JP4751621B2 - Toner recovery tank and image forming apparatus having the same - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a toner collection tank for collecting toner remaining on the surface of a photosensitive member, and an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a facsimile, and a copying machine including the same.

  In general, in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus such as a printer, a facsimile machine, and a copying machine, toner is supplied from a developing device to the surface of a photoconductor as an image carrier on which an electrostatic latent image is formed, and the toner is applied to the surface of the photoconductor. An image is formed. Next, the toner image is transferred to a sheet, the toner image is heated and pressed by a fixing device and fixed to a transfer material, and the sheet that has passed through the fixing device is discharged onto a discharge tray. .

  Further, toner remaining on the surface of the photosensitive member (hereinafter referred to as “waste toner”) without being transferred onto the sheet is removed by a cleaning device, and the removed waste toner is collected in a toner collecting tank and discarded. It is configured.

  Here, generally, when the toner collection tank is filled with waste toner, the toner collection tank is removed from the tank mounting portion of the apparatus main body, and an empty toner collection tank is mounted on the tank mounting portion. That is, generally, a toner tank filled with waste toner is not reused and is discarded together with waste toner, which is a waste of resources.

Therefore, various reusable toner recovery tanks have been proposed in order to effectively use resources. For example, a toner collection tank that collects waste toner and a toner supply tank that supplies new toner to a developing device are integrally formed. The toner collection tank is provided with a removal port for removing the collected waste toner, and the toner collection tank is reused by sucking and removing the waste toner from the removal port and emptying it. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).
JP-A-5-165326 (page 2-3, FIG. 1)

  However, in the above conventional toner collection tank, the removal port provided in the toner collection tank is not designed to be sufficiently large to remove the collected waste toner. In addition, since it is difficult to clean the inside of the toner collection tank, it is insufficient to reuse the toner collection tank.

  Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and is capable of reliably removing the waste toner inside the toner recovery tank and easily cleaning the toner recovery tank. It is an object of the present invention to provide a usable toner recovery tank and an image forming apparatus including the same.

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a main body for storing toner remaining on the surface of the photosensitive member, and a main body provided in the main body for discharging and removing the stored toner. in the toner recovery tank comprising a discharge port, a for the area of the outlet, Ri substantially equal der as the projected area of the main body portion, the body portion than the discharge port as well as adjacent to the outlet A projecting portion projecting to the outside of the main body, an opening / closing member that opens and closes the discharge port by rotating with respect to the main body, and leakage of toner stored in the main body while being attached to the opening / closing member. A leakage preventing member for preventing, and the protruding portion is provided with a protruding portion protruding toward the opening / closing member side, and the protruding portion leaks in the state where the opening / closing member closes the discharge port. Press the prevention member The Rukoto, the leakage preventing member is characterized by elastic deformation.

According to the configuration of the first aspect, since the discharge port is designed to be large enough to remove the collected toner, the toner stored in the main body can be reliably removed. Become. In addition, after the toner is removed, the inside of the main body can be easily cleaned. As a result, the toner collection tank can be reused with a simple configuration, and as a result, resources can be used effectively.
In addition, the toner stored in the main body can be removed with a simple configuration, and the leak prevention member can prevent the gap between the main body and the opening / closing member, so that the main body is filled with toner. Even in such a case, it is possible to prevent the toner from leaking out of the toner collection tank.
Further, since the adhesion between the main body and the opening / closing member is improved, it is possible to reliably prevent the toner from leaking out of the toner collection tank.

The invention described in claim 2 is characterized in that a lock mechanism is provided for locking the rotation of the opening / closing member with respect to the main body when the opening / closing member is closed .

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus comprising the toner recovery tank according to the first or second aspect.
According to the configuration of claim 3, since a structure comprising a toner collecting tank according to claim 1 or claim 2 above, the same as the toner collecting tank according to claim 1 or claim 2 above An effect can be obtained.

  According to the present invention, the toner in the toner recovery tank can be reliably removed, and the toner recovery tank can be easily cleaned. In addition, the toner collection tank can be reused, and as a result, resources can be effectively used.

  Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an overall configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram for explaining an installation position of a toner recovery tank according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 1 includes a sheet feeding unit 2 disposed at a lower portion of the apparatus main body 1a, and a sheet conveying unit 3 disposed on the side and above the sheet feeding unit 2. The image forming unit 4 disposed above the sheet conveying unit 3, the fixing unit 5 disposed on the discharge side of the image forming unit 4, the image forming unit 4, and the fixing unit 5 An image reading unit 6 disposed above is provided.

