JPH0872821A - Powder filling machine - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Object] To provide a powder filling machine capable of high-speed filling of toner into a toner container used in an image forming apparatus. [Structure] The weighing section 20 of the filling hopper 2 has an inner wall 6
0 is formed of a breathable sintered member. In addition, the weighing unit 2
The shaft portion of the auger 64, which is a component of 0, has a diameter of 20 to
A ventilation part 57 having a fine hole of 50 μm is preferably provided, and compressed air 7 is supplied from the inner wall 60 of the measuring part and the shaft part of the auger 64.
1, 72 are discharged toward the inside of the metering unit 20, and the pressurized air improves the uniformity and the fluidity of the density of the toner passing through the metering unit 20.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a powder filling machine,
Particularly, the present invention relates to a powder filling machine suitable for filling a container with a developer used in an image forming apparatus at a high speed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As one of means for efficiently filling powder into a container, a method of depressurizing the inside of the container at the same time when the powder is filled is known (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-176307, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-176307). -311403). In this method, when the powder is supplied into the container through a powder supply pipe or the like, it is common to reduce the pressure in the container through an air suction unit equipped with a filter that separates air from the powder. However, in such a method, it is difficult to uniformly depressurize the inside of the container, and thus it is difficult to obtain a sufficient filling speed.

As another filling method, for example, as shown in FIG. 9, the powder in the hopper 91 is loaded into the hopper 91 by rotating a rotating body 90 (hereinafter referred to as an auger) having spiral blades. An Oger feeder method is known in which a container is moved from below to be measured and filled into a container. This method attracts attention as an efficient powder filling method because it imparts fluidity to the powder by the rotation of the auger 90 and promotes the movement of the powder. Since it takes time for the powder that has moved into the container to settle at a high density, it is difficult to obtain a sufficient filling speed.

In order to increase the filling speed, firstly, the time for measuring and moving the powder is shortened, and secondly, the time for the powder moved into the container to settle at a high density and settle down. It is necessary to shorten it.

In the Oger feeder method, the Oger 90
Since we are measuring by controlling the number of revolutions of
In order to reduce the time described in the first section, that is, the time for measuring and moving the powder, the rotation speed of the auger 90 may be increased, but simply increasing the rotation speed increases the rotation speed of the auger. Along with this, new problems such as generation of powder pressure pieces and blocking, and generation of stains due to scattering of toner to the outside occur, and measures are required to solve these problems.

As a second method for shortening the time,
As shown in FIG. 10, a method has been proposed in which two hoppers, that is, two powder filling machines 91 are used to fill the container 92 with toner in two stages. In this method, it takes time for the powder in the container 92 to settle and settle after the powder is filled in the container 92 by the first filling machine 91 and before moving to the second filling machine 91. Is set, and when the powder in the container 92 has settled down, the second filling machine 91 is used to continuously fill the container 92 with powder, thereby shortening the filling time. It is a thing. Furthermore, an auxiliary container is attached between the powder container and the hopper, the auxiliary container and the inside of the container body are filled with the powder, and the powder is stored in the auxiliary container portion until it settles in the container body. A method has also been proposed in which the auxiliary container is removed after the sedimentation (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4 (1999) -264242).
-87901 publication). However, none of them is sufficient as the filling speed of the powder, and in practice, a filling speed 5 to 10 times higher than the conventional one is desired.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a powder filling machine capable of high-speed filling of toner into a toner container used in an image forming apparatus.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, an auger having spiral blades is provided, and the powder filling amount is controlled by feeding the powder by the rotation of the auger. A powder having a weighing unit for weighing and a breathable member provided on the inner wall of the weighing unit and the auger, and discharging pressurized air into the weighing unit through the breathable member. A filling machine is provided. Further, according to the present invention, in the above-mentioned configuration, there is a shutter provided at the powder discharge port of the metering unit for opening and closing the discharge port, and an opening of the shutter aligned with the powder discharge port is provided. Provided is a powder filling machine in which a breathable member is provided on the entire circumference of the opening, and pressurized air is discharged through the breathable member. Further, according to the present invention, in the above structure, the shutter is composed of the sintered member sandwiched between the upper and lower seal covers, and a powder filling material surrounding the entire circumference of the sintered member. Machine is provided. Further, according to the present invention, there is provided an auger having spiral blades, and a measuring unit for measuring a filling amount of the powder while feeding the powder by the rotation of the auger, an inner wall of the measuring unit and the auger. And a breathable member provided inside the vane, through which pressurized air is discharged from the inner wall of the measuring unit and the tip of the blade of the auger into the measuring unit via the breathable member. A powder filling machine is provided. According to the invention, in the above configuration,
About 0 between the tip of the auger and the inner wall of the metering section.
Provided is a powder filling machine provided with a gap of 1 to 0.5 mm. Further, according to the present invention, in the above structure, there is provided a powder filling machine in which pressurized air discharged from the tip of the blade of the auger is supplied from a pressurized air passage formed in a shaft portion of the auger. To be done.

