JPH09134075A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent failure caused by the missetting of a developer and toner and a difference from a set value in a supplied toner quantity, with a small variation, at the time of making a unit for a toner supplying device, etc., common by making a developer container nonreplaceable with the toner supplying device so as to enable only the use of the developer and the toner met each other. SOLUTION: The toner supplying device 8 consists of a toner storage container 14, a receiving base 18 and a container holding part 18a. The toner supplying device 8 constituted in such a manner that the toner storage container 14 is attached to the receiving base 18, in the direction of the arrow B can be attached/detached in the direction of the arrow C, on a guide plate 41 fixed on the side plates 31 and 32 of a device main body side, together with a developing unit 10. The developer container 6 and the toner supplying device 8 are formed to such a shape that the developer container 6 is fitted to a part of the toner supplying device 8, in accordance with the developer and the kind of toner suitable for the developer and such a nonreplaceable part is formed that a part of the joining part of the developer container 6 and the toner supplying device 8 is fitted.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus of the type used in copying machines, printers, facsimiles, etc., in which at least one of a developer container and a toner replenishing device is attachable to and detachable from a developing device. It is about.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Standards of conventional developing devices and toner replenishing devices have been set depending on the difference in copy speed or each model such as digital machine and analog machine. Recently, the demands of users have been diversified, and accordingly, diversification of machines has been inevitably required. However, an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a facsimile, for example, JP-A-62-62
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 283365, in a device in which a toner replenishing device and a developing device are separately configured and a unit such as a toner replenishing device is detachable, the product development period is shortened. There is a tendency to standardize each unit in order to reduce the manufacturing cost.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional image forming apparatus, when they are used in common, the polarity of the toner to be developed differs due to the difference in the image forming process. However, there is a problem in that Further, there is a problem that the toner supply amount per unit time may differ due to the difference in copy speed even if the toner polarity is the same. Therefore, the present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, and when a unit such as a toner replenishing device is made common, a small change amount causes a mistake in setting the developer and toner and a difference in toner supply amount. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus having a low cost and a simple structure capable of preventing a defect.

[0004]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a developing device that uses a two-component developer, a developer container that is detachable from the developing device, and stores the developer. In an image forming apparatus which is detachable from a developing device and includes a toner replenishing device that replenishes toner to the developing device from a toner replenishing port, the developer container and the toner replenishing device are compatible with the developer and the developer. It is incompatible so that only toner that can be used can be used.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the contact portion between the developer container and the toner replenishing device, an incompatible portion is formed which fits with each other only when they can be used as a set. , The developer container and the toner replenishing device are
Those that can be used as a set have the same exterior color. In claim 4, the toner replenishing device, or the toner replenishing port of the developing device is provided with a shutter having a protrusion protruding to the outside. Further, the developer container is provided with a mountain-shaped shutter guide portion for engaging the protrusion and opening the shutter when the toner replenishing device is attached to the developing device. When the shutter is opened, the shutter can be used only when the shutter is opened. According to claim 5, the shutter can be used by combining the developer container and the toner replenishing device according to a copy speed. That is, the opening amount when mounted on the developing device is different.

[0006]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1, a developing unit 10 which is a developing device according to the present invention includes a developing roller 2 that conveys a developer capable of forming an electrostatic latent image on a photosensitive drum 1 as a visible image, and supplies the developing roller 2 with the developer. In addition, the stirring member 3 for mixing the replenished toner and the developer, the charging roller 5 for charging the photosensitive drum 1, the toner concentration control sensor 4 for detecting the shortage of toner in the developing unit 10, and the developing unit 10 The developer container 6 is detachable and is provided separately from the developer container 6 and the developing unit 10 for pulling out the seal member and supplying the developer in the container into the developing unit 10 when the user uses it. The toner replenishing device 8 replenishes the toner when the toner is running out.

