JPH02190878A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the breakage of a conveying member and the outflow of developer to the outside caused by the breakage and to avoid the contamination in a device by providing a means for moving a replenishing device to a specified position by interlocking with an action for closing a front door when the replenishing device is at such a position that it retreats from the specified position. CONSTITUTION:The upper part and the lower part of a moving supporting base 32 are guided by the upper and the lower guides 35 and 36 of a replenishing supporting base 33 and the moving supporting base 32 can slide in a certain distance on the replenishing supporting base 33, then an L-shaped guiding plate 38 is provided in the bent part 32a of the supporting base 32. A lever 40 is disposed on the end face of the supporting end part 33a of the supporting base 33 and the end part of the lever 40 and the end part of the L-shaped guiding plate 38 are connected through a wire 41. Then, the upper end part of the lever 40 is elastically and repulsively energized by a spring member 44 to abut on the projecting part 3a of the front door 3. Therefore, by closing the front door 3 which is opened, the projecting part 3a turns the lever 40 counterclockwise and the wire 41 moves the supporting base 32 by a certain distance through pulleys 42 and 43. Thus, the developer is prevented from flowing out to the outside caused by the breakage of the conveying member and the contamination in the device is avoided.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] (Industrial application field) The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus using electrophotography.

(Prior Art) Image forming apparatuses such as laser beam printers using electrophotography require multiple developments! There are some that are equipped with an It position, etc. and can form images of several colors.

To explain such an image forming apparatus with reference to FIG. 7, a primary charger 201.
A cleaning device 202, a transfer charger 203, and a transfer drum 204 are arranged, and black, yellow, and cyan are moved integrally to the f direction of the photosensitive drum 200, and necessary items are selected for the photosensitive drum 200. , four developing units 210, 211° 21 each having developer for each color of magenta.
2.213 is installed.

As a result, the image light for a predetermined color (for example, black) is uniformly charged on the photosensitive drum 2 by the charger 201.
00 and an electrostatic WI image is formed on the photosensitive tram 200, the four developing devices 21O9... move to the right in the figure, and the developing device 210 containing the desired black developer is exposed to light. It is positioned below the drum 200. When the developing device 210 comes into contact with the photosensitive drum 200 and the electrostatic latent image is developed and visualized with a black developer, the developed image is transferred to the transfer paper wrapped around the transfer drum 204 by the charging device. 203.

Next, the photosensitive drum 200 is cleaned by a cleaning device 202, and then uniformly charged again by a negative charger 201, and the photosensitive drum 200 is exposed to image light for a primary predetermined color (for example, yellow). Thereafter, similar operations are repeated one after another, and finally, developed images of multiple colors are transferred onto one sheet of transfer paper. After the color transfer is completed, the transfer paper is sent to a fixing device where the developed image is fixed.

As shown in FIG. 8, four replenishment devices 214, 215, 216, 217 are connected to the four developing units 21O1 through four swingable replenishment vibrators 218, .
The developer of each color is replenished. The supply device 214.・
... is positioned and fixed on the transfer stand 219, and the developing unit 2
With the movement of 1O9..., the supply pipe 218. ...
It is designed to swing and follow you. Here, a part of the supply device 214, . . . is connected to a front door 221 of the main body of the device.
and the transfer drum 204, so if paper jams occur around the transfer drum 204, the front door 2
Even if 21 is opened, the supply device 214. The - part of the paper gets in the way, making it difficult to clear the jam.

Therefore, the movable support 219 can be moved and evacuated by a certain distance along the front door 221 with respect to the supply support 220 of the apparatus main body that supports the movable support 219, and after opening the front door 221, Move the movable support 219 to the 8th distance line.
The transfer drum 204 is retracted to the left in the figure, so that jam removal around the transfer drum 204 can be easily performed. It is assumed that when the front door 221 is opened to perform processing, etc., the four developing units 21O9... are always positioned to the left in FIG. 8 (as indicated by the solid line).

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, after the user opens the front door 221 and moves the movable support 219 a distance and clears the jam around the transfer drum 204, the user returns the movable support 219 to its original position. There are cases where the front door 221 is closed without forgetting to reset it.

