Powder storage container and image formation apparatus

Abstract

To provide a powder storage container that surely prevents powder from remaining on inner walls of a storage part for storing toner, and to provide an image formation apparatus.SOLUTION: A powder storage container (10) comprises: a storage part 40 which stores powder, and has a discharge port 441 for discharging powder; a stirring unit 50 for stirring powder; and a swing member 80 for making powder remaining on inner walls (43, 45) of the storage part 40 fall. The stirring unit 50 comprises: a rotary shaft 51 supported in a rotatable manner by the storage part 40; and a stirring member 53 provided so as to project outward in a radial direction relative to the rotary shaft 51. The inner walls (42-45) include a first wall (43) along an orthogonal direction crossing a rotation axis direction of the rotary shaft 51. A base end side of the swing member 80 has a fixed part 811 fixed onto the first wall (43) along the orthogonal direction of the storage part 40, whereas a movable side of the swing member swings around the center of the fixed part 811 when pressed by the stirring member 53 according to rotation of the rotary shaft 51.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a powder storage container that stores and stirs powder (for example, toner), and an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a multifunction peripheral, a printer apparatus, and a facsimile apparatus provided with the powder storage container.

Background Art

[0002] Image forming apparatuses such as copying machines, multifunction peripherals, printer apparatuses, and facsimile apparatuses include image forming apparatuses using an electrophotographic method. Some of the image forming apparatuses are provided with a powder storage container that stores powder (for example, toner) for developing an electrostatic latent image formed on an image carrier (for example, a photoreceptor drum) and has a discharge port for discharging the powder, and a stirring member that stirs the powder and conveys it to the discharge port. For example, as the powder storage container, a toner cartridge that is detachably attached to the image forming apparatus is widely used.

[0003] In recent years, with the miniaturization of image forming apparatuses, there is a powder storage container whose shape is designed to be fitted into the limited space between members and whose capacity is as large as possible. For example, a powder storage container having a storage portion with a larger size in the vertical (height) direction than in the horizontal (width) direction may be used. In such a powder storage container, even if the stirring member provided at the lower part rotates, it cannot reach the inner wall at the upper part of the storage portion. When the inner wall of the storage portion is vertical, the powder easily falls and hardly adheres, but when the inner wall of the storage portion has an inclined surface that inclines outward as it moves away upward from a predetermined position above the discharge port, powder may remain on the inclined surface that the stirring member cannot reach. On the other hand, by providing a stirring member also at the upper part of the storage portion and rotating it, the powder adhering to the inner wall at the upper part of the storage portion can be dropped, but doing so increases the cost.

[0004] For this reason, a conventional powder storage container may be provided with a swinging member for dropping the powder remaining on the inner wall of the storage portion. For example, in Patent Document 1, it is arranged along the inner wall of the storage portion for storing a developer, one end is fixed to the inner wall, and as the other end moves away from the inner wall by a stirring member (swinging means), it swings around a rotation axis parallel to the rotation shaft of the stirring member, and a developer storage container having a plate-shaped swinging member for peeling off the developer remaining on the inner wall is disclosed.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0005]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0006] However, in the configuration described in Patent Document 1, in order for the swinging member to swing around a rotation axis parallel to the rotation shaft of the stirring member (swinging means), it is necessary for the stirring member to engage with and push up the tip of the swinging member from below. For example, a bent portion is provided such that a part of the tip of the swinging member in the rotation axis direction bends so as to be separated upward from the inner wall of the storage portion. Then, since the bent portion of the swinging member is separated from the inner wall of the storage portion, powder enters the portion corresponding to the bent portion of the inner wall of the storage portion from both sides in the rotation axis direction of the bent portion of the swinging member. Also, when the stirring member rotates in the direction opposite to the direction of pushing up the swinging member, the swinging member will be pressed below the stirring member, so it does not function sufficiently as a swinging member. In any case, the remaining powder on the inner wall of the storage portion cannot be surely suppressed.

[0007] The present disclosure has been made to solve the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a powder storage container and an image forming apparatus capable of surely suppressing the remaining powder on the inner wall of the storage portion.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0008] To solve the above problems, a powder storage container according to the present disclosure includes a storage portion that stores powder and has a discharge port for discharging the powder, a stirring unit that stirs the powder, and a swing member for dropping the powder remaining on the inner wall of the storage portion. The stirring unit includes a rotary shaft rotatably supported by the storage portion, and a stirring member provided so as to project radially outward with respect to the rotary shaft. The inner wall has a first wall along an intersection direction intersecting with the rotation axis direction of the rotary shaft. The swing member has a fixing portion whose proximal end side is fixed to the first wall along the intersection direction of the storage portion, and a movable side swings around the fixing portion by being pressed by the stirring member due to the rotation of the rotary shaft in the stirring unit.

[0009] In another aspect of the present disclosure, an image forming apparatus includes the powder storage container described above.

Advantages of the Invention

[0010] According to the present disclosure, the swing member is pressed by the stirring member due to the rotation of the rotary shaft in the stirring unit, and swings around the fixing portion along the intersection direction intersecting with the rotation axis direction of the rotary shaft, so that the powder remaining on the inner wall along the intersection direction intersecting with the rotation axis direction of the rotary shaft in the storage portion can be dropped.

[0011] The above object, other objects, features, and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the detailed description of the embodiments described below with reference to the drawings.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0012]

Figure 1

Figure 2A

Figure 2B

Figure 2C

Figure 2D

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5A

Figure 5B

Figure 6

Figure 7

Figure 8

Figure 9

Figure 10

Figure 11

Figure 12A

Figure 12B

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0013] Hereinafter, each embodiment of the powder storage container and the image forming apparatus according to the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals. Their names and functions are also the same. Therefore, detailed descriptions thereof will not be repeated.

[0014] <Image forming apparatus> First, the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 1.

