JP2008191679A - Development kit - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided is a development kit that invalidates or prevents improper refilling of toner after it has been consumed and there is no remaining toner and the life of the development kit is exhausted.
Two screws 98 and 99 are used for fixing a side cover 97 disposed on a side surface of a development kit 71 having a toner filling port sealed with a sealing cap 100. The screws 98 and 99 are formed of one-way screws that can be screwed only in the screwing direction. Therefore, the side cover 97 once fixed to the developing kit 71 with the screws 98 and 99 cannot be removed from the developing kit 71 unless the screw fixing portion is destroyed. As a result, the toner filling port sealed with the sealing cap 100 of the development kit 71 remains closed from the outside by the side cover 97, and inappropriate refilling of the toner into the development kit 71 is prevented.
[Selection] Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming unit that invalidates illegal refilling of toner after the end of its life.

Conventionally, there is an electrophotographic image forming apparatus (printer apparatus or copier) that forms an image using toner.
FIG. 6 is an external perspective view of a conventional printer device. The printer apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes an apparatus main body upper part 2 and an apparatus main body lower part 3. An operation panel 4 is disposed on the apparatus main body upper part 2, and a printing paper discharge unit 5 is formed on the upper surface. Has been. The operation panel 4 includes a key operation unit 4a provided with a plurality of keys, and a display unit 4b including a liquid crystal display that performs display based on display information output from a CPU of a control unit described later. . The printer 1 is connected to a host device such as a personal computer by a cable (not shown).

  Printing paper prepared by the image forming unit is output to the paper discharge unit 5 by the rotation of the paper discharge roller pair 6 and is sequentially stacked on the paper discharge unit 5. Further, a front cover 7 that can be opened and closed is provided on the front surface of the lower part 3 of the apparatus main body. The front cover 7 is opened at the time of jam processing or maintenance, for example.

  In general, a main part of an image forming unit of such a printer apparatus includes a photosensitive member kit centering on a photosensitive member that forms an electrostatic latent image, and the electrostatic latent image is visualized (developed) with toner. An image forming unit including a developing kit is detachably disposed. The printer apparatus 1 shown in the figure shows an example of a so-called tandem type color printer apparatus in which such image forming units are arranged in a multistage manner.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of the printer apparatus 1 described above. The printer apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes an image forming unit 8, a duplex printing transport unit 9, and a paper feeding unit 10.
The image forming unit 8 includes four image forming units 11 to 14 arranged side by side, and magenta (M), cyan (C), yellow (Y), black ( Bk). Among these, the magenta (M), cyan (C), and yellow (Y) image forming units 11 to 13 are used when color printing is performed by subtractive color mixing, and the black (Bk) image forming unit 14 is When printing a character or a monochrome image, it is sometimes used for emphasizing a dark part of a color image.

  Each of the image forming units 11 to 14 includes a photoconductor kit C1 and a developing kit C2 (see the image forming unit 11 for magenta (M)), and a developer ( The rest of the configuration is the same except that the color of the toner is different. Accordingly, the image forming unit 13 for yellow (Y) will be taken up as a representative and the configuration of the image forming unit will be described below.

  In the one photoreceptor kit C1, a photoreceptor drum 15, a cleaner 16, a charger 17 and the like are assembled. A print head 18 is disposed on the main body side above the photoconductor kit C1. In the other development kit C2, the developing roller 19 is disposed in the lower opening, and the toner 21 is accommodated therein.

  The peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 15 is made of, for example, an organic photoconductive material. In the vicinity of the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 15, the cleaning blade of the cleaner 16, the charger 17, the print head 18, and the developing roller 19 described above. In addition, a transfer unit 23 is disposed in sequence with the upper circulation surface of the conveyance belt 22 and the lower surface of the photosensitive drum 15 across the upper circulation surface of the conveyance belt 22.

  The photosensitive drum 15 rotates in a clockwise direction indicated by an arrow in the figure, and first, a charge is applied from the charger 17, and the peripheral surface thereof is uniformly initialized and charged. Then, by the optical writing based on the printing information from the print head 18, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the peripherally charged peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 15 by the initialization charging potential and the potential changed by the optical writing. .

  The electrostatic latent image is visualized (developed) by the toner 21 transferred by the developing roller 19 to form a toner image. The toner image formed on the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 15 is conveyed as the photosensitive drum 15 rotates in the clockwise direction, reaches the position of the transfer unit 23, and is conveyed by the conveying belt 22 to be photosensitive. Immediately below the body drum 15 is transferred to a sheet that moves in the direction of arrow a.

  The paper feeding unit 10 includes a paper feeding cassette 24, a paper feeding roller 25 having a half-moon-shaped cross section, a paper feeding path 26, a standby roller pair 27, the above-described conveyance belt 22, and the like. Further, a rotating paper feed tray 28, a paper feed roller 29, and the like used for printing on special size paper or special paper quality are also provided.

