Toner bottle, toner supply system and image forming apparatus using same

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6185401
  • Patent Number
    6,185,401
  • Date Filed
    Tuesday, September 29, 1998
    26 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, February 6, 2001
    23 years ago
Abstract
A toner supply container for supplying toner into a main assembly of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus includes a toner accommodating portion for accommodating toner to be supplied into a main assembly of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus; a toner discharging opening for discharging the toner accommodated in the toner accommodating portion, the toner discharging opening being provided in the toner accommodating portion; a sealing member for openably sealing the toner discharging opening; an openable member for openably sealing the toner discharging opening; a rotatable member which is rotatable relative to the toner accommodating portion; a rotating force receiving portion for receiving rotating force produced by rotation of the rotatable member through a rotating force transmission member provided in the main assembly of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus to unseal the toner discharging opening by the rotation of the rotatable member when the toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus.
Description




FIELD OF THE INVENTION AND RELATED ART




The present invention relates to a toner supply container for supplying toner into an electrophotographic image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording material with toner and an electrophotographic image forming apparatus using the same.




Here, the electrophotographic image forming apparatus is an apparatus wherein an image is formed on a recording material through an electrophotographic image formation type. Examples of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus include an electrophotographic copying machine, an electrophotographic printer (e.g. laser beam printer, LED printer), a facsimile machine, a word processor or the like.




In an electrophotographic image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying machine, a laser beam printer, a photosensitive drum uniformly charged is selectively exposed to light. By this, an electrostatic latent image is formed. The electrostatic latent image is developed with toner to form a toner image. Then, the toner image is transferred onto a recording material. In such an apparatus, whenever the toner is used up, it has to be replenished or supplied. The toner supply container for supplying the toner to the image forming apparatus is classified into a removing type wherein an entire amount of toner is replenished at once into a toner reception container of the main assembly of the image forming apparatus and a leaving type container wherein the container is mounted and is retained therein. Here, the leaving type container gradually supplies the toner into the developing device until the toner therein is used up.




Recently, the leaving type toner supply container is increasingly used from the standpoint of downsizing of the image forming apparatus. In order to prevent scattering of remaining toner through a toner discharging opening, an openable member for sealing the opening is provided.




For example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. HEI-7-82268 discloses a mechanism for permitting opening of the discharging opening by rotation of the container after it is mounted to the main assembly. Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. HEI-7-306578 discloses a use of a handle for opening and closing the discharging opening.




The present invention further develops the mechanism and system.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide a toner supply container and an electrophotographic image forming apparatus usable with the toner supply container wherein the toner can be supplied assuredly into the main assembly of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus.




It is another object of the present invention to provide a toner supply container detachably mountable to a main assembly of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus and an electrophotographic image forming apparatus to which the toner supply container is detachably mountable.




It is a further object of the present invention to provide a toner supply container which can supply the toner gradually while it is kept loaded in the main assembly of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus, and an electrophotographic image forming apparatus to which the toner supply container is detachably mountable.




It is a further object of the present invention to provide a toner supply container which can supply the toner gradually in accordance with the consumption of the toner while it is kept loaded in the main assembly of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus and an electrophotographic image forming apparatus to which the toner supply container is detachably mountable.




It is a further object of the present invention to provide a toner supply container having a toner discharging opening which can be opened by mounting it to the main assembly of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus, and an electrophotographic image forming apparatus to which the toner supply container is detachably mountable.




It is a further object of the present invention to provide a toner supply container having a toner discharging opening which can be opened by rotating a rotatable member relative to a toner accommodating portion when it is mounted to the main assembly of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, and an electrophotographic image forming apparatus to which the toner supply container is detachably mountable.




It is a further object of the present invention to provide a toner supply container having a toner discharging opening which can be opened through a member provided in the main assembly of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus, and an electrophotographic image forming apparatus to which said toner supply container is detachably mountable.




It is a further object of the present invention to provide a toner supply container wherein a toner discharging opening of the toner accommodating portion and a toner receiving opening of a main assembly of the apparatus are interrelatedly opened when the container is mounted to the main assembly of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus, and an electrophotographic image forming apparatus to which the toner supply container is detachably mountable.




It is a further object of the present invention to provide a toner supply container having an improved operativity of supplying the toner to the main assembly of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus, and an electrophotographic image forming apparatus usable with the toner supply container.




It is a further object of the present invention to provide a toner supply container having a rotating force receiving portion for receiving, through a rotating force transmission member provided in the main assembly of the apparatus, the rotating force produced by rotation of the rotatable member to open the toner discharging opening when the container is mounted to the main assembly of the apparatus.




According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a toner supply container for supplying toner into a main assembly of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, comprising:




a toner accommodating portion for accommodating toner to be supplied into a main assembly of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus;




a toner discharging opening for discharging the toner accommodated in the toner accommodating portion, said toner discharging opening being provided in said toner accommodating portion;




a sealing member for openably sealing said toner discharging opening;




an openable member for openably sealing said toner discharging opening;




a rotatable member which is rotatable relative to said toner accommodating portion;




a rotating force receiving portion for receiving a rotating force produced by rotation of said rotatable member through a rotating force transmission member provided in the main assembly of said electrophotographic image forming apparatus to unseal said toner discharging opening by the rotation of said rotatable member when said toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly of said electrophotographic image forming apparatus.




According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a toner supply container for supplying toner into a main assembly of electrophotographic image forming apparatus, comprising:




a toner accommodating portion for accommodating toner to be supplied into a main assembly of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus;




a toner discharging opening for discharging the toner accommodated in the toner accommodating portion, said toner discharging opening being provided in said toner accommodating portion;




a sealing member for openably sealing said toner discharging opening;




a sealing member for openably sealing said toner discharging opening;




a rotatable member which is rotatable relative to said toner accommodating portion;




a rotating force receiving portion for receiving a rotating force produced by rotation of said rotatable member through a rotating force transmission member provided in the main assembly of said electrophotographic image forming apparatus to unseal a main assembly openable member which seals a toner reception opening provided in the main assembly of said electrophotographic image forming apparatus by rotation of said rotatable member, when said toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly of said electrophotographic image forming apparatus.




According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electrophotographic image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording material with toner, which electrophotographic image forming apparatus is supplied with the toner from a toner supply container, comprising:




(a) rotating force transmission member;




(b) a toner container mounting portion for mounting said toner container, said toner container including:




a toner accommodating portion for accommodating toner to be supplied into a main assembly of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus;




a toner discharging opening for discharging the toner accommodated in the toner accommodating portion, said toner discharging opening being provided in said toner accommodating portion;




a sealing member for openably sealing said toner discharging opening;




a container openable member for openably sealing said toner discharging opening;




a rotatable member which is rotatable relative to said toner accommodating portion;




a rotating force receiving portion for receiving a rotating force produced by rotation of said rotatable member to unseal said toner discharging opening by rotation of said rotatable member through said rotating force transmission member when said toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly of said electrophotographic image forming apparatus;




(c) a feeding member for feeding the recording material.




These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon a consideration of the following description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is a perspective view of a toner supply container according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.





FIG. 2

is an exploded perspective view of a toner supply container of Embodiment 1.





FIG. 3

is a perspective view illustrating an engaging relation between the main assembly of the apparatus and the toner supply container of Embodiment 1.




FIG.


4


(


a


) is a perspective view of the toner supply container of Embodiment 1 in a toner supplying operation, and


4


(


b


) is a sectional view of an engageable member shown in (


a


),


4


(


c


) is a perspective view of an engageable member of another example.





FIG. 5

is a longitudinal sectional view illustrating an engaging relation between the main assembly of the apparatus and the toner supply container of Embodiment 1.





FIG. 6

is a longitudinal sectional view illustrating a relation between the main assembly of the apparatus and the toner supply container of Embodiment 1 in a toner supplying operation.





FIG. 7

is a perspective view of a locking mechanism of a toner container and a handle in Embodiment 1.




FIG.


8


(


a


) and FIG.


8


(


b


) are sectional views of a locking mechanism of the toner container and the handle of Embodiment 1.





FIG. 9

is a perspective view of a toner supply container according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.





FIG. 10

is a perspective view illustrating an engaging relation between a main assembly of an apparatus and the toner supply container of Embodiment 2.





FIG. 11

is a perspective view illustrating a perspective view between the main assembly of the apparatus and the toner supply container of Embodiment 2 in a toner supplying operation.





FIG. 12

is a sectional view illustrating an engaging relation between the main assembly of the apparatus and the toner supply container of Embodiment 2.





FIG. 13

is a longitudinal sectional view illustrating an engaging relation between the main assembly of the apparatus and the toner supply container of Embodiment 2 in a toner supplying operation.





FIG. 14

is a perspective view showing a mounting direction of the toner supply container relative to the main assembly of the apparatus in Embodiment 2 of the present invention.




