JPH04336568A - Image formation device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable an amount of toner to be realized without use of a sensor or the like by providing a window at the upper casing of a device, and forming a toner cartridge and a toner collection container with a transparent or translucent material. CONSTITUTION:A toner cartridge 410 freely detachable from a development housing 41a has monolithic construction of transparent synthetic resin material as a whole. When the toner cartridge 410 is mounted on the housing 41a, the shoulder section 410a thereof is coupled to a window W1 formed at the shoulder section 240 of an upper casing 24. Also, a toner collection container 47 has monolithic construction of transparent synthetic resin material as a whole, and is coupled to a window W2 formed at a section ranging from the shoulder section 240 of the upper casing 24 to the side thereof. Furthermore, the window W1 is formed over the whole of the cartridge 410 in a lengthwise direction, while the window W2 is formed over the whole of the toner collection container 47 in a lengthwise direction. According to this construction, a toner amount can be correctly realized, and even the eccentric dispersion of toner can be confirmed from the outside of an image formation device.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as an electrostatic copying machine or an electrostatic printer.

0002

[Prior Art] Conventionally, extremely compact image forming apparatuses such as electrostatic copiers and printers have been used to visualize an electrostatic latent image formed on a photoreceptor drum into a toner image and then transfer it to paper. A so-called portable type device has been provided (for example, see Japanese Patent Publication No. 2-17453).

This type of image forming apparatus includes a light source that illuminates the original, an optical system that exposes the photoreceptor to light by guiding reflected light from the original illuminated by the light source onto a pre-charged photoreceptor; An image forming section that converts the electrostatic latent image corresponding to the original image formed on the surface of the photoreceptor into a toner image by this exposure and transfers it to paper, and a fixing section that fixes the toner image transferred to the paper. includes a paper transport section that introduces paper into the apparatus main body, supplies it to the image forming section, and then discharges it from the apparatus main body, a drive system that drives these, and functional parts such as control circuits and other electrical components. We are prepared. Each of these functional parts is attached to a metal reinforcing frame consisting of a pair of side plates and stays that connect the side plates, etc., which is placed inside a box-shaped casing made of a resin molded product. There is.

0004

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to popularize the image forming apparatus having the above structure for home and personal use, it is desirable to reduce the size and weight as much as possible, and to reduce the manufacturing cost and selling price. However, conventional compact image forming devices simply have the same parts as regular-sized image forming devices in smaller sizes, so they have a large number of parts, making it difficult to achieve further reduction in size and weight. However, there was a problem in that the manufacturing cost was high.

In particular, in order to visualize an electrostatic latent image, the amount of toner in a toner cartridge that stores toner supplied to a developing device and a toner collection container that stores toner collected from a photoreceptor is detected. In order to do this, a sensor for detecting the amount of toner in both containers and a driving circuit for the sensor are required, which increases the number of parts and complicates the circuit.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and can achieve reductions in size and weight and manufacturing costs, and also eliminates the need for sensors and the like that increase the number of parts. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus that allows the amount of toner in a toner cartridge and a toner collection container to be known without any problem.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems, the image forming apparatus of the present invention develops an electrostatic latent image formed on a photoreceptor into a toner image using a developing device, and then converts the electrostatic latent image onto a sheet of paper. In an image forming apparatus that includes an image forming section for transferring, and in which functional parts including the image forming section are arranged in a casing, the toner cartridge supplies toner to the developing device and accommodates toner collected from the photoreceptor. The casing is provided with a window for externally confirming the amount of toner in at least one of the toner collection containers, and a window of at least one of the toner cartridge and the toner collection container corresponding to the window of the casing is provided. It is characterized in that the corresponding parts are made of transparent or translucent material.

[0008]

[Operation] According to the image forming apparatus of the present invention having the above configuration, the amount of toner in the toner cartridge or the toner collection container can be controlled by the transparent or translucent portion of the toner cartridge or the toner collection container and the casing. It can be checked directly from the outside through the window.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Examples will be explained in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings showing examples. FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the internal configuration of a copying machine. Referring to the same figure, the copying machine has a casing of an apparatus main body 2, an upper casing 24 and a lower casing 25.
The upper surface 24 of the upper casing 24
p, a pair of conveyor rollers 910, 920 and a conveyor belt 9
A document conveying section 9 for conveying a copy document is attached by 30. Inside the apparatus main body 2, the document conveyed by the pair of conveyance rollers 910 of the document conveyance section 9, etc. is illuminated and scanned through the contact glass 11a disposed flush with the upper surface 24p of the upper casing 24, and the document is scanned by illumination. An optical system 3 for guiding the reflected light to the photoreceptor drum 42, an image forming section 4 for converting the electrostatic latent image formed on the photoreceptor drum 42 into a visible image by a developing device 41 and transferring it to paper, and an intermediate portion. A fixing unit 6 is arranged to fix the toner image transferred to the paper, and after the paper is introduced into the apparatus main body 2 from the paper feed port 26, the paper is transported through the image forming unit 4 and ejected from the paper discharge port 21. It is equipped with functional parts such as section 5.

