JPH0740154B2 - Insulating magnetic toner replenishment kit - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an insulating magnetic toner replenishment kit for replenishing an insulating magnetic toner to a developer hopper of an image forming developing device such as a copying machine and a printer.

Conventionally, a container containing a developer is generally a bag or a bottle filled with the developer. Inside, a cylindrical container having an opening portion in the longitudinal direction on the cylindrical surface and supplying developer while peeling off the sealing member attached to the opening portion, or two sheets of container. There are some cases in which four sides of a quadrilateral aluminum thin piece are sealed, one end of the laminated aluminum bag is opened, and the developer in the bag is put in, but all of them leak and scatter around, and They tended to stain clothes, clothes, etc., and around the copier and the floor. If it is not strong enough, toner will adhere to the original glass surface on the top of the copying machine,
Therefore, the copy placed on it is smeared, and the copy to be obtained also becomes a dirty image showing the stain.

Further, when the container itself is inserted into the hopper for sending the developing device or the developer to the developing device, there is a problem that the developer storage space of the developing device or the hopper is narrowed. There is also a container containing a developer having an opening on one side of the hollow cylinder and having a member for discharging the developer in the opening. Such a container, however, can put the developer into a hopper or a developing device. When you do so, the container is simply connected to the hopper, etc., so it does not easily stain clothes or the surroundings, but the flow of developer from the container into the hopper drops due to the weight of the developer itself. It is essential to accelerate the inflow of the developer by a physical external force such as shaking, tapping or vibrating the upper surface or the side surface of the container.

In general, it takes a lot of time to discharge the whole amount from the container by spontaneous falling of the developer itself, and a large amount of the developer may remain in the container even after the developer is no longer discharged. Many.

In addition, when a physical external force is applied, the residual amount is smaller than that described above, but the toner having poor fluidity of the developer and the toner having adhesiveness to the side surface of the container still have the property of being discharged from the container. However, the replenishment time requires a great deal of time, and waste due to undischarged residue in the container also occurs.

However, an object of the present invention is to provide an insulating magnetic toner replenishment kit which remarkably improves the above problems.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an insulating magnetic toner replenishment kit which causes less toner scattering during container operation by simple operation.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an insulating magnetic toner replenishment kit that quickly flows into a developing device or a developer hopper and reduces toner adhesion on the inner wall of the container.

That is, the present invention provides an insulating material for supplying the insulating magnetic toner to the developer hopper of the image forming developing device containing the negatively chargeable hydrophobic silica externally added insulating magnetic toner having a cohesion degree of 2 to 70%. In the repulsive magnetic toner replenishing kit, the insulating magnetic toner contains a polyester resin, a styrene-acrylic acid ester copolymer or a styrene-methacrylic acid ester copolymer as a binder resin, and the replenishing kit is There is a container containing an insulating magnetic toner, and the inner wall of the container part of the container is formed of polyethylene resin or polypropylene resin, and the inner wall is negative against the binder resin of the toner in the triboelectrification series. And a first shutter having an inclined surface that is inclined toward the central portion, which is fixed to the open end of the container portion, and the container has a triboelectric property. And a second shutter which is rotatable and has a second opening corresponding to the first opening of the first shutter, and which is engaged with the container. The first shutter and the second shutter Relates to an insulating magnetic toner replenishment kit, which has an engaging portion positioned so that the respective openings are aligned with each other.