The conveyor belt 22 is circulated between the driving roller 31 and the driven roller 32, and the upper moving surface thereof contacts the lower surface of each photosensitive drum 15 of the four image forming units 11-14. It is stretched to touch.
The paper feed cassette 24 contains paper P. The sheet P is taken out by one rotation of the sheet feeding roller 25 and is fed to the standby roller pair 27 through the sheet feeding path 6. Alternatively, the paper placed on the rotating paper feed tray 28 is fed to the standby roller pair 27 by the rotation of the paper feed roller 29.

  The standby roller pair 27 stops and waits for the paper P until the feeding timing arrives, and the leading edge of the toner image on the photosensitive drum 15 of the magenta (M) image forming unit 11 is on the surface facing the conveyance belt 22. The paper P is fed to the transport belt 22 so that the printing start position of the paper P reaches the opposite surface at the timing of rotational transport.

  While the paper P is being transported to the transport belt 22, first, the magenta (M) toner image on the photosensitive drum 15 of the image forming unit 11 is transferred onto the paper surface by the transfer device 23, and then the photosensitive material of the image forming unit 12. The cyan (C) toner image on the body drum 15 is transferred to the paper surface by the transfer device 23, and the yellow (Y) toner image on the photosensitive drum 15 of the image forming unit 13 is further transferred to the paper surface by the transfer device 23. The In some cases, a black (Bk) toner image on the photosensitive drum 15 of the image forming unit 14 is also transferred to the paper surface by the transfer unit 23.

  Thus, the paper P on which the toner images of a predetermined color are superimposed and transferred by the respective transfer units 23 while being conveyed according to the movement of the conveyance belt 22 is peeled off from the conveyance belt 22 and carried into the fixing unit 33. The fixing unit 33 includes a heat fixing roller 34, a pressure roller 35, an oil application roller 36, and a carry-out roller pair 37. The paper P is heat-fixed with a plurality of color toner images on the paper surface by heat and pressure while being conveyed while being sandwiched between the heat fixing roller 34 and the pressure roller 35. The oil application roller 36 has a function of applying releasable oil to the peripheral surface of the heat fixing roller 34 before the start of the fixing operation and removing toner remaining after being transferred to the heat fixing roller 34 after the completion of fixing. .

  The sheet P on which the toner image is heat-fixed and carried out from the fixing unit 33 is left by the left discharge roller pair 39 when the switching flap 38 is rotated upward as indicated by the solid line in the figure. When the toner image fixing surface is discharged from the discharge port 40 to the outside, and when the switching flap 38 is rotated downward as indicated by a broken line in the figure, the upper discharge roller pair is guided upward. 41 is taken over and is discharged onto the discharge unit 5 with the toner image fixing surface down by the discharge roller pair 6 shown in FIG.

  The duplex printing transport unit 9 is configured to be detachable from the apparatus main body, and is a unit that is mounted when the printer device 1 performs duplex printing. The duplex printing transport unit 9 has a plurality of reverse transport roller pairs 42a to 42e disposed therein.

  When performing double-sided printing on the paper P, the paper P is temporarily discharged upward halfway by the switching flap 38. For example, when the trailing edge of the paper reaches the upper paper discharge roller pair 41, the conveyance of the paper P is stopped. Further, the paper P is conveyed in the reverse direction. By this control, the paper P is carried into the paper reverse transport path of the duplex printing transport unit 9, and the paper P is sent in the reverse direction by the reverse transport roller pairs 42 a to 42 e, and is reversed via the paper feed path 26. The toner image is fed to the standby roller pair 27 with one toner image fixing surface down. Thereafter, as described above, multicolor printing is repeated, and double-sided printing is completed.

  FIG. 8 is a circuit block diagram of the printer apparatus 1 configured and operating as described above. As shown in FIG. 8, the circuit block includes an interface controller (hereinafter referred to as “I / F controller”) 43, a printer controller 45, a printer printing unit 46, a CPU 47, a ROM 48, an operation panel 49, and an EEPROM 50.

  A system program is stored in the ROM 48, and the CPU 47 performs processing by controlling each unit in accordance with the system program. That is, the I / F controller 43 converts print data supplied from the host device into bitmap data and develops it in the frame memory 44. In the frame memory 44, a storage area is set for each of magenta (M), cyan (C), yellow (Y), and black (Bk), and data of each color is developed in the corresponding area.

  The data developed in the frame memory 44 is output to the printer controller 45 and is output from the printer controller 45 to the printer printing unit 46. The magenta (M), cyan (C), yellow (Y), and black (Bk) data output to the printer printing unit 46 is sent to the corresponding print head 18 shown in FIG. Supplied.

  By the way, the photoconductor kit C1 is replaced with a new photoconductor kit C1 when the photoconductor drum 15 reaches the end of its life, and the used photoconductor kit C1 is discarded (or new if it is collected in the manufacturing factory). In some cases, the regular photoconductor drum 15 or other damaged member is replaced with a new member for reproduction.

