JPH04166865A - Toner supply device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To securely prevent toner from soiling a hand and a machine inside by moving a needle protrusion by operation from the outside and piercing the protrusion into a sealing member which is provided at the opening of a toner container to make a hole, when the toner is supplied from the toner container. CONSTITUTION:By pushing a button 6 for a seal opening means 5 provided at the upper part of a toner container 1, a needle protrusion 20 installed at the end of a shaft 12 is pierced into a sealing member 10 to make a hole. As the sealing member 10 is stretched with expansive material at some tension, the hole is made at one place and then is enlarged, through which the toner in the toner container 1 is supplied inside a developing equipment 22. That is, the sealing member 10 provided at the opening 8 of the toner container 1 is set free by operation from the outside without pulling the sealing member 10 by hand in toner refill, to perform toner refill. It is thus possible to prevent toner from soiling a hand or a device inside.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a toner supply device, and particularly to electrophotography in which a latent image on an electrostatic latent image carrier is visualized by a developer on a developer carrier. The present invention relates to a toner supply device used in the device.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, in a process unit in which image forming means such as an electrostatic latent image carrier, a developer carrier (hereinafter referred to as a developing sleeve), and a charger are housed in a housing, in the case of an integrated process unit, for example, as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, by separating the toner container 40 and the housing 43 housing the developing sleeve 42 when not in use by a sealing member 41, toner can be prevented from leaking outside during transportation or storage, and the toner can be prevented from leaking to the outside during use. The configuration was such that the user sometimes pulled out the seal member 41 by hand. (For example, see Japanese Patent Publication No. 63-9237, etc.). Further, in the case where the toner container is separated from the process unit so that toner can be refilled, the opening 52 of the toner container 50 filled with toner is sealed with a sealing member 51, as shown in FIG. Keep it
It is generally known that when replenishing toner, a user attaches a toner container 50 to a process unit and manually pulls out a seal member 51 (see, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 35062/1983).

Furthermore, even in electrophotographic apparatuses that do not use a process unit, it is generally known that a user manually pulls out a sealing member when replenishing toner.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, in any of the above conventional examples, there is a problem in that when the sealing member is pulled out by hand, the toner adhering to the sealing member may stain the hands or the inside of the machine.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and eliminates the need to manually pull out the sealing member.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a toner supply device which eliminates the risk of staining hands or the inside of a machine with toner, keeps unused toner from moisture, and facilitates toner replenishment.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a toner supply device for use in an electrophotographic device, which has an opening, the opening is closed with a sealing member having elasticity, and toner is stored inside the device. a toner container attached to the toner container, and an unsealing device having a needle-like protrusion provided on either the toner container or the electrophotographic device, and opening the seal member by piercing the protrusion into the seal member by an operation from the outside. It is structured as if it were equipped with means.

[Effect]

In the present invention having the above configuration, the needle-like protrusion of the unsealing means is moved by an external operation, and the protrusion is pierced into the sealing member provided at the opening of the toner container to make a hole, and the sealing member has an expandable and contractible The hole formed by the toner is enlarged, and the toner contained in the toner container is supplied to the electrophotographic apparatus. [Example] Hereinafter, an example embodying the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

1 to 4 show a first embodiment in which a toner container 1 itself is provided with an unsealing means 5, and the toner container 1 is a box-shaped housing in which toner (not shown) is accommodated. 2 and is provided with an opening 8,
Two protruding stripes 4 are formed on both sides of the opening 8. Further, the opening 8 is closed by fixing a sealing member 10 made of a stretchable material such as a membrane-like rubber sheet around the opening 8 under a certain tension. This prevents the toner contained in the toner container 1 from leaking outside when not in use.
Moisture absorption is prevented.

Further, an opening means 5 is provided approximately in the center of the upper part of the toner container 1.
The opening device 5 includes a push button 6 exposed to the outside, a shaft 12 that is integrated with the push button 6 and extends to the inside of the housing 2, and a shaft 12 that is attached to the tip of the shaft 12. The shaft 12 is mainly composed of a needle-shaped projection 20 disposed near the seal member 10 and a spring 16 that biases the shaft 12 in a direction away from the seal member 10.

The shaft 12 is disposed so as to pass through a guide 14 that projects inward from the upper wall 2a of the housing 2.
A sealing material 13 such as urethane rubber is provided in the gap between the guide portion 2 and the guide portion 14 to prevent toner from leaking. Further, the spring 16 is disposed such that both ends thereof are hooked onto the convex portion 12a of the shaft 12 and the convex portion 14a of the guide portion 14, respectively.

