated due to overload as in the case where the toner is always subjected to an impact, and the lump of toner can be effectively pulverized when necessary.

Further, in the above embodiment, since the leaf spring 16 for pressing the upper surface of the one end portion of the toner cartridge 1 is provided,
There is an advantage that the mounting state of the toner cartridge 1 can be firmly held by the 16 and the impact force exerted on the toner in the toner cartridge 1 can be increased by utilizing the biasing force of the leaf spring 16. As shown by the phantom line in FIG. 4, an upper surface of one end of the toner cartridge 1 is provided with a locking projection 32 that comes into contact with the end of the leaf spring 16 to make the mounting state of the toner cartridge 1 stronger. You may comprise so that it can hold | maintain. Further, the leaf spring 16 may be omitted and the toner cartridge 1 may be lowered by its own weight according to the rotation of the toner supply roller 19.

Further, in the above embodiment, the rotation axis of the toner replenishing roller 19
The toner cartridge 1 is configured to move up and down via a cam receiver 27 that is externally fitted to the cam 21, and the step 26 provided in the cam receiver 27 is used to rapidly lower the toner cartridge 1. Therefore, a sufficient crushing action of the lumps of toner is exhibited. Alternatively, the cam receiver may be omitted and the cam body 24 may be brought into direct contact with the bottom surface of the toner cartridge 1. It is also conceivable that the cam receiver is fixed to the bottom surface of the toner cartridge 1, but in this case, the cam receiver becomes an obstacle to the slide operation when the toner cartridge 1 is attached / detached. For this reason, when the cam receiver is provided, it is desirable that the cam receiver 27 is externally fitted and attached to the rotation shaft 21 of the toner replenishing roller 19 as in the above embodiment.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, since the toner scraping member 29 and the concave portion 30 are provided in the toner replenishing portion 2, the toner cartridge 1 with the toner filling opening closed by the lid 4.
When the toner is removed, the toner adhered to the bottom surface of the toner cartridge 1 and the outer surface of the lid 4 is scraped by the scraping member 29 and collected in the recess 30 to prevent the toner from leaking to the outside. can do.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the present invention, the cam mechanism provided on the rotation shaft of the toner replenishing roller moves the toner cartridge up and down to apply the impact force to the toner in the toner cartridge. The toner cartridge is housed in the toner cartridge without any structural restriction as in the conventional device in which a swing cylinder is provided to move the toner cartridge in the axial direction or the cylindrical toner cartridge is rotationally displaced. It is possible to effectively crush the lump of toner and replenish it in the developing device in an appropriate state. Therefore, the structure of the toner replenishing device can be simplified to facilitate the work of assembling the toner cartridge, and the toner cartridge can be formed in a shape corresponding to the shape of the toner replenishing portion, so that the space can be effectively used. There is an effect that the device can be downsized. Also,
The cam mechanism is configured to raise and lower the toner cartridge by the rotation of the cam body, and in particular, to raise the toner cartridge and then rapidly lower it.
A large impact force can be applied to the toner in the toner cartridge to sufficiently crush the lump of toner.

Further, the toner in the toner cartridge is prevented from being overloaded because it receives an impact force only when necessary by the cam mechanism, and further, the toner is attached to the peripheral surface of the toner cartridge like the one for rotating the toner cartridge itself. Since the formed toner is not pressed against the holding frame or the like to be crushed, it is possible to prevent the toner from being deteriorated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a toner cartridge mounting process, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a structure of a cam mechanism. FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a mounting state of the toner cartridge, and FIGS. 5 (a) and 5 (b).
[FIG. 6] is a cross-sectional view showing the operation of the cam mechanism. 1 ... Toner cartridge, 2 ... Toner supply unit, 19 ...
… Toner supply roller, 21 …… Rotary shaft, 22 …… Cam mechanism.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A toner replenishing device comprising a toner cartridge removably mounted in a toner replenishing portion of a developing device, and a toner replenishing roller for replenishing the toner contained in the toner cartridge into the developing device. A cam mechanism for raising and lowering the toner cartridge is provided on the rotation shaft of the toner replenishing roller, and the cam mechanism includes a cam body that rotates integrally with the rotation shaft, and a lifting portion for raising the toner cartridge is provided on the cam body. A toner replenishing device, characterized in that the toner cartridge is rapidly lowered when the push-up portion reaches a predetermined position in the rotational direction.