In this case, when the apparatus starts image forming work, four developing units 210. Replenishment vibe 218. for the movement of...
...(Especially the one at the right end in FIG. 8) cannot follow the swing sufficiently, and unreasonable force will be applied to the joint between the replenishment pipe 218 and the developing device 213, causing damage to the joint. This damage may damage the internal developer (
There was an inconvenience that the toner (toner) would leak out and contaminate the inside of the device. Further, in some cases, there may be an inconvenience that the pulse motor that drives the four developing devices 210[deg.] in the lateral direction immediately below the photosensitive tram 200 may step out.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and its purpose is to solve the problem when the front door is closed.

To provide an image forming apparatus in which a movable support always returns to its original position.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention moves integrally to select a predetermined image carrier, and when opening the front door of the apparatus main body. A plurality of developing devices have returned to their predetermined positions, and developer is supplied to the developing devices via a conveying device that swings freely as the developing devices move, and is positioned at a predetermined position inside the front door of the main body of the device. a replenishment device that supports the replenishment device, and a movable support that can move on the replenishment support of the main body of the measure and evacuate the replenishment device a certain distance from the predetermined position when the front door is opened. The image forming apparatus is characterized in that a moving means is provided for moving the replenishing device to a predetermined position in conjunction with the closing operation of the front door when the replenishing device is in a position evacuated from a predetermined position.

The present invention also provides a plurality of developing devices that move together to select a predetermined one for the image carrier, and return to a predetermined position when the front door of the apparatus main body is opened. A replenishing device that supplies developer to the developing device via a conveying device that is swingable as the developing device moves, and is positioned at a predetermined position inside a front door of the device main body, and supporting the replenishing device; In the image forming apparatus, the image forming apparatus includes a movable support that can move on the supply support of the apparatus main body and retract the replenishment device by a certain distance from the predetermined position when the front door is opened. The present invention is characterized in that an engaging member that prevents the front door from closing when the supply device is in the retracted position is interposed between the replenishing device and the front door in the retracted position.

(Function) When opening the front door of the main body of the device, the replenishment device is retracted a predetermined distance from the front door, and when the front door is closed after jam removal and maintenance are performed inside the device, the closing operation of the front door is performed. This allows the replenishment device that is in the retracted position to be moved back to its original position in conjunction with It's moving. Therefore, no problem arises if the operator forgets to move the supply device back to its original position.

Additionally, even if the worker forgets to return the replenishment device from the retracted position to its original position, an engaging member is interposed between the replenishment device in the retracted position and the front door, so the front door can be fully closed. Therefore, the image forming operation of the device is not started.

(Embodiment) An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, taking a copying machine as an example.

Figure 1 is a side sectional view of a copying machine capable of forming four-color full-color images, the wSz diagram is a plan view of the developing unit and developer supply device of the same copying machine, and Figure 3 is a diagram showing ■-■ in Figure 2. Arrow sectional view,
Figure 4 is a perspective view showing the guide state for the movable support, Figure 5 is a perspective view showing the supply support, the movable support, and the surroundings of the supply device, and Figure 6 is the movable support when the front door is closed. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a mechanism for returning to the position of

First, the overall structure of the copying machine will be explained based on FIG.

A photosensitive drum 10, which is an image carrier, is arranged in the lower central part of the apparatus main body 1, and a primary charger 11, a cleaning device 12, a transfer/latent device 13, and a transfer tram 14 are arranged around the photosensitive drum 10. has been done.

Furthermore, below the photosensitive drum, there are four black developing units 151, a yellow developing unit 152, and a cyan developing unit that can integrally move on the support stand 2 and can develop in four full colors: black, yellow, cyan, and macenda. A developing device 15 consisting of a developing device 153 and a magenta developing device 154 is provided. The developing device 15 can be integrally moved on the support 2 from the home position n in the figure to the position where the black developing device 151 at the left end is disposed directly below the photosensitive drum 10. The developing devices 151, . . . selected directly below the photosensitive drum 10 are brought into contact with the photosensitive drum 10, and are capable of developing with that color.

The transfer drum 14 is rotatably disposed above the supporting stand 2 for the developing device 15, and can position and support the transfer paper P on its outer surface, and has a transfer charger 13 on the inner side facing the photosensitive tram IO. is positioned. The transfer m'rrt device 13 is separated from the transfer tram 14 and has a structure that it does not rotate integrally with the transfer tram 14. Further, above the transfer drum 14, a separation charger 15 for removing the transfer paper Pa is provided.

A fixing device 16 and a paper output tray 17 are located on the lower right side of the device main body l.
, a cassette 18.19 having transfer papers P of different sizes.
Transfer paper transport devices 20 and 21 are provided between the cassettes 18 and 19 and the transfer drum 14, between the transfer tram 14 and the fixing device 16, and the like.

