Waste Toner Box Coupling for Smooth Drawer Movement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing image forming apparatuses face challenges in securing smooth movement of a drawer while accommodating waste toner from multiple photosensitive drums into a waste toner box, often due to obstructions caused by collective conveying units.
Innovation Solution
The design includes a waste toner box with coupling parts that can be decoupled from discharge parts, allowing the drawer to move smoothly and accommodate waste toner without a collective conveying unit, by positioning the waste toner box in different states to facilitate the reception and decoupling of waste toner from multiple photosensitive drums.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a collective conveying unit is used to collect waste toner from multiple drum cleaning units, then waste toner can be accommodated effectively, but the drawer movement becomes obstructed and less smooth
Solution Approach 1:
The waste toner collection system is segmented into individual coupling parts on the waste toner box that can be independently connected to each drum cleaning unit's discharge part. This eliminates the need for a collective conveying unit while maintaining waste toner accommodation capability. The drawer can move smoothly as the coupling parts are positioned to clear the drawer path.
Solution Approach 2:
The waste toner collection function is extracted from the drawer assembly and placed in a separate waste toner box positioned independently. This separation removes the obstruction caused by collective conveying units integrated with the drawer, allowing smooth drawer movement while maintaining waste toner collection capability through separate coupling mechanisms.
2Reliability
If the waste toner box is permanently coupled to all discharge parts, then waste toner from all photosensitive drums can be collected, but the drawer cannot move smoothly due to obstructions
Solution Approach 1:
The coupling between the waste toner box and discharge parts is made dynamic rather than fixed. The waste toner box can be positioned at different locations and coupled to different combinations of discharge parts as needed. This dynamic positioning allows the system to collect waste toner from one or more photosensitive drums while maintaining clear path for drawer movement.
3Ease of operation
If the drawer structure is simplified without collective conveying units, then drawer movement becomes smoother, but waste toner accommodation capability is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The waste toner box is designed with multiple coupling parts that can universally connect to discharge parts from different drum cleaning units. This multi-functional design allows the simplified drawer structure to maintain full waste toner accommodation capability, as the waste toner box can collect waste toner from any combination of photosensitive drums without requiring integrated conveying units in the drawer.
Data Source
AI summary
An image forming apparatus includes: a drawer movable between an inner position and an outer position and supporting a first cartridge including a first photosensitive drum and a first discharge part and a second cartridge including a second photosensitive drum and a second discharge part; and a waste toner box including a first coupling part coupled with the first discharge part and a second coupling part coupled with the second discharge part, in a state where the first cartridge and the second cartridge are supported by the drawer at an inner position and the waste toner box is mounted to the apparatus main body, the waste toner box being movable between a first/second position where the first coupling part and the first discharge part are coupled/decoupled and the second coupling part and the second discharge part are coupled/decoupled.