The optical system 3 includes a fluorescent lamp 31 for illuminating the original and a lens 32 that guides reflected light from the original to the photosensitive drum 42, which are arranged inside a case 33. . The image forming section 4 includes a photosensitive drum 4
A charger 43, a developing device 41, a transfer charger 44, and a cleaner 45 are arranged in this order around the photoreceptor drum 42, and an original image is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 42, which is uniformly charged by the charger 43. After forming an image to form an electrostatic latent image, the electrostatic latent image is transferred to a developing device 4.
1, the toner image is transferred to paper by a transfer charger 44, and the residual toner is collected by a cleaner 45 and stored in a toner collection container 47.

The developing device 41 includes a toner cartridge 410 that is detachably attached to a resin-made developer housing 41a, and a toner supply roller that supplies toner dropped and supplied from the toner cartridge 410 into the inside of the developer housing 41a. 41d, and an agitation roller 41e that agitates the toner supplied inside the development housing 41a.
A developing roller 41f that supplies toner to the photosensitive drum 42
It is equipped with

The toner cartridge 410 is integrally formed of a transparent synthetic resin material, and when the toner cartridge 410 is installed in the developing housing 41a, the shoulder portion 410a of the toner cartridge 410 touches the shoulder portion 2 of the upper casing 24.
40, so that the amount of toner in the toner cartridge 410 can be directly confirmed from the outside. Note that the shoulder portion 410a of the toner cartridge 410 is fitted into the window W1 so that its outer surface is flush with the outer surface of the shoulder portion 240 of the upper casing 24.

Further, in this embodiment, the window W1 is formed to have a length extending over the entire length of the toner cartridge 410 in the longitudinal direction, and the amount of toner in the toner cartridge 410 can be controlled over the entire length of the toner cartridge 410 in the longitudinal direction. It is now possible to check across the board. For this reason,
Not only can the amount of toner in the toner cartridge 410 be accurately grasped, but also the unevenness of toner inside the toner cartridge 410, which occurs when the device is carried, can be confirmed from the outside, so that it is possible to check from the outside the unevenness of toner inside the toner cartridge 410, which may occur due to the above-mentioned unevenness. , it is possible to prevent image unevenness.

Furthermore, the toner cartridge 410 is designed so that even if light leaks from the toner cartridge 410 and reaches the photoreceptor drum 42, it will not deteriorate the photoreceptor drum 42 or affect the formed image. In addition, the photosensitive drum 42 is colored in a color that does not transmit light of the wavelength to which it is sensitive. Rib-shaped upper guides 41b are provided on the lower surface of the developing housing 41a and project in parallel to each other, and these upper guides 41b guide the upper surface side of the sheet being conveyed. Upper guide 41b
is integrally molded with the developing housing 41a, and compared to the case where the upper guide is formed separately, the number of parts and the number of assembly steps can be reduced, and manufacturing costs can be reduced.

The toner collection container 47 is integrally formed of a transparent synthetic resin material, and is provided above the paper transport section 5 on the downstream side in the transport direction. This toner collection container 47 is fitted into a window W2 formed from the shoulder 249 to the side of the upper casing 24, so that the amount of collected toner in the toner collection container 47 can be directly confirmed from the outside. ing. The outer surface of the outer wall 47a of the toner collection container 47 is formed in the same shape as the outer surface of the upper casing 24 from the shoulder 249 to the side.

Further, in this embodiment, the window W2 is also formed to have a length spanning the entire length in the longitudinal direction of the toner collection container 47, similar to the previous window W1.
The amount of collected toner in the toner collection container 47 can be confirmed over the entire length of the toner collection container 47 in the longitudinal direction. Therefore, not only can the amount of collected toner in the toner collection container 47 be accurately grasped, but also the unevenness of collected toner in the toner collection container 47 that occurs when the device is carried can be confirmed from the outside, so that the above-mentioned deviation can be confirmed. It is possible to prevent fogging of images due to re-scattering of collected toner, which may occur due to the above-mentioned method.

