JPH05303313A - Waste toner tank of cleaning device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] To provide a waste toner tank of a cleaning device that can easily discharge waste toner and prevent scattering in the air. In a waste toner tank 10 of a cleaning device for collecting residual toner removed from the surface of a latent image carrier after the transfer of a visible image, a rotation that is operable from the outside of the tank body 13 and has at least one agitator 15 It is characterized in that a freely rotatable shaft 14 is provided inside the tank body 13.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a waste toner tank of a cleaning device in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An example of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus will be briefly described with reference to FIG. Reference numeral 1 denotes a photoconductor as an electrostatic latent image carrier that is rotationally driven in the direction of the arrow. Around the photoconductor 1, a charger 2 that charges the photoconductor to a predetermined polarity, an exposure device 3 that applies an image signal to the charged photoconductor to form an electrostatic latent image, and a toner on the surface of the photoconductor. To develop the electrostatic latent image into a visible image, a transfer charging device 5 for transferring the visible image onto a transfer sheet (not shown) that is brought into close contact with the surface of the photoreceptor on which the visible image is formed, A separation charging device 6 that separates the transfer paper after the visual image transfer from the photoconductor 1, and a cleaning device 7 that removes the toner remaining on the surface of the photoconductor after the visible image transfer using a fur brush or a cleaning blade.
Are arranged.

Although various devices are provided around the photoconductor 1 in addition to the above devices, those not directly related to the present invention are omitted.

The cleaning device 7 includes a fur brush 7a for rubbing the surface of the photoconductor 1 to weaken the adhesion between the residual toner and the surface of the photoconductor 1, and a cleaning blade 7b for pressing the photoconductor surface to scrape off the toner. A casing 7c for containing the scraped waste toner and a toner discharging rotor 7d for pushing the waste toner housed in the casing into the waste toner tank 8 are provided.

The waste toner tank 8 is detachably attached to the casing 7c of the cleaning device so that a predetermined number of image forming operations are executed or the rotation torque of the rotating member 7d fills the waste toner tank 8. When this is detected, it is removed to discharge the toner. The waste toner tank 8 that has been removed has the toner discharge port facing downward, and the waste toner is discharged and discarded into an appropriate container.

[0006]

By the way, the waste toner collected by the cleaning device 7 is pushed into the waste toner tank 8 by the rotating member 7d and stored therein. The waste toner processing system having such a structure has a feature that a large amount of waste toner can be stored, but the toner when discarding the waste toner is mechanically aggregated so as to lose fluidity. Therefore, when the waste toner is to be discharged from the tank, there is a problem that it cannot be easily discharged.
In addition, when the toner is discharged from the waste toner tank, there is a problem that the toner may fly into the air and pollute the surrounding area, or an operator may inhale it.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a waste toner tank of a cleaning device which can easily discharge the waste toner from the waste toner tank and prevent the waste toner from scattering into the air.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a waste toner tank of a cleaning device, wherein the waste toner tank of the cleaning device accommodates the residual toner removed from the surface of the latent image carrier after the transfer of the visible image. A rotary shaft that can be operated from outside the tank body and has at least one agitator is provided inside the tank body.

A waste toner tank according to a second aspect of the present invention is characterized in that a cross-sectional shape of a tip end portion thereof forms an edge of 45 degrees or less in a rotation direction of the agitator.

A waste toner tank according to a third aspect of the present invention is characterized in that the agitator is provided such that it can be bent in the radial direction of the rotary shaft and can be linearly returned.

A waste toner tank according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is characterized in that a groove for mounting a toner storage bag is formed on the outer periphery of a toner discharge port provided in the tank body.

[0012]

When discharging the waste toner from the tank, when the rotary shaft is rotated, the agitator provided therein rotates to loosen the waste toner stored in the tank body and restore its fluidity.

The agitator capable of being bent in the middle loosens the solidified toner while changing the radius of rotation from the center of rotation of the rotary shaft.