FIGS.


15


(


a


) and


15


(


b


) are illustrations of an engaging portion of the handle and the shutter.





FIG. 16

is a perspective view of a shutter in Embodiment 2 according to another example.




FIG.


17


(


a


) is a perspective view of a shutter engaging portion according to another example, and


17


(


b


) shows a driving line.





FIG. 18

is a perspective view of a toner supply container shown in Embodiment 3.




FIG.


19


(


a


) and FIG.


19


(


b


) are longitudinal sectional views schematically showing a toner feeding apparatus, and






19


(


a


) shows that of a screw type, and






19


(


b


) shows that of a flexible blade type.





FIG. 20

is a longitudinal sectional view of an image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applicable.





FIG. 21

is a perspective view of an outer appearance of the apparatus of FIG.


20


.





FIG. 22

is a longitudinal sectional view of an image forming apparatus according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention.





FIG. 23

is an exploded perspective view of a toner supply container according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention.





FIG. 24

is a perspective view of a toner supply container of a modified example of Embodiment 4.





FIG. 25

is a perspective view illustrating an engaging relation between the main assembly of the apparatus and the toner supply container according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention.





FIG. 26

is a longitudinal sectional view schematically showing a toner feeding apparatus of a flexible blade type.




FIG.


27


(


a


) and FIG.


27


(


b


) are longitudinal sectional view of a toner supply container.





FIG. 28

is a longitudinal sectional view illustrating an engaging relation between the main assembly of the apparatus and the toner supply container according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention.





FIG. 29

is a longitudinal sectional view illustrating an engaging relation between the main assembly of the apparatus and the toner supply container of Embodiment 4 in a toner supplying operation.





FIG. 30

is a longitudinal sectional view of a container according to a further embodiment using a seal member for sealing a toner discharging opening.





FIG. 31

is a front view of a longitudinal trailing edge of toner supply container of Embodiment 4.





FIG. 32

is a perspective view of a toner supplying apparatus of Embodiment 5 and a developing device.





FIG. 33

is an exploded perspective view of a toner supply container according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention.





FIG. 34

is a longitudinal sectional view of a toner supply container of Embodiment 5.





FIG. 35

is a longitudinal sectional view of a toner supply container of Embodiment 5.





FIG. 36

is a perspective view illustrating an engaging relation between the main assembly of the apparatus and the toner supply container according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention.





FIG. 37

is a perspective view illustrating an engaging relation between the main assembly of the apparatus and the toner supply container according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention.





FIG. 38

is a perspective view of a toner supplying apparatus according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention.





FIG. 39

is a perspective view of an image forming apparatus according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention.





FIG. 40

is a perspective view of a driving side of a toner supplying apparatus according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention.





FIG. 41

is a perspective view of a driving side of a toner supplying apparatus according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention.





FIG. 42

is a perspective view of a non-driving side of a toner supplying apparatus of Embodiment 5 of the present invention.





FIG. 43

is a perspective view of an image forming apparatus illustrating an interrelation between the front door and the shutter of the toner supply container.





FIG. 44

is a side view of an image forming apparatus including a main assembly of a clam-shell type image forming apparatus.











DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS




First, Embodiment 1 will be described. Then, other embodiments will be described.




The embodiments are directed to a toner supply container for supplying toner to a main assembly of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, comprising:




a toner accommodating portion of accommodating toner;




toner discharging opening, provided in the toner accommodating portion, for discharging the accommodated toner;




an openable member for openably sealing the toner discharging opening and;




a driving force receiving portion for receiving driving force for moving the openable member to open the toner discharging opening when it is mounted to the main assembly of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus.




Embodiment 1




Electrophotographic Image Forming Apparatus





FIG. 20

is a longitudinal sectional view of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus (image forming apparatus) loaded with a toner supply container according to an embodiment of the present invention.




An original


101


is placed on an original supporting platen glass


102


by an operator. A light image of the original is formed on a photosensitive drum


104


by a plurality of mirrors and a lens of an optical system


103


. On the other hand, a size of the recording material (sheet of paper, OHP sheet or the like) is selected from the recording materials P stored in feeding cassettes


105


-


108


on the basis of the information inputted by the operator. One of the rollers is selected from the pick-up rollers


105


A-


108


A which corresponds to the selected feeding cassette, is rotated. The sheet is fed to a registration roller


110


. The registration roller


110


feeds the sheet P to the photosensitive drum


104


in synchronism with the timing of scanning operation of the optical portion


103


and with the rotation of the photosensitive drum


104


. Onto the sheet P, a toner image is transferred from the photosensitive drum


104


by transferring means


111


. Thereafter, the sheet P is separated from the photosensitive drum


104


by separating means


112


. Then, the sheet P is fed to a fixing portion


114


by a feeding portion


113


. The toner image is fixed on the sheet P by heat and pressure in the fixing portion


114


. Thereafter,




1) in the case of a one-sided copy (copy only on one side of the sheet), the sheet P is passed through a sheet reversing portion


115


and is then discharged to a tray


117


by discharging rollers


116


.




2) in the case of a superimposed copy mode, the sheet P is fed to feeding paths


119


,


120


by a flapper


118


in the reversing portion


115


. The sheet reaches the registration roller


110


. Thereafter, similarly to the operation described above, the sheet is fed through the image formation station, the feeding portion and the fixing portion, and then is discharged to the tray


117


.




3) in the case of a duplex copy, the sheet P is fed through the reversing portion


115


and is partly discharged by the discharging roller


116


tentatively. Then, the terminal end of the sheet P is passed through the flapper


118


, and then, the discharging roller


116


is rotated in the opposite direction. The sheet P is fed into the apparatus, again. The sheet P is fed to feeding portions


119


,


120


and is fed to the registration roller


110


. Similarly to the operation described above, the sheet is fed through the image formation station, the feeding portion and the fixing portion, and is then discharged to the tray


117


.




In the electrophotographic image forming apparatus having the structures described above, there are provided, around the photosensitive drum


104


, a developing device


201


, a cleaning means


202


and a primary charging means


203


. The developing device


201


functions to develop an electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum


104


with toner. A toner supply container


1


for supplying the toner to the developing device


201


is demountably mounted to the main assembly


124


of the apparatus.




Here, the developing device


201


includes a developing roller


201




a


which is spaced from the photosensitive drum


104


by a small gap (approx. 300 μm). Upon the developing operation, a thin toner layer is formed on a peripheral surface of the developing roller


201




a


by a developing blade


201




b


. The electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum


104


is developed by application of a developing bias to the developing roller


201




a


. The charging means


202


functions to charge the photosensitive drum


104


. The cleaning means functions to remove the toner remaining on the photosensitive drum


104


.




The amount of the toner decreases with the developing operation executed, and the toner is gradually supplied from the toner supply apparatus


100


.




The description will be made as to exchange of the toner supply container


1


.




First, shortage of the toner in the toner supply apparatus


100


is notified to a notification portion


124




a


. Then, the operator, as shown in

FIG. 21

, opens an openable member


121


for closing the opening


122


, formed in the main assembly


124


of the apparatus. At a rear portion of the opening


122


, a holder


31


(mounting means) is provided to permit the toner supply container


1


to be demountably mounted. The toner supply container


1


is inserted into the holder


31


in a longitudinal direction thereof. At this time, the container


1


is guided by a guide extended along the longitudinal direction of the holder


31


, and is inserted to a predetermined position. After the insertion, the operator rotates the handle


15


of the toner supply container


1


, by which the toner is supplied from the toner supply container


1


into the developing device


201


. When the openable member


121


is closed by the operator, a main switch is actuated so that image forming apparatus is made operable.




When a sensor (unshown) generates a signal indicative of the toner t decrease in the developing device


201


, the toner feeding member


29


rotates. By this, the toner is gradually supplied into the developing device


201


from the container


11


. When the amount of the toner reaches a predetermined level, the feeding member


29


is stopped. This operation is repeated. When the toner is not supplied even when the sensor produces the signal, the display is made on the notification portion


124




a


to promote the operator to exchange the toner supply container. Designated by


201




c


and


201




d


are toner feeding members in the developing device.




Toner Supply Container




The toner supply container


1


(

FIG. 1

) of this embodiment is mounted to the toner supply apparatus


100


of the image forming apparatus. It is kept placed in the image forming apparatus, and supplies the toner into the developing device gradually until the toner accommodated therein is used up. It is a so-called leaving (built-in) type. However, the present invention is not limited to the leaving type but is usable with a so-called removing type.




The toner supply container


1


, as shown in

FIG. 2

(exploded view), comprises a toner container


11


(toner accommodating portion), a first flange


12


and a second flange


13


mounted to the respective longitudinal ends of the toner container


11


. It further comprises a cap


14


engaged into the first flange


12


and a handle


15


engaged rotatably with the first flange


12


. Furthermore, it comprises a shutter


16


for opening and closing the toner discharging opening


11




a


of the toner container


11


. A toner stirring member may be provided in the toner container


11


to feed the toner.




