JPH05224568A - Residue toner recovering device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To surely actuate torque release mechanism even against torque variation of an auger. CONSTITUTION:The torque release mechanism 38, in the toner recovering device recovering the residue toner to both of a toner recovering box provided together in a cleaning device and a space in an image carrier, is provided with a cam member 70 fixed to a rotating shaft 33 of a carrying device 35, a first and a second inclined surface parts 70b and 70b formed on a cam member 70, a gear to be driven 37 which is engaged freely rotatably with the rotational shaft 33 and brought into press-contact with the cam member 70 by a spring 69, a protruding gear part 37b formed on an outer periphery part of the gear to be driven 37, a protruding part for torque transmission 37c which is formed on a side surface of the gear to be driven 37 and can be abutted to the first and the second inclined surface parts 70b and 70d of the cam member 70 and the inclination of the second inclined surface part 70d of the cam member 70 is set to be smaller than the inclination of the first inclined surface part 70b.

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 such as a copying machine or a printer using an electrophotographic system, in which a latent image carrier such as a photosensitive drum and peripheral devices such as a cleaning device are unitized, The present invention relates to a residual toner collecting device applied to a system in which a unit can be replaced.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine and a printer using an electrophotographic system, an image carrier such as a photosensitive drum and a cleaning device are integrated into a replacement unit, which is used after copying a predetermined number of sheets. Copiers of the type that replaces with a new one are becoming popular. In such a unit, a cleaning device is provided in order to reliably collect and store a large amount of residual toner without changing the size of the photoconductor unit and enable a large number of copies with one replacement photoconductor unit. A method of collecting and storing the residual toner in both the toner recovery box and the space inside the photosensitive drum, which are provided side by side, is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-19.
No. 8083.

In this residual toner collecting device, a toner collecting box is provided adjacent to the cleaning device, the toner collecting box and the space inside the photosensitive drum are connected by a toner carrying pipe, and the toner collecting box,
A coil spring-shaped auger (spiral member) is provided in the toner transport pipe and the photoconductor drum, and the auger is driven to rotate so that the residual toner is sequentially transported from the toner collection box into the space inside the photoconductor drum. After the space inside the photoconductor drum is reached, it is detected that the toner recovery box is full, and the photoconductor unit is replaced.

In order to surely contain the residual toner in both the toner recovery box and the space inside the photoconductor drum, first, when the space inside the photoconductor drum is filled with the residual toner, the torque releasing mechanism rotates the auger. Is stopped, and the toner storage destination is switched to the toner collection box side.

This torque release mechanism will be described with reference to FIG. The auger rotation gear 370 has a thin gear portion 372 that occupies most of the circumference, a protruding gear portion 371 that occupies a part of the circumference and protrudes toward the auger 35, and an engagement portion 373 having a smaller diameter than the gear portions 371 and 372. And have. This engaging portion 37
3 is a mountain portion 37 protruding in the axial direction toward the auger 35.
5, a trough portion 374 that is recessed from this, and an inclined portion 376 that connects these. The auger rotating gear 370 is coaxially and rotatably fitted to the rotating shaft 33, and is biased by the spring 73 in the auger 35 direction.

On the other hand, the engaging body 710 is coaxial with the rotating shaft 33.
Is fixed. On the gear 370 side of the engaging body 710,
The front surface of the engaging portion 373 has a conjugate surface. That is, the mountain portion 712 corresponding to the valley portion 374 of the engaging portion 373.
And a valley 711 corresponding to the peak 375 of the engaging portion 373.
And an inclined portion 71 corresponding to the inclined portion 376 of the engaging portion 373.
3 and 3. The mountain portion 712 is provided with a protruding portion 714 that functions as a stopper that prevents the mountain portion 375 of the engaging portion 373 that has climbed up from the inclined portion 713 from returning again.

