JPH11184242A - Developing device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Object] To provide a developing device capable of improving toner sealability and preventing peeling of a seal member. [Structure] Developing sleeve 7c (developing means) and developing chamber 7b
A developing container 7a having a storage chamber 7d, a toner cartridge 21, and a shutter (shutter member) 11 rotatable between a detachable position and an operating position.
When the shutter 11 is at the operating position, the opening 11a thereof serves as a toner supply port.
A shutter auxiliary seal (seal member) 24 is provided on the rotating shutter 11 side between the shutter 11 and the developing container 7a. According to the present invention, since the shutter auxiliary seal 24 is provided on the rotatable shutter 11 side between the shutter 11 and the developing container 7a, the toner sealing property at the detached position, the rotated position, and the operating position of the toner cartridge 21 is improved. In addition, the shutter auxiliary seal 24 can be prevented from peeling off.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a developing device such as a printer or a copying machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a developing device such as a copying machine has a shutter member 52 having an opening 52a between a storage chamber 58 and a developing chamber 54 as shown in FIG. In some cases, toner is supplied by the toner cartridge 53.

In such a developing device, at the time of toner replenishment, an opening 53a of the toner cartridge 53 is first opened at an attaching / detaching position shown in FIG.
a, and an unillustrated opening seal that closes the opening 53a on the toner cartridge 53 side at that position is pulled out toward the apparatus main body. When the handle (not shown) of the toner cartridge 53 is turned counterclockwise from that state to the operation position shown in FIG. 8, the shutter 52 turns in conjunction with the opening of the opening 52a, 5a.
3 a opens into the developing chamber 54.

Next, in the operating position shown in FIG. 8, the stirring blade 57 in the toner cartridge 53 is moved clockwise through a stirring gear provided on the inner side of the developing device by a driving supply from a driving source (not shown). By slowly rotating the toner cartridge 53, the toner in the toner cartridge 53 was supplied into the developing chamber 54 from the openings 52a and 53a.

When the toner in the toner cartridge 53 runs out, the remaining amount of toner in the developing chamber 54 is detected, and an indication of no toner is displayed on the operation section of the main body. At this time, the empty toner cartridge 53 was extracted in a procedure reverse to the above-described refilling operation, and was replaced with a new one.

[0006]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional developing device, since the seal member 56 between the shutter 52 and the developing container 55 is disposed on the inner wall of the developing container 55 above the developing chamber 54, the following problem occurs. There was such a problem (see FIG. 5B). (1) Since the shutter 52 and the developing container 55 are not sealed at the detached position, the toner scatters when the opening seal of the toner cartridge 53 is pulled out, contaminates the inner wall of the developing container 55, and accumulates toner (FIG. 5 (b), directions of arrows a and b). (2) The toner scattered when the toner cartridge 53 reciprocates between the detached position and the operating position is removed.
3 also contaminates the outer wall. (3) Since the opening end 52b of the shutter 52 repeatedly contacts the seal member 56 when the toner cartridge 53 rotates from the detached position to the operating position, the seal member 56 comes off.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a developing device capable of improving toner sealing properties and preventing peeling of a seal member.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a developing means, a developing chamber for supplying a toner material to the developing means, and a toner material supplied to the developing chamber. A developing container provided with a storage chamber for storing, a toner cartridge which can be attached to and detached from the storage chamber at an attachment / detachment position, and an opening provided between the development chamber and the storage chamber; A shutter member rotatable between the shutter member and the developing container, wherein when the shutter member is in the operating position, an opening thereof serves as a toner agent supply port. A seal member is provided on the side of the shutter member that rotates between them.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the seal member is disposed at least on a side opposite to the operation position direction of the opening of the shutter member that rotates from the detachable position to the operation position. It is characterized by being established.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, the seal member is disposed to face a seal member between the shutter member and the toner cartridge via a shutter member. And

Therefore, according to the present invention, since the seal member is provided on the rotatable shutter member side between the shutter member and the developing container, the toner sealing property at the detached position, the rotated position and the operating position of the toner cartridge is improved. In addition to being able to increase, the peeling of the seal member can be prevented.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

<First Embodiment> FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view of a copying machine provided with a developing device according to the present invention.