Structure of Toner Accommodating Portion




The toner container


11


is a hollow cylindrical member. A toner discharging opening


11




a


is formed in a circumference thereof. Engaging portions


11




b


a provided at lateral end portions of the toner discharging opening


11




a


. The engaging portions


111




b


are engaged with a shutter


16


to open and close the shutter


16


in the circumferential direction (direction indicated by an arrow).




In this embodiment, the configuration is cylindrical, but it is not inevitable. For example, the cross-section may be elliptical, or a configuration having a corner of corners. The structure of the toner container


11


and the number of parts in this embodiment are not inevitable, either. The toner container


11


is filled with powdery toner. The toner may be black chromatic toner, chromatic toner which may be one component magnetic toner, one component non-magnetic toner or the like.




Structure of First and Second Flanges


12


,


13






The first flange


12


and the second flange


13


are hollow cylindrical members. They are engaged with and bonded to the respective longitudinal ends of the toner container


11


. They seal the toner container


11


. The first flange


12


is provided with an opening


12




a


for filling the toner. The opening


12




a


is sealed by a cap


14


after the container


11


is filled with the toner. The second flange


13


has an end plate


13




b


. The second flange


13


is provided with a projection


13




a


extended in the longitudinal direction on the outer surface. The projection


13




a


functions to position the container


1


in the circumferential direction when it is inserted into the main assembly of the image forming apparatus. It also functions to prevent rotation of the container


11


in the main assembly of the apparatus. The position of the projection


13




a


may be changed depending on the color of the toner accommodated in the container


1


to prevent mounting at an erroneous position.




The projection


13




a


may be provided on the first flange


12


or on the toner container


11


. However, from the standpoint of operativity, it is preferably provided on the second flange


13


. When the projection


13




a


is provided on the second flange


13


, the positioning can be easily controlled by the operator when it is inserted. In addition, the event of the erroneous mounting can be quickly recognized.




The first flange


12


or the second flange


13


may be formed integrally with the toner container


11


or a part of the toner container


11


. If the second flange


13


has a particular noncylindrical cross-section, the projection


13




a


may not be provided.




Structure of the Rotatable Member




The rotatable handle


15


is a cylindrical member. One end thereof is provided with a rectangular grip


15




e


. The other end is hollow and cylindrical, and is open. The handle


15


is rotatably connected with the first flange


12


. The handle


15


is provided with an engaging portion


15




a


for transmitting a driving force along a part of the outer periphery thereof. The engaging portion


15




a


has a gear. The engaging portion


15




a


is engaged with a gear as a driving force reception side engaging portion


21




a


provided in a driving force transmission member


21


(rotating force transmission member) in the main assembly


124


of the apparatus, when the toner supply container


1


is mounted to the main assembly


124


of the image forming apparatus. The engaging portion


15




a


is engageable with a driving force reception side engaging portion


21




a


in a series of operations for mounting the toner supply container


1


to the main assembly


124


of the apparatus. Therefore, the engaging portion


15




a


is preferably provided on the outer surface of the handle


15


. The driving force transmission member


21


includes a driving force reception side engaging portion


21




a


and a driving force transmission side engaging portion


21




b


at the opposite ends of the shaft


21




s


rotatably supported on the main assembly


124


of the apparatus. The shaft


21




s


is mounted to the main assembly


124


of the apparatus by a bearing (unshown).




The engaging portion


15




a


and the engaging portion


21




a


provided at one end of the driving force transmission member


21


, the engaging portion


21




b


provided at the other end of the driving force transmission member


21


and the driving force reception side engaging portion


22




a


of the shutter


16


, are gears engageable with each other. The gear has teeth arranged along a circumferential direction of the container. It is not limited to a gear, but may be a friction wheel, a pin wheel, or may be a gear having one teeth (projection) when the angle of rotation required for the opening and closing of the shutter


16


is small (this applies to the other embodiments).




A locking member


15




b


is provided (

FIGS. 7

,


8


) to lock the handle


15


to the toner container


11


before the toner supply container


1


is mounted to the main assembly


124


of the image forming apparatus and after it is demounted therefrom. The locking member


15




b


is engaged with an elongated groove


15




c


formed in the outer periphery of the cylindrical of the handle


15


, for movement in the longitudinal direction. A compression coil spring


15




d


is provided between the end of the groove


15




c


and the locking member


15




b


. When the toner supply container


1


is out of the main assembly


124


of the apparatus, the locking member


15




b


is engaged with the hole portion


12




b


of the toner container


11


by the spring force of the spring


15




d


. Therefore, the handle


15


is not rotatable. Structure of the locking mechanism is not limited to this, if it is engageable with the toner container


11


and is releasable upon the mounting of the container. The locking mechanism may be omitted, if not necessary.




On the other hand, a main assembly projection


23


is fixed to a toner supplying apparatus


100


of the main assembly


124


of the apparatus. The main assembly projection


23


prevents movement of the locking member


15




b


in the process of mounting the toner supply container


1


to the toner supplying apparatus


100


. Therefore, the locking member


15




b


retracts and disengages from the hole portion


12




b


. Then, the handle


15


becomes rotatable.




Toner Feeding Member




As shown in

FIG. 19

, a screw


25


is provided in the toner supply container


1


. The screw


25


is provided with screw blades


25


R,


25


L which are twisted in different directions. As indicated by arrows a and b, they feed the toner in the toner container


11


toward the toner discharging opening


11




a


. The screw


25


is supported rotatably on the end plate


13




b


of the second flange


13


. The gear


26


is fixed to the shaft of the screw


25


outside the end plate


13




b


. When the toner supply container


1


is mounted to the main assembly


124


of the apparatus, the gear


26


is brought into meshing engagement with a gear (unshown) which is eventually engaged with the driving source in the main assembly


124


of the apparatus.




As shown in FIG.


19


(


b


) the toner feeding member may be a feeding blade


28


. The feeding blade


28


is rotatably supported on the end plate


13




b


of the second flange


13


. It is fixed to a feeding shaft


27


fixed to the gear


26


outside the end plate


13




b


. It is made of a flexible material such as a plastic resin material or the like. The feeding blade


28


is provided with a plurality of blades each having a claw portion


28




a


inclined toward the toner discharging opening


11




a


. Therefore, as shown in Figure indicated by the arrows a, b, it can feed the toner in the toner container


11


toward the toner discharging opening


11




a.






Structure of the Shutter


16






The shutter


16


which is an openable member, is engaged with an engaging portion


11




b


provided around the toner discharging opening


11




a


. It slides along the circumference to open and close the toner discharging opening


11




a


. The cross-section (taken along a line perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the toner supply container


1


) of the shutter


16


is arcuated so as to be extended along the outer surface of the toner container


11


.




When the toner supply container


1


is mounted to the main assembly


124


of the apparatus, the shutter


16


is brought into engagement with a shutter engageable member


22


which is provided in the main assembly


124


of the apparatus and which is interrelated with the engaging portion


21




b


. In other words, the engaging portion


21




b


and the engageable member


22


are provided in the main assembly of the apparatus. When the container


1


is mounted to the main assembly


1


of the apparatus in the longitudinal direction, the engageable member


22


is engaged with the shutter


16


.




As shown in FIG.


4


(


b


), the shutter engageable member


22


is supported to the bearing portion


2


provided in the main assembly


124


of the apparatus such that it is rotatable but not movable in the axial direction. The outer periphery is provided with a driving force reception side engaging portion


22




a


(rotating force receiving portion) for receiving the rotating force from the handle


15


. The engageable member


22


is provided with an engaging portion


22




b


for engagement with the both edges


16




c


(in the container inserting direction of the shutter


16


). The engaging portion


22




a


has a plurality of teeth. The shutter


16


. receives the rotating force by the contact portion


16


h contacted to the engaging portion


22




b


. Thus, portion


16




h


is a rotating force receiving portion.




FIG.


4


(


c


) shows another embodiment. In this embodiment, the engageable member


22


is engaged with a rail portion (unshown) provided in the toner supplying apparatus


100


and moves in the circumferential direction, by the provision of the sliding portion


22




c


at the opposite axial ends. It also functions as a shutter mechanism for opening and closing the toner supply opening communicating to the developing device


201


from the toner supplying apparatus


100


.




Toner Supplying Operation




The description will be made as to a toner supplying operation using the toner supply container


1


according to this embodiment of the present invention.




(1) mounting of the toner supply container


1






The toner supply container


1


having the structures described above, is inserted into the toner supplying apparatus


100


of the main assembly


124


of the apparatus in the direction of arrow c (FIG.