In a normal state, the auger rotating gear 370 has a spring 73 as shown in FIG.
Is engaged with the engaging body 710 by pressing,
The conjugate surfaces of 10 and the engaging portion 373 are in a state of being fitted to each other. In this state, the thin gear portion 372 and the protruding gear portion 371 of the gear 370 mesh with the drive gear 47. Therefore, the torque of the driving gear 47 is transmitted to the rotary shaft 33 via the engaging portion 373 and the engaging body 710 of the auger rotating gear 370 to rotate the auger 35, and the residual toner is transferred from the toner collecting box to the inside of the photosensitive drum. It is sequentially transported into the space.

When the space inside the photosensitive drum becomes full of toner, the resistance (load) applied to the auger 35 increases, and as shown in FIG.
As shown in, the inclined portion 376 of the engaging portion 373 slides along the inclined portion 713 of the engaging body 710 against the spring 73, and the auger rotation gear 370 starts moving so as to move away from the engaging body 710. To do. However, the engagement between the thin gear portion 372 of the gear 370 and the drive gear 47 is maintained. Therefore, the rotational force from the drive gear 47 is transmitted to the rotating shaft 33 by the engagement of the inclined portion 376 and the inclined portion 713.

When the resistance (load) applied to the auger 35 is further increased, as shown in FIG.
The mesh between the drive gear 47 and the thin gear portion 372 disengages before the slide 76 further slides along the inclined portion 713 of the engagement body 710 and the engagement between the inclined portion 376 and the inclined portion 713 is released. At this time, when the protruding gear portion 371 is not engaged with the driving gear 47, the thin gear portion 372 and the driving gear 47 are repeatedly engaged and disengaged, and the protruding gear portion 371 is engaged with the driving gear 47. The deformed gear 370 rotates until it does.

When the protruding gear portion 371 is engaged with the drive gear 47, the inclined portion 376 becomes the inclined portion 71 as shown in FIG.
3 at a stretch to slide the engagement portion 373 of the gear 370.
The tip of the ridge portion 375 overruns over the protrusion 714 of the ridge portion 712 of the engaging body 710, rides on the ridge portion 712, and becomes in a stable state. At this time, since the number of teeth of the protruding gear portion 371 has already been selected so that the protruding gear portion 371 and the driving gear 47 are disengaged from each other, the engagement between the auger rotating gear 370 and the driving gear 47 is broken. , This state continues. Therefore, the rotational force of the drive gear 47 is
Since the toner is not transmitted to the auger 35, the conveyance of the residual toner from the toner recovery box to the space inside the photosensitive drum is stopped, and the toner storage destination is switched to the toner recovery box.

[0011]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional residual toner collecting device, the load torque applied to the auger 35 increases and the inclined portion 37 of the engaging portion 373 is increased.
When 6 starts climbing a slope along the inclined portion 713 of the engaging body 710, the force pushed back by the spring 73 also becomes strong. As a result, when the torque of the auger fluctuates (for example, a strong load suddenly becomes lighter), the inclined portion 376 of the engaging portion 373 is changed to the inclined portion 713 of the engaging body 710 as shown in FIG.
When the drive gear 47 and the thin gear portion 372 disengage from each other, the spring 73
Has a problem in that the force applied in the axial direction exceeds the force applied in the axial direction by the load torque, and the engaging portion 373 returns to its original state. The engagement and disengagement of the portion 372 and the drive gear 47 are repeated, which causes a problem that abnormal noise is generated and normal operation is not guaranteed.

The present invention is intended to solve the above-mentioned problems, and ensures that the torque release mechanism operates even when the torque of the auger fluctuates, and the toner recovery box and the space inside the image carrier installed in the cleaning device. It is an object of the present invention to provide a residual toner collecting device capable of surely collecting the residual toner in both cases.

