JPH0490562A - image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the scrapping of a recovered toner tank from forgetting by filling a recovery toner tank with a recovered waste toner and disposing the tank simultaneously when the toner in the toner tank at the developing section is used up. CONSTITUTION:A developing unit 14a is constituted of the toner tank 50a, a developing section tank 5b providing a developing roller 51 and the waste toner tank 30b integrally and the waste toner 30b is fixed to one of the edge parts in the longitudinal direction of the developing section 5b. A drum unit 14b is constituted of a photosensitive drum 2a, a cleaner 3 and a waste toner recovery system 31 integrally. The waste toner housing quantity in the waste toner tank 30b is set in the comparison of the housing quantity of the toner 52 in the toner tank 50a, based on the transfer efficiency of the transferred tone 52 to the recording paper 12a from the photosensitive drum 2a. By such construction, when the toner 52 housed in the toner tank 50a is used up, the waste toner is filled into the water toner tank 30b and by scrapping a developing unit 14a, the empty toner tank 50a and the fulfilled waste toner tank 30b are simultaneously scrapped together with the developing roller 51.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Summary] The storage capacity of the collected toner tank is set based on the transfer efficiency with respect to the toner storage capacity of the toner tank of the developing section, and the collection tank and the developing section are integrated into a unit that can be attached and detached. Regarding the image forming device that can be installed freely, when the toner in the toner tank of the developing section is used up, the collected toner tank is full of collected waste toner, and by discarding it at the same time, the collected toner tank is The purpose is to provide an image forming apparatus that can prevent forgetting to dispose of the image forming apparatus. The toner image is transferred to the recording medium and fixed,
The image forming apparatus is equipped with a collection tank that cleans toner remaining on the image forming body and collects the toner. The ratio between the toner capacity of the tank and the recovered toner capacity of the recovery tank is set, and
The developing section and the recovery tank are integrated into a unit, and the unit is detachably attached.

[Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an image forming device such as an electrophotographic printing device, and in particular, the amount of collected toner stored in a toner tank is set based on the transfer efficiency with respect to the amount of toner stored in a toner tank of a developing section, The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus in which a tank and a developing section are integrated into a unit and can be detachably mounted.

In recent years, with the development of office automation, there has been an increasing demand for character image information output devices that can use plain paper, have low noise, and produce beautiful prints.

For this reason, copying machines, facsimile machines, etc. that utilize electrophotographic technology have been provided, but due to the need for miniaturization and ease of handling, it is difficult to integrate the photosensitive drum and developing section into a unit, or to separate them individually. Devices have been put into practical use that allow units to be installed and removed for maintenance, or to be replaced when the photosensitive drum reaches the end of its lifespan or the toner tank in the developing section runs out. Similarly, when the collection tank is full, it is replaced with an empty tank, but if you forget to replace it, waste toner will overflow.

Therefore, a method has been adopted in which the waste toner collection tank is integrated with the photosensitive drum, but there is a discrepancy between the amount of toner collected in the waste toner tank and the life of the photosensitive drum, resulting in waste. Furthermore, when replacing the waste toner collection tank individually, a means for detecting the amount of accumulated waste toner is required to prevent the waste toner from overflowing, which increases cost.

Therefore, there is a need for a method that allows replacement of the cap at an appropriate time.

[Prior Art] FIG. 4 illustrates an internal side view of an electrophotographic printing apparatus. In the figure, 1 is an optical scanning section, 2a is a photosensitive tram 13)
4 is a charging section, 5a is a developing section, 6 is a transfer section,
7 is a static eliminator, 8 is a fixing unit, 9 is a transport path, LOa, 1
0b is a paper feed unit that accommodates recording paper 12a according to size, 11
indicates a stacker.

With such a configuration, the fixing roller R1 in the fixing unit 8 is heated to a predetermined temperature by the heater lamp 80 by the power HoN of the apparatus, and becomes ready for printing.

Then, based on the print instruction signal, the recording paper 12a of the specified size is moved from either the paper feed section 10a or 10b to the arrow A.
direction, and is conveyed along the conveyance path 9 and sent above the photosensitive drum 2a. By this time, the photosensitive drum 2a has been neutralized by the static eliminating section 7, the toner has been cleaned by the cleaner 3, and the photosensitive drum 2a has been charged again by the charging section 4.