  The paper feed unit 2 includes a plurality (four in this embodiment) of paper feed cassettes 7 in which paper 9 is stored. The paper 9 is sent from the selected paper feed cassette 7 to the paper transport unit 3, and the paper 9 is surely fed to the paper transport unit 3 one by one. These four paper feed cassettes 7 are configured to be detachable from the apparatus main body 1a.

  The paper 9 fed to the paper transport unit 3 is transported toward the image forming unit 4 via the paper supply path 10. The image forming unit 4 forms a predetermined toner image on the paper 9 by an electrophotographic process, and is a photosensitive member which is an image carrier that is rotatably supported in a predetermined direction (the arrow direction in the drawing). A charging device 12, an exposure device 13, a developing device 14, a transfer device 16, a cleaning device 17, and a static eliminating device 18 are provided around the photoconductor 11 and along the rotation direction of the photoconductor 11.

  The charging device 12 includes a charging wire to which a high voltage is applied. By applying a predetermined potential to the surface of the photoconductor 11 by corona discharge from the charging wire, the surface of the photoconductor 11 is uniformly charged. It is done. The exposure device 13 irradiates the photoconductor 11 with light based on the image data of the original read by the image reading unit 6, whereby the surface potential of the photoconductor 11 is selectively attenuated, and this photosensitivity is detected. An electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the body 11. Next, toner is attached to the electrostatic latent image by the developing device 14 to form a toner image on the surface of the photoconductor 11, and the toner image on the surface of the photoconductor 11 is transferred to the photoconductor 11 by the transfer device 16. The image is transferred to a sheet 9 supplied between the apparatus 16 and the apparatus 16.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a toner hopper 15 is attached to the developing device 14, and a toner replenishing tank 22 for replenishing new toner to the developing device 14 is provided to the apparatus main body 1a (that is, the toner). It is provided so as to be detachable (to the hopper 15).

  The sheet 9 on which the toner image is transferred is conveyed from the image forming unit 4 toward the fixing unit 5. The fixing unit 5 is disposed on the downstream side of the image forming unit 4 in the sheet conveyance direction, and the sheet 9 on which the toner image is transferred in the image forming unit 4 includes a heating roller 19 provided in the fixing unit 5, and The toner image is fixed on the sheet 9 by being sandwiched and heated by the pressure roller 20 pressed against the heating roller 19. Next, the sheet 9 on which the image is formed in the fixing unit 5 from the image forming unit 4 is discharged onto the discharge tray 23 via the paper discharge unit 21. On the other hand, the toner (waste toner) remaining on the surface of the photoconductor 11 after the transfer is removed from the photoconductor 11 by the cleaning device 17, and then the removed toner passes through a toner recovery device (not shown). Then, it is collected as waste toner in the toner collection tank 24.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the toner collection tank 24 is on the back surface portion 1b side in the apparatus main body 1a and has a paper discharge portion 21 so as not to obstruct the conveyance of the paper 9. It is configured to be accommodated in a space 25 that is a tank accommodating space provided at a corner portion on the side surface portion 1c side. The toner collection tank 24 is detachably attached to the apparatus main body 1a. When the toner collection tank 24 is attached to the apparatus main body 1a, the toner collection tank 24 is first formed on the side surface 1c, and the apparatus main body 1a. The opening / closing door 26 provided to be openable / closable is opened and attached to the apparatus main body 1a via a toner recovery tank holder (not shown) provided in the space 25.

  Further, the residual charge on the surface of the photoconductor 11 is removed by the static eliminator 18. Then, the photoreceptor 11 is charged again by the charging device 12, and image formation is performed in the same manner.

  Next, the toner collection tank will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the toner collection tank in the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a side view showing the appearance of the toner collection tank in the embodiment of the present invention. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the toner recovery tank according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a partially enlarged view of FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the toner collection tank 24 is formed in a casing shape (substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape), and includes a main body portion 27 for storing waste toner therein. Are provided with a discharge port 28 for discharging and removing the stored waste toner downward, and a protrusion 29 adjacent to the discharge port 28. Further, the toner recovery tank 24 includes a lid portion 31 that is an opening / closing member that covers the discharge port 28 and that is rotatable with respect to the main body portion 27 around the fulcrum 30. The shape of the main body 27 may be any shape as long as the waste toner can be stored therein, and various modifications can be made.