  The developing kit C2 is also designed so that the developing roller 19 and other built-in members reach the end of their life when the toner 21 in the interior is almost exhausted. Therefore, when the toner 21 is exhausted, it is replaced with a new developing kit C2. The development kit C2 that has been used is discarded (or, if it is collected in the manufacturing factory, it may be disassembled and regenerated in combination with a usable member and a new member).

Such a unit is normally configured to be replaceable on the user side. Therefore, the developer kit C2 and the like that have finished using the toner are replaced with a new developer kit C2 by the user.
However, if a paper jam occurs at an unrecoverable location, or if there is a problem such as poor printing even though there is still toner, the user will request a repair from the printer manufacturer or printer dealer over the phone. Is issued. Based on this request, a serviceman or salesman at the printer manufacturer or printer store goes to the user, first detects the occurrence of the problem, and repairs the problem.

  At this time, if the toner is still present but the printing state is bad and no trouble is found in any place other than the development kit C2, it is considered to be the responsibility of the manufacturer of the development kit C2, and either spontaneously or by the user In some cases, a service such as a free replacement of the development kit C2 may be performed according to a request from the customer.

  However, recently, there have been companies that disassemble development kits that are configured as consumables that are discarded when they are used as described above, are filled with toner, are reassembled and regenerated, and are resold. Hereinafter, a method for refilling toner by a reseller will be described.

  FIG. 9A is a perspective view of the conventional image forming units 11 to 14 described above, and FIG. 9B is a view seen through the inside of the developing kit C2. As shown in FIG. 7B, a waste toner collection bag 51 for collecting waste toner removed from the surface of the photosensitive drum 15 by the cleaner 16 shown in FIG. A waste toner receiving pipe 52 that receives waste toner while supporting the collection bag 51, a recovery pipe 53 that forms a waste toner recovery path, and the recovery pipe 53 are disposed within the end of the waste toner receiving pipe 52. A conveying screw 54 that extends and feeds waste toner into the waste toner collection bag 51; a drive shaft 55 that rotates by engaging with an end of the conveying screw 54 in the waste toner receiving pipe 52; Below these, the toner 21 and the developing roller 19 shown in FIG. 14 are disposed.

  In the printing (printing) process described above, among the toner 21 formed on the photosensitive drum 15 and transferred to the paper P, there is toner that still remains on the photosensitive drum 15 after the transfer. Such toner is scraped off from the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 15 by the cleaning blade of the cleaner 16 to become waste toner, and falls into the casing of the cleaner 16.

  The waste toner is transported by a waste toner discharge pipe (not shown) connected to the casing of the cleaner 16, and this transport is taken over by a recovery path including a recovery pipe 53 and a transport screw 54 on the developing kit C2. The waste toner receiving pipe 52 is reached. The waste toner that has reached the waste toner receiving pipe 52 falls and accumulates in the waste toner collection bag 51 from the discharge port formed at least at one central portion of the waste toner receiving pipe 52.

  FIG. 10A is a diagram showing a configuration state of the waste toner collecting bag 51, a waste toner receiving pipe 52 that supports the waste toner collecting bag 51, and a waste toner collecting unit formed by combining the conveying screw 54 with the waste toner collecting pipe 51. FIG. 4B is a diagram showing an engaged state between the drive shaft 55 and the conveying screw 54 in the waste toner receiving pipe 52. In FIGS. 9A and 9B, the same components as those shown in FIG. 9B are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 9B.

  As shown in FIG. 5A, the drive shaft 55 that drives the conveying screw 54 is located on the upper side of the toner container 56 that is the central device of the development kit C2 and located at one end of the waste toner receiving pipe 52. It is supported by a bearing 57 provided. A gear 58 is connected and fixed to the end of the drive shaft 55 supported by the bearing 57. A packing 59 is interposed between the coupling portion between the drive shaft 55 and the gear 58 and the bearing 57, thereby sealing the inside of the waste toner receiving pipe 52 from the outside.

  The drive shaft 55 is connected to the conveying screw 54 at the approximate center of the waste toner receiving pipe 52. When the gear 58 is driven by a driving system such as a motor (not shown), the conveying screw 54 rotates via the driving shaft 55 as indicated by an arrow d in FIG. Be started.

  The waste toner 21 volume in the waste toner collection bag 51 shown in FIG. 5A is conveyed as indicated by arrows b and c in FIG. The waste toner receiving pipe 52 is discharged from the approximate center through the outlet hole, and is accumulated from the approximate center of the waste toner collection bag 51. As the collection of the waste toner 21 proceeds, the accumulation in the waste toner collection bag gradually spreads from the center to both sides.

In this manner, the normal toner 21 shown in FIG. 7 below the toner container 56 is consumed and the upper part of the toner container 56 is emptied, while the waste toner collection bag 51 is inflated with the collected waste toner 21. .
Eventually, as described above, the life of the image forming unit is exhausted when all the normal toner 21 is consumed and lost. After the reseller collects and disassembles this, the waste toner 21 in the waste toner collection bag 51 of the toner container 56 is removed, and the upper space closed by the expanded waste toner collection bag 51 is recovered. Fill with genuine toner. The above disassembly and toner filling procedure will be described below.