[0009]

According to the above construction, in the metering section of the powder filling machine, the density of the powder passing through the metering section and the fluidity of the powder passing through the metering section are improved by the air discharged from the auger and the inner wall of the metering section into the metering section. Therefore, the rotation speed of the auger can be increased while reducing the variation in the measured value, and high-speed measurement and high-speed filling can be performed.

According to the present invention, a shutter for opening and closing the powder discharge port is provided at the powder discharge port of the measuring section, and an opening of the shutter aligned with the powder discharge port is provided on the entire circumference of the opening. A breathable member may be provided and the pressurized air may be discharged through this breathable member. According to this, after measuring a fixed amount of powder, the opening of the shutter is just air-sealed by the pressurized air discharged from this, and the air-seal prevents the powder from scattering. Since it is possible to operate the shutter at high speed, it is possible to suppress the generation of powder pressure pieces.

The breathable member is preferably a sintered member having an average pore diameter of 20 μm to 50 μm in order to control the amount of air discharged into the measuring section. Further, the shutter can be easily made by comprising the sintered member sandwiched between the upper and lower seal covers and the sealing material surrounding the entire circumference of the sintered member. Become. Further, a discharge port for pressurized air discharged from the auger may be provided at the tip of the spiral blade of the auger.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. First Embodiment (FIGS. 1 and 2) FIG. 1 is an overall system diagram of a powder filling machine, and FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a weighing unit included in the powder filling machine. In FIG. 1, first, a powder container for filling toner as powder, that is, a toner container 17 is provided, and at the upper end of the powder container 17, a powder inlet for filling the toner,
An insertion port for the suction tube 3 is formed.

Above the toner container 17 set at a predetermined toner filling position, there is provided a filling hopper 2 for supplying the toner to be filled therein, and below the filling hopper 2 is the powder charging port. A powder supply pipe 19 is formed so that the powder supply pipe 19 can be freely inserted and removed. An air cylinder 1 is connected to the filling hopper 2, and by driving the air cylinder 1, the filling hopper 2 moves up and down, and the powder supply pipe 19 is inserted into and removed from the powder feeding port. It is composed. Further, a cap 15 and a seal 15a are fixed to the outer peripheral portion of the powder supply pipe 19, and the powder container is hermetically closed when the powder supply pipe 19 is inserted into the powder charging port. Has become.

Above the filling hopper 2, there is provided a filling and weighing section 20 for measuring the amount of toner supplied into the filling hopper 2. FIG. 2 shows details of the filling and weighing unit 20. The filling and weighing unit 20 includes an auger 64, a breathable inner wall 60, and a ventilation unit 67 that covers the air filter provided on the shaft portion of the auger 64. The auger 64 has a hollow shape capable of supplying the pressurized air 72 into the filling and measuring section 20, and has a blade 64a, and by rotating this, the powder can be fed and measured. Blade 64a
Preferably has a gap 68 of 0.1 to 0.5 mm without slidingly contacting the inner wall 60 of the measuring unit in the rotated state.