Waste toner is discharged and discharged into a toner bag attached to the groove of the toner discharge port.

[0015]

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the illustrated embodiments.

In FIG. 1, a waste toner tank 10 is composed of a tank body 13 having a waste toner introduction port 11 formed on one side surface and a toner discharge port 12 formed on one end face in the longitudinal direction, and a tank body 13. It comprises a rotating shaft 14 provided inside and an agitator 15 provided on the rotating shaft. The rotating shaft 14 is provided on both side plates 1 of the tank body 13.
It is rotatably supported by 3a and 13b, and side plates 13b.
Operation knob 1 for rotating the rotating shaft at one end projected from
4a is fixed.

The toner introducing port 11 is provided with a thin film-like plate (not shown) having flexibility that bends toward the inside of the tank main body when the toner is introduced, and the introduced waste toner is introduced into the toner introducing port. It is a structure that cannot be exposed to the outside.

The toner outlet 12 is, as shown in FIG.
It is closed by a plug 12a that is detachably press-fitted into the opening except when the toner is discharged. As shown in FIG. 4, a groove 12b is formed on the outer circumference of the toner discharge port 12 for fastening the toner storage bag 16 to be mounted at the time of discharging the toner with a fastener 17.

As the fastener 17, a resin tape containing wire or a rubber band can be considered. This fastener is also used to close the mouth of the toner storage bag 16 after storing the waste toner.

The agitator 15 comprises an agitator main body 15a extending parallel to the rotary shaft 14 and a plurality of connecting bodies 15b connecting the main body to the rotary shaft.
In the illustrated example, one agitator 15 is provided on the rotary shaft 14, but a plurality of agitators 15 may be provided in the radial direction of the rotary shaft. The agitator 15 is rotated in the tank along with the rotating shaft 14 that is rotated by rotating the operation knob 14a from the outside of the tank body, and the waste toner T is discharged.
(See FIG. 4). The agitator body 15a may be provided in a spiral shape around the rotating shaft 14 or may be divided into a plurality of parts in the axial direction.

The structure of the agitator according to claim 2 is shown in FIG.
Described in. The agitator 15a has a tip end portion 15Aa whose cross-sectional shape is 45 in the rotational direction indicated by the arrow a.
It is formed so as to have an edge less than a degree.

The agitator 15B according to claim 3 is characterized in that, as shown in FIG. 5, the connecting body 15b connecting the agitator body 15a and the rotating shaft 14 has a joint structure. The connecting body 15b has a split structure capable of being bent at the fulcrum 15c portion, and is given a habit of returning to a straight line as shown by a chain line by a torsion coil spring 15d wound around the fulcrum 15. Rotating shaft 14 to agitator body 1
The length up to 5a is set to be larger than the distance between the rotating shaft 14 and the inner surface 13c of the tank body 13 that is closest to the rotating shaft 14. The operation of this agitator 15B will be described later.

The connecting body which can be bent in the middle is an integrated type made of a plate-shaped spring steel material or a round bar-shaped spring steel material as shown in FIG. It may be composed of an elastic member having habit.

Now, the operation of the embodiment configured as described above will be described. As shown in FIG. 6, the collected waste toner is pushed into the waste toner tank 10 attached to the cleaning device 7 by the rotating body 7d as the image forming operation is repeated. The rotating body 7d pushes the toner in only one direction and pushes it into the waste toner tank 10, and the toner is relatively densely stored in the tank body 13.

In order to discharge the waste toner T from the tank main body 13, the plug 12a of the toner discharge port 12 is removed with the waste toner tank 10 mounted on the cleaning device 7, and the toner is discharged to the port 12. The mouth of the storage bag 16 is attached. The toner storage bag 16 is fastened to the groove 12b by a fastener 17. The toner storage bag 16
The toner may be attached to the tank body with the waste toner tank removed from the cleaning device 7.