21


). At this time, the projection


13




a


of the toner supply container


1


is engaged with the engaging portion


24


of the main assembly


124


of the apparatus. First, the engaging portion


22




b


of the engageable member


22


is engaged with the shutter


16


. The shutter


16


moves sliding on the engaging portion


22




b


. The engaging portion


21




a


provided in the main assembly


124


of the apparatus is brought into engagement with the engaging portion


15




a


of the handle


15


, and the engageable member


22


provided in the main assembly is brought into engagement with the shutter


16


. As shown in FIG.


8


(


a


) and FIG.


8


(


b


), the locking member


15




b


is stopped by the projection


23


. Therefore, the locking member


15




b


enters the groove


15




c


while compressing the compression coil spring


15




d


, and the locking member


15




b


is disengaged from the hole portion


12




b


. By this, the locking between the handle


15


and the toner container


11


is released. Then, the handle


15


becomes manually rotatable relative to the toner container


11


.




(2) Toner Supply




Referring to FIG.


4


(


a


) and

FIG. 6

, the toner supply will be described. The operator manually rotates the handle


15


in the counterclockwise direction while the toner supply container


1


is in the main assembly


124


. By this rotation, the rotational driving force is transmitted to the transmission member


21


provided in the main assembly


124


of the apparatus through the engaging portion


21




a


from the engaging portion


15




a


of the handle


15


. The driving force is transmitted to the engageable member


22


through the engaging portion


22




a


interrelated with the engaging portion


21




b


. By the driving force thus transmitted, the shutter


16


slides in the circumferential direction of the container


11


. This opened the toner discharging opening


11




a


(width of W) to enable the toner supply. At this time, the projection


13




a


of the container


1


is engaged with the engaging portion


24


provided in the main assembly


124


. Therefore, the container


11


is not moved with the rotation of the handle


15


.




(3) Dismounting of the Toner Supply Container


1






By the operator rotating the handle


15


in the clockwise direction, the driving force in the opposite direction is transmitted to the shutter


16


in the order similar to operation (2). The shutter


16


closes the toner discharging opening


11




a


(width W). Then, the operator draws the container


1


out of the toner supplying apparatus


100


. By this, the locking member


15




b


is engaged with the hole portion


12




b


of the first flange. The handle


15


is locked to the container


11


. Thus, a series of the toner supplying operations is completed. In the operations, the container


11


is immovable. Therefore, no limitation is imposed on the configuration of the container


11


(cylindrical is not inevitable). Since the shutter


16


and the handle


15


are separate members from each other, the position of the toner discharging opening


11




a


is not necessarily adjacent to the handle, thus increasing the design latitude of the toner supply container


1


. The shutter


16


is permitted to be opened when the container


1


is mounted to the mounting position in the main assembly


124


of the apparatus. Therefore, when the container


1


is out of the main assembly of the apparatus, the shutter


16


is prevented from being opened inadvertently.




The description will be made as to a toner supplying operation.




The container


1


of this embodiment, the rotating force of the handle


15


is transmitted to the shutter


16


through a plurality of engaging portions, namely, the engaging portion


15




a


, the engaging portion


21




a


, the engaging portion


21




b


and the engaging portion


22




a


. Therefore, it is possible to freely use the engagement ratios (gear ratios) in the design of the engaging portions.




When the sliding movement distance of the shutter


16


is long, the engagement ratio of the handle


15


(gear ratio) is made large, so that operation(rotation) distance of the handle


15


can be shortened. When the opening and closing torque of the shutter


16


is large, the engagement ratio (gear ratio) of the handle


15


is made small, so that torque required for the operation (rotation) of the handle


15


can be decreased. Thus, the angle of rotation and/or the operation torque of the handle


15


can be properly selected.




The configuration, the structure and the number of parts of each of the drive transmission member


21


, the engageable member


22


, the handle


15


and the shutter


16


, can be properly selected. The rotational direction of the handle


15


is not limited (this applies to the other embodiments).




Embodiment 2




Referring to

FIGS. 9 through 15

, Embodiment 2 will be described. The same reference numerals as in Embodiment 1 are assigned to the elements having the corresponding functions, and detailed descriptions thereof are omitted for simplicity.




Embodiment 2 shown in

FIG. 9

is different from Embodiment 1 in that driving force reception side engaging portion


22




a


is provided in the toner supply container


1


. In other words, the driving force reception side engaging portion


16




a


is provided in the shutter


16


of the toner supply container


1


. The engaging portion


16




a


provided in the shutter


16


is engaged with the engaging portion


21




b


in the series of the container


1


inserting operations into the main assembly


124


of the apparatus. The engaging portion


16




a


is provided on the outer surface of the shutter


16


. The number thereof is not limited. The engaging portion


16




a


has teeth engaged with the gear of the engaging portion


21




b.






The engaging portion


16




a


is inserted into the toner supplying apparatus


100


of the main assembly


124


of the apparatus while the projection


13




a


of the container


1


is engaged with the engaging portion


24


of the main assembly


124


of the apparatus. By this, the engaging portion


16




a


is engaged with the driving force transmission side engaging portion


21




b


of the drive transmission member


21


provided in the main assembly


124


of the apparatus.




When the operator rotates the handle


15


, the driving force is transmitted to the transmission member


21


through the engaging portion


21




a


from the engaging portion


15




a


provided in the handle


15


. Further, it is transmitted to the engaging portion


16




a


provided in the shutter


16


from the engaging portion


21




b


. By the driving force thus transmitted, the shutter


16


causes to slide the engaging portion


11




b


of the toner container


1


in the circumferential direction. This opens the toner discharging opening


11




a


(width W) (FIGS.


11


and


13


). This enables the toner supply. The closing operation of the toner discharging opening


11




a


(width W) is effected by the transmission of the driving force in the opposite direction.




In the series of the toner supplying operations, the projection


13




a


of the container


1


is locked by the engaging portion


24


of the main assembly


124


of the apparatus, similarly to Embodiment 1. Therefore, the toner container


11


is not interrelated with the rotation of the handle


15


, but is fixed by the main assembly


124


of the apparatus.




The mounting of the container


1


to the toner supplying apparatus


201


provided in the main assembly


124


of the apparatus, is effected by insertion in the direction of indicated by the arrow X from the second flange


13


side. Therefore, the engaging portion


16




a


passes by the engaging portion


21




a


of the transmission member


21


and is brought into engagement with the engaging portion


21




b


at the rear side. As shown in FIG.


15


(


a


), the outer configuration of the engaging portion


16




a


is smaller than that of the engaging portion


15




a


. Or, as shown in FIG.


15


(


b


), it is preferable that angles of the engaging portion


16




a


and the engaging portion


15




a


before the mounting, is not overlapped with the other, from the standpoint of mounting operativity.




According to this embodiment, the engageable member


22


is not necessary, and therefore, the structure of the main assembly can be simplified.




Furthermore, as shown in

FIG. 16

, the engaging portion


16




a


may be provided at each of the opposite ends of the shutter


16


, by which the sliding movement of the shutter


16


is smooth. The engaging portion


16




a


may be provided at one position or at three or more positions.




As shown in

FIG. 17

, the direction of the sliding movement of the shutter


16


is coaxial with the container


11


. The engaging portion


16




a


may be in the form of a rack extended in the axial direction of the container


11


. In this case, the main assembly of the apparatus is provided with a first drive transmission member


21


A having an engaging portion


21




a


engageable with the engaging portion


15




a


and a bevel gear


21




c


at the end. Also, a second drive transmission member


21


B is provided which has a pinion


21




e


rotatably supported by a shaft


21




f


. The pinion


21




e


is integral with the bevel gear


21




d


engaged with the gear


21




c


. By doing so, the pinion


21




e


of the second drive transmission member


21


B is engaged with the rear side end of the engaging portion


16




a


. Therefore, by the operator rotating the handle


15


, the pinion


21




e


is rotated to advance the shutter


16


toward the rear side.




Embodiment 3




Referring to

FIG. 18

, a toner container


11


according to Embodiment 3 will be described. The same reference numerals as in Embodiment 1 are assigned to the elements having the corresponding functions, and detailed descriptions thereof are omitted for simplicity.




In Embodiment 3 shown in

FIG. 18

, the engaging portion


22




a


of the engageable member


22


is provided as the engaging portion


16




a


in the shutter


16


of container


1


, similarly to Embodiment 2. The configuration of the container


11


is noncylindrical. The cross-section of the container


11


is an arcuated portion


11




d


which is close to semicircle and a trapezoidal portion


11




c


connected thereto. The inside constitutes a single space. The shutter


16


moves along a short side (in the direction perpendicular to the mounting-and-demounting direction of the container


1


) along a side surface of the trapezoidal portion


11




c


(direction indicated by the arrow Y). By this, the toner opening


11




a


is opened and closed. The transmission member


21


(not shown in

FIG. 18

) is similar to that of Embodiment 1, and the engaging portion


21




a


is engaged with the engaging portion


15




a


, and the engaging portion


21




b


is engaged with the engaging portion


16




a


. Here, the engaging portion


16




a


is in the form of a rack extended on the shutter


16


in the moving direction of the shutter


16


.