The permeable inner wall 60 is constructed so that the pressurized air sent from the air pressure source 8 shown in FIG. 1 through the ventilation pipe 12 passes through the permeable inner wall 60 and into the measuring section. It consists of a breathable sintered member. The sintered member is formed by sintering fine powder having an average particle size of 20 to 50 μm to obtain a density of 7.0 to
The one of 7.4 g / cc was used. The shape of the fine powder may be spherical or non-spherical, but spherical fine powder is preferable. As the material of the sintered member,
Metal powders such as copper and aluminum, and ceramics are used. The breathable inner wall 60 may be any porous body having an average pore diameter of usually 5 to 75 μm, preferably 20 to 50 μm.

The ventilation portion 67 is provided on the peripheral wall of the hollow rotary shaft portion of the auger 64, and fine holes are provided on the peripheral wall of the hollow rotary shaft portion, and a mesh is stuck on the fine holes to form an air filter structure. . The ventilation section 67 is configured such that the pressurized air 72 sent from the air pressure source 8 passes through the ventilation section 67 and permeates into the measuring section. Vent 67
The size of the mesh bonded to the fine pores has an opening diameter smaller than the particle diameter of the toner. The diameter of the micropores is 2 to 75 μm, preferably 20 to 50 μm.

The powder measuring unit 20 includes the powder measuring unit 20.
Vent pipe 22 and vent pipe 12 for supplying pressurized air into the inside
Are connected respectively. Vent pipe 12 is pressurized air 71
Is configured to be supplied from the inner wall 60 to the weighing unit 20, and the ventilation pipe 22 is configured to supply the pressurized air 72 from the hollow rotating shaft portion of the auger 64 to the powder measuring unit 20. There is. A switching valve 7 and a pressurized air source 8 are installed at the other ends of these ventilation pipes.
The communication between the vent pipes 12 and 22 is opened and closed.

The air suction tube 3 is inserted into the powder container 17 so as to be freely inserted and removed. The air suction pipe 3 is formed of a circular hollow pipe, the tip of which is inserted into the powder container 17 is closed, and the peripheral wall of the tip has a filter structure for separating powder and air. That is, a large number of fine pores having a diameter of φ0.5 to 3 mm are formed on the peripheral wall of the distal end portion of the circular hollow pipe that constitutes the air suction pipe 3, and the fine mesh of the fine mesh is formed on the outer peripheral surface of these fine pores. Four
Is formed by winding. This sieving net 4
The mesh has an opening diameter smaller than the toner particle diameter. Further, the upper end of the air suction pipe 3 is the ventilation pipe 1
1. The air pressure reducing source 9 is connected via the switching valve 10.

A piston rod of an air cylinder 13 is connected to the air suction pipe 3, and the air suction pipe 3 is driven by driving the air cylinder 13.
Is moved up and down to be inserted into and removed from the powder container 17. Further, a cap 14 and a seal 14a are fixed to the outer peripheral portion of the insertion port of the air suction tube 3 of the powder container 17, so that the powder container is hermetically closed when the air suction pipe 3 is inserted. Has become.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described. First, the powder container 17 is set at a position directly below the filling hopper 2 (toner filling position). Next, the filling hopper 2 is lowered by driving the air cylinder 1 downward,
The powder supply pipe 19 is inserted into the powder charging port of the powder container. In this case, as the filling hopper 2 descends, the air suction tube 3
Is also lowered and inserted into the powder container 17.