The waste toner tank 10 is replaced with a cleaning device 7
Then, as shown in FIG. 4, with the toner storage bag 16 down, the operation knob 14a is rotated in an appropriate direction to rotate the rotary shaft 14. When the rotating shaft 14 rotates, the agitator 15 connected to the rotating shaft 14 rotates to loosen the mechanically solidified waste toner. The waste toner T, which has regained its fluidity by being loosened, is
Toner storage bag 1 that can easily flow out from 2 and does not scatter
It is stored in 6. The tank body 1 for discharging toner
Even if 3 is shaken up, down, left and right, the toner storage bag 16 still has the groove 1
Since it is fastened and attached to 2b, it does not come off from the tank body 13.

In the agitator 15A having the structure shown in FIG. 2, the tip portion in the rotating direction is formed at the edge of 45 degrees or less, so that it easily bites into the dense toner, and the rotation resistance at the time of discharging the toner is reduced. The operation knob can be easily rotated.

Next, in FIG. 5, the rotary shaft 14 is indicated by an arrow a.
When rotated in the direction, the main body 15a of the agitator 15B may become the inner surface 13c of the tank main body depending on the rotational position.
The toner is loosened in a state where it abuts against or is bent at the fulcrum 15c due to the resistance of the waste toner. When the rotation of the agitator 15B bent in the middle progresses, the connecting body 15b tries to return to the linear shape by the elastic force of the torsion coil spring 15d, and when the engagement with the inner surface 13c of the tank is released, the linear shape as shown by the chain line in FIG. In the extended state, the toner existing in the corner parts of the tank body 13 is loosened. That is, the agitator 15B is
Since the distance from the central axis of rotation is continuously changed by folding in the middle and returning to the linear shape, in other words, since the agitator body 15a moves on a non-circular rotation trajectory, the tank body 13 has a cross section. Even if the shape is not circular, the contained toner can be efficiently unraveled. Even if the connecting body 15b is made of a spring steel material, the same effect can be obtained.

[0029]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the agitator is rotated through the rotating shaft to agitate the aggregated waste toner, so that the waste toner whose fluidity is restored is discarded. It becomes easy to discharge from the toner tank.

According to the second aspect of the invention, since the edge is formed at 45 degrees or less, the resistance when stirring the waste toner is reduced, the rotation shaft is easily rotated, and the toner is discharged with a light force. I can do it.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the agitator has the center-folding structure and the movement trajectory of the agitator body changes in the radial direction, the corner portions are not required even if the cross section of the waste toner tank is circular. It is possible to stir and loosen even the toner existing in.

According to the invention of claim 4, the toner storage bag can be securely attached to the tank body, and the waste toner can be discharged without being scattered in the air.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the invention according to claims 1 and 4.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing an example of an agitator of the invention according to claim 2.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a structure of a toner discharge port of the tank body.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a toner storage bag attached to a toner discharge port.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing an example of an agitator of the invention according to claim 3.

FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of an image forming apparatus including a cleaning device to which the present invention is applied.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Electrostatic latent image carrier 7 ... Cleaning device 10 ... Waste toner tank 11 ... Toner inlet 12 ... Toner outlet 13 ... Tank body 14 ... Rotating shaft 14a ... Operation knob 15 ... Agitator 15a ... Agitator main body 15b ... Connection body 15c ... Support point 16 ... Toner storage bag 17 ... Fastener

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A waste toner tank of a cleaning device for recovering residual toner removed from the surface of a latent image carrier after transfer of a visible image, which is rotatable from the outside of the tank body and has at least one agitator. A waste toner tank for a cleaning device, characterized in that a rotating shaft of is provided inside the tank body. 2. The waste toner tank of a cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein a cross-sectional shape of a tip end portion of the agitator in the rotational direction forms an edge of 45 degrees or less. 3. The waste toner tank of the cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the agitator is provided so as to be capable of being bent in the radial direction of the rotating shaft and returning to the linear shape. 4. A waste toner tank for a cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein a groove for mounting a toner storage bag is formed on the outer periphery of the toner discharge port provided in the tank body.