Further, the toner collection container 47 does not allow light leakage that reaches the photoreceptor drum 42 in the toner collection container 47 portion to cause deterioration of the photoreceptor drum 42 or affect the formed image. To prevent this, the photoreceptor drum 42 is colored in a color that does not transmit light of the wavelength to which it is sensitive. The toner collection container 47 rotatably holds the cleaner 45 and has a portion facing the photoreceptor drum 42 in order to store the toner collected from the surface of the photoreceptor drum 42 by the cleaner 45 inside the container. , an opening 470 is provided. In addition, this opening 470
is closed by a light shielding plate 472 to prevent light entering the toner collection container 47 through the outer wall 47a from reaching the photoreceptor drum 42. Further, this light shielding plate 472 is connected to the photoreceptor drum 4 together with the cleaner 45.
It also serves as a holding plate that holds the cleaning blade 471 that cleans the cleaning blade 471.

The paper transport section 5 includes a transport roller pair 51 consisting of a pair of upper rollers 51a and a lower roller 51b, which sandwich the paper whose leading end has been inserted from the paper feed port 26 and introduce it into the apparatus main body 2, and a transport roller pair 51. The fixing unit 6 includes a registration stopper 52 that abuts the leading edge of the paper conveyed by the pair 51 to temporarily hold the paper on standby, and the fixing unit 6.

The resist stopper 52 has a fulcrum 52a.
The paper is provided so as to be rotatable around the center, and is normally biased to rotate in the clockwise direction in FIGS. In this state, the leading edge of the paper is brought into contact with the paper and the paper is placed on standby. When the document has moved to a predetermined position, the registration stopper 52 is rotated counterclockwise via a rotation mechanism interlocking with a pair of conveyance rollers 91, etc., and the document is moved out of the paper conveyance path, thereby making it standby. The printed paper is supplied to the image forming section 4.

Upper roller 51a of the transport roller pair 51
is rotatably supported by an upper guide 41b protruding from the developing housing 41a of the developing device 41. That is, the upper roller 51a is moved by the upper guide 41b.
It also serves as a supporting member. On the other hand, the lower roller 51b rotates following the rotation of the upper roller 51a, and is rotatably supported at the tip of a support member 52b that rotates about a fulcrum 52a as the registration stopper 52 rotates. , and when the registration stopper 52 is advanced into the paper conveyance path, the upper roller 5 is moved as shown in the figure.
It is located apart from 1a. When the registration stopper 52 rotates counterclockwise and retreats from the paper conveyance path, it is pressed against the upper roller 51a with the paper in between, and together with the upper roller 51a, the paper is supplied to the image forming section 4. Rotate to.

The fixing unit 6 fixes the toner image transferred to the paper while sandwiching the paper and conveying the paper. A pressure roller 62 that is driven by the heat roller 61 and a separation claw 6a that separates the paper after fixing from the heat roller 61 are provided. The periphery of the heat roller 61 is substantially covered by a housing 64 to suppress heat dissipation. At the lower end of the housing 64, a guide portion 64a that guides the paper to the heat roller 61 is provided together with a lower guide member 65.

The document transport section 9 includes a pair of swinging covers 901 and 902 that are swingably attached to a support protrusion 240 projecting upward from the upper surface 24p of the upper casing 24 via support shafts G3 and G4. , these swinging covers 901,
It includes a pair of conveyance rollers 910 and 920 and a conveyance belt 930 arranged inside 902 . Further, the space between the swinging covers 901 and 902 is closed by a plastic cover 903.

The swinging covers 901 and 902 are attached to the support protrusion 240 with gear parts G1 and G2 formed on opposing parts meshed with each other, and one of them is allowed to swing up and down. As a result, the other side similarly swings up and down. And the swinging cover 90
1,902 is in a closed state, as shown in FIG. 1, in which the lower surface is in close contact with the upper surface 24p of the upper casing 24, and the internal conveyance roller pair 910 etc. are cut off from the outside, and in a closed state, as shown in FIG. It is swung upward to open the document insertion port 90a and the document discharge port 90b, and is locked by a locking mechanism (not shown) in two states: an open state in which the pair of transport rollers 910 and the like are exposed. It has become.