Next, the auger 64 is rotationally driven by the motor 5 so as not to come into contact with the breathable inner wall 60 of the weighing hopper 6, and a predetermined amount of toner charged in the weighing hopper 6 is filled through the toner filling discharge port 66. Hopper 2
Then, the toner is dropped into the inside of the filling hopper 2 and the powder supply pipe 19 to be filled in the powder container 17. The powder is measured by controlling the rotation speed and rotation time of the auger 64. That is, in filling a fixed amount, the time required for filling becomes shorter as the rotation speed of the auger 64 is increased.

Here, when the auger 64 is driven to start the filling of the toner, the air pressure source 8 is driven in conjunction with the rotation of the auger 64 to drive the pressurized air from two directions in the powder measuring unit. Flowed into 20. That is, the pressurized air 71 is the ventilation pipe 1
2 is supplied from the breathable inner wall 60 of the powder measuring unit 20 and pressurized air 72 passes through the ventilation pipe 22 and the powder measuring unit 20.
It is supplied from the ventilation part air filter 67. In this way, by supplying the pressurized air from the inner wall 60 of the powder measuring unit 20 and the shaft portion of the auger 64, the air is efficiently mixed with the powder, the fluidity of the powder is increased, and the powder measuring is performed. The movement from the part 20 to the powder container 17 proceeds smoothly, and high-speed weighing and then high-speed filling are possible. Further, by providing a slight gap between the tip surface of the blade 64a of the auger and the inner wall 60 and supplying pressurized air from the inner wall 60, the toner does not adhere to the inner wall 60 and the toner is pushed into a narrow portion. It is also possible to prevent blocking that occurs when exposed.

The operation timing of the rotation of the auger 64 and the inflow of the pressurized air 71, 72 is controlled by a controller (not shown), and the operation (rotation) of the auger 64 is slightly earlier than the inflow of the pressurized air. Is preferred. By controlling the inflow of the pressurized air 71, 72 only when the auger rotates, it is possible to reduce the toner scattering due to the diffusion of the air to the outside of the container.

Further, when the auger 64 is driven to start the toner filling, the pressurized air 7 to the powder measuring unit 20 is used.
In addition to the inflow of 1, 72, the powder container 17 is deaerated. That is, the air decompression source 9 is driven and suction is started by the suction gap 3 to make the powder container 17 a negative pressure, and as a result, the air in the powder container 17 is sucked through the filter 4 and the filling hopper 2 The air inside is powder container 17
Is sucked in. Therefore, immediately after the filling operation is started, the toner flows smoothly from the filling hopper 2 into the powder container 17 by the air flow from the filling hopper 2 into the powder container 17. Furthermore, the powder container 1
After a certain amount of toner is filled in the powder container 17, the air contained in the toner filled in the powder container 17 is separated from the toner and sucked through the filter 4, so that the powder container 17 The toner filled in the inside has a low air content rate, the filling rate of the toner in the powder container 17 increases, and the filling amount of the toner increases. Moreover, the time required to fill the toner is shortened, and the work efficiency of the toner filling operation is improved.

After the operation of filling the powder container 17 with the toner is completed, the flow of the pressurized air 71, 72 into the measuring section 20 and the deaeration from the powder container 17 are stopped. Next, the air cylinders 1 and 13 are actuated again to remove the filling hopper 2 and the suction pipe from the powder container 17, and the series of powder filling work is completed.

Modification of First Embodiment (FIGS. 3 to 5) FIG. 3 is an overall system diagram of a powder filling machine, and FIGS. 4 and 5 show an auger 64 'as a modification. 4 is a sectional view corresponding to FIG. 2, and FIG. 5 is a partial vertical sectional view of the auger 64 ′. In these drawings, the same elements as those of the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted. Below, a description will be given of the features of the entire apparatus system and the auger 64 'as modified examples. To do.

First, as shown in FIG. 3, the air pressure source 8 is connected to the switching valve 10 via an additional ventilation pipe 16, and the ventilation pipe 11 is operated by appropriately operating the switching valve 10.
The filter 4 of the suction tube 3 can be cleaned by sending pressurized air to the.