  FIG. 11A is a diagram showing a state in which the image forming unit 11 (or 12 to 14) is separated into the development kit C2 and the photoreceptor kit C1, and FIG. 11B is the development of FIG. It is the figure which looked at kit C2 from the arrow e direction. As shown in FIG. 5A, the development kit C2 includes a toner container 56 and side covers 60 (60a, 60b) that cover both sides of the toner container 56. Inside the toner container 56, in addition to the developing roller 19, toner supply A roller, a stirring member, a thickness regulating blade, and a waste toner collecting unit shown in FIG. 10 are arranged. A photosensitive kit support frame 60-1 (60-1a, 60-1b) is provided on the lower side of the side cover 60 so as to be integral with the side cover 60 (in the drawing, obliquely in the lower left direction). The width is determined by the front stay 61 that engages the portion.

  In separation of the development kit C2 and the photoconductor kit C1, the fixing kit 62 provided on the photoconductor kit support frame 60-1a of one side cover 60a of the development kit C2 is raised to raise the photoconductor kit C1. Can be easily removed from the development kit C2 as indicated by an arrow f in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 4B, three screws 63, 64, and 65 are sequentially screwed into the side surface of the side cover 60 from the upper part to the lower part. The upper two screws 63 and 64 fix the toner container 56, and the lower one screw 65 fixes the front stay 61. If these three screws 63, 64 and 65 are removed by turning them in the opposite direction of screwing using a Phillips screwdriver, the entire developing kit C2 is almost disassembled.

  FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing a state where the side covers 60 a and 60 b are separated from the toner container 56 and the front stay 61 by removing the three screws 63, 64 and 65 as described above. In the figure, the same components as those shown in FIGS. 9 to 11 are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIGS. 9 to 11. As shown in the figure, the gear 58 of the drive shaft 55 shown in FIG. 10A is disposed on the upper side surface on the left side of the toner container 56, and the toner cap 66 is disposed slightly below and in the vicinity thereof. Has been.

  At the time of factory assembly, the toner container 56 is formed by combining two members divided into an upper cover 56a and a toner hopper 56b at the center and joining them together by melting. It cannot be disassembled. At the time of factory assembly, after the upper cover 56a and the toner hopper 56b are joined together as described above, the toner is filled into the toner hopper 56b from the engagement port of the toner cap 66, and the toner cap 66 is fitted into the engagement port. Thus, the image forming units 11 to 14 are completed by assembling in the reverse order as shown in FIGS.

In this way, when disassembled as shown in FIG. 12, the toner can be easily refilled by the reseller thereafter.
FIGS. 13A and 13B are diagrams illustrating a procedure before the toner refilling. FIGS. 9A and 9B show a method of taking out the waste toner 21 shown in FIG. 10A from the waste toner collection bag 51. FIG. 10A and 10B, the same components as those shown in FIG. 10 are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG. As shown by an arrow g in FIG. 5A, first, the recovery pipe 53 fitted to the waste toner receiving port 52-1, which is the end opening of the waste toner receiving pipe 52, is removed. As a result, the conveying screw 54 exposed to the outside is held by a hand and pressed so as not to rotate and pulled outward as indicated by an arrow h in FIG. When rotated in the direction opposite to the direction, the drive shaft 55 rotates in the direction opposite to the drive direction.

  As shown in FIG. 10B, the engagement between the drive shaft 55 and the conveying screw 54 is merely locked so that it does not come off when the drive shaft 55 rotates in the drive direction. Is easily disengaged when it rotates in the direction opposite to the driving direction. When the conveying screw 54 is pressed against the drive shaft 55, even if the engagement is disengaged, the engagement is performed once the drive shaft 55 starts to rotate in the driving direction. As described above, when the conveying screw 54 is pulled outward, the conveying screw 54 that is disengaged from the drive shaft 55 can be easily pulled out from the waste toner receiving pipe 52.

  Then, in order to extract the waste toner 21 in the waste toner collection bag 51 described above, as shown in FIG. 5B, the waste screw receiving port 52-1 of the waste toner receiving pipe 52 from which the conveying screw 54 has been once extracted is provided. A suction member 67 such as a vacuum cleaner is attached, and suction is performed with a predetermined suction force. In this case, air leaks from the other end portion of the waste toner receiving pipe 52, so that even if suction is performed as in this method, the pressure is not extremely reduced. Further, since the waste toner 21 is powder and light, it can be easily sucked into a vacuum cleaner or the like by this method. Thus, the waste toner collection bag 51 that is full of the waste toner 21 is emptied and regenerated.