[0013]

In order to achieve the above object, the residual toner collecting device of the present invention is a photoconductor unit in which an image carrier and a cleaning device are integrated in a housing. A toner collecting space provided adjacent to the toner collecting space, a conveying device for conveying the toner in the toner collecting space to the inner space of the image carrier, a driven gear for transmitting power to the conveying device, and a driven gear. In a toner recovery device including a drive gear that meshes with a drive gear to drive the drive gear, and a torque release mechanism arranged between the transport device and a driven gear, the torque release mechanism includes a rotation of the transport device. A cam member fixed to the shaft, first and second inclined surface portions formed on the cam member, rotatably fitted to the rotary shaft, and pressed against the cam member by a spring. Driven gear, a protruding gear portion formed on a part of the outer periphery of the driven gear, and abuttable to the first and second inclined surface portions of the cam member formed on the side surface of the driven gear. A torque transmitting protrusion, and a slope of the second slope portion of the cam member is set to be smaller than a slope of the first slope portion.

Further, a bearing for supporting the rotating shaft, a support plate for fixing the bearing, a locking projection formed on the bearing side of the driven gear, and the bearing and the support plate are formed. A cutout portion and a cutout hole may be provided, and the locking projection may be set to fit into the cutout portion and the cutout hole when the protruding gear portion starts to mesh with the drive gear. Further, a hook piece is formed at the tip of the locking projection, and the hook piece is engaged with the notch of the bearing when the protruding gear and the drive gear are disengaged from each other. Good.

[0015]

According to the present invention, when the space inside the photosensitive drum is filled with toner and the resistance applied to the auger serving as the conveying device increases, the torque transmitting projections resist the springs and the first sloped surface portion. The auger rotating gear, which is a driven gear, moves toward the bearing. In this state, the thin gear portion is still meshing with the drive gear, and the auger rotation gear is driven by the drive gear, but until the torque transmission protrusion reaches the second slope portion. , The auger rotating gear runs idly, and this idling prevents the temporarily increasing load torque from decreasing. Next, when the hook piece of the locking projection comes to the position of the cutout portion of the bearing, the auger rotation gear becomes movable in the bearing direction, and the torque transmission projection has the second sloped surface at the first slope. Since the slope is gentler than the slope portion, it is possible to climb with a lower load than when climbing the first slope portion. When the second slope portion 70d is started to climb and the second slope portion 70d is climbed, the protruding gear portion and the drive gear are disengaged from each other, and the hook piece is engaged with the bearing, so that the auger rotation portion is used. The gear is in a fixed state, the rotation of the drive gear is not transmitted to the auger rotation gear, and the auger 35 stops. Therefore, the conveyance of the residual toner from the toner collection box to the space inside the photoconductor drum is stopped, and the toner storage destination can be switched to the toner collection box side.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. One example of the overall configuration of an image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied is, in addition to an exposure device fixed to the device, a photoconductor drum, a photoconductor unit including a cleaning device and a charging device, a developing device unit, a transfer device unit, Includes a fuser unit and paper tray, each of which can be independently pulled out toward the front of the machine, and can be removed from the machine for maintenance such as paper jams and cleaning. ing.

The photoconductor unit is configured to be replaced with a new one every 100,000 copies, for example. The residual toner collected from the photoconductor drum by the cleaning device during 100,000 copies is automatically and surely collected and stored in the photoconductor unit, and the residual toner collected by the user in the photoconductor unit is automatically collected. I have no contact.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view taken perpendicularly to the rotation axis of the photosensitive drum of the photosensitive unit, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.