In Embodiment 3, the toner supply is possible without the rotating operation of the container


11


similarly to Embodiment 2. Therefore, the configuration of the container is not limited to any particular shape. Then, the space above the toner container mounting portion which has been a dead space, as shown in

FIG. 13

, can be utilized as the container


11


capacity.




Using such a configuration, the increase of the volume of the toner container is achieved, and the space efficiency of the toner supply container can be increased. From the standpoint of the discharging property of the toner and the reduction of the remaining toner amount, it is preferable to provide toner feeding means in the container


11


.




In the Embodiments 1 through 3, the angle of rotation of the handle


15


is preferably 60° to 120° from the standpoint of operativity.




Embodiment 4




The Embodiment 4 will be described in detail. The description will be made as to (1) general arrangement of the main assembly of the image forming apparatus to which the toner supply container is mounted, (2) structure of the toner supply container and (3) toner supplying operation method.




General Arrangement of the Main Assembly of the Image Forming Apparatus to Which the Toner Supply Container is Mounted





FIG. 22

is a longitudinal sectional view of the main assembly


124


A of a full color image forming apparatus to which the toner supply container of this embodiment is mounted.




There are provided photosensitive drums


104




a


,


104




b


,


104




c


and


104




d


for forming toner images of magenta, cyan, yellow and black colors, and a transfer belt


125


disposed below the photosensitive drum


104




a


-


104




d


. The photosensitive drums


104




a


,


104




b


,


104




c


and


104




d


are rotated by ultrasonic motors ((unshown), and around them, there are provided primary chargers


203




a


,


203




b


,


203




c


and


203




d


, developing devices


204




a


,


204




b


,


204




c


and


204




d


, and transfer chargers


111




a


,


111




b


,


111




c


and


111




d


, respectively. Above the photosensitive drums


104




a


through


104




d


, there are disposed exposure devices


103




a


,


103




b


,


103




c


and


103




d


constituted by LED or the like, respectively.




The photosensitive drums


104




a


,


104




b


,


104




c


,


104




d


are charged by the chargers


203




a


,


203




b


,


203




c


,


203




d


, respectively. They are exposed then to color-separated yellow, magenta, cyan, black light images by the exposure devices


103




a


,


103




b


,


103




c


and


103




d


, respectively. By this, electrostatic latent images for yellow color, magenta color, cyan color and black color toner images are formed on the photosensitive drums


104




a


,


104




b


,


104




c


and


104




d


, respectively. Then, the latent images are developed by the developing devices


204




a


,


204




b


,


204




c


and


204


D, respectively. Thus, yellow color, magenta color, cyan color and black color toner images are formed on the photosensitive drums


104




a


,


104




b


,


104




c


and


104




d


sequentially.




A sheet P is fed out of a cassette


105


or


106


by a pick-up roller


105


A or


106


A one by one. It is fed to a registration roller


110


by a feeding portion


109


including a feeding roller and a paper guide. It is timed by the roller


110


, is electrostatically attracted on the transfer belt


125


, and is fed in the direction indicated by an arrow A. The sheet P attracted on the transfer belt


125


is fed sequentially to the transfer portions faced to the photosensitive drums


104




a


,


104




b


,


104




c


,


104




d


by the rotation of the transfer belt


125


. The toner images on the photosensitive drums


104




a


,


104




b


,


104




c


and


104




d


are superimposedly transferred onto the sheet P by the transfer chargers (transfer blades)


111




a


,


111




b


,


111




c


and


111




d


. By doing so, a full-color toner image is formed.




The sheet P now having the toner images thus transferred, is fed to the fixing portion


114


from the transfer belt


125


portion. The toner image is fixed on the sheet P by the heat and pressure. Thus, a full-color printed image is formed on the sheet P. Then, it is discharged to outside of the main assembly of the apparatus by sheet discharge feeding means


126


provided downstream of the fixing portion


114


.




The belt feeding portion


127


comprises a transfer belt


125


, a driving roller


129


which receives a driving force from a pulse motor


128


and plurality of supporting rollers


131


,


132


and


133


, around which the transfer belt


125


is trained.




A transfer belt cleaner


134


is provided to remove the toner deposited on the transfer belt


125


. It is contacted to or disengaged from the transfer belt


125


by a mechanism (unshown), upon necessity. The toner is removed from the transfer belt


125


by rotation of a cleaner brush.




The toners are supplied from toner supplying apparatuses


100




a


,


100




b


,


100




c


,


100




d


into the developing devices


204




a


,


204




b


,


204




c


,


204




d.






When the toner is used up, the operator opens toward himself a front door (unshown) of the main assembly


124


A of the apparatus. The toner supply containers loaded in the toner supplying apparatuses


100




a


,


100




b


,


100




c


and


100




d


are exchanged. Then, the front door is closed, in response to which the main switch is actuated. By this, the toner feeding member or toner feeding members of the exchanged new toner supply container or containers


1




a


,


1




b


,


1




c


and/or


1




d


are rotated by driving force from the main assembly


124


A, so that toner is supplied into the toner supplying apparatus or appratuses


100




a


,


100




b


,


100




c


and/or


100




d.






Structure of Toner Supply Container




The toner supply containers


1




a


,


1




b


,


1




c


,


1




d


of this embodiment are mounted to the toner supplying apparatus


100




a


,


100




b


,


100




c


,


100




d


provided in the main assembly


124


A of the color copying machine shown in FIG.


22


. They are left in the apparatus, and supply the toner into the toner supplying apparatuses


100




a


,


100




b


,


100




c


,


100




d


gradually, until the toner is used up. So, it is a so-called leaving type toner supply container.




The toner supply container


100




a


,


100




b


,


100




c


and


100




d


have the same structures. As shown in

FIG. 23

, it has a toner container


11


including a first flange


12


and a second flange


13


which are welded to each other into an integral member. It has a cap


14


fitted into one end of the toner container


11


. It further comprises a handle


15


rotatably engaged into one end of the toner container


11


. It further comprises a toner feeding member (unshown) in the toner container


11


, and a coupling (unshown) for supporting the toner feeding member and for transmitting driving force. There are further provided a shutter


16


for opening and closing the toner discharging opening


11




a


of the toner container


11


, and a seal member


35


for sealing between the shutter


16


and the toner discharging opening


11




a.






Toner Container




The toner container


11


, as shown in

FIG. 27

, has a cross-section (taken along a line perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the container) of an arcuated portion which is close to a semicircle and a rectangular portion


11




h


connected thereto. The inside thereof is a single elongated hollow space. The outer surface of the arcuated portion


11




g


is provided with a toner discharging opening


11




a


. A shutter supporting member


11




e


is provided at longitudinal ends of the toner discharging opening


11




a


. The shutter


16


is supported by a supporting member


11




e


so as to be movable between a close position (FIG.


27


(


a


)) for closing the toner discharging opening


11




a


, and an opening position (FIG.


27


(


b


)) for opening the toner discharging opening


11




a


, the opening position being retracted from the close position. Depending on the size of the toner discharging opening


11




a


in a direction crossing with the longitudinal direction of the container


11


, the sliding movement distance of the shutter


16


is required to be long. Therefore, as shown in

FIG. 24

, the arcuated portion is extended, and the projection


32


may have an arcuated configuration having the angleθ of 270° as seen from the center of the container


1




a.






The projection


32


is provided in the second flange


13


. The projection


32


is used for positioning, after the container


1




a


is mounted to the toner supplying apparatus


100




a


,


100




b


,


100




c


or


100




d


of the main assembly


124


A of the apparatus. The projections


32


may be provided at different positions corresponding the colors of the toners contained in the containers, so that erroneous mounting of a toner supply container at a position for a different color can be avoided. In other words, the projection


32


has a color discrimination function. The projections


32


are provided on the outer surfaces of the containers


11


accommodating different color toners, preferably, at different positions on the outer surface of a free end portions or leading end portions (downstream) of the toner supply container in the inserting direction into the toner supplying apparatus. By doing so, the user can quickly position the container, and can quickly recognize erroneous mounting of the toner supply container, if it occurs.




At a rear end (upstream) in the container inserting direction, an opening


12




a


(toner filling opening) for filling the toner is provided. In the filling port


12




a


, a cross-shaped rib


12




c


is provided. It is provided at a center thereof with an axial bore


12




d


for supporting the toner feeding member. Around the filling port


12




a


, there is provided a circular wall portion


12




e


for engagement with a handle which will be described hereinafter. The filling port


12




a


is sealed by mounting of a cap


14


after the toner filling. The first flange


12


is connected with the toner container


11


into an integral member.