Therefore, optical data irradiated from an optical scanning section 1 composed of a laser light source or the like is scanned onto the photosensitive drum 2a. The electrostatic image formed on the photosensitive drum 2a is developed into a toner image by the toner 52 supplied from the toner tank 50a of the developing section 5a and attached to the developing roll 51, and then transferred to the transfer section 6.
After being transferred onto the recording paper 12a, the toner 5 is conveyed to the fixing unit 8 while being sandwiched between the fixing roller R1 and the pressure roller R2.
2 is heated and pressurized, fixed, and discharged. The toner 52 is mainly composed of magnetic powder, and is charged by stirring in the toner tank 50a.

In the apparatus, the upper lid part 13 above the conveyance path 9 rotates upward about a support shaft (not shown) provided at the right end in the rear view 3, so that the upper part of the photosensitive drum 2a and the developing part 5a is opened. It has become.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the toner 52 cleaned by the cleaner 3 is transported as waste toner to a transport thread 32a of the waste toner collection mechanism 31 below the photosensitive drum 2a.
, 32b and is collected from the upper end of the waste toner collection mechanism 31 into the waste toner tank 30a.

In the second type of apparatus, various methods are used to configure the photosensitive drum 2a, the developing section 58, etc. into units that can be detachably attached to the apparatus, and these will be explained below.

(2) The photosensitive drum 2a, the waste toner tank 30a, and the developing section 5a including the toner tank 50a constitute a recording unit, and when the toner 52 in the toner tank 50a is used up, it is all discarded.

■The developing unit 5a having the toner tank 50a is configured as a drum unit in which the photosensitive drum 2a equipped with the cleaner 3 and the waste toner collection mechanism 31 and the waste toner tank 30a are integrated, and the developing unit is housed in the toner tank 50a. The drum unit is discarded when the toner 52 is used up, and the drum unit is discarded when the waste toner tank 30a is full or the photosensitive drum 2a has reached the end of its life.

■ A developing section 5a having a toner tank 50a that can be replenished with toner 52a, a cleaner 3, and a waste toner collection mechanism 3.
1 and a waste toner tank 30a are each configured as a unit, and when the toner 52 stored in the toner tank 50a is used up, the toner 52a is replenished, and when the waste toner tank 30a is full, the waste toner tank 3
Discard 0a individually.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention 1) According to the above conventional method, in method (2), when the recording unit is made compact, the capacity of the toner tank decreases, and when the toner is used up and the unit is disposed of, it reaches the end of its life. There is a waste of having to dispose of unused photosensitive drums.

In method (2), when the drum unit is made compact, the capacity of the waste toner tank is reduced, resulting in the waste of having to dispose of photosensitive drums that have not reached the end of their service life when the waste toner tank is full.

Method (2) prevents the photosensitive drum from being disposed of before its lifespan, but because the waste toner tank is disposed of individually, there is a problem in which the waste toner overflows because the operator forgets to dispose of it. Easy to do. Furthermore, providing a means for detecting the accumulated amount of waste toner in order to prevent the waste toner from overflowing would be costly.

There is a problem.

According to the present invention, when the toner in the toner tank of the developing section is used up, the collected toner tank is filled with collected waste toner, and by disposing of the collected toner at the same time, it is possible to prevent forgetting to dispose of the collected toner tank. The object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus.

[Means to solve the problem]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the principle of the present invention.

In the figure, 2 is an image forming body, 12 is a recording medium, 50 is a toner tank, 5 is a developing section equipped with the toner tank 50 that stores toner, and 30 is a recording medium 12 on which the toner image developed on the image forming body 2 is stored.
A collection tank that stores the toner collected after cleaning the image forming body 2 is set based on the transfer efficiency of the toner stored in the toner tank 50 of the developing section 5. Reference numeral 14 denotes a unit in which the developing section 5 and the collection tank 30 are integrated.

Therefore, the unit 14 is configured to be detachably attached.

[Function] The toner supplied from the toner tank 50 of the developing section 5 to the image forming body 2 is collected into the collection tank 30 based on the transfer efficiency, so that the toner 52 stored in the toner tank 50 is used up. At that time, the collection tank 30 is just filled with collected toner. Therefore, since the timing for removing and discarding the toner tank 50 coincides with the timing for removing the recovery tank 30, by removing the unit 14, it is possible to prevent recovered toner from overflowing due to forgetting to remove the recovery tank 30.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. The same reference numerals indicate the same objects throughout the figures.