In the figure, die-cast cylindrical side plates 5 and 7 are fitted on both ends of the photosensitive drum 3,
A space defined by the photoconductor drum 3 and the side plates 5 and 7 constitutes a first container 4 for containing the residual toner. A rotary shaft 9 is integrally provided at the center of the side plate 7 on the inner side of the photoconductor drum 3 and is rotatably attached to the housing 11 of the photoconductor unit 1 via a bearing. A circular opening 11b is provided at the center of the front side plate 5, and is rotatably fitted in a cylindrical portion 13 protruding from the housing 11 to the inside of the unit via a bearing 14. Further, a gear 15 is cut on the outer periphery of the side plate 7 on the back side so that when the unit 1 is pushed into the apparatus main body from the front and set, it meshes with a drive gear (not shown) for drum rotation on the apparatus main body side. Is becoming

The apparatus body is fitted into a positioning hole (not shown) into which the tip of the rotary shaft 9 protruding from the housing 11 is fitted, and a positioning hole 16 provided in the housing 11 of the unit 1. A shaft (not shown) is provided, and constitutes a positioning mechanism when the unit 1 is pushed into the apparatus body and set.

A cleaning brush 17 is rotatably mounted via bearings between extended side walls of a housing 11 provided at both ends of the photosensitive drum 3, and the cleaning brush 17 is rotated in contact with the photosensitive drum 3. Thus, the toner remaining on the drum 3 without being transferred by the transfer device is wiped off. A brush rotation gear 21 is provided on the rear end (apparatus inner side) of the rotary shaft 19 of the cleaning brush 17.
Is fixed and meshes with a gear 29 for rotation of a toner transport rotary paddle 27 described later.

A partition member 18 is fixed to the housing 11, and the photoconductor drum 3 and the cleaning brush 17 are fixed.
At the downstream side of the contact point with
An elastic cleaning blade 23 is provided so that one side is fixed to the rotary drum 3 at an acute angle with respect to the rotation direction of the cleaning brush 17 via the cleaning brush 17
The toner left unswept by is scraped off from the photosensitive drum 3.

A film seal 28 elastically elastically contacting the photosensitive drum 3 is provided upstream of the cleaning brush 17, and the cleaning blade 23 and the film seal 2 are provided.
By the action of 8, the toner is prevented from flowing out from the cleaning brush 17 side to the outside. Film seal 2
A paper peeling claw 40 that is in elastic contact with the photosensitive drum 3 is disposed upstream of the sheet drum 8.

Further, in the photoconductor unit 1, a charging device 24 is provided downstream of the cleaning blade 23 for uniformly charging the cleaned photoconductor drum 3 for latent image formation.
Are provided integrally.

The partition wall member 18 is formed with a first vertical flange portion 22 and a second vertical flange portion 25.
The vertical flange portion 22 of the cleaning brush 17
In contact with the cleaning brush 17, the toner adhering to the cleaning brush 17 is knocked out. Further, on the rear side of the cleaning brush 17 in the housing 11 (the side farther from the drum 3), a toner transporting rotary paddle 27 is rotatably provided in parallel with the cleaning brush 17 via a bearing. The residual toner scraped off on the bottom of 11 is conveyed from the cleaning device 30 into the toner recovery box 31. A gear 29 is fixed to the shaft end of the rotary paddle 27 and meshes with a gear 21 for rotating the cleaning brush 17, and the rotary paddle 27 and the cleaning brush 17 rotate in the direction of the arrow shown. A toner recovery box 31, which is a second container for containing the residual toner, is formed in the housing 11 adjacent to the cleaning device 30. On the second vertical flange portion 25 of the partition member 18, the elastic toner scraping sheet 2 is formed so as to extend downward.
6 is fixed, and the lower part thereof is in elastic contact with the plane of the rotary paddle 27. The rotating paddle 27 has a function of scraping the residual toner accumulated on the rear side of the cleaning brush 17 into the toner collecting box 31 by rotating in the direction of the arrow in the figure. The toner scraping sheet 26, the tip of which is in elastic contact with the rotating paddle 27, has the function of scraping off the toner adhering to the surface of the rotating paddle 27, and the toner accumulated in the toner collecting box 31 is again cleaned by the cleaning device 30.
It works to prevent it from returning to the inside.

