JPH09269659A - Toner supplying container - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent toner from flowing out and being scattered around even if a toner supplying container is erroneously dropped, by covering/retaining members such as a slide cover constituting the bottom part of the toner supplying container openably/closably with a covering member. SOLUTION: When the covering member 6 is pushed into the bottom part of the toner supplying container, the projection part 6A-6C of the member 6 are easily elastically deformed and spread out by the slide cover 5 and a base member 2. In an attaching end position, the projection parts 6A, 6B and 6C are fitted the locking part (recessed part) 2E of the base member 2, a flange part (recessed part) 2F and a recessed part formed with the top part of the slide cover and the connecting part 2C of the base member 2, to be locked states, respectively, so that attachment is completed. The member 6 after being attached protects the slide cover 5 and a flexible sealing member 4, without the coming off of the projection parts 6A-6C from the slide cover 5 and the base member 2, in a normal dropping test for the toner supplying container. Thus, the toner in a container main body 1 is prevented from flowing out from an opening part 2A.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improvement in a toner replenishing container for filling and storing a powdery developing toner, for example, a toner replenishing container for an electrostatic image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying machine or a laser printer. The present invention relates to an improvement of a replaceable toner supply container which is detachably mounted and used for replenishing toner.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as means for replenishing powder that is easily scattered into a powder receiving device, powder is stored in a container, and a powder take-out opening of the container is sealed with a film-like sealing material. Body containers are used. At the time of powder replenishment, the powder container is turned upside down, and the opening is downwardly attached to the mounting portion of the powder receiving device, and then the sealing material is peeled off to allow the powder to flow out of the opening and receive the powder. To the hopper. The powder container as described above is widely used because the structure of the opening can be simplified and the sealing is more completely performed as compared with a container in which the opening is sealed with a lid.

In the electrostatic image forming apparatus, the electrostatic latent image on the rotating charge carrier is developed by the developing device, and the powder toner in the developer is attached to the electrostatic latent image portion to form the toner. After forming an image, it is transferred and fixed on a recording paper. Since the powder toner is consumed together with the development,
It is necessary to replenish the developing device with the toner according to consumption, and a toner hopper is provided as a storage unit for the replenished toner.

A large amount of toner is contained in a toner hopper, and before the toner is completely consumed, toner is supplied from a toner supply container (toner supply cartridge) to the toner hopper.

The above is the toner replenishment for the electrostatic recording apparatus using the dry two-component developer, but the same toner replenishment is also required for the electrostatic image forming apparatus using the one-component developer.

In any of the above toners, toner replenishment is generally carried out by charging the toner into a toner hopper from a toner replenishing container containing the toner.

The above-mentioned powder toner easily scatters, and scatters and floats outside the toner replenishing cartridge opening and the toner hopper opening when it is replenished with toner, or flows out and scatters to the outside, so that the device, outside air, clothes, etc. Since it pollutes, many proposals have been made to prevent this.

Some of these proposals include Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 59-11.
There is a toner supply cartridge disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 4572 and 3-279983. The toner supply container includes a container body, a fixed cap for sealing the upper part of the container body, a base member connected to the lower part of the container body, a film-shaped seal member for allowing the opening of the lower part of the container body to be peelable, and a sliding member for the base member. And a slide lid that winds and engages the seal member. By setting the toner supply container to the developer receiving device of the electrostatic image forming apparatus such as a copying machine and moving the slide lid in one direction, the seal member is pulled and the supply port is peeled off to open.
The toner in the container body drops from the supply port and is supplied into the toner hopper.

[0009]

The structure having the opening / closing part of the slide lid system described above has the advantages that the toner can be replenished by simple mounting and that the hands are not soiled with the toner. There is. However, this slide lid type opening / closing section has a problem that when an impact is applied to this portion from the side surface, the opening / closing section is opened by the impact. As a result, there is a problem that the toner may be spilled when an impact is applied during transportation. This can be improved by simply attaching the cover lid, but with a simple cover lid, the cover lid will easily come off, so the effect cannot be maintained if a large impact such as transportation is applied. Had.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems in the toner replenishing container, and provides a toner replenishing container capable of stably protecting the opening / closing portion without coming off due to impact. That is the purpose.

[0011]

A toner replenishing container of the present invention which achieves the above object is hermetically sealed after a base member of a toner replenishing container having a toner contained in a container body is attached to a loading portion of a toner replenishing device. In a toner replenishing container that opens the opening and discharges the toner in the container body, a lid member that slides on the base member of the toner replenishing container to open and close the opening, and the lid member is removable A cover member for covering the cover member, and a protrusion is provided on a part of the cover member, and the protrusion is detachably engaged with the recess of the lid member and / or the mouthpiece member, thereby covering the cover member. It is characterized in that it can be attached to a lid member.

That is, according to the present invention, the covering member itself is not a simple cover, but has a structure having a protrusion on a part of the side wall of the covering member. Due to this structure, the covering member does not come off from the lid member and / or the cap member due to impact or the like, and is stably maintained even during transportation.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a toner supply container according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a toner supply container according to claim 1 of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the toner supply container.

