JPH11167287A - Toner cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a toner cartridge which does not allow easy filling with toner when recycling the toner cartridge. SOLUTION: A collar 10 which is attached to an agitator shaft 1a has the shape of a flange. The radius of it is made longer than a distance between the center of the agitator shaft 1a and the toner filling port 6 of a lower case 5. A hole 10a is made in the radial part of the collar which coincides with the toner filling port 6 of the lower case 5. When the agitator shaft 1a is rotated and the hole 10a of the collar 10 is not in the same position as the filling port 6, filling with toner is inhibited even after the removal of a cap attached to the toner filling port 6.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a toner cartridge for an electrophotographic recording apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a conventional toner cartridge. The agitator 1 has an agitator shaft 1a.
And agitator film 1b, and agitator shaft 1a
On the driven side, the collar 2 is set in the lower case 5 of the toner cartridge, and on the drive side, the agitator drive gear 3 is inserted from outside the lower case 5 and set. After setting the agitator 1, the upper case 4 is ultrasonically welded to the lower case 5 to form a toner cartridge. In the figure, reference numeral 6 denotes a hole for filling the toner cartridge with toner, that is, a filling port. At the time of manufacturing, after filling the toner from the filling port 6, the toner filling port 6 is closed with the cap 7, and the inside of the case is sealed.
When refilling the toner, the cap 7 may be removed, and the toner may be refilled from the filling port 6 as in the case of manufacturing.

[0003]

In recent years, as resources are being saved, supplies have been actively collected and reused. As a result, toner fillers other than manufacturers have been used. However, it is increasing that the user only refills the toner and reuses it. However, in an electrophotographic recording apparatus, a developing device in which a developing unit and the like and a toner cartridge unit are integrally formed has been used in many cases. In this case, only refilling of the toner due to deterioration of the developing roller or the like is performed. In some cases, image quality cannot be ensured, and there has been a problem that quality cannot be guaranteed for users. Therefore, the present invention provides a method of reusing a toner cartridge, in which not only mere refilling of toner but also checking of components and replacement of components are possible, and toner filling can be performed by a person who can guarantee the quality. It is an object of the present invention to provide a toner cartridge capable of performing the following.

In this type of toner cartridge, a seal member is used for an agitator drive section and the like.
There is a possibility that toner leakage may occur due to deformation of the seal member or deterioration over time. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a toner cartridge that can ensure a reliable sealing property.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a toner cartridge having an agitator for stirring a toner, wherein a toner case is provided near a bearing of the agitator. A toner cartridge having a filling port for filling the toner into the toner cartridge, having a hole at the same distance as the distance from the axis center of the agitator to the filling port, and rotatably attached to the agitator shaft to close the filling port. A member is provided.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, the circumferential position of the hole of the member is a position that can be determined from a reference provided outside the toner case. I do.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, a lip is provided on the drive side of the agitator in the toner case, and the lip is abutted on the inner wall of the toner case. It is characterized by the following.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, the agitator is formed by integrally molding an agitator portion for stirring toner and the lip portion.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, a thrust stop is provided on a driven side of the agitator.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the following, description will be made by assigning common reference numerals to parts common to the related art. FIG. 2 is a perspective view schematically showing a driven side in one embodiment of the toner cartridge according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a front view thereof. In the present embodiment, the collar 10 attached to the agitator shaft 1a is formed in a flange shape, and its radius is made larger than the distance between the center of the agitator shaft 1a and the toner filling port 6 of the lower case 5, and Hole 10 at the radius of coincidence
a is over. As a result, if the agitator shaft 1a is rotated and the position of the hole 10a of the collar 10 does not coincide with the filling port 6, the toner cannot be filled even if the cap attached to the toner filling port 6 is removed. At the time of assembling at the time of manufacturing, filling can be performed by adjusting the angular position of the agitator shaft 1a to the position of the hole 10a of the collar 10. At the time of reuse, the manufacturer knows that the position of the hole 10a must be aligned with the toner filling port 6 and can easily refill the toner. However, without knowing this, the highest priority of the toner cannot be achieved. . If the manufacturer refills the toner, parts related to image quality assurance, such as deterioration of the developing roller, can be checked, and the user can be assured of quality.