[0015] FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of an image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 1 includes an exposure device 11, a developing device 12, a photosensitive drum 13, a cleaner device 14, a charger 15, an intermediate transfer belt device 16, a fixing device 17, a paper feed tray 18, a paper discharge tray 19, and a paper conveyance path S, and forms multi-color and monochromatic images on a predetermined sheet according to image data transmitted from the outside.

[0016] The image data processed in the image forming apparatus 1 corresponds to a color image using each color of black (K), cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y). Therefore, the developing device 12, the photosensitive drum 13, the charger 15, and the cleaner device 14 are each provided in four units so as to form four types of latent images corresponding to each color, and are respectively set to black, cyan, magenta, and yellow, and these constitute four image stations Pa, Pb, Pc, and Pd.

[0017] The photosensitive drum 13 is disposed substantially at the center of the image forming apparatus 1. The charger 15 uniformly charges the surface of the photosensitive drum 13 to a predetermined potential. The exposure device 11 exposes the surface of the photosensitive drum 13 to form an electrostatic latent image. The developing device 12 develops the electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 13 to form a toner image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 13. By the above-described series of operations, toner images of each color are formed on the surface of each photosensitive drum 13. The cleaner device 14 removes and collects the residual toner on the surface of the photosensitive drum 13 after development and image transfer. In the present embodiment, the vicinity of the photosensitive drum 13 corresponds to the image forming unit.

[0018] The intermediate transfer belt device 16 is disposed above the photosensitive drum 13, and includes an intermediate transfer belt 21, an intermediate transfer belt driving roller 22, an intermediate transfer belt driven roller 23, an intermediate transfer roller 24, and an intermediate transfer belt cleaning device 25. Note that four intermediate transfer rollers 24 are provided corresponding to the respective color image stations for YMCK.

[0019] The intermediate transfer belt driving roller 22, the intermediate transfer belt driven roller 23, and the intermediate transfer roller 24 are configured to stretch the intermediate transfer belt 21 and move the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 21 in a predetermined direction (the direction of arrow E in the figure).

[0020] The intermediate transfer belt 21 circulates and moves in the direction of arrow E, and the residual toner is removed and collected by the intermediate transfer belt cleaning device 25. The toner images of respective colors formed on the surfaces of the respective photosensitive drums 13 are sequentially transferred and superimposed, and a color toner image is formed on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 21.

[0021] The image forming apparatus 1 further includes a secondary transfer device 26 including a transfer roller 26a. A nip area is formed between the transfer roller 26a and the intermediate transfer belt 21, and the paper conveyed through the paper conveyance path S is sandwiched and conveyed in the nip area. When the paper passes through the nip area, the toner image on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 21 is transferred.

[0022] The paper feed tray 18 is a tray for accumulating the paper used for image formation, and is provided below the exposure device 11. The paper discharge tray 19 is provided above the image forming apparatus 1, and is a tray for placing the paper on which the image has been formed.

[0023] The paper conveyance path S includes a main path S1 provided in an S shape and a reverse path S2 that branches off and rejoins in the middle of the main path S1. Along the main path S1, a pickup roller 31, a pre-registration roller 33, a registration roller 32, a secondary transfer device 26, a fixing device 17, and a paper discharge roller 34 are arranged. The reverse path S2 branches off between the fixing device 17 and the paper discharge roller 34 and rejoins between the pre-registration roller 33 and the registration roller 32 via a plurality of conveyance rollers 35.

[0024] The pickup roller 31 is provided near the end of the paper feed tray 18 and is a calling roller that supplies sheets of paper one by one from the paper feed tray 18 to the paper conveyance path S. The registration roller 32 temporarily holds the paper being conveyed from the paper feed tray 18 and conveys the paper to the transfer roller 26a at the timing when the leading edge of the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 21 and the leading edge of the paper are aligned. The pre-registration roller 33 is a small roller for assisting in promoting the conveyance of the paper.

[0025] The fixing device 17 uses a belt fixing method, and a fixing belt is wound around a fixing roller and a heating roller. In the fixing device 17, a pressure roller is pressed against the fixing roller via the fixing belt. The fixing device 17 receives the paper on which the unfixed toner image is formed, sandwiches the paper between the fixing belt and the pressure roller, and conveys it. The paper after fixing is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 19 by the paper discharge roller 34.

[0026] Also, when forming an image not only on the front surface but also on the back surface of the paper, the paper is conveyed in the reverse direction from the paper discharge roller 34 to the reverse path S2, the front and back of the paper are reversed, the paper is guided to the registration roller 32 again, and an image is formed on the back surface in the same manner as on the front surface, and then the paper is carried out to the paper discharge tray 19.

[0027] The image forming apparatus 1 according to this embodiment includes a powder storage container for storing powder. Here, examples of the powder include toner, a two-component developer mainly composed of toner and carrier, a one-component developer mainly composed of toner, and the like. Usually, when the powder is toner, the powder storage container is a toner cartridge, and when the powder is a developer, the powder storage container is a developing tank for storing the developer in the developing device. Note that the toner cartridge may include a carrier for supplementing the carrier reduced by development in the developing tank in addition to the toner. As the powder storage container, although not limited thereto, typically, a box-shaped one having a cubic shape can be exemplified, but a cylindrical one or one having other shapes may also be used.

[0028] In this example, the powder is toner, and the powder storage container is the toner cartridge 10.

[0029] The image forming apparatus 1 is provided with a toner cartridge 10 filled with toner (not shown in FIG. 1, see FIGS. 2A to 2D described later), and the toner cartridge 10 supplies toner to the developing device 12 as necessary. The toner cartridge 10 is configured to be detachable from the image forming apparatus 1, and when the internal toner runs out, the user can replace it with a new toner cartridge 10.

[0030] Next, the details of the toner cartridge 10 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2A to 12B.