  In the present embodiment, a lock mechanism 32 for locking the lid 31 to the main body 27 when the lid 31 is closed with respect to the main body 27 is employed. As shown in FIG. 3, the locking mechanism 32 includes a locking member 33 provided on the main body 27 side and a locking groove 34 provided on the lid 31 side. Then, when the lid portion 31 is closed with respect to the main body portion 27, as shown in FIG. 3, the locking member 33 is caught in the locking groove 34, so that the locking member 33 is locked in the locking groove 34, As a result, the lid portion 31 is locked at a predetermined position, and the discharge port 28 is covered by the lid portion 31.

  Next, an operation when removing the waste toner collected in the toner collection tank 24 will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the toner collection tank in the embodiment of the present invention, and is a diagram showing the toner collection tank when discarding the waste toner collected in the toner collection tank. FIG. 8 is a side view showing the appearance of the toner recovery tank shown in FIG.

  When the toner collection tank 24 is filled with waste toner, first, the opening / closing door 26 is opened, and the toner collection tank 24 accommodated in the space 25 of the apparatus main body 1a is taken out from the apparatus main body 1a. Next, the locked state of the locking member 33 and the locking groove 34 is released. Then, as shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, the lid portion 31 provided so as to be rotatable with respect to the main body portion 27 pivots around the fulcrum 30 in the direction of the arrow A in the figure, and the lid portion 31. Therefore, the waste toner stored in the main body 27 can be removed via the discharge port 28.

  In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the area of the discharge port 28 is the projected area of the main body 27 (that is, the area of the upper surface 35 of the main body 27 and the protrusion 29. The sum of the areas of the upper surface portion 36) is substantially the same. Therefore, as compared with the prior art, the discharge port 28 is designed to be large enough to remove the collected waste toner, so that the waste toner inside the toner collection tank 24 can be reliably removed. become. In addition, after the waste toner is removed, the inside of the toner collection tank 24 (that is, the inside of the main body 27) can be easily cleaned. As a result, the toner collection tank 24 can be reused with a simple configuration, and as a result, resources can be used effectively.

  After cleaning the toner collection tank 24, when the toner collection tank 24 is attached to the apparatus main body 1a and reused, first, the lid 31 is centered on the fulcrum 30 in the direction opposite to the arrow A in the figure. The lid 31 is closed with respect to the main body 27 by rotating in the direction. Then, as shown in FIG. 3, when the locking member 33 is hooked in the locking groove 34, the locking member 33 is locked in the locking groove 34. As a result, the lid portion 31 is locked in a predetermined position. The discharge port 28 is covered by the lid portion 31. Next, the toner collection tank 24 is attached to the apparatus main body 1a via a toner collection tank holder (not shown) provided in the space 25 described above, is accommodated in the space 25, and the door 26 is closed. Thus, the mounting operation of the toner recovery tank 24 to the apparatus main body 1a is completed.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, a leakage prevention member 37 for preventing leakage of waste toner stored in the main body 27 is provided between the main body 27 and the lid 31. Yes. That is, the leakage prevention member 37 is interposed between the main body 27 and the lid 31 in a state where the lid 31 is closed with respect to the main body 27 and the discharge port 28 is covered with the lid 31. . As this leakage prevention member 37, for example, an elastic member made of an elastic body such as rubber or sponge can be used. In this embodiment, the leakage prevention member 37 is attached to the lid portion 31 side. .

  With this configuration, the waste toner stored in the main body 27 can be removed with a simple configuration, and the leakage prevention member 37 can prevent the gap between the main body 27 and the lid 31 from being generated. Even when the main body 27 is filled with waste toner, it is possible to prevent the waste toner from leaking out of the toner collection tank 24. As a result, it is possible to avoid the disadvantage that the inside of the apparatus main body 1a is contaminated with waste toner.

  Further, at this time, as shown in FIG. 6, a pressing member for pressing the leakage preventing member 37 toward the lid 31 on the main body 27 side (that is, the protruding portion 29 provided on the main body 27). A certain protrusion 38 is provided. And the pressing force by the projection part 38 can be adjusted by changing the height of the projection part 38 suitably. With such a configuration, the adhesion between the main body 27 and the lid 31 is improved, so that it is possible to reliably prevent waste toner from leaking out of the toner collection tank 24.

