JP2614952B2 - Electrophotographic equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electrophotographic apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 5 shows a conventional example. 50 is the main body of the electrophotographic apparatus. The main body 50 includes a lower main body 51.
And the upper body 52 are connected by a support shaft 4 so as to be vertically rotatable. A discharge tray 53 is formed on the upper surface of the upper main body 52. The rotatable photoconductor 5 and various process units are provided inside the main body 50. The process units include a charging unit 6, a developing unit 54, a transfer unit 9, a fixing unit 10, and a cleaning unit 1.
1, a static elimination unit 12 and the like. A paper discharge roller 15 is provided in a paper discharge path 14 from the fixing section 10 to the paper discharge receiver 53.
Are provided rotatably. Further, on one side of the main body 50, a paper discharge tray 16 for receiving the paper discharged from the fixing unit 9 is provided. A switching plate (not shown) for selectively guiding the fixed sheet to either the paper discharge tray 16 or the paper discharge receiver 53 is provided below the paper discharge passage 14 so as to be vertically rotatable. Is provided. Further, the main body 1 is provided with a paper feed roller 18 facing the front end of the paper feed cassette 17. The toner container 5 of the developing unit 54
A toner cartridge 56 is mounted on the upper surface opening of the toner cartridge 5.

Accordingly, in the process of rotating the photoconductor 5, the photoconductor 5 is charged by applying a charge to the outer periphery of the photoconductor 5 from the charging unit 6. The exposed portion 7
When an optical signal corresponding to the image information is scanned from, an electrostatic latent image is formed, and this electrostatic latent image is developed by the developing unit. Then, the developed image on the photoconductor 5 is transferred onto the paper pulled out from the paper feed cassette 17 by the paper feed roller 18 to the transfer unit 9.
Is transferred by the fixing unit 10 while applying heat and pressure to the sheet, and the transferred image transferred to the sheet is fixed. The fixed sheet is discharged to the discharge tray 53 or the discharge tray 16. In addition, during jam clearance and maintenance, the periphery of the photoconductor 5 and the paper transport path are opened by rotating the upper body 52 upward about the support shaft 4.

[0004]

In order to replenish toner to the developing section 54, the toner cartridge 56 is replaced. However, conventionally, the upper body 52 must be opened every time toner is replenished. It is troublesome. In addition, when the upper main body 52 is opened, the fixing unit 10 that emits high heat, the charging unit 6 to which high voltage is applied, and the like are exposed, and there is a risk of touching them. Further, since the toner cartridge 56 is covered with the upper main body 52, the toner cartridge 56 is positioned at an end of the upper main body 52 so as not to interfere with the trajectory 58 of the free rotation end 57 of the upper main body 52 about the support shaft 4. The end face of the toner cartridge 56 must be located inside the predetermined dimension a. As a result, the capacity of the toner cartridge 56 cannot be increased, the amount of toner to be replenished at one time is small, and the frequency of toner replenishment must be increased. When the volume of the toner cartridge 56 is increased, the size of the main body 50 is increased in proportion to this, and there is a problem that a large installation space is required.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electrophotographic apparatus in which a plurality of process units including a photosensitive member and a developing unit are provided on a main body formed by connecting a lower main body and an upper main body to be vertically rotatable. In the apparatus, a toner cartridge is mounted on an upper surface opening of the toner container of the developing unit, and an opening for projecting the toner cartridge is formed in the upper main body.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, a paper discharge receiver is formed on the upper surface of the main body, and a paper discharge surface continuous with the paper discharge receiver is formed on the upper surface of the toner cartridge.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, at least a part of the toner cartridge is formed of a transparent member.

[0008]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, by projecting the toner cartridge from the opening of the upper main body, the volume of the toner cartridge can be increased to increase the amount of toner replenished at one time. In addition, the attachment / detachment operation of the toner cartridge to / from the toner container can be easily performed with the upper body kept closed.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, a sheet can be stably supported with a large area without increasing the area of the upper surface of the main body.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, at least a part of the toner cartridge is formed of a transparent member.
The remaining amount of toner can be known without using a toner sensor.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The same parts as those described in FIG. 5 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted. 1 is a main body. The main body 1 is formed by rotatably connecting a lower main body 2 and an upper main body 3 with a support shaft 4. A discharge tray 13 is formed on the upper surface of the upper body 3. The developing unit 8 facing the photoconductor 5 has a toner container 19, and a toner cartridge 20 is mounted on an upper surface opening of the toner container 19. A paper discharge surface 21 is formed on the upper surface of the toner cartridge 20.

As shown in FIG. 1, the upper body 3 has
A paper discharge port 22 opened toward an end of the paper discharge tray 13,
An opening 23 for projecting the toner cartridge 20 is formed. A plurality of ribs 24 are formed on the paper discharge surface 21 of the toner cartridge 20 along the paper discharge direction, and by forming concave portions 25 on both sides, a handle 26 located between these concave portions 25 is formed. Is formed. Further, a part of the toner cartridge 20 is formed by the transparent member 27, and the other part is formed by a material of the same color and the same quality as the main body 1. Further, a lower opening surface of the toner cartridge 20 is sealed with a film 33. This film 33 is folded back into a U-shape and extends outward. Therefore, by pulling the end of the film 33 extended outward in the horizontal direction,
The film 33 is peeled off from the opening on the lower surface of the toner cartridge 20, and the toner inside is replenished to the toner container 19.