Further, an original 8 & apparatus glass 22 is arranged on the upper surface of the apparatus main body 1, and an optical scanning system 23 that moves below the original holding glass 22 along the original holding glass 22 and scans the original a.
is f5! , has been established. The original image scanned by the optical scanning system 23 passes through the imaging lens 24 disposed on the right side of the L portion of the main body 1 of the apparatus, and is then color-separated by the CCD 25 and converted into electrical signals, which are converted into electrical signals. It is sent to the illustrated central processing unit and processed. A laser scanner unit 26 is disposed on the left side of the upper part of the device main body 1, and the electrical signal of a predetermined color processed by the central processing unit is converted into image light via a laser beam by the laser scanner unit 26, and the mirror The photosensitive drum 10 is exposed to light through 27 and 28.

Thus, the photosensitive drum l uniformly charged by the negative charger 11
When the laser scanner unit 26 exposes a predetermined color (for example, black image light) to the photosensitive drum 1,
0 is static 71 for a black original image! A latent image is formed. The static tttHs image is developed and visualized by a black developer 151 of the integrally moving developer 15. On the other hand, a predetermined size of transfer paper P in force set 18 or 19
is wrapped around the outer surface of the transfer tram 14 via the transfer paper transport 92120, and is sent toward the photosensitive drum 10 as the transfer tram i4 rotates.
A black developed image formed by the black developer on the photosensitive drum IO is transferred through the photosensitive drum IO.

After residual developer is removed from the photosensitive drum 10 onto which the black developed image has been transferred by a cleaning device 12, the primary band is again uniformly charged by the device 11, and an image of a predetermined color (for example, yellow) is illuminated by a laser scanner unit 26. or exposed to light. Then, an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the color original image is formed on the photosensitive drum IO, and the electrostatic TttWJ image is developed by the yellow developer 152 and made visible. This yellow developed image is transferred again to the transfer paper PL of the transfer drum 14E.
After that, the same operation is repeated, and developed images of multiple colors are transferred onto the transfer paper P.

The transfer paper P, on which the transfer of images of the necessary plural colors has been completed, is separated from the transfer drum 14 by the separation charger 15 and sent to the fixing device 16 via the transfer paper conveyance device 21. After the developed image of the transfer paper P is fixed by the fixing device 16, the transfer paper P is placed on the paper discharge tray 17.

Next, the developer replenishing device will be explained with reference to FIGS. 2 to 5.

As shown in Figure 2, Four developing units 151. . . . each developer replenishment section 151a.

152a, 153a, 154a protrude, and between the developer replenishing portions 151a, . . . and the front door 3, there are blanks,
A black replenishment section 'fl 30 a containing developer for each color of yellow, cyan, and magenta, and a yellow replenishment section 213
0b, cyan replenishing device 30c, magenta replenishing device 30d
Developer replenishment devices 30 are arranged in a line along the front door 3. The developer is supplied from the replenishing device 30 to each developer replenishing section 151a, . . . of the developing device 15 using four replenishing vibrators 31.・
..., but the replenishment vibe 31. . . . one end is rotatably connected to the lower part of the replenishing device 30, and the other end is the developer replenishing portion 151a, the long hole portion 151b of the .

It is slidably connected to 152b, 153b, and 154b.

Therefore, replenishment vibe 31. ... swings around the replenishing device 30 as the developing device 15 moves, so that the developing device 15 can always be replenished with developer.

Here, the distance between each developer replenishing section 151a, . The replenishment vibrator 31
A good position is one where the left and right deflection angles in Figure 2 are equal. Therefore, the black replenishing device 30a is disposed at an intermediate position between the yellow developer 152 and the cyan developer 153, and the magenta replenishing device 30d is located at a position further to the right in FIG. It will be placed in the state shown in the figure.

Therefore, when paper jams occur around the transfer drum 13, the magenta replenishing device 30d disposed in front of the transfer drum 13 becomes an obstacle when the front door 3 is opened to clear the jam. Therefore, the replenishing device 30 is connected to the transfer drum 1.
Distance g so that it does not get in the way of work such as clearing jams around the 4th rotation.
Whether it is necessary to evacuate only the I sentence to the left in FIG. 2, the moving device of this replenishment device 30 will be explained below. It is assumed that the developer 315 is always moved to the home position A when the front door 3 is opened.

