Replenishing developer housing container and image forming apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9261817-B2
Application number	US-201414279595-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 16, 2014
Priority date	May 21, 2013
Publication date	Feb 16, 2016
Grant date	Feb 16, 2016

Abstract

A replenishing developer housing container includes: a container body housing a replenishing developer; a conveying portion; a pipe receiving port; and an uplifting portion. The replenishing developer contains a toner and a carrier. The container body includes a protruding portion protruding from a container body interior side of the container opening portion toward one end of the container body and a curving portion curving so as to conform to the protruding portion. The uplifting portion includes an uplifting wall surface extending from an internal wall surface of the container body toward the protruding portion. When the replenishing developer housing container is mounted on the replenishing developer conveying device, the protruding portion is present between the curving portion and the replenishing developer receiving port of a conveying pipe being inserted.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A replenishing developer housing container, comprising:
a container body mountable on a replenishing developer conveying device and housing a replenishing developer to be supplied into the replenishing developer conveying device;
a conveying portion provided in the container body and configured to convey the replenishing developer from one end of the container body in a longer direction thereof to an other end thereof at which a container opening portion is provided;
a pipe receiving port provided at the container opening portion and capable of receiving a conveying pipe fixed to the replenishing developer conveying device; and
an uplifting portion configured to uplift the replenishing developer conveyed by the conveying portion from a lower side of the container body to an upper side thereof and move the replenishing developer into a replenishing developer receiving port of the conveying pipe,
wherein the replenishing developer comprises a toner and a carrier,
wherein the container body comprises a protruding portion protruding into a container body interior side of the container opening portion toward the one end,
wherein the uplifting portion comprises an uplifting wall surface extending from an internal wall surface of the container body toward the protruding portion, and a curving portion curving in a shorter direction and in the longer direction so as to conform to the protruding portion,
wherein the protruding portion is provided such that when the replenishing developer housing container is mounted on the replenishing developer conveying device, the protruding portion is present between the curving portion and the replenishing developer receiving port of the conveying pipe being inserted.

2. The replenishing developer housing container according to claim 1 , wherein the replenishing developer contains the carrier in a percentage of 3% by mass to 50% by mass.

3. The replenishing developer housing container according to claim 1 , wherein the carrier has a bulk density of 1.7 g/cm 3 to 2.6 g/cm 3 .

4. The replenishing developer housing container according to claim 1 , wherein the carrier comprises a coating layer containing particles, and wherein a ratio D/h of a volume average particle diameter D of the particles to an average thickness h of the coating layer is 0.01 to 1.00.

5. The replenishing developer housing container according to claim 4 , wherein the particles have a powder specific resistance of −3 Log (Ω·cm) to 3 Log (Ω·cm).

6. The replenishing developer housing container according to claim 4 , wherein the particles contain alumina, silica, titanium, barium, tin, carbon, or any combinations thereof.

7. The replenishing developer housing container according to claim 1 ,
wherein the protruding portion is a plate-shaped member having a flat side surface, and
wherein the flat side surface of the plate-shaped member is provided so as to be present between the curving portion and the replenishing developer receiving port of the conveying pipe being inserted.

8. The replenishing developer housing container according to claim 1 ,
wherein the replenishing developer housing container comprises two uplifting portions, and
wherein when the replenishing developer housing container is mounted on the replenishing developer conveying device, the protruding portion is present between the curving portions of respective ones of the two uplifting portions and the replenishing developer receiving port of the conveying pipe being inserted.

9. The replenishing developer housing container according to claim 1 ,
wherein the uplifting portion and the protruding portion are fixed to the container body or formed integrally with the container body, and
wherein the uplifting portion uplifts the replenishing developer from the lower side to the upper side by rotation of the container body.

10. The replenishing developer housing container according to claim 1 ,
wherein the replenishing developer housing container comprises a shutter member capable of moving between a closing position to close the container opening portion to an opening position to open the container opening portion,
wherein the shutter member moves from the closing position to the opening position by being pushed by the conveying pipe fixed to the replenishing developer conveying device, and
wherein the protruding portion extends along a region in which the shutter member moves.

11. An image forming apparatus, comprising:
an image forming apparatus body in which the replenishing developer housing container according to claim 1 is set demountably.

12. A replenishing developer housing container, comprising:
a container body mountable on a replenishing developer conveying device and housing a replenishing developer to be supplied into the replenishing developer conveying device;
a conveying portion provided in the container body and configured to convey the replenishing developer from one end of the container body in a longer direction thereof to an other end thereof at which a container opening portion is provided;
a pipe receiving port provided at the container opening portion and capable of receiving a conveying pipe fixed to the replenishing developer conveying device; and
an uplifting portion configured to uplift the replenishing developer conveyed by the conveying portion from a lower side of the container body to an upper side thereof and move the replenishing developer into a replenishing developer receiving port of the conveying pipe,
wherein the replenishing developer comprises a toner and a carrier,
wherein the container body comprises a protruding portion protruding into a container body interior side of the container opening portion toward the one end,
wherein the uplifting portion comprises a rising portion rising from an internal wall surface of the container body toward the protruding portion, wherein the rising portion comprises a curving portion curving in a shorter direction and in the longer direction so as to conform to the protruding portion,
wherein the protruding portion is provided such that when the replenishing developer housing container is mounted on the replenishing developer conveying device, the protruding portion is present between the curving portion and the replenishing developer receiving port of the conveying pipe being inserted.

13. The replenishing developer housing container according to claim 12 , wherein the replenishing developer contains the carrier in a percentage of 3% by mass to 50% by mass.

14. The replenishing developer housing container according to claim 12 , wherein the carrier has a bulk density of 1.7 g/cm 3 to 2.6 g/cm 3 .

15. The replenishing developer housing container according to claim 12 , wherein the carrier comprises a coating layer containing particles, and wherein a ratio D/h of a volume average particle diameter D of the particles to an average thickness h of the coating layer is 0.01 to 1.00.

16. The replenishing developer housing container according to claim 12 ,
wherein the protruding portion is a plate-shaped member having a flat side surface, and
wherein the flat side surface of the plate-shaped member is provided so as to be present between the curving portion and the replenishing developer receiving port of the conveying pipe being inserted.

17. The replenishing developer housing container according to claim 12 ,
wherein the replenishing developer housing container comprises two uplifting portions, and
wherein when the replenishing developer housing container is mounted on the replenishing develop

Assignees

• Ricoh Co Ltd

Inventors

• Iwatsuki Hitoshi
• Yaguchi Shigenori
• Tohmatsu Hiroshi
• Tano Toyoaki
• Kishida Hiroyuki
• Mashiko Kenichi
• Sakata Koichi
• Hosokawa Hiroshi
• Katoh Shunji
• Tamaki Shinji
• Ikeguchi Hiroshi
• Kikuchi Kenji
• Suzuki Michiharu

Classifications

• G03G15/0839

  Physics · mapped topic

• G03G15/0872 Primary

  the developer cartridges being generally horizontally mounted parallel to its longitudinal rotational axis · CPC title

• G03G15/0877 Primary

  Arrangements for metering and dispensing developer from a developer cartridge into the development unit · CPC title