Further, the toner cartridge 20 is provided with a stirrer 28 for stirring the toner inside.
As shown in FIG. 3, the stirrer 28 includes a pipe 29 and a rubber valve 30 connected to the base of the pipe 29. One end of the pipe 29 is closed by a stopper 31 Held, pipe 2
The other end 9 is held on the other side wall of the toner cartridge 20 together with the rubber valve 30. Also, pipe 29
Are formed with a plurality of through holes 32 facing downward. Further, a rubber valve 3 is provided on a side wall of the toner cartridge 20.
A concave portion 34 for positioning 0 is formed.

In such a configuration, by projecting the toner cartridge 20 from the opening 23 of the upper main body 3, the volume of the toner cartridge 20 can be increased and the amount of toner replenished at one time can be increased. In addition, the attachment / detachment operation of the toner cartridge 20 to / from the toner container 19 can be easily performed while the upper main body 3 is kept closed. Moreover, since the handle 26 is formed on the upper surface of the toner cartridge 20 without impairing the conveyance of the sheet, the handling of the toner cartridge 20 can be facilitated.

Further, during use, the rubber valve 30 is intermittently compressed by the gripping force, so that
2, the compressed air can be sent out, and the toner in the toner container 19 can be stirred by the compressed air. At this time,
By reducing the opening diameter of the through hole 32 closer to the rubber valve 30, the air pressure from each through hole 32 can be made substantially equal to prevent the toner from partially hardening. Further, the diffusion state and the remaining amount of the toner inside the transparent member 27 are determined.
Can be observed through. Accordingly, the cost can be reduced by omitting the toner sensor for detecting the remaining amount of the toner. In addition, erroneous detection due to a failure of the toner sensor can be avoided. Further, it is possible to prevent the toner from leaking from the gap of the attachment portion of the toner sensor as in the related art.

At the time of printing, the paper can be stably supported with a large area by the paper receiving tray 13 formed on the upper surface of the upper main body 3 and the paper discharging surface 21 formed on the upper surface of the toner cartridge 20. At this time, the paper discharge surface 21
By chamfering the edge on the side of the paper discharge receiver 13 of
The paper can be smoothly slid from the paper discharge tray 13 to the paper discharge surface 21.

Further, since the rubber valve 30 is accommodated in the concave portion 34 formed on the side wall of the toner cartridge 20, the toner container 1 is used for jam clearance and maintenance.
9 with the toner cartridge 20 attached,
The upper body 3 can be opened and closed about the support shaft 4 without causing interference with the rubber valve 30.

Since the toner cartridge 20 projects from the opening 23 of the upper main body 3, as shown in FIG.
The volume can be further increased without being restricted by the size of the upper body 3. In this case, the upper surface of the toner cartridge 20 is located at a position higher than the paper discharge tray 13 of the upper main body 3, but the discharged paper is smoothly slid by forming the inclined surface 35 on the upper surface. be able to.

[0019]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electrophotographic apparatus in which a plurality of process units including a photosensitive member and a developing unit are provided on a main body formed by connecting a lower main body and an upper main body so as to be vertically rotatable. A toner cartridge is mounted on the upper opening of the toner container of the developing unit, and an opening for projecting the toner cartridge is formed in the upper main body. By projecting the toner cartridge from the opening of the upper main body, the volume of the toner cartridge is increased. Can be increased to increase the amount of toner replenished at one time, thereby reducing the frequency of toner replenishment, reducing the size of the main body, and maintaining the upper main body in a closed state. This has the effect that the toner cartridge can be easily attached to and detached from the container.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, a paper discharge receiver is formed on the upper surface of the main body, and a discharge surface continuous with the paper discharge receiver is formed on the upper surface of the toner cartridge. This has the effect that the paper can be supported in a stable state with a wide area without expanding the paper.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, since at least a part of the toner cartridge is formed of a transparent member in the first or second aspect, the remaining amount of toner can be known without using a toner sensor. It has effects such as cost reduction.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing the internal structure of the main body.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional side view of the toner cartridge.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing a modification of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main body 2 Lower main body 3 Upper main body 5 Photoconductor 6-12 Process unit 13 Paper discharge receiver 19 Toner container 20 Toner cartridge 21 Paper discharge surface 23 Opening 27 Transparent member

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. An electrophotographic apparatus in which a plurality of process units including a photoreceptor and a developing unit are provided in a main body in which a lower main body and an upper main body are rotatably connected to each other, and an upper surface of a toner container of the developing unit. An electrophotographic apparatus, wherein a toner cartridge is mounted in an opening, and an opening for projecting the toner cartridge is formed in the upper main body. 2. The electrophotographic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a discharge tray is formed on an upper surface of the main body, and a discharge surface continuous with the discharge tray is formed on an upper surface of the toner cartridge. 3. The electrophotographic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least a part of the toner cartridge is formed of a transparent member.