As shown in FIG. 3, the replenishment device 30 is fixed a'a on a movable support 32, and the movable support 32 is slidably supported by a replenishment support 33 supported on the device main body l side. There is. That is, #i number of rollers 34 are rotatably supported on the upper part of the supply stand 33. ... supports the U-shaped bent portion 32a at the top of the movable support 32.

In addition, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the upper and f portions of the movable support 32 are guided by upper and lower guides 35 and 36 attached to the supply support 33, and the movable support 32 is connected to the supply support 33, it is possible to slide only the distance gi sentence. Here, the replenishment vibrator 31 extends from below the movable support 32 and the replenishment support 33 toward the developing device 15, as shown in FIG.
The movement of the developing device 15 can be sufficiently followed. In FIG. 3, numeral 37 is a gear group for driving the screw conveyor in the replenishment vibrator, and numeral 38 is an L-shaped guide plate attached to the bent portion 32a of the movable support 32.

Also, the right end of the supply stand 33 in Figure 2 is the cyan supply device 3.
It extends only to the right end of the transfer tram 0c, and when the distance plate is retracted to the left in FIG. It has become. In addition, the left end of the replenishment stand 33 in FIG. 2 is a support end 33a supported by the device main body l, as shown in FIG. 33b, 33b are provided, and if screws etc. for fixing to the device main body 5 are removed, the supply support 33 moves around the support shafts 33b, 33b relative to the device main body 1.
It can be rotated forward together with the replenishment device 30, and is used for maintenance of the device.

Now, next, when the front door is closed after the jam clearance around the transfer drum 14 is finished, a mechanism for rearranging the movable support 32 to its original position in conjunction with this will be explained with reference to ff+61A, etc. .

The support end 33a of the supply stand 33 has a support end 3 on the end surface.
3a is provided with an L-shaped lever 40 that is pivotally supported via a shaft 39, and one end of a wire 41 is connected to the protruding end of the lower part of the lever 40 from the supply support 33. 4
The other end of 1 is connected to two pulleys 4 which are pivotally supported on a supply stand 33.
2.43, it is connected to the end of the L-shaped guide plate 38 of the bending part 32a at the top of the movable support 32. That is, wire 4
1 rises upward from the end of the lever 40 and pulley 4
2, it extends horizontally toward the movable support 32, and then is bent 180 degrees by the pulley 43, and is attached to the end of the L-shaped guide plate 38 of the bent portion 32a of the movable support 32 via a hook. are connected.

Further, the upper end of the lever 40 is elastically biased toward the front door 3 side by a spring member 44 whose one end is attached to the support end 33a of the supply stand 33 to the extent that the wire 41 is loosened. It is in contact with a protrusion 3a provided in the.

When jammed paper or the like occurs around the transfer drum 14 and needs to be disposed of, first open the inner door 3 in the direction A in FIG. 6. In this case, the engagement between the protrusion 3a of the front door 3 and the lever 40 is released, but since the elastic force of the spring member 44 is weak, the lever 40 is moved to the center shaft 3 in FIG.
The operator releases the movable support 32 from the supply support 33 by rotating it slightly clockwise around 9, and the distance between the movable support 32 and the supply support 33 is increased. When the replenishing device 15 is moved in the direction C by the intersection, a part of the replenishing device 15 located in front of the transfer tram 14 is moved from the front of the transfer tram 14 to the left in FIG. 2 and retreated. As a result, the wire 41 connected to the movable support 32 rotates the lever 40 clockwise in FIG. 6 via the pulleys 42 and 43, so that the upper part of the lever 40 is slightly inclined toward the front door 3 side.

When the jam removal around the transfer drum 14 is completed in the above state, the front door 3 is moved to the left in FIG. direction to the position shown in FIG. This allows the wire 41 connected to one end of the lever 40 to
Then, the movable support 32 is moved by a distance #; in the direction of the center of FIG. In this case, when the movable support 32 returns to its original position, the positioning of the movable support 32 is automatically locked to the supply support 33.

As described above, even if the front door 3 is opened and the movable support 32 is moved a predetermined distance and evacuated, the front door 3 is closed without returning the movable support 32 to its original position. Since the movable support 32 is structured to be able to return to its original position, the image forming operation of the apparatus is started with the movable support 32 moved a predetermined distance and the replenishment device 30 moved and evacuated from the predetermined position. Never. Therefore, when the developing device 15 is moved, the developer replenishing sections 151a, . . . of the developing device 15 and the replenishing pipe 31 of the replenishing section 2230. . . . No unreasonable force is applied between the developer replenishing portions 151a, . . .
・Replenishment vibe 31. . . , and there will be no inconveniences such as damage to the joints between the parts and the internal developer flowing out to the outside and contaminating the inside of the apparatus. There is also no inconvenience that the pulse motor driving in the direction goes out of step.