An end surface of the second flange


13


is provided with a hole


13




c


into which the driving force receiving portion (e.g. coupling) for supporting the toner feeding member at the outside of the container


11


and for transmitting driving force, is inserted. Around the hole


13




c


, a wall portion


13




d


for supporting the outer surface of the coupling is provided (

FIGS. 23

,


31


).




The configuration of the toner container may be square prism, hexagonal prism, cylindrical or the like.




Handle




The handle


15


is cylindrical in shape. One end thereof is provided with a straight grip


15




e


. The other end is in the form of a hollow cylindrical shape and is open. The handle


15


is manually rotatable relative to the wall portion


12




e


provided at one end of the container


11


. An engaging portion


15




a


for transmitting the driving force is provided. The engaging portion


15




a


is provided on the outer surface of the handle


15


. And, it has teeth.




The engaging portion


15




a


is provided with a segment gear configuration engageable with an engaging portion


21




a


of a driving force transmission member


21


provided in the supplying apparatus when the container


1




a


,


1




b


,


1




c


or


1




d


is inserted into a proper one of the supplying apparatuses


100




a


,


100




b


,


100




c


and


100




d


. It is engageable with the engaging portion


21




a


in the series of the container


1


inserting operations.




The driving force transmission member


21


is provided with an engaging portion


21




a


and an engaging portion


21




b


at each of the opposite ends of the shaft


21




s


rotatably supported on the supplying apparatus. The engaging portions


21




a


,


21




b


are in the form of gears having teeth. In this embodiment, the engaging portion


21




a


has one gear teeth. However, the structure or the number of the driving force reception mechanism is not limited to this embodiment, if it functions to receive the driving force. In this embodiment, the engaging portion


21




b


is in meshing engagement with the gear


16




d


(segment gear) through an idler gear as the driving force transmission side engaging portion


21




g


. In this embodiment, the transmission member


21


, the engaging portions


21




a


and


21




b


and the engaging portion


21




g


are provided in the main assembly of the apparatus.




Toner Feeding Member




A feeding shaft


27


for supporting the toner feeding member


29


is rotatably supported in the axial bore


12




d


(

FIG. 23

) at on the end. At the other end, it is supported so as to transmit the rotating force by a coupling


26




a


(FIG.


26


). The feeding member


29


is provided with a feeding blade


28


of flexible material fixed to the shaft


27


. The coupling


26




a


is rotatably supported on the container


11


.




The feeding blade


28


rubs the inner surface of the arcuation shape portion


11




g


(FIGS.


23


and


27


). The blade


28


is in the form of a plurality of blades having claw portion


28




a


with an inclined portion


28




b


projected in the rotational direction at the free end side edge relative to the toner discharging opening


11




a


. Therefore, it can feed the toner in the container


11


toward the opening


11




a


. The opening


11




a


is disposed at a front side (upstream) as seen in the inserting direction of the container


1




a


into the main assembly of the apparatus. Thus, all of the claw portions


28




a


are directed in the same direction. When the container


1




a


is mounted to the supplying apparatus


100




a


, the coupling


26




a


is engaged with the driving side coupling (unshown) provided in the supplying apparatus, and receives the driving force to rotate the feeding member


29


.




If the toner in the container


11


can be fed to the toner discharging opening, the toner feeding member is not inevitable. However, by the provision of the toner feeding member, the toner can be assuredly supplied.





FIG. 31

shows an end at the side receiving the driving force for the toner supply container. A coupling


26




a


functioning as a driving force receiving member is rotatably supported on the end surface of the container


11


. The opposite axial ends of the coupling


26




a


are in the form of axial coupling. It is coupled with an end of the feeding shaft


27


of the feeding member


29


in the container


11


. Outside the container


11


, there is provided a rotating force receiving portion. The rotating force receiving portion is connected with a driving member, provided in each of the supplying apparatus, for transmitting the rotating force when the container


1




a


is mounted to the main assembly


124


A of the apparatus. The rotating force receiving portion is in the form of projections


26




a




1


extended in the radial direction, as shown in FIG.


31


. The recess


26




a


formed by the projections


26




a




1


therebetween is engaged with the projection (unshown) of the driving member, so that they are coupled.




Shutter




The shutter


16


shown in

FIG. 23

is provided with a sliding portion


16




f


at each of the opposite longitudinal ends of the shutter


16


. The sliding portion


16




f


is engaged with a shutter supporting member


11




e


functioning as a guiding member provided at each of the opposite longitudinal ends of the opening


11




a


. The shutter


16


slides in a circumferential direction of the container


11


to close and open the opening


11




a


. A section taken along a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of each of the containers


1




a


,


1




b


,


1




c


,


1




d


of the shutter


16


is arcuated so as to extend along the outer surface of the container


11


. The sliding portion


16




f


and the supporting member


11




e


have a hook-shaped section taken along a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal direction.




The shutter


16


, as shown in

FIG. 25

, is provided with a driving force reception side engaging portion


16




d


functioning as a rotating force receiving portion engageable with a gear functioning as the engaging portion


21




g


when any of the containers la,


1




b


,


1




c


,


1




d


is mounted to the associated one of the supplying apparatuses


100




a


,


100




b


,


100




c


,


100




d


. The engaging portion


16




d


is provided with a plurality of tooth. The engaging portion


16




d


is engageable with the engaging portion


21




g


by a series of inserting operation of the container to the associated supplying apparatus. It is preferable that engaging portion


16




d


is disposed on the outer surface of the shutter


16


. Further preferably, the diameter of an addedendum circle of a segment gear configuration of the engaging portion


16




d


has substantially the same outer diameter of the shutter


16


except for the engaging portion


16




d


. By this, the space in the direction of height is saved. Therefore, said engaging portion


16




d


is provided on the outer surface adjacent an edge of the shutter


16


closer to the coupling


26




a


. Thus, when the shutter


16


is at a closing position, it is engaged with or disengaged from the engaging portion


21




g


. Through a series of inserting operations into the container, the engaging portion


21




g


provided in the supplying apparatus


100




a


and the engaging portion


16




d


are engaged. Therefore, the sliding portion


16




f


(


16




f




1


) adjacent the side of the shutter


16


having the coupling


26




a


has a length shorter than the engaging portion


16




d


(A in FIGS.


23


and


25


). Thus, it is preferable that sliding portion


16




f




1


is disposed such that when the container is inserted into the supplying apparatus, the end surface


16


h adjacent the shutter


16


directly faced to the engaging portion


21




g


functions as the engaging portion


16




d


. In this embodiment, therefore, a cut-away portion


16




g


is provided to shorten the sliding portion


16




f




1


. Therefore, the engaging portion


21




g


and the shutter


16


are not interfered.




When the thickness of the shutter


16


is large, the sliding portion


16




f




1


is provided to cover the total arcuated length of the shutter


16


. The portion corresponding to the cut-away portion


16




g


may be a recess through which the engaging portion


21




g


is passed.




The shutter


16


is engaged with a main assembly shutter


34


for closing and opening the toner supply opening


33


provided in the supplying apparatus


100




a


as shown in FIG.


28


. In interrelation with the sliding movement of the shutter


16


provided in the container


1




a


, the main assembly shutter


34


can be slid.




The engaging portions


21




b


,


21




g


in this embodiment, are constituted by two gears. However, it the drive transmission mechanism is provided, the structure or the number of the gears is not limited.




The toner supplying apparatus


100




a


comprises a supply container receiving portion having a semi-cylindrical lower portion


54




a


and a rectangular upper portion


54




b


to be complementary with the outer shape of the container


11


, in the cross-section, as shown in

FIGS. 28 and 29

, and comprises a supplying apparatus main assembly


54


integral with a frame of the developing device


204




a


therebelow. On the inner surface, there is provided a guiding rail


55


extended in the circumferential direction at a lower portion


54




a


. The guiding rail


55


is engaged with the guide


34




a


of the main assembly shutter


34


. The guiding rail


55


and the guide


34




a


have the hook-shaped cross-section, which are nested. Two leads of rail


55


and the guide


34




a


are extended parallel with each other. Therefore, the main assembly shutter


34


is supported on the main assembly


54


of the supplying apparatus. An inner surface of the main assembly shutter


34


has a radius which is the same as that of the outer periphery of the shutter


16


. The main assembly shutter


34


has abutment edges


34




b


extended in the longitudinal direction, at the opposite sides perpendicular to the moving direction. The length between the abutment edges


34




b


along the inner surface of the main assembly shutter


34


is equal to the length of the outer arcuation of the shutter


16


. Therefore, when the container


1




a


is inserted into the supplying apparatus


100




a


, the edges of the shutter


16


are engaged in the space between the surfaces


34




b




1


radially projected from the abutment edge


34




b


of the main assembly shutter


34


. Therefore, the main assembly shutter


34


is interrelatedly moved by the opening and closing of the shutter


16


. Therefore, by facing the toner discharging opening


11




a


and the toner supply opening


33


to each other, the shutter


16


is opened to permit the toner to be supplied into the developing device


204




a.






