JPH0425715Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (Technical Field) The present invention relates to a wet type developing device, and more particularly, to a wet type developing device equipped with an opening/closing member for an opening/closing control valve attached to a tank opening of a developer replenishing section.

(Prior Art) In a wet type developing device, it is known that when the concentration of a developer stored in a developer tank decreases, developer is replenished based on this.

An example of the developer replenishing section will now be described with reference to the drawings showing an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, a lid 1 positioned above the liquid level of a developer tank (not shown) containing a developer has a perforation 1A for mounting a developer replenishment tank 2 containing pigment such as toner. is formed.

The developer supply tank 2 has a supply port 2 consisting of an opening.
In other words, it is attached to the lid 1 with the supply port 2A facing downward in the figure.

When the developer replenishment tank 2 becomes empty, it is removed from the perforation 1A and replaced with a new one.

A control valve 3 having a discharge port 3A communicating with the supply port 2A is attached to the supply port 2A.

As shown in FIG. 3, this control valve 3 has a screw formed on the inner periphery of a cap-shaped outer frame 30 for screwing with the outer periphery of the supply port 2A of the developer replenishing tank 2, and has a thread in the center of the outer frame. Hollow peripheral wall 31 formed to protrude
a valve plate 32 that can be moved into and out of contact with the protruding end of the valve plate 3;
The valve rod 33 has one end extending toward the proximal end of the hollow peripheral wall 31 at the center position of the control valve 3, and the end of the valve rod 33 projects outward from the discharge port 3A side of the control valve 3. a pushing part 34 having a flange 34a, and an intermediate circumferential wall 3 between the flange 34a and the control valve 3;
The flat valve plate 3 is disposed between the proximal wall surface of the valve plate 3
2 and a compression spring 35 that presses against the protruding end of the hollow peripheral wall 31 and biases the valve rod 33 in the closing direction.

The control valve 3 is moved against the bias of the compression spring by the valve plate 32.
When separated from the protruding end of the hollow peripheral wall 31,
The developer in the replenishment tank is allowed to flow out until the liquid level reaches the position of the discharge port 3A and the pressure in the replenishment tank and the atmospheric pressure applied to the developer liquid level via the discharge port 3A are balanced. Consists of chicken feed valve.

And a pushing part 34 provided on the valve rod 33 of the control valve 3
As shown in FIG. 1, one end of an operating lever 5, which is an operating member that is swingably supported by a support shaft 4 and opens and closes the control valve 3, is arranged at a position facing the control valve 3. .

The actuating lever 5 is connected to the actuator 6a of the solenoid 6, which is a driving means, by being pivoted at its other end, and the control valve 3 is connected to the compression spring 35 as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. the first position in which the control valve 3 can be opened against the bias of the compression spring 35, as shown by the solid line in FIG.
The second position can be pushed back and closed by the bias of the first position.
The position is set by energizing the solenoid 6, and the second position is set when the solenoid 6 is de-energized.

Swinging of the actuating lever 5 toward the second position is performed by a spring (not shown) within the solenoid 6 that biases the actuator 6a in a direction to project it, and this position controls the opening and closing of the control valve 3. This is the initial position when

The solenoid 6 is operated and controlled by a sensor (not shown) that detects the concentration of the developer in the developer tank, and when a decrease in the concentration is detected by the sensor, the solenoid 6 is operated as shown in FIG. The operating lever 5 is rotated to the position shown by the middle two-dot chain line, and when the appropriate concentration is reached, it becomes a de-energized state, and the operating lever 5 is rotated.
The spring bias in the solenoid 6 allows it to return to the second position.

By the way, in the above-mentioned replenishment section, since the operating lever 5 has a habit of returning to the second position, for example, as shown in FIG. 2, one end of the operating lever 5 may sink into the developer. When the developer supply tank 2 is replaced while the developing device itself is in operation, when the solenoid 6 is energized due to a decrease in the concentration of the developer, one end of the operating lever 5 is turned on. There was a risk that the developer would be splashed up by the screws, causing the developer to scatter outward from the perforation 1A of the lid 1.

(Purpose) This invention was made in view of the above, and
The object thereof is to provide a wet type developing device that eliminates the above-mentioned drawbacks.

(Structure) The present invention is removably attached to a mounting portion located above the liquid level of the developer contained therein, and has a developer supply port that opens toward the liquid level, and has a developer supply port that opens toward the liquid level. In a wet developing device including a developer replenishment tank including a control valve that opens and closes a mouth, and a biasing means that biases the control valve in a closing direction, a first position in which the control valve is opened; 2nd close valve
a swingable actuating member that takes a position, a driving means that drives the actuating member to the first position against the urging force of the urging means of the developer replenishing tank; maintaining means for maintaining the actuating member in the first position when in the driven state;
The maintaining force of the maintaining means is set to be smaller than the urging force of the urging means of the developer supply tank.