A rotary shaft 33 is rotatably provided on the rear housing 11 near the bottom of the toner recovery box 31, and a strip-shaped plate-shaped member is provided on the toner recovery box 31 side to be normal to the surface thereof. An elastic toner conveying auger 35 formed in a spiral shape (spiral shape) so as to face the axial direction of the cylinder is fixed coaxially. Further, a gear 37 for auger rotation is provided at the rear end of the rotary shaft 33, and a torque releasing mechanism 38 that disconnects when a torque greater than a predetermined value is applied.
Is attached through. Toner transport auger 35
Extends in parallel with the toner transport rotary paddle 27 and the like along the bottom of the toner recovery box 31.

Further, on the front wall of the housing 11,
The opening 11a is provided at a position facing the toner conveying auger 35.
A toner carrying pipe 43 having an inner diameter slightly larger than the cross section of the toner carrying auger 35 is press-fitted into the inner periphery of the opening 11a and the opening 11b on the side of the cylindrical side plate 5. Then, the toner conveying auger 35 is
It bends along a V-shaped pipe 43, and its tip 45 projects into the space 4 inside the photosensitive drum 3. The toner conveying auger 35 has the shape of a flexible spiral spring as described above, and when it is rotated, the toner that has entered between the blades is conveyed in the axial direction by the principle of the spiral pump. Is what you do. Therefore, by rotating this in the toner recovery box 31, the residual toner at the bottom in the toner recovery box 31 can be transported to the space 4 in the drum 3 along the toner transport pipe 43.

Both the rotation gear 37 of the toner conveying auger 35 and the rotation gear 29 of the rotation paddle 27 are
The cleaner driven gear 47, which is rotatably provided on the rear wall of the housing 11, meshes with the cleaner driven gear 47 when the photoconductor unit 1 is set in the apparatus body. The cleaning brush 17, the toner-conveying rotary paddle 27, and the toner-conveying auger 35 are made rotatable by meshing with a provided cleaner drive gear (not shown).

A toner full detection device 60 is provided above the toner recovery box 31. The toner full detection device 60 includes a float member 49 that floats from below due to residual toner, a support member 51 fixed to the lower surface of the housing 11 by a double-sided adhesive tape 62, and a float member 4.
There is a thin film member 52 that covers the entire circumference between the support member 51 and the support member 51 and connects them, and an opaque shielding member 50 is integrally provided on the upper center of the float member 49. Further, on the upper part of the housing 11, there is provided a projecting wall 53 which is a transparent wall forming a space into which the shielding member 50 enters from below when the float member 49 floats. On the other hand, the apparatus main body is provided with a groove 55 into which the projecting wall 53 is inserted when the photoconductor unit 1 is set, and a light emitting element 57 and a light receiving element 59 are provided on opposite sides of the groove 55 so as to face each other. ..

The operation of the copying machine having the above-described structure will be described. The photoconductor drum 3 uniformly charged by the charger 24 is subjected to image exposure at an exposure unit (not shown), and the surface of the photoconductor drum 3 is exposed. An electrostatic latent image is formed on. Next, in a developing device (not shown), the toner charged to the opposite polarity to the charge of the electrostatic latent image is brought into contact with the surface of the photosensitive drum 3 to form a toner image. This toner image is
In a transfer device (not shown) provided at the next position, the sheet is brought into contact with the sheet conveyed at the same speed as the peripheral speed of the photosensitive drum 3 and transferred onto the sheet. The sheet on which the toner image is transferred is conveyed to the fixing device, the toner image is fixed on the sheet, and the sheet is discharged from the device.

On the other hand, the toner remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 3 without being transferred by the transfer device is scraped off onto the bottom plate of the housing 11 by the cleaning brush 17 and the cleaning blade 23. The residual toner accumulated at this position is scraped out into the toner recovery box 31 provided adjacent to the cleaning device 30 by the toner conveying rotary paddle 27 rotating at this position.

