JPH0486772A - Developer replenishment container - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a developer supply container for supplying powder developer to an image forming apparatus such as a dry type electrophotographic copying machine or a printer.

(Prior technology) In order to replenish powder developer to image forming devices such as copying machines and printers without scattering it externally, a sliding type shutter is used.
Various developer supply containers having a center have been proposed (for example, Utility Model Publication No. 55-12193, Utility Model Application Publication No. 50-4).
No. 056, JP-A-59-86673, JP-A-60-1
15963) and has been put into practical use. This developer supply container has a sliding shutter that moves back and forth,
The container includes a guide member that guides the container, and a seal member that contacts and slides on the shutter to maintain the sealing properties of the container. In this developer supply container,
An opening (developer discharge port) is formed by moving the sliding shutter, and the developer is discharged through this opening.

In a developer replenishment container having such a sliding shutter, the sealing performance of the container is maintained by closing the shutter after replenishing the developer, and if a small amount of developer remains in the container, the shutter is closed. Not only is it easier to get in and out of the container, but it also has the advantage of being able to remove the container from the main body and dispose of it without scattering the developer.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) Incidentally, in the developer replenishment container described above, a shutter or a slit-shaped opening for going in and out is formed in the guide member, so that the rigidity of the guide member near the opening is reduced. Therefore, when the internal pressure is applied to the container body, for example, when the pressure of the container body (external pressure) becomes low, or when the container body is subjected to impact due to a fall, the opening becomes a little wider and the IM+a There is a slight gap between the shutter and the shutter, which causes the problem that toner leaks out of the container through this gap.

In addition, in the central part of the opening formed in the guide member, the restoring force of the compressed and deformed sealing member is at its maximum, so this restoring force widens the opening and improves the sealing performance of the toner at the opening. becomes worse and the same problem as above occurs.

Since the tip of the lie was slightly tapered, there was a problem with the sealing performance of the tip of the shutter.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a developer replenishment container with high sealability.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has a sliding type shutter that opens and closes a main body opening by going in and out of a slit-shaped opening formed in a guide member. In a developer replenishment container constructed by interposing a sealing member between the shutter and the opening of the main body, a narrow, low-height protrusion is provided at the longitudinal end of the bottom of the main body to protrude long in the transverse direction. Its characteristics.

(Function) According to the present invention, since the protrusion bites into the sealing member that seals the slit-shaped opening and maintains a large pressure immersion amount of the sealing member, the sealing performance of the slit-shaped opening is improved and the developer is replenished. Even if an impact is applied to the container, no gap is generated between the slit-like opening and the shutter, and leakage of the toner contained in the container body to the outside of the container body is reliably prevented.

Furthermore, if the protrusion bites into the seal member as described above, the seal member is prevented from shifting.

(Example) Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a front view of a developer supply container according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a bottom view of the container, and Fig. 3 is a lower part of the container (section A in Fig. 1).
4 is a sectional view showing the state of the shutter seal portion when the shutter is open, FIG. 5 is an enlarged detailed view of section B in FIG. 4, and FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the developer supply container. .

When toner, which is a developer, is consumed in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer, it is stored in the developer replenishing container 1 according to the present invention or on the top lid 10 of the toner hopper of the image forming apparatus, as shown in FIG. The toner stored in the main body 2 of the developer replenishing container 1 is replenished into the image forming apparatus.

Incidentally, a rectangular frame-shaped guide member 3 is provided at the lower part of the main body 2 of the developer supply container 1, as shown in FIG.
A sliding shutter 4 is inserted through the opening 3a. This shutter 4 is guided by the guide member 3 and slides to close the container 1.
This is a device for opening and closing the lower opening of the main body 2, and is formed into a rectangular flat plate shape, and a handle 4a is formed at one end (the end of the portion exposed to the outside from the main body 2).

Moreover, as shown in FIG. 4, the container body 2 and the shutter 4
The seal between the container body 2 and the container body 2 is formed by a rectangular frame-shaped sealing member 7 provided along the periphery of the bottom opening of the container body 2, or the sealing member 7 may be urethane foam, polyethylene foam, various types of rubber, rubber sponge, etc. The sealing member 7 exerts its sealing function by being crushed by a suitable amount by the rigid shutter 4.

As shown in FIG. 4, a spring-shaped pawl 8 is attached to the guide member 3, and a groove 10a in which the pawl 8 engages and disengages is formed in the upper lid IO of the toner hopper.

By the way, in this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a narrow and low protrusion 11 is provided at the longitudinal end of the bottom surface of the container body 2 (the longitudinal end of the shutter 4). It protrudes long in the hand direction (up and down direction in Figure 2). Note that the convergence of this protrusion 11 is the opening seal portion 2a on the bottom surface of the container body 2.
b/B is set to 1/10 to 1/3 for the radius B of .