  FIGS. 14A, 14B, and 14C are diagrams illustrating a procedure subsequent to toner refilling. FIG. 6A shows a cross section of the toner cap 66 portion of the toner container 56 shown in FIG. The toner cap 66 is adhered to the toner filling port of the toner container 56 so that it cannot be easily removed so that unauthorized toner filling cannot be performed.

  However, as shown in FIG. 5B, the reseller opens a hole using the drill 68 while keeping the toner cap 66 that cannot be easily removed. Then, toner is filled from the opened hole. After the toner is filled, as shown in FIG. 5C, a cap 69 that has been formed in advance so as to coincide with the diameter j of the hole opened by the drill 68 is fitted and fixed.

  Usually, the toner is composed of a toner resin and various additives, and the resin composition and additive composition are optimally formulated so as to match the characteristics of the company's own image forming apparatus. For example, as an additive, silica fine powder is added for the purpose of improving characteristics, and the fine particle size and addition amount affect the image quality.

  On the other hand, in the case of an illegal toner that is not a genuine toner, although the toner is considered to be a similar toner to some extent by the analysis of the genuine toner, the prescription is not a little different. As such, when using consumables regenerated with toner filled by resellers such as those described above that do not match the manufacturer's genuine products, due to differences in resin composition and additives, for example, Development roller scratches due to the agglomerated silica or silica itself is coated on the developing roller, resulting in deterioration of the developing roller characteristics, and the quality of the formed image is remarkably lowered, or toner scattering, fixing roller contamination, etc. There was a high possibility of causing a problem that adversely affects the image forming apparatus main body.

  In addition, the waste toner collection bag does not collect only the toner used in the development kit, but also includes toner transferred from the paper side onto which the color toner is superimposed and transferred to the photosensitive drum during color printing. . In other words, the proportion of the toner in the color of the other developing kit mixed as waste toner increases as the developing kit is located downstream in the paper transport direction. That is, the waste toner is often mixed in color.

  As described above, the waste toner collection bag is not replaced with a new one, but is simply sucked and taken out at a position slightly away from the waste toner collection bag. Rather, it is not uncommon for some of the waste toner to scatter into the toner container due to such suction. The scattered mixed color waste toner and the newly filled resale toner mix with each other, and there is a problem that it is difficult to reproduce the normal color during color printing.

  When such a failure occurs, a repair request is issued as described above, and a serviceman or salesman goes to the user to inspect the occurrence state of the failure. However, since the development kit itself is a genuine product and not a counterfeit product, it is not known from the appearance whether it is a recycled product.

Whether or not the toner inside is a toner filled by a reseller is not something that a serviceman or salesman can immediately determine at the repair site, take it back to the company and ask the company's laboratory, etc. I don't know unless I check it.
However, when such troubles with the filling toner by the reseller frequently occur, the number of the above-mentioned free replacement services increases, and the dissatisfaction from the service person and the sales person increases.

  In addition, even if the replaced developer kit toner is found to be a refilled product by the reseller, the problem that occurred is due to the resold developer kit or the image forming apparatus main body side. It becomes very difficult to judge whether it is a malfunction.

  As described above, if the cause of the failure cannot be clearly specified, the responsibility for the occurrence of the failure is not only ambiguous, but the generated failure cannot be used for improvement or improvement of the apparatus. If the device cannot be improved or improved, similar problems may occur frequently in the future.

  In such a case, as a result, it is often the case that the user misidentifies that the problem is not caused by the recycled consumable unit (development kit in the above example) but caused by the image forming apparatus main body side. There is a problem that it leads to the image down of the forming equipment manufacturer.

  An object of the present invention is to develop a development kit that invalidates or prevents inappropriate refilling of toner after the internal toner is consumed and the remaining amount of toner is exhausted and the life of the development kit is exhausted. Is to provide.

The construction of the developing kit according to the present invention will be described below.
A developing kit according to the first aspect of the present invention is a developing kit having at least a toner container, a cover member covering a surface of the toner container provided with a toner filling port, and a screw receiving hole of the cover member. And a screw that is screwed into the surface to fix the cover member to the surface and cannot be rotated in the extraction direction.

  For example, as described in claim 2, the screw includes a groove that engages with a minus driver in the head, and the groove engages with the minus driver by rotation of the minus driver in the screwing direction of the screw. The cylinder is configured so as to be disengaged from the minus driver by rotation of the minus driver in the direction in which the screw is pulled out. An external screw having a body, a hole provided in the center of the bottom, and a thread formed on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body, and a screw that protrudes outside through the hole in the bottom of the external screw An inner screw having a crest portion, a head portion of the outer screw remaining in the cylindrical body, and a C-ring engagement groove formed around a peripheral surface between the head portion and the screw thread portion; The inner screw on the outer surface of the bottom of the outer screw. A C-ring that fits into the C-ring engaging portion, and the external screw is inserted by a dedicated driver that fits into a gap of a predetermined shape formed between the cylindrical wall of the external screw and the head of the internal screw. The screw and the inner screw rotate at the same time, the outer screw is screwed into the screw receiving hole of the cover member, and the inner screw is screwed into the surface.