The residual toner scraped out in the toner collecting box 31 is sequentially conveyed to the space 4 in the photosensitive drum 3 through the toner conveying pipe 43 by the rotation of the toner conveying auger 35. During this time, the residual toner scraped out in the toner recovery box 31 is successively transported to the space 4 in the photosensitive drum 3 by the toner transport auger 35, so that the residual toner does not accumulate in the toner recovery box 31. When the residual toner fills the space 4 in the photoconductor drum 3, a large resistance starts to be applied to the toner conveying auger 35. When this resistance exceeds a predetermined value, the rotation shaft 33 of the toner conveying auger 35 and the auger rotation gear 3 are rotated.
The torque release mechanism 38 provided between the
The toner carrying auger 35 stops rotating, and the carrying of the residual toner to the space 4 in the photosensitive drum 3 stops. Therefore, the residual toner scraped out by the toner transport rotary paddle 27 starts to accumulate in the toner recovery box 31. When the amount of residual toner accommodated in the toner reaches a predetermined amount or more, the float member 49 rises so as to follow its surface, and the shielding member 51 also rises. This shielding member 5
When 1 rises in the protruding portion 53 and reaches a certain height, the light path from the light emitting element 57, penetrating the protruding portion 53 and reaching the light receiving element 59 is cut off, whereby the toner recovery box 31. It is possible to detect that the toner is full with the collected residual toner.

Next, the torque releasing mechanism 38, which is a feature of the present invention, will be described with reference to FIGS. Figure 3
FIG. 3 is a side view showing a partial cross section for explaining the configuration and operation of the torque release mechanism according to the present invention, and FIG.
5 is a perspective view of the auger rotation gear of FIG. 5, FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the cam member of FIG. 3, FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the support plate and the bearing of FIG. 3, and FIG. 7 is for explaining the action of the locking projection. FIG.

In FIG. 3, the rotary shaft 33 of the auger 35 is shown.
Are rotatably supported by the housing 11 and the support plate 65 via bearings 66 and 67, respectively. As shown in FIG. 4, the auger rotation gear 37 includes a thin gear portion 37a occupying most of the circumference, a protruding gear portion 37b occupying a part of the circumference and protruding toward the auger 35, a gear portion 37a, 37
Torque transmitting projection 37c formed inside b and locking projection 37 formed on the opposite side of projection 37c
d and a hook piece 37e (FIG. 3B) bent in the axial direction at the tip of the locking projection 37d.

The auger rotating gear 37 is provided on the rotating shaft 33.
Is coaxially and rotatably fitted to the bearing 67, and a spring 69 is provided between the bearing 67 and a circumferential groove formed inside the auger rotation gear 37 by being compressed. Is biased in the direction of the auger 35. In the present embodiment, the gap between the bearing 67 and the spring 69 of the auger rotation gear 37 is set to
Make the spring 69 narrow so that it does not move,
Moreover, the winding direction is specified such that the tip of the spring 69 does not scrape the mating member. Further, the difference between the initial load of the spring 69 and the load when it is applied is reduced.

On the other hand, the cam member 70 is coaxial with the rotating shaft 33.
Is fixed. This fixing method is applied to the rotary shaft 33 and the cam member 7.
The cross-sectional shape of the fitting portion of 0 is D-shaped and both are fitted. On the gear 37 side of the cam member 70, as also shown in FIG. 5, a first flat portion 70a that abuts on the torque transmitting protrusion 37c of the auger rotating gear 37, and a first flat portion 70a that is connected to the first flat portion 70a. 1 slope part 70b, 2nd flat part 70c,
The second slope 70 having a smaller slope than the first slope 70b
d and. In the present embodiment, the slope of the second sloped portion 70d is 1/100 compared to the slope of the first sloped portion 70b.
It is about 3.

