JPH063403Y2 - Image forming device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial field of application) The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus of a type having a waste toner collecting container.

(Prior Art) A typical example of an image forming apparatus is an electrophotographic copying machine. FIG. 3 shows a schematic structure of a general electrophotographic copying machine.

This electrophotographic copying machine has a photosensitive drum 10 in the center of the main body, and an exposure device 11 is arranged above the photosensitive drum 10. A document table 12 is arranged on the upper part of the main body, and the document table 12 is movable in a direction indicated by an arrow E in the drawing. A charging device 14 is arranged upstream of the exposed position in the rotation direction of the photosensitive drum 10.

The photosensitive drum 10 is rotatable in the direction indicated by arrow F in the drawing. A developing device 13 is disposed downstream of the position where the photosensitive drum 10 is exposed in the rotational direction of the photosensitive drum. Photoconductor drum further downstream of the developing device 13
A transfer / separation device 15 is disposed below the device 10. A cleaning device 16 is arranged between the transfer / separation device 15 and the charging device 14.

Between the photoconductor drum 10 and the transfer / separation device 15, a conveyance path 20 for conveying the transfer paper in the forward direction and the rotation direction of the photoconductor drum 10.
Are formed. The transport path 20 has a photosensitive drum inside the main body.
From the upstream portion 20a on the upstream side of 10 to the downstream portion 20b on the downstream side. At the upstream end of the transport path upstream portion 20a, a paper feed cassette 21 containing transfer paper is mounted. Above the paper feed cassette 21, a manual paper feed table 22 for inserting the transfer papers one by one into the transport path 20 is arranged. The manual paper feed tray 22 also communicates with the upstream portion 20a of the transport path. The upstream portion 20a of the transport path is provided in the paper feed cassette 21 or the manual paper feed tray 22.
The transfer paper fed from above is guided to the transfer / separation device 15.

A transport device 23 is provided in the downstream portion 20b of the transport path,
The fixing device 30 is attached to the downstream end.

The fixing device 30 includes a heating roller 31 and a pressure roller 32. As the heating roller 31 located above, for example, a metal roller coated with a fluororesin or the like is used, and a heater 31a is arranged inside thereof. As the pressure roller 32 located below, a roller made of, for example, silicon rubber is used.

The copying operation by such an electrophotographic copying machine is as follows. The photoconductor on the surface of the photoconductor drum 10 is uniformly charged by the charging device 14, and the image of the document placed on the document table 12 is exposed on the surface of the photoconductor drum 10 by the exposure device 11. By this exposure, the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the photoconductor drum 10 develops as the photoconductor drum 10 rotates.
13 develops with toner. This toner image is transferred by the transfer / separation device 15 onto the transfer paper conveyed from the upstream portion 20a of the conveyance path. The residual toner on the surface of the photosensitive drum 10 is removed by the cleaning device 16. The transfer paper on which the toner image has been transferred is transported by the transport device 23 through the downstream portion 20 b of the transport path and is supplied to the fixing device 30. And the fixing device 30
While passing between the heating roller 31 and the pressure roller 32 of
The toner image is heated and melted while being pressed and fixed on the transfer paper. The transfer paper on which the toner image is fixed is discharged to the outside of the main body by the paper discharge roller 40.

As described above, the toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 10 is removed from the surface of the drum by the cleaning device 16. The removed toner is recovered by the cleaning device 16 into the toner recovery container through the discharge port. It

By the way, the transfer paper on which the toner image is transferred is the photosensitive drum.
In the downstream portion 20b of the transport path after being separated from the sheet 10, a paper jam (jam) in which the transfer paper is jammed in the transport path is likely to occur. When this paper jam occurs, the paper must be removed from the transport path. To remove the jammed paper, generally, the door provided on the side wall of the copying machine main body is opened, and the jammed paper is grabbed by inserting the hand to the downstream side 20b of the transport path from the door and removing the jammed paper. It is done by pulling out.

However, since the above-mentioned cleaning device 16 is provided above the downstream portion 20b of the transport path, the toner recovery container is generally arranged between the door and the downstream portion of the transport path. . Therefore, when carrying out the above-mentioned jam processing, it is difficult to put a hand in the toner recovery container because it is an obstacle, and it is difficult to remove the jammed paper.

In order to solve such a problem, for example, JP-A-60-1342
A toner container housing mechanism is proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. As shown in FIG. 4, this is a position where the toner container 103 can be engaged with the toner discharge port 102 on the main body side when the door 101 is closed.
Is removably loaded into the door 101, and when the door 101 is closed, the recovery container 103 located near the transport path (not shown) swivels together with the door. When the door is opened for jam removal, the recovery container 103 is retracted from the vicinity of the transport path, and a space for inserting a hand and working is secured between the transport path and the opening of the door.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the above configuration, when the door 101 is opened, the toner recovery container 103 mounted on the door also turns about 90 ° in the direction of arrow G in the figure. The collected toner 104 accumulated in the lower part of the container 103 moves toward the upper part of the container (that is, toward the opening 105). Then, when the door 101 is closed, the toner container 103 is swung in the direction of the arrow H, and the collected toner 104 is returned to the lower part of the container. As described above, as a result of the forced flow of the toner due to the opening and closing of the door, a part of the toner adheres to the side wall of the container 103. Therefore, it becomes difficult to accurately detect the toner level in the container, and the toner eventually overflows from the container.

