Toner Conveyance Belt Guide Member Prevents Roller Jamming
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing image forming apparatuses face challenges in maintaining high image quality due to toner impurities and inefficient toner conveyance, particularly in color image forming systems where residual toner can accumulate and mix with other colors, leading to poor quality when reused.
Innovation Solution
A toner conveyance device with a specific configuration including a conveyance belt, guide member, and holding members that satisfy certain geometric relations to prevent toner accumulation and ensure stable conveyance, featuring a guide member with slits and a toner drop guard unit to manage toner flow and prevent accumulation on the driven roller.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a conveyance belt is used to convey toner from the cleaning unit to the developing unit, then toner can be transported efficiently, but toner may accumulate in the space between the conveyance belt and the driven roller, causing conveyance instability and potential jams
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes the accumulated toner from the space between the conveyance belt and the driven roller by providing a toner removal unit. This unit actively takes out the harmful accumulation before it can cause conveyance instability or jams, thereby maintaining both efficiency and reliability of the toner conveyance system.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a guide member as an intermediary element between the conveyance belt and the driven roller. This guide member modifies the space geometry and toner flow path, preventing toner from accumulating in the critical gap area while maintaining effective toner conveyance by the belt.
2Reliability
If the conveyance belt is driven with high tension to ensure stable conveyance, then conveyance reliability improves, but the belt may collapse or deform under the tension
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the anti-weight principle by providing support structures and guide members that counteract the tensile forces acting on the conveyance belt. These support elements distribute and balance the tension, preventing belt collapse or deformation while maintaining the necessary tension for stable toner conveyance.
3Productivity
If toner is reused from the cleaning unit to the developing unit, then material utilization improves, but image quality deteriorates due to impurity accumulation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the discarding and recovering principle by selectively removing impurities from the reused toner through the toner removal unit. The system recovers usable toner for reuse in the developing unit while discarding contaminated particles, thereby maintaining both high toner utilization efficiency and image quality.
Data Source
AI summary
A toner conveyance device includes a toner conveyance path to convey toner from a lower position to an upper position, a lower holding member and an upper holding member provided in the toner conveyance path, a toner conveyance belt extended among the upper holding member and the lower holding member, running obliquely upward at a lower-side region, running obliquely downward at an upper-side region, and including engagement grooves communicating an inner side and outer side of the conveyance belt formed at predetermined intervals in a running direction of the conveyance belt so as to transfer a drive force, and a guide member provided inside a circulating loop of the conveyance belt to prevent the conveyance belt from entering inside. The lowest portion of the guide member at the upper-side region is placed on a substantially vertical line drawn from a belt delivery part of the lower holding member.