As shown in FIG. 6, the support plate 65 and the bearing 67 have a mounting hole 65a for fixing the bearing portion 67c of the bearing 67 in the support plate 65.
An arcuate cutout hole 65b is formed on the outer periphery of the mounting hole 65a. A flange 67d is formed on the outer circumference of the bearing portion 67c of the bearing 67, and the first cutout portion 67a and the second cutout portion 67b are formed on the outer circumference of the flange 67d at the cutout holes 65b of the support plate 65. Is formed. The first cutout portion 67a has the same width as the cutout hole 65b, and the second cutout portion 67b is formed with a width narrower than that of the cutout hole 65b.

The operation of the present invention having the above structure will be described. Initially, as shown in FIG. 3A, the auger rotation gear 37 is pressed against the cam member 70 by the action of the spring 69, and the torque transmission protrusion 37 c of the auger rotation gear 37 is moved to the first sloped surface of the cam member 70. In this state, the thin gear portion 37a and the protruding gear portion 37b of the gear 37 mesh with the drive gear 47, so that the torque of the drive gear 47 is the same as that of the auger rotation gear 3.
7. The auger 3 is transmitted to the rotary shaft 33 through the cam member 70.
5 is rotated, and the residual toner is sequentially conveyed from the toner recovery box 31 into the space 4 inside the photosensitive drum 3.

When the space 4 in the photosensitive drum 3 is filled with toner and the resistance (load) applied to the auger 35 increases, the torque transmitting projection 37c resists the spring 69 and the first slope 70b. 3 and the auger rotating gear 37 moves toward the bearing 67 to reach the state shown in FIG. 3B. In this state, the thin gear portion 37a is still meshed with the drive gear 47, and the auger rotation gear 37 is driven by the drive gear 47, but the torque transmission protrusion portion 37c has the second slope portion. Until reaching 70d,
The auger rotating gear 37 runs idly, and the idling prevents the temporarily increasing load torque from decreasing. At this time, the clearance between the hook piece 37e of the locking projection 37d and the bearing 67 is about 0.5 mm. Further, as shown in FIG. 7A, the position of the hook piece 37e has not reached the position of the first cutout portion 67a of the bearing 67. Next, the torque transmitting protrusion 37c tries to start climbing the second slope 70d, but in the present invention, the timing for starting climbing is determined. That is, as shown in FIG. 7A, when the hook piece 37e has not reached the position of the first cutout portion 67a of the bearing 67, the hook piece 37e interferes with the bearing 67,
The auger rotating gear 37 cannot move in the direction of the bearing 67 and cannot climb the second inclined surface portion 70d, but when the protruding gear portion 37b starts to mesh with the driving gear 47, as shown in FIG. 37e is the first notch 67 of the bearing 67.
The positional relationship between the protruding gear portion 37b and the locking projection portion 37d is set so that the protruding gear portion 37b comes to the position a.

As shown in FIG. 7B, the hook piece 37e is the bearing 6
7, the auger rotation gear 37 becomes movable toward the bearing 67, and the torque transmission protrusion 37c begins to climb the second slope 70d.
The state becomes C. The hook piece 37e is fitted into the first cutout portion 67a, and is then engaged with the flange 67d of the bearing 67 as shown in FIG. 7C. Then, when the torque transmitting protrusion 37c climbs up the second slope 70d, as shown in FIG. 3D, the protruding gear 37b and the drive gear 47 are disengaged from each other, and as shown in FIG. 7C. Since the hook piece 37e is engaged with the flange 67d of the bearing 67, the auger rotation gear 37 is in a fixed state, the rotation of the drive gear 47 is not transmitted to the auger rotation gear 37, and the auger 35
Will stop. Therefore, the conveyance of the residual toner from the toner recovery box 31 to the space 4 in the photosensitive drum is stopped, and the toner storage destination can be switched to the toner recovery box 31 side.