In FIG. 1 (a), a container body 1 and a cap member 2 are integrally formed, and a circular top opening 1A provided on an upper portion of the container body 1 can be closed by a cap member 3. It is a thing. The toner supply container including the container body 1 and the cap member 2 can be integrally molded by a hollow molding method (blow molding).

In FIG. 1B, the container body 1 is formed by a blow molding method (blow molding process), and the mouthpiece member 2 is formed by an injection molding method.
The base member 2 is inserted into the bottom portion of and is fixed by adhesion. High-density polyethylene resin (HDPE) was used as the material of the container body 1.

The outer surface of the periphery of the opening 2A of the mouthpiece member 2 connected to the bottom opening 1B of the container body 1 is the sealing surface 2.
B, which is sealed by the flexible seal member 4,
When the mouthpiece member 2 is mounted on a toner replenishing device (not shown), the flexible seal member 4 is peeled off and the toner contained in the container body 1 is discharged into the hopper of the toner replenishing device. Further, in the manufacturing process, the toner is injected into the container body 1 through the top opening 1A, and then closed and sealed by the cap member 3.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show an embodiment of an opening / closing member capable of opening / closing the bottom opening 1B of the toner supply container, and FIG. 3 (a) shows a state in which the bottom opening 1B of the toner supply container is closed. FIG. 3 (b) is a longitudinal sectional view thereof, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state in which the bottom opening 1B of the toner supply container is opened.

The bottom of the mouthpiece member 2 has an opening 2A for toner replenishment on the inner side and a connecting portion 2C with a toner replenishing device (not shown) on the outer side. A sealing surface 2B and a rail portion 2D are formed on the bottom of the base member 2. The concave portion provided at the upper end of the mouthpiece member 2 is a locking portion 2E that locks when the mouthpiece member 2 is attached to a container loading portion of a toner replenishing device (not shown). One end of the flexible seal member 4 is fixed to the bottom surface of the flange portion 2F of the base member 2, and the other end is fixed to the upper surface of the flange portion 2F, so that the slide lid 5 can be wound in the sliding direction. It is provided in. The slide lid 5 has an opening 2 before the toner is replenished.
The flexible seal member 4 for sealing A is protected and shielded.
Flexible seal member 4 that is peelably adhered to the sealing surface 2B.
Seals the opening 2A for toner replenishment inside the sealing surface 2B, and at the time of toner replenishment, it is peeled off by the movement of the slide lid (lid member) 5 sliding on the rail 2D, and the opening 2A is closed. Open.

FIG. 5A is a plan view showing a first embodiment of a covering member 6 which detachably covers the slide lid 5 and the flexible sealing member 4 in a state where the opening 2A is sealed. 5 (b) is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of the covering member 6, FIG.
5C is a sectional view of the covering member 6 taken along the line BB, and FIG. 5D is a perspective view of the covering member 6. Projecting portions 6A and 6B project inward of the rectangular parallelepiped, respectively, at upper portions of side walls of two opposing short side surfaces of the covering member 6 having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. In addition, four protrusions 6C project inward of the rectangular parallelepiped, respectively, on upper portions of the sidewalls of the two opposing long side surfaces of the covering member 6. As the material of the covering member 6, a resin such as polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is preferably used. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) can also be used. The thickness of the covering member 6 is 0.1 to 1 mm, preferably 0.15
０．５0.5 mm. If the thickness is thin, the durability will decrease. If it is thick, it becomes brittle and is easily broken by impact. Further, when the covering member 6 is thick, it becomes hard, and thus it becomes difficult to cover the slide lid 5 and the base member 2. It is necessary to install the protrusions on at least one side, and it is preferable to install the protrusions at two or more places. The protrusion height from the side wall of the protrusion is 0.5 to 5 mm, preferably 1 to 3 mm. When the protrusion height of the protrusion is small, the protrusion is likely to come off due to the impact applied from the outside. On the other hand, when the protrusion height of the protrusion is large, it becomes difficult to close the cover member 6 and the impact is applied. If you do, it will be easily destroyed. The covering member 6 is preferably formed by vacuum forming.

The covering member 6 as an example of the embodiment
Is a sheet-shaped polypropylene resin having a thickness of about 0.25 mm, which is formed into a box shape by vacuum forming.
The protrusion height of A, 6B, and 6C was set to 1.5 mm. The covering member 6 has elasticity, and the projections 6A, 6 at the plurality of locations are provided.
B and 6C are easily elastically deformed by an external force.

FIG. 6A is a partial sectional view in the sliding direction of the slide lid showing a state in which the covering member 6 is attached to the bottom of the toner supply container shown in FIG. 2, and FIG. Three
FIG. 7 is a partial cross-sectional view in a direction orthogonal to the sliding direction of the slide lid, showing a state where the covering member 6 is attached to the bottom of the toner supply container shown in (b).