Next, as is apparent from FIG. 5, the blades 64a 'of the auger 64' have two upper and lower spiral plate members 74, which are provided at intervals on the hollow shaft portion 73 whose lower end is closed.
The blade 64 ′ is open at the tip of the blade 64 ′ to form an air discharge port 76. This air discharge port 76
Is provided with a breathable sintered member 77 sandwiched between upper and lower spiral plate members 74 and 75. This sintered member 77
Was used by sintering a fine powder having an average particle size of 20 to 50 μm and having a density of 7.0 to 7.4 g / cc. The shape of the fine powder may be spherical or non-spherical, but spherical fine powder is preferable. As the material of the sintered member, metal powder such as copper or aluminum, or ceramics is used. The sintered member 77 is usually 5 to 75 μm,
Any porous material is preferable as long as it has a mean pore diameter of 20 to 50 μm. Auger 6
The hollow shaft 73 of 4'is formed with a plurality of fine holes 73a communicating with the air passages in the blades 64 '.
Is discharged into the powder measuring unit 20 through the air passage 78 in the shaft portion 73, the fine holes 73a, and the discharge port 76.

Second Embodiment (FIGS. 6 to 8) FIG. 6 shows a powder measuring section 20 'as a second embodiment.
7 and 8 are detailed views of the shutter included in the powder measuring unit 20 '. In these drawings, the same elements as those of the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted. The characteristic portions of the second embodiment will be described below. It should be noted that, as the auger included in the powder measuring unit 20 ', an oger 64' which is representatively shown as a modified example of the first embodiment is shown, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the first embodiment is not limited thereto. The auger 64 may be used.

The powder metering section 20 'of the second embodiment is provided with a shutter 80 at its toner filling and discharging port 66.
As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the shutter 80 is rotatable within a range of an angle Y about an axis X at one end thereof.
Further, as can be seen from FIG. 6, the shutter 80 has a fan-like shape that widens from one end to the other end, and an opening 80a that matches the toner ejection port 66 is formed on one side of the other end. . When the shutter 80 takes the first position by the solenoid 82 shown in FIG. 8, the shutter 80 selectively takes a first position where the opening 80a is aligned with the toner discharge port 66 and a second position where the toner discharge port 66 is closed. Then, the toner discharge port 66 of the powder measuring unit 20 ′ is opened, and the toner in the powder measuring unit 20 ′ flows out to the hopper 2. It should be noted that one spring interposed in the solenoid 82 is for absorbing backlash, and the other spring has a role of causing the shutter 80 to act with a returning force when the solenoid 80 is not attracted.

As shown in FIG. 8, the shutter 80 basically includes an upper cover 83, a lower cover 84, and a breathable sintered member 85 sandwiched between the upper and lower seal covers 83, 84. These elements include openings 83a, 84a, 8 forming the opening 80a of the shutter 80 described above.
5a are formed respectively. The breathable sintered member 85 has a shape extending from one end of the shutter 80 to the other end and continuously extending over the entire circumference of the opening 80 a, and the entire circumference of the sintered member 85 is surrounded by a seal material 86. The average particle size of the sintered member is 20-
50μm fine powder is sintered to obtain a density of 7.0-7.4g / cc
I used the one. The shape of the fine powder may be spherical or non-spherical, but spherical fine powder is preferable. As the material of the sintered member 85, metal powder such as copper or aluminum, or ceramics is used. The sintered member 85 is usually 5 to 75 μm, preferably 2
Any porous body may be used as long as it has a mean pore diameter of 0 to 50 μm.

Pressurized air 71 'is supplied to the sintered member 85 through ventilation pipes 87 and 88. As apparent from FIGS. 6 and 8, the ventilation pipe 87 and the ventilation pipe 88 are connected in an orthogonal state, and the ventilation pipe 87 which stands upright from the shutter 80 is arranged on the axis line X, and the stop plate 90, It is fixed to the shutter 80 by an E ring 91. Moreover, both ends of the upright ventilation pipe 87 are closed, and a plurality of small holes 87a are formed in the peripheral wall corresponding to the sintered member 85 at the lower end portion.