A specific example of the kit of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a side view of the main part of a copying machine in which the supply kit of the present invention can be used. Reference numeral 1 is a photosensitive drum that rotates in the direction of the arrow in the figure, 2 is a latent image forming unit that projects a document image from the upper surface onto the photosensitive drum 1 for forming an electrostatic latent image, and forms a latent image on the photosensitive drum 1. A developing device 3 develops the latent image on the photosensitive drum 1, and includes a toner holding member (sleeve) 26 containing a magnetic field generating means. 4 is a developer hopper for supplying the insulating magnetic toner to the developing device, 5 is a transfer paper cassette, 6 is a transfer paper feeding means, and 7 is a transfer paper fed by the paper feeding means on the moving drum 1. Is a transfer and separation unit that transfers the visible image of the image and then separates the transfer paper from the photosensitive drum 1. Next, the transfer paper is sent to the fixing unit 9 by the conveying unit 8 and fixed, and is discharged to the paper discharge tray 10. It Reference numeral 11 denotes a cleaning means for cleaning the photosensitive drum 1. Reference numeral 24 is an opening portion for supplying the insulating magnetic toner to the developer hopper 4, and 25 is a lid for closing the opening portion 24.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the container 12 of the supply kit of the present invention. 14 is a cylindrical container part, and the screw part 141 is a handle 17
The screw part 171 is screw-fitted. Reference numeral 15 denotes a conical first shutter, which has a fan-shaped first opening 151 on a conical surface 154 inclined toward the center. Second shutter 16
Is a cylindrical member having a conical partition inside which abuts the conical surface of the first shutter 15, and the conical partition surface has a fan-shaped second part having the same shape as the first opening 151. It has an opening 161. Reference numeral 162 denotes a fixing concave portion that projects symmetrically to the outside of the second shutter portion.

Since the first shutter has the convex portion 152 and is configured to fit into the concave portion 172 of the handle 17, the first shutter 15, the second shutter 16 and the handle 17 are integrated and filled with the insulating magnetic toner. The container portion 14 can be screwed. Here, a sealing material 153 is provided to seal the container portion 14 and the first shutter 15, and a sealing material is used to seal the first shutter 15 and the second shutter 16.
It is preferable to attach 163 to the first shutter and the second shutter, respectively. As these sealing materials, various rubbers such as EPDM, chloroprene rubber and urethane rubber, and foams such as polyethylene, polypropylene and urethane can be considered.

Convex portion 173 for regulating the opening angle and opening portion 24 of the copying machine main body when the first shutter 15 is rotated with respect to the second shutter 16.
Two positions regulated by the notches provided in the are shown in side views in FIGS. 4 and 5. In FIG. 4, since the first opening 151 on the conical surface of the first shutter 15 and the second opening 161 on the conical partition surface of the second shutter 16 do not overlap, the opening of the container 12 is closed. FIG. 5 shows a state in which the first opening 151 and the second opening 161 are completely aligned with each other and the opening of the container 12 is open.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a coupled state of the container 12 and the opening 24 of the developer hopper 4. Insert the protrusions 173 of the handle 17 into the openings 24
Set the container 12 according to the notch provided on the inner circumference of the container. At this time, at the same time, the fixing concave portion 162 that projects symmetrically to the outer side of the second shutter portion is fitted with the convex portion 251 of the mesh 25 attached to the hopper opening portion 24. In the above state, when the container 12 is rotated and the convex portion 173 of the handle 17 reaches the stopper of the notch, the container 12 is fixed to the developer hopper 4. At this time, since the concave portion 161 of the second shutter portion is fixed to the convex portion of the mesh 25, when the container 12 is rotated to bring it to the positioning stopper, the opening portion of the container 12 is completely opened and the insulating magnetic material is removed. Toner is replenished in the developer hopper 4.

During the replenishment of the insulating magnetic toner, the convex portion 173 of the handle engages with the key-shaped notch provided in the opening 24, and the container 12 falls down even if the replenisher releases the container 12. Therefore, the work of replenishing the insulating magnetic toner becomes much easier than before, and the insulating magnetic toner used in the present invention has a negatively-charged hydrophobic silica added externally, so that the fluidity is preferable. Since it is within the range, it is possible to quickly replenish it from the container 12. During replenishment, the insulating magnetic toner convects in the container.