The present invention will be explained below with reference to illustrated embodiments.

In FIG. 1, the solenoid 6, which is the drive means for the actuating lever 5, is connected to its actuator 6a.
Instead of giving the habit of returning to the second position using a conventionally equipped spring, the actuating lever 5 turns the valve rod 33 toward the inside of the discharge port 3A against the habit of the control valve 3 when energized. Displacement position (in Figure 1,
It has a habit of maintaining the attitude (indicated by the two-dot chain line) even when de-energized.

In other words, the actuator 6a is the actuating lever 5.
A frictional force greater than the rotational moment due to its own weight is applied to the solenoid 6. In the case of this embodiment, this frictional force is set by a maintaining means comprised of an elastic body interposed between the inner wall surface of the solenoid 6 and the inner end of the solenoid of the actuator 6a.

The elasticity of this elastic body is the same as that of the valve body 3 of the control valve 3.
The biasing force is set to be smaller than the biasing force of the compression spring provided in the third section.

Since the present embodiment has the above-described configuration, when the developer replenishment tank 2 is attached to the perforation 1A of the lid 1, when the solenoid 6 is energized to correct the concentration of developer, the operating lever 5 swings to the first position, pushes the valve rod 33 of the control valve 3 toward the discharge port 1A, and causes the developer to flow out from the developer supply tank 2.

When the solenoid 6 is de-energized in response to completion of concentration correction with the developer replenishment tank 2 installed, the compression spring 35 on the control valve 3 side biases the operating lever. 5 is pushed down and swung into the second position, thereby closing the control valve 3.

On the other hand, if the developer supply tank 2 is removed while the solenoid 6 is energized, the actuating lever 5 is no longer biased by the compression spring 35 on the control valve 3 side, so the solenoid 6 is de-energized. Sometimes, depending on the behavior of the holding means, it is held in the first position, with the side facing the pushing part 34 being pushed up.

Therefore, when it becomes impossible to correct a decrease in developer concentration due to the developer replenishment tank 2 being removed, the solenoid 6
However, when the excitation is repeated, the operating lever 5, which has been pushed up once, remains pushed up even during this repetition, so that the developer is not splashed up from the liquid surface. be done.

Then, when the developer replenishment tank 2 is attached to the perforation 1A of the lid 1 again, the actuating lever 5 is pushed down by the compression spring 35 of the control valve 3, and is activated by the excitation control of the solenoid 6. The control valve 3 is in a position where opening and closing control can be performed.

Furthermore, when the solenoid 6 is repeatedly energized, liquid splashes occur due to the displacement of the operating lever 5, but since the perforation 1A of the lid body 1 is blocked by the developer replenishing tank 2, the perforation 1A can be removed from the perforation 1A. This will prevent the developer from scattering.

(Effects) As described above, according to the present invention, for the control valve that is provided at the developer supply port of the developer supply tank and is biased in the direction of closing the supply port,
an actuating member is provided which assumes a first position in which the control valve is open and a second position in which it is capable of closing; a drive for driving the actuating member to the first position when the actuating member is in the first position; Since the actuating member is configured to be maintained in the first position even when the means changes to the non-driving state, the developer replenishing tank is in another state corresponding to when the actuating member is in the first position. When the actuating member is removed, the position of the actuating member can be maintained unchanged,
This makes it possible to prevent liquid splashing.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the main parts of the embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the operation of the embodiment of the invention, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing the main parts of the embodiment of the invention. 2...Developer supply tank, 2A...Supply port, 3
...Control valve, 3A...Discharge port, 33...Valve rod, 3
5...a compression spring that biases the control valve in the closing direction;
5... An operating lever which is an operating member, 6... A solenoid which is a driving means for the operating lever.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] The developer is removably attached to a mounting portion located above the level of the developer contained therein, and has a developer supply port that opens toward the level of the developer. In a wet developing device equipped with a developer replenishment tank including a control valve that opens and closes a supply port and a biasing means that biases the control valve in a direction to close the control valve, a first position in which the control valve is opened; a swingable actuating member that takes a second position in which the control valve is closed; and a drive means that drives the actuating member to the first position against the urging force of the urging means of the developer replenishing tank. and a maintaining means for maintaining the actuating member in the first position when the driving means is in the non-driven state, and the maintaining force of the maintaining means is controlled by the biasing means of the developer replenishing tank. A wet type developing device characterized by being set smaller than the force.