The container holding portion 18a of the toner replenishing device 8
The cover 2 is provided with an opening 18b for discharging the toner discharged from the toner storage container 14 into the cover 29 by the pushing member 17 attached to the container holding member 16.
A spring 3 whose one end is fixed to the cover 29 side in 9
A shutter support member 35 is arranged which is biased by the arrow 5a in the direction of arrow A and has a bendable shutter elastic member 35b attached to the lower side. A projecting portion 35c is formed on the shutter support member 35, and the projecting portion 35c is arranged so as to project from the elongated hole 29b of the cover 29 toward the developer container 6 side. At the bottom of the cover 29, a shutter guide path 29c for guiding the shutter elastic member 35b and an opening 29a which is a toner supply port for introducing toner into the developing unit 10 are provided.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the toner replenishing device 8 comprises a toner storage container 14, a receiving base 18, and a container holding portion 18a. The toner storage container 14 is mounted on the receiving base 18 in the direction of arrow B. The toner replenishing device 8 is attachable / detachable in the direction of arrow C on a guide plate 41 fixed to the side plates 31 and 32 on the apparatus main body side together with the developing unit 10. The developer container 6 and the toner replenishing device 8 are
The developer container 6 and a part of the toner replenishing device 8 are fitted together according to the type of the developer and the toner suitable for the developer. For example, as shown in FIG. The incompatible part 11 is formed so that a part of the joining part of the replenishing device 8 fits.

As shown in FIG. 4, in the developer container 6A of another type and the toner replenishing device 8A, an incompatible portion 12 of a concave-convex type is formed. The types of the developer container and the toner replenishing device are 6 and 8 and 6A and 8A can be joined, but 6 and 8A and 6A and 8 cannot be joined because the incompatible parts do not match. In this case, the user operation surface that is a part of the exterior of the developer container 6 (or 6A) and the user operation surface that is a part of the exterior of the toner replenishing device 8 (or 8A) have the same color. Before joining, the developer container and the toner replenishing device which can be joined may be clearly distinguished by the difference in color. These can be used especially in a color image forming apparatus.

Next, the structure according to claim 4 will be described. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 7, a mountain-shaped shutter guide portion 6a is provided on a part of the surface of the developer container 6 facing the toner supply device 8. In this configuration, when the toner replenishing device 8 is attached or detached, the protrusion 35c is engaged with the shutter guide portion 6a, and when the toner replenishing device 8 moves, the protrusion 35c moves up and down along the shutter guide portion 6a. As a result, the shutter elastic member 35b is closed by the opening 2.
9a is opened and closed.

When the toner replenishing device 8 is attached to the developing unit 10, the projection 35c of the shutter support member 35 is
The state shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, that is, the shutter guide portion 6a
Shutter elastic member 35b at the lower position of the mountain shape
Moves from the state in which the opening 29a of the cover 29 is closed to the position shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. That is, the protrusion 35c is
The shutter elastic member 35b is located at the top of the mountain shape of the shutter guide portion 6a, moves along the shutter guide path 29c, and opens the opening 29a of the cover 29. As a result, when the toner replenishing device 8 is attached to the developing unit 10, the toner is not supplied to the developing unit 10.
The toner is supplied to the developing unit 10 through the opening 18b and the opening 29a by the rotating toner pushing member 17. In this case, the position of the apex of the shutter guide portion 6a of the developer container 6 and the type of the shutter support member 35 are specified according to the types of developer and toner. As shown in FIG. 9, the height difference H of the mountain shape of the shutter guide portion 6a between the type A and the type B is H.
And the combination according to the height of the mountain shape, that is, the shutter guide portion 6a and the shutter support member 35, and the shutter guide portion 6a 'and the shutter support member 35' are set. Therefore, only the same type of developer container 6 and toner replenishing device 8 can be installed. If different types are used, the toner replenishing device 8 cannot be mounted and the opening 29a cannot be opened.

Next, an embodiment based on claim 5 will be described. As shown in FIG. 10, the shutter support member 35
A toner replenishment control mylar 35d made of an elastic material for covering the opening 18b is attached to the opening 18b and the opening 2b according to the amount of upward movement of the shutter supporting member 35.
The opening width l of 9a is changed. For example, if the developing unit 10 having a relatively high copy speed is type C and the developing unit having a relatively low copy speed is type D, type C and type D
As for the replenishment amount per unit time, as shown in FIG. 12, it can be seen that the amount of toner consumed per unit time is large in the case of the type C having a relatively high copy speed. However, in the figure, the copy speed of type C is 20 sheets of A4 paper per minute, and the copy speed of type D is 1 sheet of A4 paper per minute.
It is the speed to copy 0 sheets. Therefore, in the case of the type C having a relatively high copy speed, as shown in FIG. 10, when the shutter support member 35 is located at the apex, the opening 18 is formed.
When the developer container 6 and the toner replenishing device 8 having the width a and the width l of the opening 29a are used and the copying speed is comparatively slow, the shutter support member 35 is used as shown in FIG.
Is located at the apex, the opening 18a width (1/2) h,
The developer container 6 and the toner replenishing device 8 having the width (1/2) l of the opening 29a are used.