  According to the first or second embodiment of the present invention, the set screw of the cover that covers the surface having the toner filling port of the development kit is used so that the screw rotates in the screwing direction but does not rotate in the extraction direction. This prevents the cover covering the toner filling port from being removed, so that inappropriate refilling of toner can be prevented.

(Embodiment 1)
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a side cross-section of an image forming unit using the developing kit in the first embodiment. An image forming unit 70 shown in the figure is an image forming unit that is detachably attached to an image forming apparatus having an internal structure similar to that of the printer apparatus 1 shown in FIGS. The image forming unit 70 shown in FIG. 1 is a side sectional view seen from the opposite side of the drawing, taking the case of FIG. 7 as an example.

As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming unit 70 is configured by integrating a developing kit 71 and a photoreceptor kit 72.
The toner container of one development kit 71 is composed of two parts, an upper cover 73 and a lower toner hopper 74 that are divided vertically from the center, and these two parts are bonded together in the center.

  In the upper cover 73, a waste toner collection bag 75 having the same configuration as described in FIGS. 9B and 10 and a waste toner receiving pipe 76 that supports the bag are described. A drive shaft 77 and a conveying screw 78 different from the configurations described in FIGS. 9B and 10 are arranged. The waste toner 79 accumulates in the waste toner collection bag 75 as it is used.

  A developing roller 81 is disposed in the lower opening of the toner hopper 74, and a doctor blade 82 is in sliding contact with the upper inner peripheral surface of the developing roller 81. The supply roller 83 is in pressure contact. Above these, the toner 79 in a state of being slightly reduced by use after being filled is retained. A stirring member 84 is disposed so as to be buried in the toner 79.

A side cover, which will be described later, is provided on both side surfaces of the developing kit 71 facing the front side in the figure, and a front stay 85 is fixed by screwing to the tip of the lower projecting portion of the side cover. .
Similar to the one shown in FIG. 11A, the photoconductor kit 72 is separable from the developing kit 71. The photoconductor drum 72 has a cleaning unit 88 and a unit cover 89 integrated with the unit casing 87 around the photoconductor drum 86. A supported charging brush 91 is disposed in sliding contact with the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 86. A cleaning blade 92 and a waste toner carrying pipe 93 are disposed in the cleaning unit 88. The cleaning blade 92 has its tip slidably contacted with the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 86 and scrapes and removes the residual toner on the photosensitive drum 86 as waste toner, and the waste toner carry-out pipe 93 is scraped off. The waste toner is delivered to the conveyance pipe on the development kit 71 side.

  A drum cover 94 is rotatably disposed on the unit casing 87. The drum cover 94 rotates downward to protect the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 86 exposed to the outside when the photosensitive kit 72 is removed from the developing kit 71 as shown in FIG. .

  Further, a print head engagement groove 95 into which the tip of the print head is fitted is formed at a position corresponding to the upper portion of the photosensitive drum 86 of the unit cover 89. The photoconductor kit 72 is positioned by supporting the drum shaft 96 of the photoconductor drum 86 by the bearing of the lower projecting portion of the side cover of the image forming unit 70, and is assembled and integrated with the developing kit 71 as a whole. A forming unit 70 is configured.

The operations related to image formation by the image forming unit 70 and an image forming apparatus (not shown) to which the image forming unit 70 is attached are exactly the same as the operations related to image formation by the printer apparatus 1 described in FIG.
FIG. 2A is a view showing side covers disposed on both side surfaces of the image forming unit 70, and FIG. 2B is a view showing an upper cover 73 and a toner of the developing kit 71 with the side covers removed. 4 is a view showing one side surface of a toner container including a hopper 74. FIG.

  A screw 98 and 99 having a special structure for fixing to the toner container shown in FIG. 5B of the developing kit 71 is attached to the side cover 97 shown in FIG. Further, as shown in FIG. 2B, a toner cap sealing cap 100 is attached to the upper cover 73 of the toner container.

  FIG. 3A is a cross-sectional view of the main part of the developing kit in the first embodiment, and FIGS. 3B to 3D show the structure of a screw used for fixing the side cover. FIG. As shown in FIG. 2A, the two screws 98 and 99 shown in FIG. 2A are fixed to the side cover 97 which is arranged and fixed on both side surfaces of the developing kit 71. Is used. These screws 98 and 99 are one-way screws that are effective for screwing only in the screwing direction.

  FIG. 3 (b) is a side view showing only the screw 98 (or 99, hereinafter the same) taken out and enlarged, and FIG. 3 (c) shows the head in the direction of the arrow s in FIG. 3 (b). FIG. 4D is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A in FIG. The screw 98 shown in FIGS. 4B to 4D is formed with a slot 135 for a minus driver, but the groove of the groove 135 is effective against torsion (rotation of the tip) of the minus driver. The contact surface 136 with the driver is formed only from the central cylindrical notch 137 to the end of the screw 98 in a direction that works in the clockwise direction that is the screw 98 screwing direction. An inclined surface 138 is formed in the groove mountain up to the end portion in the direction that works in the counterclockwise direction that is the extraction direction.