After the insulating magnetic toner in the container 12 is replenished in the developer hopper 4, when the container 12 is detached from the developer hopper 4, the container portion 14 is rotated in the opposite direction and separated from the developer in the axial direction to grasp the handle 17
The convex portion 173 of the second shutter 16 is disengaged from the horizontal portion of the key-shaped notch provided in the opening 24, and at the same time, the concave stopper portion of the second shutter 16 is disengaged from the convex portion 251 of the mesh 25. At this time, since the opening of the container 12 is closed, even if the insulating toner remains in the container 12, it is possible to easily remove the container 12 without scattering the insulating toner and soiling clothes or the like. As described above, it becomes unnecessary to carefully perform the developer replenishing operation, and the work becomes easy.

Polyethylene resin or polypropylene resin is used as the material of the container portion 14 or the inner wall of the container portion 14, and the inner wall has a negative triboelectric charging property with respect to the binder resin of the toner. The container portion 14 preferably has a shape-retaining property for storage stability.

In the present invention, the insulating magnetic toner has an aggregation degree of 2 to 70%, preferably 3.0 to 50%, more preferably 5.0 to 45%. If it is less than 2%, the fluidity of the insulating magnetic toner is too good.
The toner leaks from the seal portion of the above or the joint portion with the hopper, or the hands and clothes are soiled due to scattering.
If it exceeds 70%, the fluidity is extremely poor inside the container portion 14 described above, and a blocking tendency tends to occur, and this agglomerated state cannot be released by a simple external force, resulting in a large amount of discharge. It takes time. In the worst case, the container 12 may not be discharged at all.

However, according to the present invention, the improved container and the insulating magnetic toner having a good fluidity can achieve a more synergistic and preferable effect than ever.

In the present invention, the insulating magnetic toner has a volume average particle size of about 4.
It has an electric resistance of 10 ¹² Ω · cm or more, preferably 10 ¹³ Ω · cm or more, and has a triboelectric charge.

As the binder resin for the toner, a polyester resin, a styrene-acrylic acid ester copolymer, and a styrene-methacrylic acid ester copolymer are preferable in view of development characteristics and durability.

The magnetic substance contained in the insulating magnetic toner is, for example, an alloy or mixture of two or more selected from the group consisting of iron, nickel, copper, tin, zinc, lead, barium, indium, cadmium, selenium and vanadium, There are fine powders of metal compounds such as iron oxide, copper oxide, nickel oxide, zirconium oxide, copper chloride and iron acetate. These particle sizes are
It is preferably from 0.05 to 5 μ (more preferably from 0.1 to 1 μ). Further, the toner may contain a colorant such as a dye or a pigment, a charge control agent, or the like.

Negatively charged hydrophobic silica (for example, Aerosil R-972) is externally added to the insulating magnetic toner according to the present invention.
Thus, for example, the toner holding member is a stainless sleeve, the toner contains a polyester resin as a binder resin and contains a negative charge control agent such as Bontron E81, and the container inner wall of the container is a polyethylene resin. When formed, the polyethylene resin inner wall is negatively charged due to the friction between the toner particle and the inner wall of the container before filling the developer hopper, and the polyester resin that is the binder resin of the toner is positively charged. However, because the negatively charged hydrophobic silica is externally added to the toner by the preliminary stirring by shaking the container, the negatively charged inner wall and the negatively charged hydrophobic silica are exposed to the outside. The insulative magnetic toner that is added electrostatically repels and the fluidity of the insulative magnetic toner is good, so the developer hopper is smoothly filled from the container. It is. The filled insulating magnetic toner eventually has a negative triboelectric charge due to sufficient friction with the toner holding member, and is then used for developing the electrostatic latent image.

