JPH03149581A - Toner replenishing cartridge for electrophotographic copying device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent toner from being carried to the outside by a sealing member and from scattering by sealing the opening part of a case by a pouched sealing member having the opening part on one end and pulling out the innermost recessed end part of the sealing member so that the sealed part may be opened. CONSTITUTION:One surface of the pouched sealing member 13 is made to adhere to the opening part 10b of the case so as to be sealed, and at the time of replenishing the toner, the innermost recessed end part 13b of the pouched sealing member 13 is pulled out. When the pulling member 13c is pulled out by a pulling end 13d, the innermost recessed end part 13b of the pouched sealing member 13 is pulled and the upper surface of the pouched sealing member 13, that means, the contact surface with the toner 13e, and a lower surface, that means, the side surface 13f of the developing device are successively turned inside out and the pouched sealing member is turned inside out. Thus, the deterioration of the image quality, etc., caused by toner stain and toner scattering can be surely prevented only by easily changing the structure of the sealing member.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a toner replenishment cartridge for an electrophotographic apparatus.

(Prior art and its problems) An electrophotographic apparatus, for example, as shown in the schematic configuration diagram in FIG.
Photosensitive drum (1), charging device (3), optical writing device (3)
, developing device (4), transfer device (5), cleaner device (6)
), etc., development is performed by the following means. That is, the electrostatic latent image formed by the optical writing device (3) on the charged surface of the photosensitive drum (1) is visualized by the powder toner (7) in the developing device (4), and this is visualized by the transfer device (5). ) and then fused onto paper (8).

Therefore, since the toner (7) is a consumable item and decreases with use, in order to perform good development, it is necessary to always keep a certain amount or more of powder toner ( It is necessary that η be stored.

Furthermore, in general-purpose electrophotographic apparatuses, it is required that the operator be able to easily replenish toner. Therefore, the following cartridge-based replenishment means has conventionally been used.

``This toner replenishment cartridge (9) has a toner replenishment opening (1) as shown in the perspective view of FIG.
Case a having mounting collars (10b) around the four circumferences of case 0a)
The sealing member 00 is made of, for example, synthetic resin and is folded in half so as to form a non-overlapping portion (lla) at one end. Then, as shown in the perspective view of the sealing member OD in FIG.
Glue on the fob surfaces around the four peripheries of the case Ql so that the surface (llc) opposite to the installation surface of a) is located on the opening (10a) side of the case Ql filled with toner (7). As shown in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 2(C), this is attached to the toner reservoir opening (4b) of the developing device (4) by an appropriate means. And the sealing member (non-overlapping part of In)
lla) in the direction of the arrow in the figure, the case flange (10b) and sealing member (IQ) are peeled off and opened from the folded end (llb) side as shown in the cross-sectional view shown in Fig. 3. Then, the toner (7) is allowed to fall naturally to the developing device (4).
) is supplied into the storage tank (4a).

According to this method, the toner replenishment operation becomes extremely simple. However, with this structure, when the non-overlapping portion (lla) of the seal member OD is pulled out, the contact surface (llc) of the seal member 01) with the toner (7) is turned over and removed from the cartridge, as shown in FIG. Case aO and developing device (4)
It is pulled out from the gap in the

Therefore, the toner (7) attached to the toner contact surface (llc)
At the same time, the particles are carried out through the gap between the developing device (4) and the cartridge (9), and are attached or scattered (7a).

This causes problems such as staining the clothes and hands of the operator, and the scattered toner (7a) entering the electrophotographic apparatus, causing staining of the exposure device and the photosensitive drum, resulting in deterioration of image quality.

Therefore, in the past, as shown in FIG.
(4) A cleaning member surface or an alternative toner scraping member is provided at the end of the seal member drawer side of the toner storage tank opening (4b), so that the toner (7
) has been proposed in a storage tank (4a) of a developing device (4). (Refer to JP-A-58-14864 and JP-A-63-94266.) However, even with such means, it is difficult to sufficiently remove the adhered toner, and contamination prevention is insufficient. In addition, since the cleaning member and the like must be cleaned, the operation becomes troublesome.