With this configuration, when the push button 6 is pressed, the shaft 12 and, by extension, the needle-like protrusion 20 are moved downward against the elastic force of the spring 16, and the needle-like protrusion 2
A hole is made by piercing approximately the center of the sealing member 10.

Next, the operation of the toner supply device of the present invention using the above-mentioned toner container 1 will be explained.

First, as shown in FIG. 3, the toner container 1 is attached to the developing device 22, which is a process unit that includes a developing sleeve 24 and a charging means (not shown), while being slid from its longitudinal direction. The toner container 1 is mounted by fitting the protruding strip 4 of the toner container 1 into a recess 25 provided in the developing device 22 and sliding it. FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing the state in which the toner container 1 is attached to the developing device 22.

Next, by pressing the push button 6 of the unsealing means 5 provided at the upper part of the toner container 1, the needle-shaped protrusion 20 attached to the tip of the shaft 12 is pierced into the sealing member 10 to make a hole. Here, since the sealing member 10 is made of a stretchable material stretched with a certain amount of tension, when a hole is made in one place, the hole widens, and the toner in the toner container 1 flows through the hole into the inside of the developing device 22. is supplied to

When the toner runs out, the toner container 1 is removed, a new toner container 1 is installed, and the same process is performed.

In this way, instead of manually pulling the sealing member when replenishing toner, the sealing member 10 provided at the opening 8 of the toner container 1 can be released by an external operation to replenish toner manually. Alternatively, it is possible to prevent the inside of the device from being contaminated with toner.

5 and 6 show another embodiment in which an unsealing means 5' is provided on the side of the developing device 22'.

That is, a shaft 26 is disposed in the opening 27 of the developing device 22', and is rotatable along the long direction of the developing device 22'. is provided with a knob 30 exposed to the outside for rotating the shaft 26. The toner container 1' used has the same structure as the toner container 1 described above except that the opening means 5 is not provided.

In this embodiment, the toner container 1' is similar to the above embodiment.
After attaching the toner to the developing device 22, by rotating the knob 30 by hand, the needle-like protrusion 28 attached to the approximate center of the shaft 26 is attached to the sealing member 10 provided at the opening 8 of the toner container 1'. It is designed to make a hole.

Note that the unsealing device 5' configured to rotate the shaft 26 in this manner may be attached to the toner container 1' side.

Further, the present invention can also be used in an integrated process unit in which the toner container cannot be separated from the developing device as a process unit. In this case, the main purpose of the seal member 10 is to prevent moisture from toner when not in use.

In the embodiments described above, the toner container was attached to a process unit provided in an electrophotographic apparatus, and either the toner container or the process unit was provided with an opening means. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and for example, a toner container may be directly attached to an electrophotographic apparatus that does not use a developing device as a process unit as described above, and opening means may be attached to the toner container or the electrophotographic apparatus. It may be provided. Even in this case, the toner container can be made detachable.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As is clear from the detailed description above, according to the present invention, when supplying toner from a toner container, this can be done by external operation without manually pulling out the sealing member. It is possible to reliably prevent the inside of the machine from getting dirty, and it is also possible to prevent unused toner from moisture and to simplify toner replenishment.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 to 4 show a first embodiment embodying the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a toner container, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the toner container, and FIG. 3 is a toner container. FIG. 4 is a perspective view when the container is attached to the developing device, FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view when the toner container is attached to the developing device, FIGS. 5 and 6 show other embodiments of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the developing device, FIGS. 7 and 8 show a conventional example, FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional front view, FIG. 8(a) is a plan view, and FIG. ) is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A, and FIG. 3(c) is a side view. 1... Toner container, 5, 5'... Opening means, 6...
・Push button, 8... Opening, 10... Seal member, 12° 26... Shaft, 20.28... Needle-shaped projection,
22...Developing device, 24...Developing sleeve, 30...
·Knob. Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 5 22' (C) 5°

Claims (1)

[Claims] A toner supply device used in an electrophotographic apparatus includes a toner container having an opening, the opening being closed with a stretchable sealing member, containing toner, and attached to the electrophotographic apparatus; A toner characterized by comprising: an unsealing means having a protrusion, provided on either the toner container or the electrophotographic device, and for piercing the protrusion into the sealing member and unsealing the sealing member by an operation from the outside. Feeding device.