Conventionally, since the shutter is mechanically operated, the toner is pressed when the toner operates at a high speed to form a pressure piece. In the present embodiment, however, the shutter 80 is provided, and thus the auger 64 is provided. ', The toner filling discharge port 66 of the powder measuring unit 20 is air-sealed by the pressurized air discharged from the opening 80a through the sintering member 87 of the shutter 80, and the shutter 8 is prevented while preventing the toner from scattering.
It is possible to operate at a high speed of 0. Then, the problem when the shutter 80 is operated at a low speed, that is, the toner adheres to the shutter due to the contact between the toner and the shutter,
Therefore, the problem that toner pressure pieces are generated can be solved. Of course, since the toner can be prevented from scattering, the toner measurement value can be made more constant, and the adhesion of the toner in the vicinity can be reduced, which can reduce the necessity of cleaning the measurement unit, It is possible to reduce the time loss when changing the breed.

[0034]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the air discharged into the measuring section enables the high-speed measurement of the powder and the high-speed filling of the powder. Further, when the pressurized air is discharged from the opening of the shutter, the air sealing effect by this prevents the powder from scattering and enables the shutter to operate at high speed, so that the generation of powder pressure pieces can be suppressed. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of defective development in the developing process of image formation due to the mixing of pressure pieces.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall system diagram of a powder filling machine according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged sectional view of a weighing unit included in the powder filling machine according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an overall system diagram of a powder filling machine as a modified example of the first embodiment.

4 is a partially enlarged sectional view of a weighing unit included in the powder filling machine of FIG.

5 is a partial cross-sectional view of an auger that is a component of the weighing section shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view of a weighing unit included in the powder filling machine according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of a shutter of the metering unit shown in FIG. 6 extracted from the shutter.

8 is an exploded perspective view of the shutter and its drive mechanism shown in FIG.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of an auger feeder as a conventional example.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a two-stage filling method as a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 6 Weighing hopper 17 Toner container 20 Weighing unit 60 Breathable inner wall of weighing unit 64 Ogger 64a Spiral blade of auger 66 Toner filling discharge port of weighing unit 68 Gap between tip of auger blade and inner wall of weighing unit 71 Pressurization Air 72 Pressurized air 80 Shutter 80a Shutter opening

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A weighing unit having an auger equipped with spiral blades, the weighing unit feeding a powder by rotation of the auger to measure a filling amount of the powder, and an inner wall of the weighing unit and the auger. And a breathable member, and the compressed air is discharged into the measuring unit through the breathable member. 2. A powder discharge port of the measuring unit,
A shutter that opens and closes the discharge port is provided, and an air-permeable member is provided on the entire periphery of the opening of the shutter that is aligned with the powder discharge port. The powder filling machine according to claim 1, which discharges the powder. 3. The powder filling machine according to claim 2, wherein the shutter is composed of the sintered member sandwiched between upper and lower seal covers and a sealing material surrounding the entire circumference of the sintered member. . 4. A measuring unit having an auger equipped with spiral blades, the measuring unit measuring a filling amount of the powder while feeding the powder by the rotation of the auger, an inner wall of the measuring unit and the blade of the auger. A powder having an air-permeable member provided inside, wherein pressurized air is discharged from the inner wall of the measuring unit and the tips of the blades of the auger into the measuring unit via the air-permeable member. Filling machine. 5. The powder filling machine according to claim 4, wherein a gap of about 0.1 to 0.5 mm is provided between the tip of the auger and the inner wall of the weighing unit. 6. The powder filling machine according to claim 4, wherein the pressurized air discharged from the tips of the blades of the auger is supplied from a pressurized air passage formed in the shaft portion of the auger.