  As a result, the screw 98 can be screwed in using a flat-blade screwdriver, but once screwed and tightened, the tip of the flat-blade screwdriver is not grooved even if the screw 98 is screwed in the extraction direction, that is, counterclockwise. And the screw 98 cannot be turned in the extracting direction.

  That is, the side cover 97 once fixed to the developing kit 71 with the screw 98 cannot be removed from the developing kit 71 unless the screw fixing portion is destroyed. As a result, the toner filling port sealed by the sealing cap 100 shown in FIG. 2B of the developing kit 71 remains closed from the outside by the side cover 97, and improper re-use of toner to the developing kit 71 is performed. Filling can be prevented.

(Embodiment 2)
FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 4C are views showing the structure of a screw used for fixing the side cover of the developing kit in the second embodiment. The figure (a) has shown the top view on the upper side, the side view was shown on the bottom, the figure (b) has shown sectional drawing, and the figure (c) has shown the exploded view.

  As shown in FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 5C, the screw 139 includes an external screw 140, an internal screw 141, and a C-ring 142. The external screw 140 has a cylindrical body 143 that is open at the top and has a bottom at the bottom, a hole 144 provided in the center of the bottom of the cylindrical body 143, and a thread 145 formed on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body 143. And have.

  The other inner screw 141 includes a screw thread portion 146 that protrudes outside through the hole 144 at the bottom of the outer screw 140, a head portion 147 that remains inside the cylindrical body 143 of the outer screw 140, and the head portion And a C-ring engaging groove 148 formed around the circumferential surface between the threaded portion 147 and the threaded portion 146.

The C ring 142 is fitted into the C ring engaging groove 148 of the inner screw 141 on the outer surface 149 of the bottom of the outer screw 140.
In this assembled shape, the screw 139 has a special predetermined shape between the inner wall of the cylindrical body 143 of the outer screw 140 and the head 147 of the inner screw 141, as shown in FIGS. The gap 150 is formed.

  FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the usage of the screw 139 as seen from above the side cover. First, the screw 139 is inserted into the screw receiving hole 151 of the side cover 97, and the external screw 140 and the internal screw 141 are simultaneously rotated by a dedicated driver that fits into the gap 150 having a predetermined shape shown in FIGS. 4 (a) and 4 (b). Then screw it in. Then, as shown in FIG. 5, the external screw 140 is screwed into the screw receiving hole of the side cover 97, and the internal screw 141 is screwed into the screw hole on the cover mounting surface of the development kit 71.

  The dedicated driver is used only in an assembly factory or maintenance personnel. After the dedicated driver is pulled out as shown in FIG. 5, the external screw 140 and the internal screw 141 cannot be rotated simultaneously. For example, even if it is attempted to rotate only the inner screw 141 by using a narrow pliers such as a long-nose pliers, the C ring 142 on the lower surface of the bottom of the outer screw 140 is connected to the C ring engaging groove 148 of the inner screw 141. Therefore, the extraction of only the inner screw 141 is prohibited. Further, even if the external screw 140 is rotated and removed by any method, the extraction of only the external screw 140 is prohibited because the bottom of the external screw 140 is pressed from the top by the head 147 of the internal screw 141.

  As a result, the side cover 97 cannot be removed from the surface of the developing kit 71 having the toner filling port, and therefore, the resale toner filling is prohibited.

  In the first and second embodiments, the development kit is assembled to the image forming unit 70 shown in FIG. 1 that is mounted on the same tandem type image forming apparatus as shown in FIGS. Although described as the developing kit 71, the present invention is not limited to this, and any type of image forming apparatus can be used as long as it is a developing kit that contains toner inside and has a toner filling port for factory assembly. It can also be applied to a developing kit.