Now, in addition to the protrusion 3a of the front door 3 explained in the above embodiment, an interference protrusion is provided on the front door 3 side that interferes with the black replenishing device 30a at the left end in FIG. 2 when the movable support 32 is retracted. , the closing operation of the front door 3 may be prevented. In this case, the front door 3 will not close sufficiently, and the image forming operation of the apparatus will not be possible. In this case, it goes without saying that the interference protrusion may be provided on the replenishing device 30 side in conjunction with the retraction of the movable support 32 so as to interfere with the front door 3.

Furthermore, one additional interference protrusion may be provided in the above-mentioned embodiment, and in this case, it is useful when the movement mechanism of the movable support 32 breaks down.

(Effects of ffi #I) As is clear from the above explanation, according to the present invention, the replenishment unit in the retracted position can be moved and returned to its original position in conjunction with the closing operation of the front door of the main body of the device. Therefore, even if the image forming operation is started and the developing device moves relative to the image carrier, no excessive force will be applied to the developer conveying member that connects the replenishing device and the developing device, and the conveyance will continue. There will be no inconvenience that the inside of the apparatus will be contaminated with the developer due to damage to the members or the developer inside the device flowing out due to damage to the conveying member.

Further, according to the present invention, since the engaging member that prevents the closing operation of the front door of the device main body is provided between the replenishment device in the retracted position and the front door, when the replenishment device is in the retracted position, the front door is closed. cannot be completely closed, therefore, image forming work is not started in this state, and the same effects as the above-mentioned invention can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a side sectional view of the copying machine, Figure 2 is a plan view of the developing unit and developer replenishment device of the same copying machine, and Figure 3 is a side sectional view of the copying machine.
-m arrow sectional view, Figure 4 is a perspective view showing a guide for the movable support, Figure 5 is a perspective view showing the supply support, the movable support, and the surroundings of the supply device, and Figure 6 is the movable support. A perspective view showing a mechanism for returning the front door to the original position in conjunction with the front door, and FIGS. 7 and 8 are views showing the prior art. l... Apparatus body, 3... Front door, 10... Photosensitive drum (image carrier), 15... Developing unit, 30... Replenishment device, 31... Replenishment vibrator (transport device fi ), 32...
- Mobile support stand, 33... Supply support stand, dan... Interval between supply devices (-fixed distance). Patent Applicant Canon Co., Ltd. Agent Patent Attorney Ryo Yamashita Figure 5 Figure 7 Figure 8

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) A plurality of developing devices that move together to select a predetermined one for the image carrier and return to a predetermined position when the front door of the apparatus main body is opened, and the developing device The developer is supplied through a conveying device that can swing freely as the device moves, and a replenishing device is positioned at a predetermined position inside the front door of the device main body. An image forming apparatus having a movable support that can move on the supply support of the main body and retract the replenishment device by a certain distance from the predetermined position when the front door is opened.
When the replenishment device is in a position evacuated from a predetermined position,
An image forming apparatus comprising a moving means for moving a replenishment device to a predetermined position in conjunction with the closing operation of a front door. (2) The moving means is provided integrally with a lever rotatably supported on a supply stand and a front door, and engages with the lever when the front door closes to move the lever. Claim 1 characterized in that it is comprised of a pressing member that is rotated, and a wire that is connected between the lever and the movable support and that moves the movable support a predetermined distance via a guide member as the lever rotates. The image forming apparatus described above. (3) A plurality of developing devices that move integrally to select a predetermined one for the image carrier, and return to a predetermined position when the front door of the apparatus main body is opened; , supplies developer through a conveying device that can swing freely as it moves, and a replenishment device positioned at a predetermined position inside the front door of the device main body, and a replenishment device that supports the replenishment device and In the image forming apparatus, the image forming apparatus includes a movable support that can move on the supply support and retract the replenishment device by a certain distance from the predetermined position when the front door is opened. An image forming apparatus characterized in that an engaging member that prevents a closing operation of the front door when the replenishing device is in the retracted position is interposed between the front door and the replenishing device in the retracted position.