In the above implementation, the second slope 7
The slope of 0d is 1/3 compared to the slope of the first slope 70b.
However, if the gradient is too small, it takes a distance for climbing up the second slope portion 70d, and the number of teeth of the protruding gear portion 37b must be increased.
The cutout hole 65b provided in the support plate 65 and the bearing 67, and the first and second cutouts 67a and 67b must be further enlarged. The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art. For example, it is possible to use an endless photoconductor belt instead of the photoconductor drum. In this case, a container may be provided in a portion surrounded by the photoconductor belt, and the container and the toner recovery box may be connected by a toner conveying auger so that the residual toner may be contained in both spaces.

[0042]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the torque releasing mechanism includes the cam member fixed to the rotary shaft of the conveying device, and the first and second cam members formed on the cam member. An inclined surface portion, a driven gear that is rotatably fitted to the rotary shaft and is pressed against the cam member by a spring, a protruding gear portion formed on a part of an outer periphery of the driven gear, and a driven gear And a torque transmitting protrusion that is formed on a side surface and is capable of abutting against the first and second inclined surface portions of the cam member, and the second inclined surface portion of the cam member has a first slope.
Since it is configured to be set smaller than the slope of the slope part, the torque release mechanism operates reliably even when the torque of the auger fluctuates, and the space inside the toner recovery box and the image carrier inside the cleaning device It is possible to reliably collect the residual toner in both cases.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of a photoconductor unit to which the present invention is applied, taken perpendicular to a rotation axis of a photoconductor drum.

2 is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 1 and viewed in the direction of the arrow.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing an embodiment of the residual toner collecting device of the present invention and showing a partial cross-section for explaining the configuration and action of the torque releasing mechanism.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the auger rotating gear of FIG.

5 is a perspective view of the cam member of FIG.

6 is an exploded perspective view of the support plate and the bearing of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a view for explaining the operation of the locking projection according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a view for explaining the structure and action of a torque releasing mechanism in a conventional residual toner collecting device.

[Explanation of symbols]

33 ... Rotating shaft, 35 ... Auger (conveying device) 37 ... Auger rotating gear (driven gear), 37a ... Thin gear part 37b ... Projecting gear part, 37c ... Torque transmitting projection part, 3
7d ... Locking protrusion 37e ... Hook piece, 38 ... Torque release mechanism, 43 ... Drive gear 65 ... Support plate, 65b ... Notch hole, 67 ... Bearing, 6
7a, 67b ... Notch 69 ... Spring, 70 ... Cam member, 70b ... 1st sloped part 70d ... 2nd sloped part

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A photoconductor unit in which an image carrier and a cleaning device are integrated in a housing, wherein a toner recovery space provided adjacent to the cleaning device and toner in the toner recovery space are transferred to the image. A carrier device for carrying to the inner space of the carrier, a driven gear for transmitting power to the carrier device, a drive gear for meshing with and driving the driven gear, the carrier device and the driven gear. And a torque releasing mechanism provided between the first and second torque releasing mechanisms. The torque releasing mechanism includes a cam member fixed to a rotation shaft of the conveying device and a first member formed on the cam member.
And a second inclined surface portion, a driven gear that is rotatably fitted to the rotating shaft and is pressed against the cam member by a spring, and a protruding gear portion that is formed on a part of the outer periphery of the driven gear. And a torque transmitting protrusion formed on a side surface of the driven gear and capable of contacting the first and second sloped surfaces of the cam member, wherein the slope of the second sloped surface of the cam member is first. The residual toner collecting device is characterized in that it is set to be smaller than the gradient of the slope portion. 2. A bearing for supporting the rotary shaft, a support plate for fixing the bearing, a locking projection formed on the bearing side of the driven gear, and the bearing and the support plate. A cutout portion and a cutout hole are provided, and when the protruding gear portion starts to mesh with the drive gear, the locking projection is set to be fitted in the cutout portion and the cutout hole. Item 1. The residual toner collecting device according to item 1. 3. A hook piece is formed at the tip of the engaging projection, and the hook piece is engaged with the notch of the bearing when the protruding gear and the drive gear are disengaged from each other. The residual toner collecting device according to claim 2, wherein