Further, on the lower surface of the swinging cover 901, there is a through hole 24x formed in the upper surface 24p of the upper casing 24.
A cover protrusion S1 is inserted into the upper casing 24 through the cover protrusion S1 and turns ON and OFF the photo sensor S as a power switch arranged in the upper casing 24 as the swinging covers 901 and 902 swing. is formed. To explain more specifically, the swinging cover 901
When the is in the closed state, the cover protrusion S1 is located away from the photosensor S, as shown in FIG. 1, and in this state, the photosensor S is OFF and the power of the device is turned off. . Then, when the swinging cover 901 is swung to the open state, the cover protrusion S1 is inserted between the sensors of the photosensor S to switch the photosensor S from OFF to ON, as shown in FIG. is turned on. Therefore, according to this embodiment, the swing cover 90
Since the power is turned on and off by swinging the cover 1,902, there is no need to provide a separate power switch, further reducing the number of parts, and if the swing covers 901, 902 are closed, the power is This has the advantage of preventing wasted electricity due to forgetting to turn off the power and accidents caused by overheating.

As described in detail above, according to this embodiment, the inside of the toner cartridge 410 and the toner collection container 4
The amount of toner in the toner cartridge 7 can be directly confirmed from the outside through the toner cartridge 410, the toner collection container 47, and the windows W1 and W2 provided in the upper casing 24. Therefore, it is possible to know the amount of toner in the toner cartridge 410 and the toner collection container 47 with a simpler structure without requiring a sensor or the like that would increase the number of parts.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the windows W1 and W2 are
Since the toner cartridge 410 and the toner collection container 47 are formed to have a length spanning the entire length in the longitudinal direction, the toner cartridge 410 and the toner collection container 47
It becomes possible to accurately grasp the amount of toner inside. Furthermore, since it is possible to check from the outside the toner deviation that occurs when the device is carried around, it is also possible to prevent various image defects that may occur due to the above-mentioned deviation.

Note that in the above embodiment, the upper casing 2
The toner cartridge 410 and the toner collection container 47 were fitted flush into the windows W1 and W2 of No. 4, but the toner cartridge 410 and the toner collection container 47 were recessed deep inside the windows W1 and W2. Good too. In this case, it is desirable to fit transparent members into the windows W1 and W2 to prevent dust and the like from entering.

In the above embodiment, the toner cartridge 410 and toner collection container 47, which are entirely made of a transparent material, are used, but the toner cartridge and toner collection container have a structure in which the amount of toner can be checked from the outside. It may be made of a semi-transparent material. Further, the toner cartridge and the toner collection container may be transparent or semitransparent at least in the portions corresponding to the windows W1 and W2, and the other portions may be opaque.

In the case where functional parts such as the image forming section 4 are attached to the lower casing 25 instead of the upper casing 24, the windows W1 and W2 may be provided in the lower casing 25. Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the toner cartridge 4
10 and the toner collection container 47 from the outside, the image forming apparatus of the present invention allows the amount of toner in only one of the two to be checked from the outside. may be configured. In that case, of the above two members, the member whose toner amount is to be checked from the outside is made of a transparent or semi-transparent material, and the part of the casing corresponding to the member made of the above-mentioned transparent or semi-transparent material is Only one window needs to be formed.

The present invention can of course be applied and practiced not only to the roller pair conveyance type copying machine described above but also to a so-called moving table type copying machine in which the original is operated and exposed by moving the original table. Can be done. Further, the present invention can be applied not only to copying machines but also to printers and the like.

[0031]

As described above, according to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the casing is provided with a window through which the amount of toner in the toner cartridge or toner collection container can be confirmed, and Since at least the portion of the collection container corresponding to the window is made of a transparent or translucent material, the amount of toner in the toner cartridge or in the toner collection container can be directly confirmed from the outside. Therefore, according to the above configuration, it is possible to know the amount of toner in the toner cartridge or toner collection container with a simpler structure without requiring a sensor etc. that causes an increase in the number of parts, and the image forming apparatus can be , it is possible to make the device even smaller and lighter than before.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a copying machine as an embodiment of an image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a state in which the swing cover of the document transport section of the copying machine is opened.

[Explanation of symbols]

W1 Window W2 Window 24 Upper casing 25 Lower casing 4 Imaging section 41 Developing device 42 Photoreceptor drum 47 Toner collection container 410 Toner cartridge

Claims (1)

[Claims] Claims: 1. An image forming section for converting an electrostatic latent image formed on a photoreceptor into a toner image using a developing device and then transferring the image to a sheet of paper; a functional component including the image forming section is housed in a casing; In the installed image forming apparatus, a window for externally confirming the amount of toner in at least one of a toner cartridge that supplies toner to the developing device and a toner collection container that stores toner collected from the photoreceptor; Image forming, which is provided in the casing, and at least a portion of a member of the toner cartridge and toner recovery container corresponding to the window of the casing is formed of a transparent or translucent material. Device.