[0031] <First Embodiment> Figs. 2A to 2D are diagrams schematically showing the configuration of the toner cartridge 10 of the present embodiment. Fig. 2A is a perspective view of the toner cartridge 10 viewed from above, Fig. 2B is a perspective view of the toner cartridge 10 viewed from the left side of the front, Fig. 2C is a cross-sectional view in the direction of the arrow of line A1 - A1 in Fig. 2A, and Fig. 2D is a cross-sectional view in the direction of the arrow of line A2 - A2 in Fig. 2A. In the figures, when viewed from the front of the image forming apparatus 1, the arrow U indicates upward, the arrow F indicates forward, the arrow B indicates backward, the arrow R indicates rightward, and the arrow L indicates leftward. Here, the front of the image forming apparatus 1 refers to the side where the user operates the image forming apparatus 1.

[0032] In addition, in Figs. 2A to 2D and Fig. 3 described later, the swing member 80 described later is not shown.

[0033] As shown in Figs. 2A to 2D, the toner cartridge 10 includes a housing portion 40 having a discharge port 441 (in this example, a toner housing chamber), a stirring unit 50 installed inside the housing portion 40, and a screw 70.

[0034] The stirring unit 50 stirs the toner and includes a rotating shaft 51, a support member 52, and a stirring member 53.

[0035] The inner wall 401 of the housing portion 40 (see Fig. 2A) has a rear wall 43 (an example of the first wall) along the intersecting direction (in this example, the left - right direction (L, R) orthogonal to the rotation axis direction) that intersects the rotation axis direction of the rotating shaft 51 (in this example, the front - rear direction (F, B)). Specifically, the housing portion 40 includes a bottom portion 41, a plurality of walls (in this example, a front wall 42, a rear wall 43, a left wall 44, and a right wall 45 (an example of the second wall)), and a ceiling portion 46 that connects the upper ends of these front wall 42, rear wall 43, left wall 44, and right wall 45, and is configured as a rectangular tube with a hollow interior. The front wall 42 is orthogonal to the bottom portion 41 at the front end of the bottom portion 41. The rear wall 43 is erected upward from the rear end of the bottom portion 41. The left wall 44 is erected upward from the left end of the bottom portion 41. The right wall 45 is erected upward from the right end of the bottom portion 41. The inner wall 401 is constituted by the front wall 42, the rear wall 43, the left wall 44, and the right wall 45.

[0036] The bottom 41 is formed into a rectangle whose width size in the left - right direction (L, R) (viewed from above) is larger than the width size in the front - rear direction (F, B). In the bottom 41, more than half, in this example more than 2 / 3 of the area on one side (the left side in this example) in the left - right direction (L, R) slopes downward toward one - side end. At one - side end, a recess 411 extending along the front - rear direction (F, B) and recessed downward is formed. In the recess 411, a screw 70 is arranged and a discharge port 441 for discharging toner to the developing device 12 is provided.

[0037] The accommodating portion 40 is surrounded by the bottom 41, the front wall 42, the rear wall 43, the left wall 44, the right wall 45, and the ceiling portion 46.

[0038] Specifically, the bottom 41, the left wall 44, the right wall 45, and the ceiling portion 46 are orthogonal to both the front wall 42 and the rear wall 43.

[0039] At least one of the plurality of walls (the front wall 42, the rear wall 43, the left wall 44, and the right wall 45) of the inner wall 401 is provided with one or more inclined surfaces that slope outward as they move upward away from the bottom 41.

[0040] Specifically, the rear wall 43 includes a first rear wall 431 that rises substantially vertically from the bottom 41, a second rear wall 432 that slopes outward (rearward) as it moves upward away from the first rear wall 431, and a third rear wall 433 that extends upward from the second rear wall 432 in parallel with the first rear wall 431. The second rear wall 432 has a first inclined surface 432a.

[0041] The left wall 44 extends upward substantially perpendicular to the bottom 41 continuously with the left end of the recess 411 in the bottom 41.

[0042] The right wall 45 includes a first right wall 451 that slopes outward (to the right) as it extends upward from the bottom 41, and a second right wall 452 that extends vertically upward from the first right wall 451 with respect to the bottom 41 and the third rear wall 433 respectively. The first right wall 451 has a second inclined surface 451a.

[0043] The ceiling portion 46 is formed in a substantially rectangular shape and is configured to horizontally cover the upper side of the accommodating portion 40. Further, an injection port 461 for injecting toner is provided on the left side of the ceiling portion 46.

[0044] The rotating shaft 51 is rotatably provided along the front-rear direction (F, B) at the lower part of the rear wall 43 (below the midpoint in the vertical direction). Specifically, the rotating shaft 51 is provided in the vicinity of the upstream side of the discharge port 441 (at a predetermined distance from the discharge port 441 side) in the toner conveyance direction N (see FIG. 2B) in which the toner is conveyed along the bottom 41 toward the discharge port 441. In this example, the rotating shaft 51 is rotatably attached to a position closer to the left side of the first rear wall 431 of the rear wall 43 in a state of extending in the front-rear direction (F, B), and is installed so as to be driven by a driving portion (not shown) via a driving mechanism (not shown) to rotate in a first rotation direction R1 which is the rotation direction in the toner conveyance direction N.

[0045] One end of the support member 52 is fixed (fitted) to the rotating shaft 51, and the other end holds the stirring member 53.

[0046] The stirring member 53 is formed by one or a plurality of (in this example, one) sheet-like stirring blades made of an elastic member, and is installed so as to protrude outward in the radial direction with respect to the rotary shaft 51. That is, the stirring member 53 is in a state parallel to the extending direction of the rotation axis J of the rotary shaft 51 (rotation axis direction (B,F)) and orthogonal to the first rear wall 431, and the lower end portion thereof is fixed to the support member 52 (see FIG. 2C). In this example, the support member 52 extends in the radial direction centered on the rotation axis J, has an attachment surface 521 (see FIG. 2B) along the rotation axis direction (B,F), and the stirring member 53 is attached to the attachment surface 521. When a plurality of stirring blades are used as the stirring member 53, the plurality of stirring blades may be evenly arranged in the circumferential direction of the rotary shaft 51.