Further, in this configuration, when the door 101 is opened, the container 103 is laterally positioned, and there is a problem that toner is scattered from the opening 105. To solve this problem,
The above publication discloses that the opening 105 is provided with an opening / closing cap. However, even if the opening / closing cap is provided, the opening / closing cap is plastically deformed with use and remains open, which is not useful for preventing toner scattering.

The present invention has been made in view of such a current situation,
The purpose thereof is an image forming apparatus having a door that can be opened and closed on the side of the apparatus main body, and at the time of jam processing, the toner collection container can be retracted from the vicinity of the downstream side of the transport path. Provided is an image forming apparatus in which collected toner does not scatter, the toner level in the container can be reliably detected, and the capacity of the toner collecting container can be increased. To do.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The image forming apparatus of the present invention includes a closed position on the front surface of the apparatus main body, which closes the front surface of the apparatus main body with a lower portion as a fulcrum, and a front open position which opens the front surface. An image forming apparatus having a front door that can be opened and closed across, in order to convey the residual toner removed by the cleaning device behind the front door, a front and rear direction orthogonal to the conveyance path of the sheet after the toner image transfer. Direction, the toner collecting container disposed below the discharge end of the toner conveying path, the container holding portion that detachably holds the toner collecting container, and the vertical direction on the back side of the front door. A guide groove, a guide member provided in the container holding portion and movable along the guide groove, and a pair of arms whose butt ends are connected to each other by a pin,
A link mechanism in which the other end of one arm is pin-connected to the apparatus main body and the other end of the other arm is pin-connected to the container holding unit; When opened to the end, the pair of arms, which are in the closed state with the abutting end as the apex, open the legs in a substantially straight line, and the toner recovery container is guided by the guide groove to move in a horizontal posture together with the container holding part. In the state where it is kept, the front door is moved to a position projecting forward from the position of the toner conveying path, whereby the above object is achieved.

(Embodiment) An embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an essential part of an embodiment of the image forming apparatus of the present invention, showing the vicinity of the toner collecting container 3. The configuration of the image forming apparatus 1 of the present embodiment can be the same as that of the above-described conventional image forming apparatus except for the part described below, and therefore the description and illustration thereof will be omitted.

As described above, the transport path downstream portion 20b (see FIG. 3) is disposed in the apparatus main body 1a of the image forming apparatus 1, and the toner transport path for transporting the residual toner removed by the cleaning device 16 is provided. 2 is arranged so as to be orthogonal to the downstream portion 20b of the transport path. Toner outlet 2a of toner transport path 2
Is open behind the door 1c provided on the bottom plate 1b of the main body 1a. The door 1c can be opened and closed centering on the hinge portion 1d,
Normally, it is closed as shown by the solid line in FIG.

On the back surface of the door 1c, a toner collection container 3 is arranged,
The opening is located below the discharge port 2a, and the toner transport path 2
The residual toner that has been conveyed is collected in the container 3.
The container 3 is detachably held by a box-shaped container holding portion 4. One end of a guide member 8 is attached to the lower right end of the container holding portion 4 in the drawing. Further, a toner level detecting means 9 is arranged on the side of the container 3. This means 9 emits a signal when the toner in the container 3 becomes higher than a predetermined level, and prevents the toner from being supplied to the container 3 any more.

A link mechanism 5 having arms 5a and 5b is provided between the container holding portion 4 and the apparatus body 1a. Both arms 5a, 5b
Is V-shaped, and the butt ends located below are pin 5
The arm 5a is pivotally supported by the pin 5c and the attachment member 5f at the side plate 1e of the apparatus main body 1a, and the arm 5b is pivotally supported at the container holding portion 4 by the pin 5e. Due to the expansion and contraction of the link mechanism 5, the container holding unit 4 can move in a plane parallel to the paper surface. Also pin 5d
Is provided with a spring 5g, which urges the arm 5a in the direction of arrow A and the arm 5b in the direction of arrow B.

On the other hand, a substantially U-shaped long member 6 is provided on the back surface of the door 1c.
It is attached in the up and down direction. The member 6 and the door
Space (groove) 7 in which the guide member 8 can slide on the back surface of 1c
Are formed. Both ends of this groove 7 are the end portions 6a of the member 6,
It is regulated by 6b.

The other end of the guide member 8 is loosely fitted in the groove 7 so that the guide member 8 can slide in the groove 7. Spring in groove 7
One end of 8a is locked to the protruding portion 6c, and the other end is locked to the guide member 8, and thus the guide member 8 is biased in the direction of the protruding portion 6c by this spring 8a. .