[0013]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the developer container and the toner replenishing device are incompatible so that only the developer and the toner compatible therewith can be used. It is possible to prevent each unit from being set in the developing device by mistakenly combining the developer and the toner when the units are shared. Also, due to the small amount of change that only the developer container and the toner replenishing device are changed,
The developing device can be shared.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the developer container and the toner replenishing device have a contacting portion with each other, an incompatible portion is formed which is fitted to each other when they can be used as a set.
If the incompatible parts do not match, it cannot be set, and it is possible to prevent the wrong toner from being set. According to a third aspect of the present invention, the developer container and the toner replenishing device have the same exterior color so that they can be used as a set. Therefore, particularly in a color image forming apparatus, the developer container and the toner replenishing device are provided. By combining the devices by color, you can easily find the set mistakes.

According to claim 4, the toner replenishing device,
Alternatively, at the toner supply port of the developing device, a shutter having a protruding portion protruding to the outside is provided, or at the developer container,
When the toner replenishing device is attached to the developing device, each has a mountain-shaped shutter guide portion that engages with the protrusion to open the shutter. When the toner replenishing device is attached to the developing device, the shutter is released. Since it can be used only when the paper is opened, it is possible to prevent abnormal images, carrier adhesion and the like caused by an incompatible developer and toner combination. When the shutter does not open, either the developer container or the toner replenishing device may be replaced.
It can be easily handled. According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the shutter has a different opening amount when the toner replenishing device is attached to the developing device due to the combination of the developer container and the toner replenishing device depending on the copy speed. It is not necessary to replace the toner replenishing device, and only the developer container needs to be replaced when the toner replenishing amount per unit time changes due to the difference in speed. Further, it is not necessary to control or change the rotational speed of the drive motor, and the unit can be made common with few changes.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state in which the toner supply device is pulled out in the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an incompatible portion of a developer container and a toner replenishing device.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing another type of embodiment of the incompatible portion of the developer container and the toner replenishing device.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing the relationship between the shutter guide portion and the projection portion when the shutter is closed.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the toner replenishing device showing a shutter closed state.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing the relationship between the shutter guide portion and the projection portion when the shutter is open.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the toner replenishing device showing an open state of the shutter.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing A type and B type of the shutter support member.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship between a shutter support member of a type having a high copy speed and a shutter guide portion.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship between a shutter support member of a type having a slow copy speed and a shutter guide portion.

FIG. 12 is a characteristic diagram showing a relationship between a toner supply amount and time.

[Explanation of symbols]

 6 developer storage container 6a shutter guide part 8 toner replenishing device 10 developing device 11 non-fitting part 29a toner replenishing port 35b shutter 35c projecting part

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A developing device that uses a two-component developer, a developer container that is removable from the developing device and contains the developer, and a toner supply port that is removable from the developing device. In the image forming apparatus provided with a toner replenishing device for replenishing toner from the above, the developer container and the toner replenishing device are incompatible so that only the developer and toner compatible therewith can be used. An image forming apparatus characterized by. 2. A non-interchangeable portion is formed at a contact portion of the developer container and the toner replenishing device so that they are fitted to each other only when they can be used as a set. Image forming device. 3. The developer container and the toner replenishing device,
2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein those that can be used as a set have the same exterior color. 4. A toner replenishing device, or a shutter having a protrusion protruding to the outside at the toner replenishing port of the developing device, or when the toner replenishing device is attached to the developer container in the developing device. Mountain-shaped shutter guides for engaging the protrusions to open the shutter are provided, and when the toner replenishing device is attached to the developing device, it can be used only when the shutter is opened. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1. 5. The shutter has a different opening amount when the toner replenishing device is attached to the developing device, depending on a combination of the developer container and the toner replenishing device depending on a copy speed. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4.