Seal Member




The sealing member in the form of a seal member


35


is of elastic material (FIG.


23


). It functions to seal between the shutter


16


and the discharging opening


11




a


. It therefore prevents leakage of the toner from the inside of the container


11


upon falling shock or the like. To accomplish this, the seal member


35


is stuck on the outer surface of the container


11


so as to enclose the discharging opening


11




a


. More particularly, the material of the seal member


35


may be rubber such as silicon, urethane, polyethylene foam or the like, sponge. Preferably, it is low polyurethane foam having a hardness of 20°-70°, a compression set not more than 10%, a cell size of 60-300 μm, a density of 0.15-0.50 g/cm


2


, and it is used with compression of 5-50%.




The seal member


35


may be stuck on a surface faced to the discharging opening


11




a


of the shutter


16


rather than around the discharging opening


11




a.






Referring to

FIG. 30

, the description will be made as to another embodiment wherein a seal member is used to seal the toner discharging opening.




In this embodiment, the function of opening and closing the main assembly shutter provided in the main assembly of the apparatus and the function of sealing the toner discharging opening are separated.




In this embodiment, the seal member


35


is in the form of a flexible welded film


35




a


. The seal member


35


is welded on a seat


11




i


enclosing the discharging opening


11




a


. It sealing the opening


11




a


. Seal member


35


is folded back adjacent one side of the opening


11




a


. When the container


1




a


is mounted to the main assembly of the apparatus, the opening


11




a


is unsealed by the operator pulling the other end


35




a




2


of the seal member


35




a


. This type in which the film


35




a


is peeled off the edge portion of the toner discharging opening


11




a


, is not limiting, but it may by a type wherein the film may be torn, upon the toner supply.




The shutter


16


does not have the sealing function for the discharging opening


11




a


. The shutter


16


is provided with an elongated hole


16


. The shutter


16


opens and closes a main assembly shutter


34


provided in the main assembly of the apparatus. The mechanism is the same as the foregoing embodiment.




According to this embodiment, there is provided a toner supply container for supplying toner into a main assembly of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, comprising:




A toner accommodating portion (toner container


11


) for accommodating toner to be supplied into a main assembly (


124


A,


124


B) of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus;




A toner discharging opening (


11




a


) for discharging the toner accommodated in the toner accommodating portion, said toner discharging opening being provided in said toner accommodating portion;




a sealing member(seal member


35


) for openably sealing said toner discharging opening (


11




a


);




A rotatable member (handle


15


) which is rotatable relative to said toner accommodating portion;




A rotating force receiving portion (driving force reception side engaging portion


16




d


) for receiving rotating force produced by rotation of said rotatable member through a rotating force transmission member (driving force transmission member


21


) provided in the main assembly of said electrophotographic image forming apparatus to unseal a main assembly openable member (main assembly shutter


34


) which seals a toner reception opening(toner supply opening


33


) provided in the main assembly of said electrophotographic image forming apparatus by rotation of said rotatable member, when said toner supply container (


1


) is mounted to the main assembly of said electrophotographic image forming apparatus.




Toner Supply Operation




The description will be made as to a toner supplying operation using the toner supply container


1




a


according to this embodiment of the present invention.




(1) Mounting of the Toner Supply Container


1




a






The front door (unshown) provided in the main assembly


124


A of the apparatus is opened toward the operator by 90°, then the projection


32




a


of the container


1




a


is engaged with the groove portion


24




a


(

FIG. 28

) of the supplying apparatus


100




a


. The container


1




a


is inserted into the supplying apparatus


100




a


with the side having the coupling


26




a


at the leading end. Then, the shutter


16


of the container


1




a


and the main assembly shutter


34


in the supplying apparatus


100




a


are engaged with each other (FIG.


28


). The engaging portion


21




g


and the engaging portion


16




d


of the shutter


16


are brought into engagement with each other. Finally, the engaging portion


21




a


is engaged with the engaging portion


15




a


of the handle


15


.




(2) Placing of Toner Supply Container and Toner Supply




With the container


1




a


mounted to the supplying apparatus


100




a


, the operator rotates the handle


15


manually by 90° in the clockwise direction. By this, driving force of the rotation is transmitted to the transmission member


21


through the engaging portion


21




a


from the engaging portion


15




a


. Furthermore, it is transmitted to the engaging portion


16




d


of the shutter


16


from the engaging portion


21




g


. By the driving force thus transmitted, the shutter


16


is slid in the circumferential direction while engaging with the supporting member


11




e


of the container


11


. At this time, the main assembly shutter


34


is interrelatedly slid with the sliding movement of the shutter


16


. Therefore, the discharging opening


11




a


of the container


1




a


and the supply opening


33


of the supplying apparatus


100




a


are simultaneously opened. And, by rotating the toner feeding member


29


by the coupling


26




a


receiving the driving force from the main assembly


124


A of the apparatus, the toner supply is started.




During this operation, the container


11


does not rotate. Therefore, the container


1




a


is not interrelated with the rotation of the handle


15


, and is fixed in the supply container


100




a.






(3) Dismounting of the Toner Supply Container




The operator rotates the handle


15


in the counterclockwise direction by 90°. By this, the driving force in the opposite direction is transmitted in the opposite order. The shutter


16


closes the discharging opening


11




a


, and the main assembly shutter


34


closes the supply opening


33


. Thus, the series of toner supplying operations is completed.




In the mounting of the container


1




a


to the supplying apparatus


100




a


, the coupling


26




a


side takes a first position. Therefore, the engaging portion


16




d


passes through the engaging portion


21




a


and is brought into engagement with the engaging portion


21




g


. To accomplish this, the diameter of the addedendum circle of the segment gear-like engaging portion


16




d


is preferably smaller than the diameter of the dedendum circle of the segment gear-like engaging portion


15




a.






With such a structure, the container is stationary (not moved) during the series of toner supplying operations. Therefore, the configuration of the container is not limited. Thus, a container configuration having a higher space efficiency can be used. Since the shutter and the handle are separate members, the position of the toner discharging opening may be adjacent the handle. Therefore, the latitude of the design of the toner supply container may be high.




The toner supply container of this embodiment, rotation of the handle is transmitted to the driving force receiving portion of the shutter through a plurality of engaging portions, namely, the engaging portion of the handle, engaging portion of the drive transmission member and the engaging portion of the shutter. Therefore, it is possible to freely use the engagement ratios (gear ratios) in the design of the engaging portions.




When the sliding movement distance for opening and closing the shutter is long, the engagement ratio of the handle


15


(gear ratio) is made large, so that operation(rotation) distance of the handle can be shortened. When the opening and closing torque of the shutter is large, the engagement ratio (gear ratio) of the handle is made small, so that torque required for the operation (rotation) of the handle can be decreased.




For example, the angle of rotation of the handle for opening and closing the shutter is made 90°. When the toner supply container is inserted to the supplying apparatus, grip


15




e


is positioned in the perpendicular direction. The grip


15




e


takes the horizontal position when the handle is rotated in the clockwise direction by 90° to discharge the toner. By doing so, the operator can easily operate, and the operator can easily recognize the state of the container


1




a


. The angle of rotation of the handle


15




e


for the shutter is preferably in the range of 60°-120° from the standpoint of operativity.




Embodiment 5




The Embodiment 5 will be described in detail. In this embodiment, when the toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly of the apparatus, it is mounting in the direction crossing with the longitudinal direction of the container. The shutter is slid in interrelation with opening and closing of a door of a main assembly of the apparatus.





FIG. 32

is a perspective view of a toner supplying apparatus


100


A and a developing device


201


. The supplying apparatus


100


A comprises a toner supply container


1


A and a supply container receiving portion


41


. The supply container receiving portion


41


comprises a buffer portion


42


for temporarily storing the toner supplied from the container


1


A, a feeding screw


43


for feeding the toner from the buffer portion


42


to the developing device


201


, a buffer shutter (unshown) for covering a toner reception opening of the buffer portion


42


.




When the toner in the supplying apparatus


100


A is used up, the front door


44


(

FIG. 39

) of the main assembly


124


A of the apparatus is opened, the toner supply container


1


A and the supply container receiving portion


41


are exposed.




The container


1


A is inserted into the supply container receiving portion


41


in the direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction (arrow A in FIGS.


32


and


39


).




Structure of Toner Supply Container




The toner supply container


1


A of this embodiment is a so-called leaving type toner supply container.




As shown in

FIG. 33

, the container


1


A is provided with a toner container


11


having a flange


45


at the opening


11




g


. It comprises a cap


14


at one end of the toner container


11


, a handle


15


A rotatably engaged to an end of the toner container


11


, and a toner feeding member


29


provided in the toner container


11


. One end of the toner feeding member


29


is supported from outside of the container


11


. The container


1


A further comprises a coupling


46


functioning as a driving force receiving member, shutter


16


for opening and closing the toner discharging opening


11




a


, and a seal member


35


.