When a jam occurs in the image forming apparatus 1 having such a configuration, the door 1c is manually rotated around the hinge 1d in the outward direction (the direction of arrow C in the drawing). The state in the middle of this rotation is shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. The groove 7 also rotates in the direction of arrow C with the rotation of the door 1c, and the guide member 8 biased by the spring 8a slides on the inner surface of the member 6 while being regulated by the inner surface of the member 6. Is moved toward the end 6a of the member 6. Along with this movement, the container holder 4 also moves to the lower right in the figure along the back surface of the door 1c, but the link mechanism 5 is pivotally supported so that the container holder 4 is in the state when the door 1c is closed (that is, Move parallel while maintaining the horizontal state. Therefore, the toner collecting container 3 held in the container holding portion 4 also moves in parallel while maintaining the horizontal state. Therefore, during this movement, the container 3
The toner inside does not flow toward the opening of the container. Therefore, the toner is not scattered.

FIG. 2 shows a state in which the door 1c is completely rotated in the outward direction.
Since the toner recovery container 3 is located at a proper distance from the vicinity of the downstream portion 20b of the transport path, a space necessary for the jam processing operation is secured, and therefore the toner recovery container 3 interferes with the jam processing operation. There is no.

After the jam processing is completed, open the door 1c toward the main body (direction of arrow D).
And the door 1c is closed. Accordingly, the guide member 8
Also moves toward the end 6b, and the link mechanism 5 contracts.
The toner collecting container 3 also returns to the original state shown by the parallel movement while maintaining the horizontal state as in the case of opening the door 1c.

In the above-described embodiment, the springs 5g and 8a are arranged to urge the link mechanism 5 and the guide member 8 in the respective predetermined directions, but the present invention is not limited to this. These springs 5
Since g and 8g are provided in order to smoothly perform the above-described movements of the container holding portion 4, the object of the present invention can be achieved even if only one or both springs are not provided. If both springs are not provided, the container 3 or the container holding portion 4 may be pulled out by hand when the door 1c is opened and pushed into the main body when closed.

When both springs 5g and 8a are provided, if the biasing force of the spring 8g is made stronger than the biasing force of the spring 5g, each movement of the container holding unit 4 can be performed more smoothly.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, in the image forming apparatus of the present invention, when the front door is opened to the front of the main body of the apparatus, the toner collection container is interlocked with the front door and is directed from the vicinity of the lower portion of the conveyance path to the front. Move to the protruding position. As a result, the jam clearance work becomes easy. Since the movement of the toner collecting container is performed while keeping the collecting container in a horizontal state, the toner in the collecting container does not flow toward the opening portion of the container, and therefore the toner is not scattered. Since the toner does not flow in the container, the toner does not adhere to the side wall of the container due to the flow, the toner level can be reliably detected with high accuracy, and the toner overflow can be reliably prevented.
Further, some vibration is unavoidable when the toner recovery container is moved horizontally, but this vibration can rather lower the toner level in the container, and the toner in the toner recovery container can be lowered. It also increases the capacity.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an essential part of the embodiment of the present invention with a door closed, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of an essential part with the door opened, and FIG. 3 is an example of an image forming apparatus. FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing the structure of a conventional example of the structure. 1 ... Image forming device, 1a ... Device body, 1c ... Door, 1d ...
Hinge part (swivel axis), 2 ... Toner transport path, 3 ... Toner collection container, 4 ... Container holding part, 5 ... Link mechanism, 5g ... Spring, 7 ... Groove (guide groove), 8 ... Guide member, 8a ... Spring .

Claims (5)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. An image forming apparatus having a front door that can be opened and closed on a front surface of an apparatus body, a closed position that closes the front surface of the apparatus body with a lower portion as a fulcrum, and a front open position that opens the front surface. In order to convey the residual toner removed by the cleaning device behind the front door, below the discharge end of the toner conveyance path provided in the front-back direction orthogonal to the conveyance path of the sheet after the toner image transfer. A toner collection container disposed in the container, a container holding portion that detachably holds the toner collection container, a guide groove that is provided in a vertical direction on the back side of the front door, and the container holding portion. A guide member movable along the guide groove, and a pair of arms whose butt ends are pin-connected to each other,
A link mechanism in which the other end of one arm is pin-connected to the apparatus main body and the other end of the other arm is pin-connected to the container holding unit; When opened to the end, the pair of arms, which are in the closed state with the abutting end as the apex, open the legs in a substantially straight line, and the toner recovery container is guided by the guide groove to move in a horizontal posture together with the container holding part. An image forming apparatus configured to move to a position projecting forward from the position of the toner transport path on the front door while maintaining the same. 2. The image formation according to claim 1, wherein the guide member is urged toward the other end side corresponding to the upper end side of the front door along the extending direction of the guide groove. apparatus. 3. A utility model registration claim in which the link mechanism is biased in a direction in which the pair of arms are closed.
The image forming apparatus according to item. 4. The guide member is urged toward the other end side corresponding to the upper end side of the front door along the extending direction of the guide groove, and the link mechanism moves in the direction in which the pair of arms are closed. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the utility model registration is energized. 5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the urging force to the guide member is stronger than the urging force to the link mechanism.