The photosensitive drum 2a, the recording paper 12a, the developing unit h14a, and the waste toner tank 30b shown in FIG. Recording medium 12. Unit 14 and recovery tank 3
0 respectively.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a main part in which the present invention is applied to the electrophotographic printing apparatus described in the conventional example.

As shown in FIG. 2, the developing unit 14a is configured integrally with a developing section 5b including a toner tank 50a and a developing roller 51, and a waste toner tank 30b. is fixed at the end of the Further, the drum unit l-14b is configured by integrating the photosensitive drum 2a, the cleaner 3, and the waste toner collection mechanism 31.

The amount of waste toner contained in the waste toner tank 30a is set in comparison with the amount of toner 52 contained in the toner tank 50a, based on the transfer efficiency of the toner 52 transferred from the photosensitive drum 2a to the recording paper 12a.

Furthermore, handles 15C and 15b are provided on the upper surfaces of the developing unit 14a and the toner tank 4b, respectively.
c and 15b, and are detachably attached to the respective devices.

With this configuration, when the amount of toner 52 contained in the toner tank 50a is used up, the waste toner tank 30b is filled with waste toner, so by discarding the developing unit 14a, the developing roller 51 and Both the empty toner tank 50a and the full waste toner tank 30b are discarded at the same time.

Further, Fig. 3 shows a different embodiment, and Fig. 3 shows the second embodiment.
The difference from the embodiment shown in the figure is the developing unit 14a in FIG.
The waste toner tank 30b is separated from the main body, and the developing section 5a and the waste toner tank 30c are each independently attached to the apparatus in a removable manner.

Furthermore, unless the waste toner tank 30c is removed, the developing section 5
It is configured such that part a cannot be removed.

That is, as shown in FIG. 3, an engaging portion 32 is provided on the side surface of the waste toner tank 30c, with which one longitudinal edge of the upper surface of the developing portion 5a engages upward.

Therefore, when removing the developing section 5a, if you lift the developing section 5a, the upper edge will touch the engaging part 30 of the waste toner tank 30c.
Therefore, the developing unit 5a must be removed after removing the waste toner tank 30c, and when the toner 52a in the toner tank 50a is empty and the developing member 5a is removed, be sure to The waste toner tank 30c is removed first.

In this case, the waste toner tank 30c and the developing section 5a may be lifted and removed at the same time.

In this way, there is no need to forget to dispose of the full waste toner tank 30c, and it is possible to prevent waste toner from overflowing due to forgetting to dispose of it.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, the amount of waste toner contained in the collection tank is set based on the transfer efficiency with respect to the amount of toner contained in the toner tank of the developing section. By configuring the unit and collection tank as a unit and removably attaching it to the device, when the toner stored in the toner tank is used up, the collection tank will be filled with waste toner. Since the toner tank and the collection tank are removed at the same time and there is no need to forget to remove the collection tank, there is an effect that the collected toner can be prevented from overflowing due to forgetting to remove it.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing the principle of the present invention; Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the invention; Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing a different embodiment; Fig. 4 is an internal side view of an electrophotographic printing device; FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional example. In the figure, 2 is an image forming body, 2a is a photosensitive drum, 5.5a,
5b is a developing section, 12 is a recording medium, 30 is a collection tank, 30a to 30c are waste toner tanks, and 50a is a toner tank.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1) Developing the electrostatic image formed on the image forming body (2) with the toner of the developing section (5) having a toner tank (50) containing the toner, and developing the electrostatic image formed on the image forming body (2). An image forming apparatus equipped with a collection tank (30) for transferring and fixing the toner image of 2) onto a recording medium (12), cleaning the toner remaining on the image forming body (2), and collecting the toner. Based on the transfer efficiency with which the toner image developed on the image forming body (2) is transferred to the recording medium (12), the toner storage capacity of the toner tank (50) and the collection tank (30
) is set, and the ratio of the collected toner capacity is set.
An image forming apparatus characterized in that the developing section (5) and the recovery tank (30) are integrated into a unit (14), and the unit (14) is detachably attached. 2) When the developing unit (5) and the recovery tank (30) are detachably installed, and the developing unit (5) is removed,
At the same time as the recovery tank (30), or at the same time as the recovery tank (30),
2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is configured such that the developing section (5) can be removed after the developing section (5) is removed.