(Means of the present invention for solving the problems) The present invention adhesively seals one side of the bag-shaped sealing member to the opening of the case, and when replenishing toner, the innermost inner surface of the bag-shaped sealing member is sealed. By using a simple means for pulling out the end portion, various problems associated with the above-mentioned conventional means are solved at once. Next, the present invention will be explained by examples.

(Embodiment) FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of the present invention, and its features are as follows. That is, as shown in the perspective view of FIG. 4(a), the innermost innermost end (13b) of a flat bag-shaped part (13a) made of, for example, a synthetic resin film and open at one end.
Then, a bag-like sealing member 0 is made by connecting a sheet-like tension member (13c) which is longer than the bag-like part (13a) and has a width smaller than the width of the bag-like part (13a). As shown in the perspective view of FIG. 4(c), the pull-out end (13d) of the tension member (13c)
A cartridge (9) is formed by adhering one side of the bag-shaped sealing member side to the four-periphery flange (10b) on the case side so that OΦ protrudes outside the case OΦ. Then, after attaching this to the developing device (4) as shown in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 4(C) in the same manner as before, pull the tension member (13c) in the direction of the arrow in the figure using the drawer end (13d). By pulling out the case 0Φ, the opening (10a) of the case 0Φ is opened, and the toner (7) in the case 01 is supplied to the developing device (4).

With the above arrangement, when the tension member (13c) is pulled out by the pull-out end (13d), the innermost end (13b) of the bag-shaped seal member (13) is pulled, as shown in FIG. 5(a). As shown in the cross-sectional view, the top surface of the bag-shaped sealing member (13), that is, the surface that contacts the toner (13e), and the bottom surface, that is, the side surface of the developing device (13f) are sequentially turned over to form an inverted bag shape.

When the tension member (13c) is completely pulled out of the case θω, the bag-shaped seal member (13) extends over its entire length into an inverted bag, as shown in the sectional view shown in FIG. 5(b). The entire length of the toner contact surface (13e) is located within this area and is not exposed to the outside.

Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent the toner from being carried outside by the sealing member and being scattered as in the conventional cartridges, and the problems of the conventional cartridges, such as staining clothes and hands, are solved at once.

(Other Embodiments) Although the actual rod example of the present invention has been described above, the tension member (
As 13c), one or more linear bodies or filamentous bodies can be used.

(Effects of the Invention) As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, toner stains and scattering can be prevented by simply changing the structure of the sealing member without providing a cleaning member or changing the structure of the cartridge. It has a great practical effect because it can reliably prevent the underlying image quality from deteriorating.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIGS. 1, 2, and 3 are explanatory diagrams of a conventional cartridge, and FIGS. 4 and 5 are explanatory diagrams of an embodiment of the present invention. (1)...Photosensitive drum, (2)...Charging device, (3
)...Optical writing device, (4)...Developing device, (4a
)...Toner storage tank, (4b)...Toner storage tank opening, (4c) = Mounting frame, (5)...Transfer device, (6)...Cleaner device, (7 )···toner,
(8)... Paper, (9)... Toner replenishment cartridge, Oto... Case, (10a)... Toner replenishment opening, (10b)... Mounting flange, aO...・Bi-fold seal member, (11a)=non-overlapping part, (llb)-
...Bi-folded end, (11c)...Contact surface with toner, Q force...Cleaning member, 01...Bag-shaped sealing member, (13a)...Bag-shaped part, (13b)-・Inner innermost end, (13c) ・=Tension member, (13d)・
...drawer end, (13e) ... contact surface with toner, (
13f)...Side surface of the developing device. Patent applicant: 1 person other than Shindengen Kogyo Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A case in which one side of a sealing member is adhered to the opening to seal the filled toner is attached to the toner supply opening of the developing device, and the sealing member is pulled out to open the case opening and fill the toner. In a toner replenishment cartridge for an electrophotographic apparatus that replenishes toner, the case opening is
1. A toner replenishing cartridge for an electrophotographic apparatus, characterized in that the cartridge is sealed with a bag-like seal member having an opening at one end, and is opened by pulling out the innermost end of the bag-like seal member.