Waste Toner Container Segmented Lid for Maintenance Efficiency
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing toner collection boxes in electrophotographic image forming apparatuses require significant time and labor for replacement, involve high operational costs due to the need for multiple replacement parts, and often result in the discarding of recyclable components, which increases maintenance costs and reduces efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A toner collection container design featuring a separable lid and rotatable conveying members that remain attached to the lid during separation from the main container, allowing for easier handling and maintenance without direct contact with waste toner, reducing the number of replacement parts and simplifying the reuse process.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If the toner collection box is significantly increased in capacity, then the frequency of replacement is reduced, but the length of time necessary to remove the toner collection box from the image forming apparatus increases
Solution Approach 1:
The toner collection box is divided into a main body portion and a lid portion that can be separated from each other. This segmentation allows the lid to be removed independently from the main body, enabling faster removal of the box from the image forming apparatus while maintaining large capacity in the main body.
2Ease of operation
If the toner collection box is disassembled and reassembled at a place of usage, then the section for detecting whether the box is full needs to be replaced or cleaned, but the overall maintenance time and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The box is segmented into removable lid and main body portions, allowing maintenance personnel to access and clean the detection section in the main body without needing to disassemble the entire box or handle the conveying members, thus reducing maintenance time and complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The lid portion containing the conveying members is extracted as a separate removable component. This allows the main body with the detection section to be accessed and maintained independently, eliminating the need to handle the entire box or the conveying members during detection section maintenance.
3Ease of manufacture
If a toner collection box is simply discarded after being removed, then the main portion is discarded, but the top lid and conveying members which are recyclable are also discarded, increasing operational costs
Solution Approach 1:
The box is segmented into a reusable lid portion containing the conveying members and a disposable main body portion. This segmentation enables the valuable lid and conveying members to be separated and reused, while only the filled main body is discarded, thereby reducing operational costs and minimizing waste of recyclable components.
Solution Approach 2:
The design enables selective discarding of the main body portion filled with waste toner while recovering and reusing the lid portion and conveying members. This approach recovers valuable components that would otherwise be discarded with the entire box, reducing operational costs.
Data Source
AI summary
A container for accommodating a developer collected from an image forming apparatus includes a container body for accommodating the collected developer; a closing member, dividingly separable from the container body, for closing the container body; a rotatable feeding member for feeding the developer accommodated in the container body; and a holding portion, provided on the closing member, for holding the feeding member so that when the closing member and the container body are dividingly separated, the closing member and the feeding member are integrally separable from the container body.