The agglomeration degree of the insulating magnetic toner used in the present invention remains on the sieve when a powder (an insulating magnetic toner to which negatively charging hydrophobic silica is externally added) is placed on the sieve and vibrated. It is determined by measuring the percentage of powder. According to this method, the larger the proportion of the powder remaining on the sieve, the poorer the fluidity of the insulating magnetic toner and the greater the cohesiveness, which means that the toner particles tend to aggregate and behave. Specifically, it is measured using a powder tester manufactured by Hosokawa Micromeritics Volatility. 60 mesh, 100 mesh, 200
Place the mesh sieves in this order from the top and set them on the vibrating table. Set 5g of the insulating magnetic toner on a 60-mesh sieve and apply 22 ± 5 to the vibration system so that the amplitude is 0.2mm.
Apply V voltage and apply vibration for 15 seconds. After the completion, the weight of the insulating magnetic toner remaining on each sieve was measured, each weighted with 0.2, 0.12, 0.04, and each weighted, and the aggregation degree is expressed in percentage.

The container used in the present invention is not limited to the shape shown in the accompanying drawings. For example, in order to improve the efficiency of injecting the insulating magnetic toner and to replenish the insulating magnetic toner into the hopper 4 in a shorter time, the bottom 141 of the bottle 14 is perforated and sealed at the time of storage. Alternatively, the seal may be removed when replenishing. Further, in this embodiment, the bottle 14, the rotary shutter 15, the fixed shutter 16,
Although the handles 17 are respectively separated, even if the bottle 14 and the rotary shutter 15 are integrally formed, they are functionally the same. Further, in the present embodiment, in the developer container 12, the opening has a conical shape in order to have a large opening area, but of course, the opening may be flat.

Further, although the conical surface provided with the first opening 151 or the second opening 161 is illustrated as facing the outer side of the container 12, it may be facing the inner side. Further, in this embodiment, the first shutter 15
3, in the vicinity of the center of the conical surface where the insulating magnetic toner may remain, as shown in FIG.
However, it is also possible to make a sine curve slope.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a schematic side view of a cross section of a main part of a copying machine which can be used in the kit of the present invention, FIG. 2 shows an exploded perspective view of a container of the kit of the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a combined state with the opening portion of the developer hopper, FIG. 4 is a view showing a state in which the opening portions of the first shutter and the second shutter are not aligned, and FIG. It is a figure which shows the state in which the opening part of a shutter and the 2nd shutter corresponded. 1 ... Photosensitive drum 3 ... Developing device 4 ... Developer hopper 12 ... Container 14 ... Container 15 ... First shutter 16 ... Second shutter 17 ... Handle 151 ... First opening 161 ... … Second opening

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Shigeo Kato 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Shuichi Aida 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Incorporated (56) Reference JP 59-5254 (JP, A) JP 59-5255 (JP, A) JP 59-123854 (JP, A) JP 57-179866 (JP, A) Actually open 60-140068 (JP, U) Actually open 60-16156 (JP, U) Actually open 60-145448 (JP, U)

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An insulating property for supplying the insulating magnetic toner to a developer hopper of a developing device for image formation containing an externally charged insulating magnetic toner of negatively charged hydrophobic silica having a coagulation degree of 2 to 70%. In the magnetic toner replenishment kit, the insulating magnetic toner contains a polyester resin, a styrene-acrylic acid ester copolymer or a styrene-methacrylic acid ester copolymer as a binder resin. Having a container containing a magnetically conductive toner, the inner wall of the container portion of the container is made of polyethylene resin or polypropylene resin, and the inner wall is negative with respect to the binder resin of the toner in the triboelectric charging series. The container has a triboelectrification characteristic, and the container has a first shutter fixed to an open end of the container part and having an inclined surface inclined toward a central part, and a first shutter facing the container part. And a second shutter which is rotatable and has a second opening corresponding to the first opening of the first shutter, and which is engaged with the container. The first shutter and the second shutter Is an insulative magnetic toner replenishment kit, characterized in that it has an engaging portion positioned so that the respective openings are aligned. 2. The insulating magnetic toner replenishment kit according to claim 1, wherein the first shutter has a conical slope.