[0047] When the rotary shaft 51 rotates, the stirring member 53 rotates along with the support member 52 that rotates with the rotary shaft 51. Thereby, the stirring member 53 can stir the toner in the storage portion 40.

[0048] The screw 70 is rotatably provided on the first rear wall 431 of the rear wall 43 in a state of being housed in the recess 411 along the front-rear direction (F,B). The screw 70 is driven by a drive portion (not shown) via a drive mechanism (not shown). Then, the screw 70 rotates in the first rotation direction R1 and conveys the toner to the discharge port 441. Thereby, the toner discharged from the discharge port 441 can be supplied to the developing device 12.

[0049] FIG. 3 is a perspective view for explaining the rotation operation of the stirring unit 50 in the housing portion 40. When the rotating shaft 51 is driven by a driving unit (not shown) to rotate in the first rotation direction R1, the stirring member 53 fixed to the support member 52 that rotates together with the rotating shaft 51 also rotates in the first rotation direction R1, stirring the toner in the housing portion 40 and conveying it in the direction of the screw 70. When the swing member 80 is not provided, the rotation locus of the tip of the stirring member 53 is an arc (a dashed-dotted circular arc in FIG. 3) centered on the rotation axis J of the rotating shaft 51 and having a radius of the distance r from the tip of the stirring member 53 to the axis of the rotating shaft 51. Here, the range within this arc is defined as the stirring center region H. In the housing portion 40, the stirring center region H is located closer to the discharge port 441 side (the left side in this example) in the left-right direction (L, R) of the lower half portion. For this reason, the toner in the lower half portion is well stirred and moves to the screw 70, and is conveyed to the discharge port 441 by the screw 70. Thereby, the toner is supplied from the discharge port 441 to the developing device 12.

[0050] By the way, in the toner cartridge 10, when the swing member 80 is not provided, the toner cannot be surely stirred by the stirring member 53 and may remain on the inner walls (for example, the front wall 42, the rear wall 43, the left wall 44, the right wall 45) of the housing portion 40.

[0051] For example, in the present embodiment, the housing portion 40 has a vertical height size that is about 1.5 to 2 times or more larger than the horizontal width size in the left-right direction (L, R). Moreover, the second rear wall 432 above the first rear wall 431 to which the rotating shaft 51 is attached is inclined rearward, and the first right wall 451 facing the rotating shaft 51 is inclined to the right. For this reason, the toner located in the inclined regions (for example, the regions G, G surrounded by the dashed-dotted ellipse in FIG. 3) away from the stirring center region H is difficult to be stirred, and particularly, it is likely to remain on the second rear wall 432 and the first right wall 451 having the first inclined surface 432a and the second inclined surface 451a, respectively.

[0052] In this regard, in the toner cartridge 10 according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, a swing member 80 is attached to the rear wall 43 of the housing portion 40. The swing member 80 is for dropping the toner remaining on the inner walls of the housing portion 40 (in this example, the front wall 42, the rear wall 43, the left wall 44, and the right wall 45).

[0053] The swing member 80 has a fixing portion 811 whose proximal end side is fixed to a first wall (in this example, the rear wall 43) along the crossing direction (L, R) of the housing portion 40. The swing member 80 swings about the fixing portion 811 when the movable side is pressed (pushed up in this example) by the stirring member 53 due to the rotation of the rotating shaft 51 in the stirring unit 50.

[0054] Here, as a mode in which the swing member 80 swings when pressed by the stirring member 53, a mode in which the pressing operation pressed by the stirring member 53 and the pressing release operation in which the pressing operation is released are repeated to swing, and a mode in which the swing member 80 swings according to the strength of the pressing by the stirring member 53 can be exemplified. In this example, the swing member 80 swings by repeating the engagement operation (pressing operation) in which the swing member 80 is engaged (pressed) with the stirring member 53 and the engagement release operation (pressing release operation) in which the engagement operation is released.

[0055] In the present embodiment, the movable side of the swing member 80 is pressed by the stirring member 53 due to the rotation of the rotating shaft 51 in the stirring unit 50. Then, since the swing member 80 swings about the fixing portion 811, the toner can be moved downward, that is, toward the bottom portion 41, on the inner walls (42 to 45) of the housing portion 40. Therefore, the remaining of the toner on the inner walls (42 to 45) of the housing portion 40 can be surely suppressed. This is particularly effective when the inner walls of the housing portion 40 (in this example, the rear wall 43 and the right wall 45) have inclined surfaces (in this example, the first inclined surface 432a and the second inclined surface 451a where the toner is likely to remain).

[0056] The swinging member 80 is formed of a sheet-like elastic member and is arranged to project (extend) by a predetermined projecting distance (up to near the rotating shaft 51 of the stirring unit 50) along the third rear wall 433 and the second rear wall 432 from the upper end of the rear wall 43 of the accommodating portion 40 when not pressed by the stirring member 53. Here, the projecting distance of the swinging member 80 is a distance that enables the swinging member 80 to swing (engage) when the rotating shaft 51 of the stirring unit 50 rotates. In this example, the rear wall 43 that fixes the swinging member 80 has a corner (the corner between the second rear wall 432 having the first inclined surface 432a and the first rear wall 431), and the stirring member 53 swings (engages) the swinging member 80 at the location protruding from the corner (the corner between the second rear wall 432 and the first rear wall 431) of the swinging member 80. However, when the swinging member 80 is provided along a wall without an inclined surface (a wall that is entirely flat), as it is, there will be no location where the stirring member 53 swings (engages) the swinging member 80. For this reason, an aspect can be exemplified in which a swinging portion (for example, an engaging portion whose tip is bent so as to engage with the swinging member 80) for the stirring member 53 to swing (engage) the swinging member 80 is provided on the swinging member 80.