After adhering the sealing member 7 to the bottom surface of the container body 2 and assembling the container body 2 into the guide member 3, the opening 3
When the shutter 4 is inserted into the container body 2 from a, the fourth
As shown in the figure, the opening 3a is sealed by a sealing member 7, or at this time, the protrusion 11 formed in the bottom surface of the container body 2 bites into the sealing member 7, as shown in FIG.

Therefore, even when the shutter 4 is closed, that is, toner has not been replenished yet, the protrusion 11 bites into the opening 3a of the sealing member 7, as shown in FIG. The sealing member 7 is kept larger in pressure than other parts, so that a larger force is applied to the opening 3a.
Since the opening 3a is in close contact with the shutter 4, the sealing performance of the opening 3a is improved, and even if the internal pressure inside the container body 2 increases or the container body 2 is subjected to impact, a gap will remain between the opening 3a and the shutter 4. The main body 2 of the toner contained in the container main body 2 without
Leakage to the outside is reliably prevented, and the sealing member 7 is prevented from slipping or the protrusion 11 prevents it.

When the handle 4a of the shutter 4 is held and pulled out along the guide member 3 in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 10a, the lower opening of the container body 2 is opened, and the toner contained in the container body 2 is replenished into the image forming apparatus.

Next, a modified embodiment of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 7 to 12.

FIG. 7 is a front view of the lower part of the container main body showing a second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 8 is a perspective view of part C (protrusion) in FIG. It is circular.

Further, FIG. 9 is a front view of the lower part of the container main body showing the third embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 1O (a) and (b) are perspective views of the ninth cutout (protrusion). It has multiple hemispherical protrusions1.
1 are arranged in two rows (parallel arrangement in FIG. 10(a) and staggered arrangement in FIG. 10(b)).

Furthermore, FIG. 11 is a front view of the lower part of the container main body showing a fourth embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 12 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line E-E in FIG. The protrusion 11 is located at the center of the width direction (the center of the width at the front end of the shutter).
They are arranged in one or more rows (parallel or staggered) so that the one with the largest diameter is located nearby.

Iron, developer replenishment container according to the first to fourth embodiments described above, and conventional developer replenishment container (without protrusions)
The table below shows the results of a drop test to examine the degree of toner leakage and the effect of protrusions on the displacement of the sealing member.
Based on a drop test on 6 sides of 3 l angles from c■. Also, in the table,
a, b, and c indicate the height, width, and length of the protrusion, respectively.

[Comparison Table of Drop Test Results] It is clear from the Ox table that the above effects can be obtained according to the present invention.

(Effects of the Invention) As is clear from the following explanation, the present invention has a sliding shutter that opens and closes the main body opening by going in and out of the slit-shaped opening formed in the kite member, and the shutter In a developer replenishment container configured with a sealing member interposed between the main body opening and the main body opening, a narrow, low-height protrusion is provided at the longitudinal end of the bottom of the main body, protruding long in the lateral direction, so that the sealing member The protrusion bites into the seal member to maintain a large amount of pressure applied to the seal member, thereby improving the sealing performance of the slit-shaped opening, and even if an impact is applied to the developer supply container, the slit-shaped opening and the shutter will not contact each other. It is possible to obtain the effect that the toner contained in the container body is reliably prevented from leaking out of the container body without creating any gaps.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a front view of a developer supply container according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a bottom view of the container, and Fig. 3 is a lower part of the container (section A in Fig. 1).
Figure 5 is an enlarged detailed view of part B in Figure 4. Figure 6 is a perspective view of the developer replenishment container. 7
The figure is a front view of the lower part of the container body showing a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the portion C (protrusion) in FIG. 7, and FIG. 9 is a front view of the lower part of the container body showing a third embodiment of the present invention. 10(a) and 10(b) are perspective views of the ninth cutout (protrusion), FIG. 11 is a front view of the lower part of the container body showing the fourth embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 12 is the FIG. FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line E-E. L...Developer supply container, 2...Main body, 3...Guide member, 3a...Slit-shaped opening, 4...Shutter, 7...Seal member, 11...Protrusion, b...
Width of the protrusion, B: Width of the opening seal on the bottom of the main unit. Patent applicant Canon Co., Ltd.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A developing device having a sliding shutter that opens and closes the main body opening by going in and out through a slit-like opening formed in the guide member, and a sealing member interposed between the shutter and the main body opening. In the drug supply container,
A developer supply container characterized in that a narrow, low-height protrusion is provided at the longitudinal end of the bottom surface of the main body to protrude long in the lateral direction. (2) The developer according to claim 1, wherein the width b of the protrusion is set to b/B = 1/10 to 1/3 with respect to the width B of the opening seal portion on the bottom surface of the main body. supply container.