FIG. 3 is a side cross-sectional view of an image forming unit using the developing kit according to the first embodiment. (A) is a view showing side covers disposed on both side surfaces of the image forming unit in the first embodiment, and (b) is a view of a toner container comprising an upper cover of a developing kit and a toner hopper from which the side covers are removed. It is a figure which shows one side. (A) is sectional drawing of the principal part of the image development kit in 1st Embodiment, (b)-(d) is a figure which shows the structure of the screw used for fixation of the side cover. (A), (b), (c) is a figure which shows the structure of the screw used for fixation of the side cover of the developing kit in 2nd Embodiment. It is sectional drawing seen from the upper side of the side cover which shows the usage pattern of the screw of the image development kit in 2nd Embodiment. It is an external appearance perspective view of the conventional printer apparatus. It is a figure which shows the internal structure of the conventional printer apparatus. It is a circuit block diagram in the conventional printer apparatus. (A) is a perspective view of an image forming unit of a conventional printer, and (b) is a perspective view of the inside of the developing kit. (A) is a figure which shows the structure state of the waste toner collection | recovery part of the conventional developing kit, (b) is a figure which shows the engagement state of the drive shaft and a conveyance screw. (A) is the figure which showed the state which isolate | separated the conventional image forming unit into the developing kit and the photoreceptor kit, (b) is the figure which looked at the developing kit of (a) from the arrow e direction. FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a state where both side covers are separated from a toner container and a front stay by removing a conventional set screw. (A), (b) is a figure which shows the procedure of the front | former stage of the refilling of the conventional resale toner. (A), (b), (c) is a figure which shows the procedure of the back | latter stage of the refilling of the conventional resale toner.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printer apparatus 2 Upper part of apparatus main body 3 Lower part of apparatus main body 4 Operation panel 4a Key operation part 4b Display part 5 Ejection part 6 Discharge roller pair 7 Front cover 8 Image formation part 9 Duplex printing conveyance unit 10 Paper feed part 11 Magenta (M ) Image forming unit 12 cyan (C) image forming unit 13 yellow (Y) image forming unit 14 black (Bk) image forming unit C1 photoconductor kit C2 developing kit 15 photoconductor drum 16 cleaner 17 Charger 18 Print head 19 Developing roller 21 Toner 22 Conveyor belt 23 Transfer device 24 Paper feed cassette 25 Paper feed roller 26 Paper feed path 27 Standby roller pair 28 Rotating paper feed tray 29 Paper feed roller 31 Drive roller 32 Driven roller 33 Fixing Unit 34 Heat fixing roller 35 Pressure roller 36 Oil coating Roller 37 out roller pair 38 switching flap 39 left pair of discharge rollers 40 upper discharge left discharge outlet 41 rollers 42a~42e reverse carrying roller pair 43 interface controller 44 frame memory 45 printer controller 46 printer printing unit 47 CPU
48 ROM
49 Operation panel 50 EEPROM
51 Waste Toner Collection Bag 52 Waste Toner Receiving Pipe 52-1 Waste Toner Receiving Port 53 Collection Pipe 54 Conveying Screw 55 Drive Shaft 56 Toner Container 57 Bearing 58 Gear 59 Packing 60 (60a, 60b) Side Cover 60-1 (60-1a) 60-1b) Photoconductor kit support frame 61 Front stay 62 Fixing lever 63, 64, 65 Screw 66 Toner cap 67 Suction member 68 Drill 69 Cap 70 Image forming unit 71 Development kit 72 Photoconductor kit 73 Upper cover 73-1 Toner filling port 74 Toner hopper 75 Waste toner collection bag 76 Waste toner receiving pipe 77 Drive shaft 78 Conveying screw 79 Toner 79 Waste toner 81 Developing roller 82 Doctor blade 83 Supply roller 84 Stirring member 85 Front stay 8 The photosensitive drum 87 the unit casing 88 cleaning unit 89 unit cover 91 charging brush 92 cleaning blade 93 a waste toner discharge pipe 94 drum cover 95 print head engagement groove 96 drum shaft 97 side covers 98, 99 Screw 100 sealing cap
135 Groove for minus driver 136 Contact surface with driver 137 Columnar notch 138 Inclined surface 139 Screw 140 Outer screw 141 Inner screw 142 C ring 143 Tubular body 144 Hole 145 Screw thread 146 Screw thread portion 147 Head 148 C-ring engagement groove 149 Outer surface of bottom of external screw 150 Predetermined gap of special shape 151 Side cover screw receiving hole 152 Development kit screw hole

Claims (3)

A development kit having at least a toner container,
A cover member covering a surface provided with a toner filling port to the toner container;
A screw that engages with a screw receiving hole of the cover member and is screwed into the surface to fix the cover member to the surface and cannot be rotated in the extraction direction;
A development kit comprising:   The screw has a groove on the head that engages with a minus driver, and the groove engages with the minus driver by rotation of the minus driver in the screwing direction of the screw, and the minus in the direction of extracting the screw. 2. The developing kit according to claim 1, wherein the engagement with the minus driver is released by rotation of the driver. The screw is
An outer screw having a cylindrical body that is open at the top and has a bottom at the bottom, a hole provided in the center of the bottom, and a thread formed on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body,
A thread portion protruding through the hole in the bottom of the outer screw and projecting to the outside, a head portion remaining inside the cylindrical body of the outer screw, and a peripheral surface between the head portion and the thread portion An internal thread having a C-ring engagement groove formed around
A C-ring fitted into the C-ring engaging portion of the inner screw on the outer surface of the bottom of the outer screw;
Consisting of
The external screw and the internal screw are simultaneously rotated by a dedicated driver that fits into a gap of a predetermined shape formed between the cylindrical body wall of the external screw and the head portion of the internal screw. The developing kit according to claim 1, wherein the developing kit is screwed into a screw receiving hole of a cover member, and the inner screw is screwed into the surface.

Images