[0057] Specifically, the swinging member 80 has a rectangular upper swinging portion 81 that abuts against the entire area of the third rear wall 433 and a trapezoidal lower swinging portion 82 that abuts against the entire area of the second rear wall 432 and extends toward the rotating shaft 51 beyond the lower end of the second rear wall 432 when not pressed by the stirring member 53. The upper swinging portion 81 is connected to a fixing portion 811 that fixes the swinging member 80 to the rear wall 43.

[0058] The lower swinging portion 82 is integrally formed with the upper swinging portion 81 but is folded forward with respect to the upper swinging portion 81 at a predetermined angle θ1 (see FIG. 5A described later) in accordance with the inclination angle of the second rear wall 432 with respect to the third rear wall 433.

[0059] Figs. 5A and 5B are cross-sectional views taken along the arrow direction of line A3 - A3 of the housing portion 40 in Fig. 4. As shown in Fig. 5A, in the housing portion 40, the distal end side of the swing member 80 is fixed (e.g., adhered) to the upper end portion of the third rear wall 433 by the fixing portion 811. When the swing member 80 is not pressed by the stirring member 53, the upper swing portion 81 and the lower swing portion 82 are in contact with (cover) the entire areas of the third rear wall 433 and the second rear wall 432, and the tip portion on the movable side is arranged to face the rotating shaft 51.

[0060] When the tip portion on the movable side of the swing member 80 is pressed by the stirring member 53 due to the rotation of the rotating shaft 51, the swing member 80 swings about the fixing portion 811. Next, its operation will be described in detail.

[0061] Here, the stirring member 53 is formed of a sheet-like elastic member having a higher hardness than the elastic member of the swing member 80. When the stirring member 53 rotates in the first rotation direction R1 together with the rotating shaft 51, as shown in Fig. 5B, in the swing member 80, the lower swing portion 82 is pressed (pushed up) and moved in a direction away from the second rear wall 432. Then, the upper swing portion 81 fixed by the fixing portion 811 moves in a direction away from the third rear wall 433 as the lower swing portion 82 moves. After that, when the tip portion of the stirring member 53 moves further downstream in the first rotation direction R1 and away from the tip portion of the lower swing portion 82, the swing member 80 swings in a direction approaching the second rear wall 432 and the third rear wall 433 due to the elastic restoring force and its own weight, and returns to the state shown in Fig. 5A.

[0062] That is, as the swing member 80 swings about the fixed portion 811 along the intersection direction (L, R) with the rotation axis direction (B, F) of the rotary shaft 51 in a plane perpendicular to the rotation axis direction (B, F) of the rotary shaft 51 by the stirring member 53, the swing member 80 repeats the operation of separating from the rear wall 43 or contacting the rear wall 43 as shown by the arrow in Fig. 5B. As a result, the toner near the second rear wall 432 and the third rear wall 433 can be surely dropped, and the toner near the first right wall 451 and the second right wall 452 can be rubbed. Therefore, it is possible to effectively prevent the toner from remaining on the inner walls (42 to 45), particularly on the first inclined surface 432a and the second inclined surface 451a.

[0063] Therefore, in the present embodiment, even when it is impossible to attach the swing member to the right wall 45 that is parallel to the rotary shaft 51 and has the inclined surface (451a) due to the positional restriction with respect to the rotation direction (R1) of the stirring member 53, by providing the swing member 80 on the rear wall 43 that is perpendicular to the rotary shaft 51 and has the inclined surface (432a), the toner attached to the inclined surfaces (451a, 432a) of both the right wall 45 and the rear wall 43 can be effectively dropped.

[0064] Furthermore, in the present embodiment, since the extending direction of the rotation axis (the extending direction of the rotation axis J of the rotary shaft 51) of the stirring member 53 intersects (orthogonal in this example) with the extending direction of the rotation axis (the extending direction of the fixed portion 811 along the upper end of the third rear wall 433) of the swing member 80, not only when the stirring member 53 rotates in the first rotation direction R1 but also when it rotates in the second rotation direction R2 (see Fig. 2B), the swing member 80 can be easily pressed (pushed up).

[0065] Also, in the present embodiment, the first wall (the rear wall 43 in this example) is perpendicular to the rotation axis direction (B, F). The fixed portion 811 of the swing member 80 is fixed above the first wall (the rear wall 43 in this example) of the housing portion 40.

[0066] In this configuration, the swing member 80 is fixed via a fixing portion 811 above the first wall (43) perpendicular to the rotational axis direction (B, F) of the rotary shaft 51. Therefore, the swing member 80 can drop toner from above the first wall (43) by swinging with respect to the first wall (43) about the fixing portion 811 along a direction perpendicular to the rotational axis direction (B, F) of the rotary shaft 51.

[0067] Also, in the present embodiment, at least the movable side of the swing member 80 is formed of an elastic member in a sheet shape.

[0068] By doing so, when the tip of the movable side of the swing member 80 is pressed by the stirring member 53, it elastically deforms so as to bend upward with respect to the fixing portion 811, and when the stirring member 53 leaves the tip, it can swing about the fixing portion 811 so as to elastically return to its original shape.

[0069] Also, in the present embodiment, the stirring member 53 is a stirring blade. The stirring blade is formed of a sheet-shaped elastic member having a higher hardness than the elastic member on the movable side of the swing member 80.

[0070] By doing so, the stirring member 53 serving as the stirring blade can rotate while contacting the inner walls (44, 45) and the bottom 41 in the lower space of the housing portion 40 due to elastic deformation, so that the powder adhering to the lower regions of the inner walls (44, 45) and the surface of the bottom 41 can be scraped out and stirred. At the same time, since the hardness of the stirring member 53 is higher than that of the elastic member on the movable side of the swing member 80, the movable side of the swing member 80 can be easily pushed up.