In the copying machine 10 shown in FIG.
Document reading means 1 having a, mirror 1b, lens 1c, etc.
Then, a light image based on the image information is applied to the photosensitive drum 8a as an image carrier, and a toner image is formed on the photosensitive drum 8a. Then, in synchronization with the formation of the toner image, the recording medium 2 is transported from the cassette 3a to the image forming unit by the transport unit 3 including the paper feed roller 3b, the separation pad 3c, and the registration roller 3d.

Thus, the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 8a is transferred to the recording medium 2 sent to the image forming unit by applying a voltage to a transfer roller 4 as a transfer unit. The recording medium 2 to which the toner image has been transferred is conveyed to a fixing unit 5 by a conveying belt 9, and after the toner image is fixed by heat and pressure in the fixing unit 5, the recording medium 2 is discharged out of the apparatus to a paper discharge tray. 6 are stacked.

The supply of the toner to the photosensitive drum 8a is performed by the developing device 7 according to the present invention.
As shown in detail in FIG. 1, the developing device 7 includes a developing container 7a having a developing chamber 7b and a developing sleeve 7c, a toner storage chamber 7d, and a rotatable shutter member 11.
The shutter member 11 has an opening 11a.

A detachable toner cartridge 21 can be accommodated in the toner storage chamber 7d. As shown in FIG. 4, the toner cartridge 21 has a cylindrical shape as a whole, and a toner A chamber is formed, and an opening 21a is formed in the outer peripheral surface.

When the toner cartridge 21 is mounted on the developing device 7, the toner cartridge 21 is inserted into the toner storage chamber 7d by holding the handle 42 at one end of the toner cartridge 21. At this time, the opening 11a of the shutter 11 and the opening 21a of the toner cartridge 21 coincide with each other as shown in FIG. Then, the toner cartridge 21
If the handle 42 is turned counterclockwise to rotate the toner cartridge 21 and the shutter 11 at the same time after the opening seal (not shown) covering the opening 21a of the As shown in FIG. 2, the operation state is such that the opening 11a opens into the developing chamber 7b.

Next, the operation of the developing device 7 when the toner cartridge 21 and the shutter 11 are in the operating position will be described with reference to FIG.
It will be described based on.

In the operation state shown in FIG. 2, the openings 21a, 11a of the toner cartridge 21 and the shutter 11 are open to the developing chamber 7b, the toner is supplied to the developing chamber 7b, and the developing sleeve 7c, the photosensitive drum 8a Supplied to.

A stirring blade 22 is provided inside the toner cartridge 21.
Is slowly rotated clockwise in response to a drive supply from a drive source (not shown) on the main body side. In addition, the stirring blade 22 is
Even when the amount of toner inside the toner cartridge 21 becomes low, the toner is scraped up in the direction of the opening 21a, so that toner can be supplied to the developing chamber 7b.

Since the inside of the developing device 7 is composed of the toner cartridge 21, the shutter 11, and the developing container 7a, it is important to seal the toner between them. In particular, if the outer peripheral surface of the toner cartridge 21 is contaminated by toner leakage, the operator and the operating environment may be contaminated by the toner.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, FIGS.
As shown in (a), a shutter seal 23 for sealing between the shutter 11 and the toner cartridge 21 and a shutter auxiliary seal 24 for sealing between the shutter 11 and the developing container 7a are provided on the movable shutter 11 side.

