JPS60220372A - toner supply device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To suppress scattering of a toner in case of attachment and detachment of a cartridge to supply the uniformly agitated toner by constituting a toner storage vessel with two cylinder bodies and providing a member which turns them relatively and drives an agitating member in the vessel while pressing the vessel. CONSTITUTION:If a toner concentration in a developing device 10 is lowered by repeating the developing operation, a solenoid is energized by the output signal of a toner concentration sensor, and a driving shaft 25 is slid and pressed left through a pressing member 29 to make an aperture 34 of a cover body 33 and an aperture 24 of a holder 20 coincident with each other. Simultaneously, a gear 28 of the driving shaft 25 is engaged with a gear 27 of the driving side to rotate an agitator 35, and the toner in a cartridge 30 is sent into a toner carrying chamber from apertures 32 and 34 through a supply hole 24 while being agitated. This toner is carried to an aperture part 16 in the other end by a carrying screw 15 and is supplied into a developing part.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Technical Field) The present invention relates to a toner supply device in a dry developing device.

(Prior Art) In recent years, cartridges have been used to replenish toner in developing devices that use two-component developers.
As seen in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 56-130776, these cartridges usually have an opening extending along their longitudinal direction in order to uniformly replenish toner. However, there is a problem in that toner scatters from the opening and contaminates the surrounding area.

In addition, as seen in Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 58-80546, in which the toner replenishment section is provided in a part of the longitudinal direction, toner scattering can be suppressed to some extent, but on the other hand, the toner replenishment section and other parts are There is a problem in that there is a difference in the mixing ratio of the toner.

(Objective) The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and the object thereof is to be able to suppress the scattering of toner when it arrives at the cartridge 2, and to produce uniformly agitated toner. An object of the present invention is to provide a new toner replenishing device that can replenish toner.

(Structure) The details of the present invention will be described below based on illustrated embodiments.

The drawing shows an embodiment of the present invention, in which a developing device 1 is equipped with a developing roller 12, a stirring impeller 13, etc.
0 is provided with a hopper 14 equipped with a toner conveying screw 15 that transfers the toner supplied from one end to an opening 16 at the other end. A cartridge holder 20, which will be described later and supported by 18, is disposed.

Reference numeral 30 denotes a toner cartridge that can be detachably attached to the cartridge holder, and a container body 31 having a cylindrical shape with a bottom has a lid 33 rotatably fitted on the open end thereof. By rotating the lid 33, the container body 3
The opening 32 of the container body 31 and the opening 34 of the lid body 33 are configured to match, and a coil-shaped agitator 35 is rotatably disposed within the container body 31, and a coupling provided at one end of the coil-shaped agitator 35 is configured to match. 36 protrudes to the outside via the lid body 33.

On the other hand, the car I ridge holder 20, which is located on one side of the developing device 10 and receives the toner cartridge 30 described above, is
1 It has a boat shape with a semicircular arc cross section that receives the cartridge 30 from one side and holds it slidably in the axial direction,
A cylindrical holding part 21 that holds the lid 33 of the cartridge 30 is integrally provided at one end, and the holding part 21 holds the bottom of the cartridge 30 and holds the bottom part of the cartridge 30 at the other end.
The dish-shaped receiver 22 that presses toward the side is always connected to the coil spring 2.
3 is slidably mounted in a biased state, and further,
A replenishment port 24 is provided at the bottom of the holder 20 at a position that matches the openings 32 and 34 only when the cartridge 30 is pressed toward the receiver 22 by a drive shaft 25, which will be described later. It communicates with the bottom of. Reference numeral 25 denotes a drive shaft for agitating the toner that is slidably and rotatably supported at the center of the end plate of the holding part 21, and a coupling 26 that is coupled to the coupling 36 of the agitator 35 is attached to the inner end of the drive shaft. A gear 28 that meshes with a gear 27 on the driving side is provided at the outer end, and when pressed by a pressing piece 29 coupled to a solenoid (not shown),
Cartridge 70 is inserted into receiver 2 to align openings 32, 34 of cartridge 30 with replenishment port 24 of hopper 20.
It is configured to simultaneously engage with the gear 27 on the driving side and transmit driving force to the agitator 35 when pressed to the second side.

Note that the reference numeral 11 in FIG. 1 indicates a photosensitive drum.

In the embodiment described above, in order to attach the toner cartridge 30 to the holder 20, first open the opening 3 of the container body 31.
2 and the opening 34 of the lid 33 do not match, and then the bottom of the cartridge 30 presses the receiver 22 backward against the coil spring 23 to fit the lid 33 into the holding part 21.

Next, with the cartridge 30 placed on the holder 20, the container main body 31 and the lid body 33 are set relative to each other by 1/4 to 1
/2 turns to bring each opening 32.34 into alignment, but at this time each opening 32.34 is still blocked by the bottom of holder 20 as shown in FIG.

When the toner concentration in the developing device 10 decreases as the developing operation is repeated, the solenoid is energized by an output signal from a toner concentration sensor (not shown), and the drive shaft 25 is moved to the left via the suppressing member 29 as shown in FIG. The opening 34 of the lid body 33 and the opening 24 of the holter 20 are aligned, and at the same time, the gear 28 of the drive shaft 25 is engaged with the gear 27 on the drive side to rotate the agitator 35, and the inside of the cartridge 30 is rotated. While stirring the toner, the toner is sequentially opened 32 and 34 through the supply port 24.
The toner is fed into the toner transport chamber via the toner transport chamber, further transported from there to the opening 16 at the other end by the transport screw 15, and then supplied into the developing section.

Note that the toner conveying screw 15 continues to rotate while the developing device is in operation, and the new toner supplied from the opening 16 is further stirred with the carrier by the stirring impeller 13 inside, and then transferred to the developing roller. 12 and subjected to development.

(Effects) As described above, according to the present invention, the toner storage container can be
The structure is made up of two cylindrical bodies that can be rotated relative to each other to open and close an opening provided in a portion of the axis, which completely prevents toner from scattering when the container is attached or detached. . In addition, the holder that holds this container has an opening that fits only when the container is pressed to one side, and a member that drives the stirring member inside the container while pressing the container, so when replenishing toner. While the toner in the container is being conveyed to the opening, the toner that has been uniformly stirred is supplied into the developing device, thereby making it possible to produce a high-quality image.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an example of a developing device equipped with the device of the present invention, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are toner supplying devices according to an embodiment of the present invention, showing the toner cartridge installation state and toner supply state. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the device. 10...Developing bag R14...Hopper 15...
・Toner conveyance screw 20...Cartridge holder 24...Replenishment port 25...Drive shaft 30...
Toner cartridge 35...Agitator Applicant Ricoh Co., Ltd. Agent Patent attorney Keiji Nishikawa

Claims (1)

[Claims] Two rotatable toner agitating members are provided inside and are rotatably fitted to each other and open/close an opening provided in a part in the axial direction.
a toner storage container consisting of two bottomed cylindrical bodies; a member that presses the toner storage container in one direction and transmits rotational driving force to the toner stirring member; and a member that aligns with the opening of the toner storage container in the suppressed position. A toner supply device comprising a holding member having an opening communicating with the inside of a developing device and holding the toner storage container slidably in an axial direction.