In the above-described embodiment, in order to align the position of the toner filling port 6 with the hole 10a, it is necessary to look into the toner filling port 6 from the outside and rotate the collar 10 to adjust the position. It is conceivable that the position of 10 is very difficult to align because it is in the toner cartridge, and it is very difficult to fill the toner due to the mismatch. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a second embodiment of the present invention without such a state. In the present embodiment, for example, an arrow 11 is provided as a mark on the drive gear 3 of the agitator 1 as shown in the figure, and the position of the hole 10a of the collar 10 can be recognized by the direction of the arrow 11.
Needless to say, this mark only needs to be recognizable by the manufacturer, and may be difficult for a third party to understand.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view (A), a perspective view (B), and a sectional view (C) showing a third embodiment of the present invention. In this type of toner cartridge, a sponge seal 13 is inserted between the agitator shaft 1a and the lower case 5 to prevent toner leakage from the agitator shaft 1a.
(FIG. 6A). However, when the agitator 1 moves in the axial direction with the rotation of the agitator 1, the sponge seal 13 is deformed to come into line contact from the surface contact with the lower case 5 (FIG. 6 (B)), and the sealing performance is reduced. There is. Therefore, the lip 14 shown in FIG.
5 and the lip 14 is attached to the lower case 5 as shown in FIG.
The agitator 1 against the inner wall of the lip 14
To prevent deformation of the sponge seal 13 and secure a stable sealing property. If an elastic resin or the like is used for the lip 14, the lip 14 can itself be used as a seal member by contacting the inner wall of the lower case 5.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a fourth embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the agitator 1 and the lip 1
4. The collar 10 is formed by integral molding of a mold to reduce the cost without increasing the number of parts. The lip 14 can be formed by using a resin material that is resistant to repeated bending.
By increasing the bite of the portion into the lower case 5, it is possible to configure without providing a seal member.

The stabilization of the function of the lip 14 depends on the amount of bite. Therefore, as in a modification of the embodiment of FIG. 7 shown in FIG. 8, by providing the thrust stopper 15 by integral molding on the driven side of the agitator 1, stabilization can be achieved without adding a regulating part or the like.

[0015]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a toner cartridge comprising:
As described above, a member that has a hole at the same distance as the distance from the center of the agitator shaft to the toner filling port provided in the toner case and that is rotatably attached to the agitator shaft to close the filling port is provided. Therefore, when the toner cartridge is reused, the toner cannot be easily filled, the components can be checked, the parts can be replaced, and the toner can be guaranteed not only by simply refilling the toner but also by image quality. There is an effect that filling is performed.

In the toner cartridge according to the second aspect, as described above, the circumferential position of the hole of the member is determined from a reference provided outside the toner case. This has the effect of preventing erroneous filling of the toner.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, as described above, the lip portion provided on the drive side of the agitator in the toner case is provided on the inner wall of the toner case. This has the effect that the toner sealability can be easily ensured.

In the toner cartridge according to the fourth aspect, as described above, the agitator portion for stirring the toner of the agitator and the lip portion are integrally formed, so that the number of parts is increased in addition to the above-mentioned common effect. The effect is that the cost can be reduced without the need.

As described above, the toner cartridge according to the fifth aspect has the thrust stopper on the driven side of the agitator, so that the function of the lip portion can be stabilized without increasing the cost. There is.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a conventional toner cartridge.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view schematically showing a driven side in one embodiment of the toner cartridge according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the same.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view (A) showing a third embodiment of the present invention,
It is a perspective view (B) and a sectional view (C).

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a problem in a conventional toner cartridge according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing a modification of the embodiment of FIG. 7;

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 agitator 1a agitator shaft 1b agitator film 2 collar 3 agitator drive gear 4 upper case 5 lower case 6 filling port 7 cap 10 collar 10a hole 11 arrow as mark 12 sponge seal 14 lip 15 thrust stopper

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A toner cartridge having an agitator for agitating a toner and a toner case having a filling port for filling the toner near a bearing of the agitator, the distance being the same as the distance from the axial center of the agitator to the filling port. And a member that has a hole at a distance of? And that is rotatably attached to the shaft of the agitator to close the filling port. 2. The toner cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the circumferential position of the hole of the member is a position that can be determined from a reference provided outside the toner case. 3. The toner cartridge according to claim 1, wherein a lip is provided on the drive side of the agitator in the toner case, and the lip is abutted on the inner wall of the toner case. 4. The toner cartridge according to claim 3, wherein said agitator is formed by integrally forming an agitator portion for stirring toner and said lip portion. 5. The toner cartridge according to claim 4, wherein a thrust stop is provided on a driven side of said agitator.