  Although the leakage preventing member 37 is provided on the lid portion 31 side and the protruding portion 38 is provided on the main body portion 27 side, the leakage preventing member 37 is provided on the main body portion 27 side, and the protruding portion 38 is provided on the lid portion 31. It is good also as a structure which is provided in the side and presses the leak prevention member 37 to the direction of the main-body part 27 side by the said projection part 38. FIG.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the area of the discharge port 28 is configured to be substantially the same as the projected area of the main body 27. Therefore, the waste toner stored in the main body 27 is removed. It can be reliably removed. In addition, after the waste toner is removed, the inside of the main body 27 can be easily cleaned. As a result, the toner collection tank 24 can be reused with a simple configuration, and as a result, resources can be used effectively.

  Further, a lid 31 provided so as to be openable and closable with respect to the main body 27 and a leakage preventing member 37 for preventing leakage of waste toner stored in the main body 27 are provided. And in the state which the cover part 31 was closed with respect to the main-body part 27 and the discharge port 28 was covered with the cover part 31, it has the structure which the leak prevention member 37 interposes between the main-body part 27 and the cover part 31. . Accordingly, the waste toner stored in the main body 27 can be removed with a simple configuration, and the leakage prevention member 37 can prevent the gap between the main body 27 and the lid 31 from being generated. Even when the toner 27 is filled with toner, it is possible to prevent the waste toner from leaking out of the toner recovery tank 24.

  Moreover, it is set as the structure which provides the projection part 38 for pressing the leak prevention member 37 in the direction of the main-body part 27 (or cover part 31). Accordingly, in the state where the lid portion 31 is closed with respect to the main body portion 27 and the discharge port 28 is covered with the lid portion 31, the adhesion between the main body portion 27 and the lid portion 31 is improved. Thus, it is possible to reliably prevent the toner from leaking.

  In addition, the said embodiment is only an explanatory example, The scope of the present invention is not limited to the said embodiment, Based on the meaning of this invention, the shape, dimension, material, etc. of each structural article are changed. It is possible that they are not excluded from the scope of the present invention.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, a copying machine is shown as an example of the image forming apparatus, but it goes without saying that other image forming apparatuses such as a facsimile and a printer may be used.

  Examples of the use of the present invention include a toner collection tank for collecting toner remaining on the surface of a photoreceptor, and an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a facsimile machine, and a copying machine including the same.

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an overall configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram for explaining an installation position of a toner recovery tank in the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating an appearance of a toner collection tank according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a side view illustrating an appearance of a toner recovery tank according to an embodiment of the present invention. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a toner recovery tank according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. It is the elements on larger scale of FIG. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an appearance of a toner collection tank in an embodiment of the present invention, and is a diagram showing a toner collection tank when discarding waste toner collected in the toner collection tank. FIG. 8 is a side view showing an appearance of the toner recovery tank shown in FIG. 7.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Image forming apparatus, 1a ... Apparatus main body, 2 ... Paper feeding part, 3 ... Paper conveyance part, 4 ... Image forming part, 5 ... Fixing part, 6 ... Image reading part, 7 ... Paper feed cassette, 9 ... Paper, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Photoconductor, 12 ... Charging device, 13 ... Exposure device, 14 ... Developing device, 15 ... Toner hopper, 16 ... Transfer device, 17 ... Cleaning device, 18 ... Static elimination device, 19 ... Heating roller, 20 ... Pressure roller , 21 ... paper discharge unit, 22 ... toner supply tank, 23 ... discharge tray, 24 ... toner collection tank, 25 ... space, 26 ... open / close door, 27 ... main body part, 28 ... discharge port, 29 ... protrusion, 30 ... Support point, 31 ... Lid, 32 ... Lock mechanism, 33 ... Locking member, 34 ... Locking groove, 37 ... Leak prevention member, 38 ... Projection

Claims (3)

In a toner recovery tank comprising: a main body portion for storing toner remaining on the surface of the photoreceptor; and a discharge port provided in the main body portion for discharging and removing the stored toner.
Area of the outlet, Ri substantially equal der as the projected area of the main body portion,
The main body includes a projecting portion that is adjacent to the discharge port and protrudes to the outside of the main body from the discharge port, and an opening / closing member that opens and closes the discharge port by rotating with respect to the main body. A leakage preventing member attached to the opening / closing member and preventing leakage of toner stored in the main body,
The protrusion is provided with a protrusion that protrudes toward the opening / closing member.
In the state where the opening / closing member closes the discharge port, the leakage preventing member is elastically deformed by the protrusion pressing the leakage preventing member . The toner recovery tank according to claim 1, further comprising: a lock mechanism that locks rotation of the opening / closing member with respect to the main body when the opening / closing member is closed .   An image forming apparatus comprising the toner recovery tank according to claim 1.

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