[0071] FIG. 6 is a graph showing the results of an experimental example conducted to verify the effects of the toner cartridge 10 of the present embodiment. In the graph shown in FIG. 6, sampling data (black dots) measuring the toner residual amount (g) in the storage portion 40 (horizontal axis) with respect to the toner drop amount (g / min) from the storage portion 40 (vertical axis) are shown. The curve connected by the solid line shows the measurement results when the swing member 80 is not provided, and the curve connected by the broken line shows the measurement results when the swing member 80 is provided. As can be seen from FIG. 6, the residual amount of toner is significantly reduced by providing the swing member 80 compared to the case where the swing member 80 is not provided.

[0072] <Modification Example of the First Embodiment> In the present embodiment, when the swing member 80 is not pressed by the stirring member 53, the movable side may float from the first wall (the rear wall 43 in this example) of the storage portion 40. In this case, since the stirring member 53 can easily slip under the swing member 80, the swing member 80 can be easily pushed up.

[0073] For example, in the modification example shown in FIG. 7, when the swing member 80 is not pressed by the stirring member 53, the tip of the lower swing portion 82 is configured to extend to a position where it hits the rotary shaft 51.

[0074] In the present embodiment, the powder storage container is the toner cartridge 10, but the powder storage container may be a toner supply device that temporarily stores the toner supplied from the toner cartridge. This also applies to the second and third embodiments described later.

[0075] <Second Embodiment> In the second embodiment of the present disclosure, since only the structure of the swing member 80 is different from that of the first embodiment described above, next, the swing member 80 will be mainly described, and the same components will be denoted by the same reference numerals and their description will be omitted.

[0076] FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the toner cartridge 10 provided with the swing member 80 in the present embodiment. In the above-described first embodiment, the swing member 80 is installed so as to abut only on the rear wall 43 when not pressed by the stirring member 53. However, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, in addition to the rear wall 43, it is configured to abut also on the right wall 45 (for example, a region near the rear end portion of the right wall 45) adjacent to the rear wall 43. FIG. 9 is a developed view showing the swing member 80 in the present embodiment.

[0077] As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the swing member 80 is formed of a sheet-like elastic member and has a rectangular upper swing portion 81, a trapezoidal lower swing portion 82, a strip-shaped upper right swing portion 83, and a strip-shaped lower right swing portion 84. When the swing member 80 is not pressed by the stirring member 53, the upper swing portion 81 abuts on the entire area of the third rear wall 433, the lower swing portion 82 abuts on the entire area of the second rear wall 432, and extends toward the rotary shaft 51 beyond the lower end of the second rear wall 432. Further, when the swing member 80 is not pressed by the stirring member 53, the upper right swing portion 83 abuts on the area of the second right wall 452, and the lower right swing portion 84 abuts on the area of the first right wall 451. Here, the upper swing portion 81 and the lower swing portion 82 constitute the first swing portion 801, and the upper right swing portion 83 and the lower right swing portion 84 constitute the second swing portion 802. The fixing portion 811, the upper swing portion 81, the lower swing portion 82, the upper right swing portion 83, and the lower right swing portion 84 are integrally formed. The upper swing portion 81 is connected to a fixing portion 811 that fixes the swing member 80 to the rear wall 43.

[0078] The lower swing part 82 is folded forward at a predetermined angle θ1 (see FIG. 5A) with respect to the upper swing part 81 in accordance with the inclination angle of the third rear wall 433 with respect to the second rear wall 432. The upper right swing part 83 is separated from the lower right swing part 84 and can contact the second right wall 452 intersecting the third rear wall 433 with respect to the upper swing part 81 when the swing member 80 is not pressed by the stirring member 53 at a predetermined angle θ2 (in this example, an angle of about 90 degrees which is the angle formed by the third rear wall 433 and the second right wall 452). The lower right swing part 84 is folded at a predetermined angle θ3 (in this example, an angle of about 90 degrees which is the angle formed by the second rear wall 432 and the first right wall 451) so that it can contact the first right wall 451 intersecting the second rear wall 432 with respect to the lower swing part 82 when the swing member 80 is not pressed by the stirring member 53. That is, the swing member 80 is folded at the corners between the third rear wall 433 and the second rear wall 432, between the third rear wall 433 and the second right wall 452, and between the second rear wall 432 and the first right wall 451, respectively.

[0079] The base end side of the swing member 80 is fixed (e.g., adhered) to the upper end of the third rear wall 433 by a fixing part 811 continuously provided at the upper end of the upper swing part 81. When not pressed by the stirring member 53, the upper swing part 81 contacts the entire area of the third rear wall 433. When not pressed by the stirring member 53, the lower swing part 82 of the swing member 80 contacts the entire area of the second rear wall 432, and the tip extends toward the rotary shaft 51 and extends to the side of the rotary shaft 51 from the second rear wall 432. Also, when not pressed by the stirring member 53, the upper right swing part 83 faces along the second right wall 452, and the lower right swing part 84 faces along the first right wall 451.

[0080] When the tip of the lower swing part 82 of the swing member 80 is pressed by the stirring member 53 due to the rotation of the rotary shaft 51, the swing member 80 swings around the fixing part 811. Next, its operation will be described in detail.

[0081] Here, the stirring member 53 is formed of a sheet-like elastic member having a higher hardness than the elastic member of the swinging member 80. When the stirring member 53 rotates in the first rotation direction R1 together with the rotating shaft 51, in the swinging member 80, it presses (pushes up) the lower swinging portion 82 and moves it in a direction away from the second rear wall 432. Then, the upper swinging portion 81 fixed by the fixing portion 811 moves in a direction away from the third rear wall 433 as the lower swinging portion 82 moves, the upper right swinging portion 83 moves upward in conjunction with the upper swinging portion 81, and the lower right swinging portion 84 moves upward in conjunction with the lower swinging portion 82. After that, when the tip of the stirring member 53 moves further downstream in the first rotation direction R1 and away from the tip of the lower swinging portion 82, the swinging member 80 swings in a direction approaching the second rear wall 432 and the third rear wall 433 due to the elastic restoring force and its own weight, and returns to its original state.