When the covering member 6 is pushed into the bottom of the toner supply container, the protrusions 6A, 6B, 6 of the covering member 6 are pushed.
C is easily elastically deformed and pushed by the slide lid 5 and the base member 2, and at the final mounting position, the protrusion 6A is in the locking portion (recess) 2E of the base member 2,
The protruding portion 6B is fitted into the flange portion (recess) 2F, and the protruding portion 6C is fitted into the recess formed by the upper portion of the slide lid 5 and the connecting portion 2C of the base member 2 to be in a locked state to complete the mounting. The covering member 6 after the mounting is the same as the slide lid 5 and the cap member 2 in the normal drop test of the toner supply container.
Since the projections 6A, 6B, 6C are not removed from the cover and protect the slide lid 5 and the flexible seal member 4, the toner in the container body 1 does not flow out from the opening 2A.

FIG. 7 (a) is a plan view showing a second embodiment of the covering member 6 according to the present invention, and FIG. 7 (b) is a sectional view. A protrusion 6B projects inward of the rectangular parallelepiped at the side wall upper portion of one short side surface of the covering member 6 having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and two protrusions are provided at the side wall upper portions of two opposing long side surfaces of the covering member 6. The parts 6C respectively project inside the rectangular parallelepiped, and these 3
The covering member 6 closes and locks the bottom portion of the toner replenishing container by the projecting portions 6B and 6C.

FIG. 8 (a) is a plan view showing a third embodiment of the covering member according to the present invention, and FIG. 8 (b) is a sectional view. Two projecting portions 6C project inward of the rectangular parallelepiped at upper portions of side walls of two opposing long side surfaces of the covering member 6 having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and the covering member 6 is covered with the toner by the four projecting portions 6C. Lock the bottom of the supply container with the lid closed.

FIG. 9 (a) is a plan view showing a fourth embodiment of the covering member according to the present invention, FIG. 9 (b) is a sectional view, and FIG.
(C) is a covering member 6 on the bottom of the toner supply container shown in FIG.
FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view in the sliding direction of the slide lid, showing a state in which is mounted. In these figures, a protrusion 6B projects inward of the rectangular parallelepiped at the lower side wall of the short side surface of the covering member 6 having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and two locations are provided above the corners of the short sides facing the protrusion 6B. The projecting portions 6D of each of the projecting portions 6D project inside the rectangular solid. The covering member 6 covers the mouthpiece member 2, the slide lid 5, and the flexible sealing member 4 at the bottom of the toner supply container, and the protrusion 6B locks one end of the slide lid 5 to the corner portion. The protrusion 6D locks the upper surface of the base member 2. FIG. 10A is a plan view showing a fifth embodiment of the covering member according to the present invention, and FIG. 10B is a sectional view taken along line AA.
FIG.10 (c) is BB sectional drawing. In these figures, two projections 6E project inward of the rectangular parallelepiped at the intermediate portions of both corners of the short side of the covering member 6 having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. The covering member 6 is slightly inserted into the mouthpiece member 2 or the slide lid 5 at the bottom of the toner supply container, and is further locked by the protrusions 6E at these two locations.

[0027]

In the toner supply container according to the present invention, the covering member for covering and protecting the slide lid and the like capable of opening and closing the opening at the bottom of the container does not come off even by impact, and the opening and closing part is stably protected. can do. That is, by covering and locking a member such as a slide lid that can open and close the bottom of the toner supply container with this covering member, even if the toner supply container is accidentally dropped, the toner flows out and scatters around. There is no such thing. Further, this covering member has a simple shape and can be manufactured at low cost by the hollow molding process.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a toner supply container.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the toner supply container.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the toner supply container with a bottom opening closed and a vertical cross-sectional view thereof.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state in which a bottom opening of the toner supply container is opened.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the first embodiment of the covering member, A
-A sectional drawing, BB sectional drawing, a perspective view.

FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a state in which a covering member is attached to the bottom of the toner supply container.

7A and 7B are a plan view and a cross-sectional view showing a second embodiment of the covering member.

FIG. 8 is a plan view and a cross-sectional view showing a third embodiment of a covering member.

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing a fourth embodiment of the covering member, a cross-sectional view, and a partial cross-sectional view showing a state where the covering member is attached to the bottom of the toner supply container.

FIG. 10 is a plan view showing a fifth embodiment of the covering member,
AA sectional drawing, BB sectional drawing.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Container Main Body 1B Bottom Opening (Opening) 2 Base Member 2A Opening 2B Sealing Surface 2D Rail Part 2E Locking Part 2F Flange Part 3 Cap Member 4 Flexible Seal Member 5 Slide Lid (Lid Member) 6 Covering Member ( Cover lid) 6A, 6B, 6C, 6D, 6E Projection

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A toner replenishment in which a cap member of a toner replenishing container containing toner in a container body is mounted on a loading portion of a toner replenishing device, and then a sealed opening is opened to discharge the toner in the container body. The container is provided with a lid member that slides on the mouthpiece member of the toner supply container to open and close the opening, and a covering member that detachably covers the lid member, and a projection part is provided on a part of the covering member. The toner supply container, wherein the cover member is attachable to the lid member by detachably engaging the protrusion with the recess of the lid member and / or the cap member.