Patent Application
20070280761
These and/or other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:
Reference will now be made in detail to the present embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below in order to explain the present invention by referring to the figures.
Referring to
The developer 10, as illustrated in
The developing unit 11 includes a photosensitive medium 12 on which a latent image corresponding to a desired image is formed, a cleaning blade 13 to clean waste toner remaining on the photosensitive medium 12, a charging roller 14a to charge the photosensitive medium 12 to a predetermined potential, a cleaning roller 14b to clean the charging roller 14a, and a waste toner transporting screw 15 to discharge the waste toner removed by the cleaning blade 13 from the photosensitive medium 12 to the outside of the housing 10a.
The supplying unit 16 includes an agitating member 17 that is disposed below a toner inlet 10b, through which toner from the toner cartridge 20 flows in, and circulates toner in a predetermined direction, a mixer 18 to charge the toner circulated by the agitating member 17 to a predetermined potential so as to attach magnetic carriers to the toner and to supply the toner to a developing roller 19, and the developing roller 19 having a magnet therein to attach the carriers that are attached to the toner to the developing roller 19 and to transfer the toner using the potential difference between the developing roller 19 and the photosensitive medium 12 so as to develop a latent image on the photosensitive medium 12.
As illustrated in
The first transporting unit 41 is disposed below the waste toner inlet 32, and the second transporting unit 45 is disposed at C where the waste toner falls by the first transporting unit 41. That is, according to an aspect, the second transporting unit 45 is closer to a bottom surface 30a than the first transporting unit 41. In other words, the first transporting unit 41 may be disposed at a higher position from the bottom surface 30a than the second transporting unit 45.
The first transporting unit 41 includes a first rib 42 to temporarily collect waste toner falling through the waste toner inlet 32, a first rotation axle 43 disposed above the first rib 42 and rotated by an external driving force, and a first transporting plate 44 that is attached on the first rotation axle 43. The first transporting plate 44 rotates with a rotation of the first rotation axle 43, bends as an end of the first transporting plate 44 contacts the first rib 42, returns to an original position as the contact with the first rib 42 is released, and strikes the waste toner to transport the waste toner. Accordingly, the first transporting plate 44 may be an elastic element and formed of a thin layer.
The second transporting unit 45 includes a second rib 46 formed on the bottom surface 30a to temporarily collect waste toner that is transported and falls from the first transporting unit 41, a second rotation axle 47 disposed above the second rib 46 and rotated by an external driving force, and a second transporting plate 48 that is attached on the second rotation axle 47. The second transporting plate 48 rotates with a rotation of the second rotation axle 47, bends as an end of the second transporting plate 48 contacts the second rib 46, returns to an original position as the contact with the second rib 46 is released, and strikes the waste toner to transport the waste toner. An end 46a of the second rib 46 may be bent upward to induce the waste toner struck by the second transporting plate 48 to fly to a farthest point D from the waste toner inlet 32. The second transporting plate 48 may be an elastic element and formed of a thin layer. An end of the first rib 42 may be bent upward to function as the second rib 46.
The first rotation axle 43 and the second rotation axle 47 may rotate in an identical direction (clockwise as illustrated in
As illustrated in
Meanwhile, referring to
The waste toner container 30, according to an embodiment of the present invention, includes the first transporting unit 41 and the second transporting unit 45, but is not limited thereto, and other transporting units in accordance with the size and capacity of the waste toner container 30 may be further included.
As described above, aspects of the present invention provide a plurality of transporting units 41 and 45 so that waste toner can be stored farther from a waste toner inlet 32, thereby efficiently utilizing the inner space of a waste toner container 30. Furthermore, the waste toner is prevented from being accumulated at a specific position to prevent overflow of the waste toner. Finally, since low-priced and simple transporting units 41 and 45 are included, the image forming apparatus can be assembled more easily and economically.
Although a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in this embodiment without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006-50459 | Jun 2006 | KR | national |