[0082] That is, as the stirring member 53 rotates in a plane perpendicular to the rotation axis direction (B, F) of the rotating shaft 51, the swinging member 80 swings about the fixing portion 811 along the intersection direction (L, R) with the rotation axis direction (B, F) of the rotating shaft 51, thereby moving away from or contacting the rear wall 43, and repeating an operation of rubbing at least a part of the right wall 45. Thereby, the toner near the second rear wall 432 and the third rear wall 433 can be surely dropped, and the toner near the first right wall 451 and the second right wall 452 can also be surely dropped. Therefore, it is possible to more effectively prevent the toner from remaining on the inner walls (42 to 45), particularly on the first inclined surface 432a and the second inclined surface 451a.

[0083] Compared with the first embodiment described above, since the upper right swinging portion 83 and the lower right swinging portion 84 can rub a wide range of the right wall 45, the toner residue prevention effect can be further improved.

[0084] Also, in the present embodiment, the inner walls (42 to 45) have a second wall (in this example, the right wall 45) adjacent to the first wall (in this example, the rear wall 43) and perpendicular to the first wall (43). The swinging member 80 contacts both the first wall (43) and the second wall (45).

[0085] In this configuration, the swing member 80 can drop toner onto both the first wall (43) and the second wall (45) that are adjacent and perpendicular to each other.

[0086] Also, in the present embodiment, the swing member 80 includes a first swing portion 801 (in this example, an upper swing portion 81 and a lower swing portion 82) that contacts the first wall (43), and a second swing portion 802 (in this example, an upper right swing portion 83 and a lower right swing portion 84) that is connected from the first swing portion 801 (81, 82) toward the second wall (45) side and contacts the second wall (45).

[0087] In this configuration, when the first swing portion 801 that contacts the first wall (43) swings, the second swing portion 802 that contacts the second wall (45) also swings in conjunction with the first swing portion 801 along the second wall (45) in a predetermined swing direction (in this example, the vertical direction) together with the first swing portion 801.

[0088] Also, in the present embodiment, the swing member 80 is folded at the corner between the first wall (43) and the second wall (45), and the folded portion on the second wall (45) side (in this example, the upper right swing portion 83 and the lower right swing portion 84) contacts the second wall (45).

[0089] By doing so, the single swing member 80 can contact both the first wall (43) and the second wall (45). Moreover, when the swing member 80 is not pressed by the stirring member 53, it can follow along each of the first wall (43) and the second wall (45) so as not to separate from the first wall (43) and the second wall (45) at the corner.

[0090] <Modification of the Second Embodiment> FIG. 10 is a developed view showing a modification of the swing member 80 in the second embodiment.

[0091] As shown in FIG. 10, the swing member 80 has folded portions 803 and 804 (in this example, the upper right swing portion 83 and the lower right swing portion 84) where a part on the second wall (45) side is cut out and folded back, and the folded portions 803 and 804 (83 and 84) are configured to contact the second wall (45).

[0092] In this configuration, the swing member 80 can be easily manufactured.

[0093] For example, in the modified example shown in FIG. 10, the upper right swing portion 83 of the swing member 80 is formed by cutting out a part (right side part) of the upper swing portion 81 and folding it back to the right at about 90 degrees, and the lower right swing portion 84 is formed by cutting out a part (right side part) of the lower swing portion 82 and folding it back to the front side. The upper right swing portion 83 and the lower right swing portion 84 are each folded back at a predetermined angle (for example, an angle of 90 degrees or more) that can contact the second right wall 452 and the first right wall 451 orthogonal to the third rear wall 433 and the second rear wall 432 with respect to the upper swing portion 81 and the lower swing portion 82 when the swing member 80 is not being pressed by the stirring member 53.

[0094] <Third Embodiment> In the third embodiment of the present disclosure, since only the shape of the swing member 80 is different from that of the second embodiment described above, next, the swing member 80 will be mainly described, and the same components will be denoted by the same reference numerals and their description will be omitted.

[0095] In the second embodiment described above, when the swing member 80 is pushed up by the stirring member 53, the upper right swing portion 83 is likely to interfere with the ceiling portion 46, and the lower right swing portion 84 is likely to interfere with the upper right swing portion 83. Then, the swing regions of the upper right swing portion 83 and the lower right swing portion 84 may be restricted. In this case, for example, the upper right swing portion 83 and the lower right swing portion 84 can only rub a part of the region of the second right wall 452 and the first right wall 451.

[0096] In this regard, in the present embodiment, the upper right swing portion 83 and the lower right swing portion 84 are each formed in a shape that can avoid interference with the ceiling portion 46 and the upper right swing portion 83 when the swing member 80 is pushed up by the stirring member 53. By doing so, when the swing member 80 is pushed up by the stirring member 53, the areas where the upper right swing portion 83 and the lower right swing portion 84 rub against the second right wall 452 and the first right wall 451 can be increased.

[0097] FIG. 11 is a developed view of the swing member 80 in the present embodiment. FIGS. 12A and 12B are cross-sectional views of the toner cartridge 10 with the swing member 80 attached in the present embodiment (a cross-sectional view in the direction of the arrow along line A1 - A1 in FIG. 2A).

[0098] As shown in FIGS. 11 to 12B, the swing member 80 is formed of a sheet-like elastic member, and in the accommodating portion 40, it has a rectangular upper swing portion 81, a trapezoidal lower swing portion 82, a quadrilateral (same shape as region V) upper right swing portion 83, and a triangular (same shape as region W) lower right swing portion 84. When the swing member 80 is not being pressed (pushed up) by the stirring member 53, the upper swing portion 81 abuts against the entire area of the third rear wall 433, the lower swing portion 82 abuts against the entire area of the second rear wall 432, and extends toward the rotating shaft 51 beyond the lower end of the second rear wall 432. When the swing member 80 is pushed up by the stirring member 53, the upper part is notched so that the upper right swing portion 83 does not interfere (abut) with the ceiling portion 46, and it abuts against the region V (the region surrounded by the dotted line in FIG. 12A) of the second right wall 452. Also, when the swing member 80 is pushed up by the stirring member 53, the upper part is notched so that the lower right swing portion 84 does not interfere (abut) with the upper right swing portion 83, and it abuts against the region W (the region surrounded by the broken line in FIG. 12A) of the first right wall 451.