By providing the shutter seal 23 and the shutter auxiliary seal 24 on the side of the shutter 11 as described above, as shown in FIG. Scattering can be prevented. That is, the shutter 11 and the toner cartridge 2
1 when the toner cartridge 2 is rotated to the operating position.
It is possible to prevent toner contamination in the upper direction of the first opening 21a. Further, the toner scattered in the direction of arrow b is also cleaned when the shutter 11 and the toner cartridge 21 rotate, and is sent into the developing chamber 7b.

Further, in the present embodiment, since the shutter auxiliary seal 24 is disposed on the side of the rotating shutter 11, the peeling of the shutter auxiliary seal 24 is prevented.

Incidentally, the shutter seal 23 and the shutter auxiliary seal 24 are required to have performances such as toner resistance, compression deformation resistance, and surface slipperiness (operability).
In the present embodiment, the shutter seal 23 and the shutter auxiliary seal 24 are composed of two layers, a base layer and a surface layer,
As the base layer, a thickness t = 1.5 mm satisfying the above.
Polon U-32.
3080N (manufactured by Toray Industries, Inc.) was used.

In this embodiment, the shutter auxiliary seal 24 is provided only on the side opposite to the rotation direction of the operating position of the openings 11a, 21a, but it may be provided on both sides of the openings 11a, 21a. Of course.

In this embodiment, the shutter auxiliary seal 24 is sandwiched between the shutter 11 and the shutter seal 2.
3 so that the toner cartridge 21 can be mounted while the toner cartridge 21 is mounted.
The amount of crushing of the shutter seal 23 is constant even during rotation from the detachable position to the working position. Therefore, shutter 1
The position of 1 is kept constant in the radial direction, and the operability of the shutter 11 and the toner cartridge 21 is improved.

Second Embodiment Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the developing device according to the present embodiment, and FIG.
The same elements as those shown in FIG. 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted below.

In this embodiment, a mylar seal 25 having a thickness of about 200 μm is provided in the opening 11a of the shutter 11. The mylar seal 25 is located on the opposite side to the operating position rotation direction of the opening 11a (the shutter auxiliary seal 24).
Side) from the shutter 11 in the direction of the developing container 7a so as to overlap the inner wall of the developing container 7a by about 2 mm.

Thus, according to the present embodiment, the effects obtained in the first embodiment, that is, the prevention of toner scattering at the time of pulling out the opening seal, the rotation and operation of the shutter 11, and the operation of the shutter 11 A further effect can be obtained with respect to the cleaning property of the inner wall of the developing container 7a when rotating from the position to the detaching position.

[0032]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the seal member is provided on the rotatable shutter member side between the shutter member and the developing container. In addition, it is possible to improve the toner sealing property at the operation position, and to prevent peeling of the seal member.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a state in which a developing device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention is detached.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing an operation state of the developing device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view of a copying machine provided with a developing device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a toner cartridge of the developing device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of a toner seal portion of a developing device according to the first embodiment of the present invention and a conventional example.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the developing device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a detached state of a conventional developing device.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a conventional developing device is detached.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 7 developing device 7a developing container 7b developing chamber 7c developing sleeve (developing means) 7d storage chamber 11 shutter (shutter member) 11a opening 21 toner cartridge 21a opening 24 shutter auxiliary seal (seal member) 25 mylar seal (seal member)

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A developing container having a developing means, a developing chamber for supplying a toner agent to the developing means, and a storage chamber for supplying the toner agent to the developing chamber; A removable toner cartridge, having an opening between the developing chamber and the storage chamber,
A shutter member rotatable between the attachment / detachment position and the operation position, wherein the opening portion serves as a toner agent supply port when the shutter member is in the operation position. A developing device, wherein a seal member is provided between the shutter member and the developing container on the side of the rotating shutter member. 2. The developing device according to claim 1, wherein the seal member is disposed at least on a side opposite to an operation position direction of an opening of the shutter member that rotates from a detachment position to an operation position. apparatus. 3. The seal member according to claim 1, wherein the seal member is disposed to face a seal member between the shutter member and the toner cartridge via a shutter member.
Or the developing device according to 2.