[0099] The fixing portion 811, the upper swing portion 81, the lower swing portion 82, the upper right swing portion 83, and the lower right swing portion 84 are integrally formed. The upper swing portion 81 is continuously provided with a fixing portion 811 for fixing the swing member 80 to the rear wall 43.

[0100] When the swinging member 80 is not pushed up by the stirring member 53, the upper right swinging portion 83 abuts against the region V of the second right wall 452, and the lower right swinging portion 84 abuts against the region W of the first right wall 451. When the movable side of the lower swinging portion 82 is pressed by the stirring member 53 due to the rotation of the rotating shaft 51, the swinging member 80 swings about the fixed portion 811, thereby separating from the rear wall 43 or abutting against the rear wall 43, and, for example, wiping the entire upper half region of the first right wall 451 and substantially the entire region of the second right wall 452 is repeated.

[0101] Thereby, the toner near the second rear wall 432 and the third rear wall 433 can be surely dropped, and the toner near the first right wall 451 and the second right wall 452 can also be dropped more surely. Therefore, it is possible to stably and surely prevent the toner from remaining on the inner walls (42 to 45), particularly, the first inclined surface 432a and the second inclined surface 451a.

[0102] In the present embodiment, it is preferable that the swinging member 80 is configured such that when the tip of the stirring member 53 reaches the uppermost position, the upper right swinging portion 83 and the lower right swinging portion 84 abut against (cover) substantially the entire region of the second right wall 452 and a part of the first right wall 451 (the corner between the front end and the upper end). By doing so, compared with the second embodiment described above, the range in which the upper right swinging portion 83 and the lower right swinging portion 84 wipe the right wall 45 can be widened. Therefore, the toner on the inner walls (42 to 45) can be dropped more effectively. As a result, the effect of preventing toner residue can be further improved.

[0103] The embodiments described above are illustrative in all respects and are not a basis for a limiting interpretation. Therefore, the technical scope of the present disclosure is not interpreted only by the above-described embodiments, but is defined based on the description of the claims. Also, all changes within the meaning and scope equivalent to the claims are included.

Industrial Applicability

[0104] Since the present disclosure can effectively reduce the residual amount of toner in the powder storage container, it can be applied to powder storage containers and image forming apparatuses such as copiers, multifunctional peripherals, printer devices, and facsimile devices equipped with the same.

Explanation of Signs

[0105] 1 Image forming apparatus 10 Toner cartridge (an example of a powder storage container) 40 Storage section 41 Bottom 411 Recess 42 Front wall 43 Rear wall (an example of the first wall) 431 First rear wall 432 Second rear wall 432a First inclined surface (an example of an inclined surface) 433 Third rear wall 44 Left wall 441 Discharge port 45 Right wall (an example of the second wall) 451 First right wall 451a Second inclined surface (an example of an inclined surface) 452 Second right wall 46 Ceiling section 461 Injection port 50 Stirring unit 51 Rotating shaft 52 Support member 53 Stirring member 70 Screw 80 Oscillating member 81 Upper oscillating section 82 Lower oscillating section 83 Upper right oscillating section 84 Lower right oscillating section 801 First oscillating section 802 Second oscillating section 803 Folding section 804 Folding section

Claims

1. A powder storage container comprising a storage part for storing powder and having a discharge port for discharging the powder, a stirring unit for stirring the powder, and a swinging member for dropping the powder remaining on the inner wall of the storage part, wherein the stirring unit has a rotary shaft rotatably supported by the storage part and a stirring member provided so as to project radially outward from the rotary shaft, the inner wall has a first wall along an intersection direction intersecting with the axial direction of the rotary shaft, the swinging member has a fixing part whose proximal end side is fixed to the first wall along the intersection direction of the storage part, and whose movable side swings about the fixing part by being pressed by the stirring member by the rotation of the rotary shaft in the stirring unit. The powder storage container is characterized by this.

2. The inner wall of the storage part has an inclined surface that inclines so as to widen outward as it separates upward from a predetermined position above the discharge port, The swinging member abuts against the inclined surface. The powder storage container according to claim 1 is characterized by this.

3. The first wall is perpendicular to the axial direction of the rotary shaft, The fixing part of the swinging member is fixed above the first wall of the storage part. The powder storage container according to claim 1 is characterized by this.

4. The inner wall has a second wall adjacent to the first wall and perpendicular to the first wall, The swinging member abuts against both the first wall and the second wall. The powder storage container according to claim 3 is characterized by this.

5. The swinging member has a first swinging part that abuts against the first wall and a second swinging part that is connected from the first swinging part toward the second wall side and abuts against the second wall. The powder storage container according to claim 4 is characterized by this.

6. The swinging member is folded at a corner between the first wall and the second wall, and the folded part on the second wall side abuts against the second wall. The powder storage container according to claim 4 is characterized by this.

7. The swinging member has a folded-back part in which a part on the second wall side is cut out and folded back, and the folded-back part abuts against the second wall. The powder storage container according to claim 4 is characterized by this.

8. When the swinging member is not being pressed by the stirring member, the movable side floats from the first wall of the storage part. The powder storage container according to claim 1 is characterized by this.

9. The rocking member is formed such that at least the movable side is a sheet-shaped elastic member. The stirring member is a stirring blade. The powder storage container according to claim 1, wherein the stirring blade is formed of a sheet-shaped elastic member having a higher hardness than the elastic member of the rocking member.

10. An image forming apparatus including the powder storage container according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

Images