Toner Container




The toner container


11


is in the form of a hollow cylindrical member. The section taken along a plane in the longitudinal direction of the toner discharging opening


11




a


of the container


11


, as shown in

FIGS. 34 and 35

, includes an arcuated portion


11




i


having an angle θ of 270° as seen from the center, and a rectangular portion


11




j


. In the outer surface of the arcuated portion


11




i


, there is provided a toner discharging opening


11




a


. Around the toner discharging opening


11




a


, there is provided a shutter supporting member


11




e


for supporting a shutter


16


which is movable between a closed position for closing the toner discharging opening


11




a


and an opening position (retracted from the close position) for opening it. With such a structure, a size of the toner discharging opening


11




a


can be increased in the circumferential direction of the toner container


11


, and the sliding distance of the shutter


16


can be expanded. The configuration of the toner container


11


may be the same as in Embodiments 1-4.




A rib


11




f


is provided extending in the inserting direction of the container


1


A on the outer surface of the arcuated portion


11




i


of the container


11


, so that toner supply container containing wrong toner is prevented from being mounted when the container


1


A is inserted into the toner supplying apparatus


100


A provided in the main assembly


124


B of the apparatus. (FIG.


32


). The discrimination rib


11




f


is engageable with a groove portion


151


formed in a back side of the front door


44


. The positions of the ribs


11




f


are different in the positions in the longitudinal direction of the container


11


, so that properness of the toner is discriminated. The receiving portion


41


may be provided with a groove portion


152


for engagement with the rib


11




f


(FIG.


32


).




One of the end surfaces is provided with an opening


12




a


functioning as a filling port for filling the toner. The inside of the filling port is provided with a cross-rib


12




c


. The center thereof is provided with an axial bore


12




d


for supporting the toner feeding member


29


. The filling port


12




a


is sealed by a cap


14


after toner filling. The opening


11




g


at the other end surface is provided with an engaging portion


45




b


. To the engaging portion


45




b


, a flange


45


including a hole


45




a


for supporting the toner feeding member on the container and for rotatably supporting a coupling


46


for transmitting driving force, is fixed; and around the hole


45




a


, there are provided a wall portion


45




a




1


for the hole


45




a


for supporting the outer surface


46




a


of the coupling


46


and a wall portion


45




d


for engagement with the handle


15


A which will be described hereinafter. In this embodiment, the handle


15


A is engaged with the coupling


46


side, but it may be engaged with the side having the opening


12




a.






Handle




The handle


15


is cylindrical in shape. One end thereof has a wall surface


15




g


with an opening


15




f


opposed to the coupling


46


at the center portion thereof. The other end is in the form of a hollow cylinder. The outer surface


15




k


of the handle


15


A is provided with a grip


15




e


. The handle


15


A is rotatably engaged manually with the wall portion


45




d


provided at the end of the container


11


. The handle


15


A has an engaging portion


15




a


(gear) for transmitting the driving force. In place of the grip


15




e


, a projection interrelated with the opening and closing of the front door


44


may be provided on the wall surface


15




g


, as will be described hereinafter, by which the rotation of the handle can be interrelated with the opening and closing of the front door.




The engaging portion


15




a


has a segment gear configuration which is engageable with the driving force reception side engaging portion


21




a


of the driving force transmission member


21


provided in the supplying apparatus


100


A when the container


1


A is inserted into the supplying apparatus


10


A. It is disposed on the outer surface


15




k


of the handle


15


A to permit engagement with the engaging portion


21




a


in the series of operations.




As shown in

FIGS. 36

,


37


, a transmission member


21


which is partly hidden as indicated by phantom line, has a driving force reception side engaging portion


21




a


at one end of the shaft


21




s


rotatably supported on the supplying apparatus


100


A and has an engaging portions


21




a


at the other end.




The description will be made as to a shutter


16


(openable member) and an engaging portion with the main assembly shutter


34


. As shown in

FIG. 38

, the engaging portions


21




b


,


21




i


in the form of gears fixed d to the other end of the shaft


21




s


are in meshing engagement with the engaging portions


21




g


,


21




j


in the form of gears, respectively. The engaging portion


21




g


can be brought into engagement with the engaging portion


16




a


in the form of a segment gear in the radial direction. The engaging portion


21




i


is fixed to the rotation shaft


21




u


rotatably supported on the supply container receiving portion


41


. The engaging portion


21




k


which is a gear fixed to the rotation shaft


21




u


is engaged normally with the engaging portion


34




c


in the form of a segment gear provided on the outer periphery of the main assembly shutter


34


.




The main assembly shutter


34


opens and closes the toner supply opening


33


provided in the shutter disposition portion


41




e


of the supply container receiving portion


41


. Therefore, it is provided so as to open in the direction in the direction of an arrow Y on the outer periphery of the shutter disposition portion


41




e


. A guiding member of the shutter


34


is in the form of a rail similarly to the shutter


16


.




The transmission member


21


is disposed on the outside of the receiving portion


41


. The teeth portion of the engaging portions such as the engaging portion


21




a


, engaging portion


21




g


or the like, which are brought into engagement with the container


1


A in the radial direction, is positioned in the receiving portion


41


. Therefore, the receiving portion


41


may be provided with an opening. In this example, there is provided an opening


41




d


so that engaging portions


21




b


,


21




g


,


21




i


,


21




j


are positioned in the receiving portion


41


. In order to position the engaging portion


21




a


in the receiving portion


41


, there is provided an opening


41




c


(FIG.


39


).




Toner Feeding Member




A feeding shaft


27


has an end rotatably supported in an axial bore


12




d


of the cross-shape rib


12




c


provided in the opening


12




a


of the container


11


. The other end is engaged with a male shaft


46




a


of a coupling


46


. The toner feeding member


29


includes a feeding blade


28


of flexible member fixed to the feeding shaft


27


.




The feeding blade


29


rubs the inner surface of the container


11


. It has a plurality of claw portions


28




a


inclined in the longitudinal direction. Therefore, it can feed the toner toward the discharging opening


11




a


in the container


11


.




The coupling


46


is engaged with the coupling provided in the supplying apparatus


100


A to receive the driving force when the supply container


1


A is mounted to the supplying apparatus


100


A.




Shutter




The shutter


16


functioning as an openable member is engaged with the supporting member


11




e


provided around the discharging opening


11




a


. It is slidable in the circumferential direction to open and close the discharging opening


11




a.






The shutter


16


includes an engaging portion


16




d


(

FIG. 36

) in the form of a segment gear engageable with an engaging portion


21




g


provided in the supplying apparatus


100


A when the container


1


A is mounted to the supplying apparatus


100


A. The engaging portion


16




d


is engageable with the engaging portion


21




g


by a series of operations of mounting the container


1


A to the supplying apparatus


100


A. It is preferable that engaging portion


16




d


is disposed on the outer surface of the shutter


16


.




Toner Supply Operation




The description will be made as to a toner supplying operation using the toner supply container


1


A of the present invention.




(1) Mounting of the Toner Supply Container




As shown in

FIG. 39

, the front door


44


is opened toward the operator. The container


1


A is inserted in the direction of the arrow A, while the rib


11




f


of the container


11


is engaged with the groove portion


151


provided in the back side of the front door


44


. The engaging portion


21




g


is engaged with the engaging portion


16




d


, and the engaging portion


21




a


is engaged with the engaging portion


15




a


, respectively.




(2) Toner Supply




With the container


1


A mounted in the supplying apparatus


100


A, the operator manually rotates the grip


15




e


toward the rear side. The driving force of the rotation is transmitted to the transmission member


21


through the engaging portion


21




a


from the engaging portion


15




a


. Further, it is transmitted to the engaging portion


16




d


from the engaging portion


21




g


. By the driving force thus transmitted, the shutter


16


slides along the supporting member


11




e


. At this time, the engaging portion


34




c


of the main assembly shutter


34


receives the driving force from the engaging portion


21




k


interrelated with the engaging portion


21




b


. Therefore, the discharging opening


11




a


and the supply opening


33


are simultaneously opened (FIG.


42


). The toner feeding member


29


is rotated through the coupling


46


which receives the driving force from the main assembly


124


B of the apparatus. By this, the supply of the toner is started. The main assembly shutter


34


may be such that it opens in interrelation with the movement of the shutter


16


of the container


1


A.




The angle of rotation of the handle


15


A required for opening and closing of the shutter


16


is preferably 60°-120°.




The wall surface


41




a


of the receiving portion


41


is provided with a handle holding portion


47


(

FIGS. 32

,


40


and


41


) interrelated with opening and closing of the front door


44


; and when the container


1


A is mounted to the supplying apparatus


100


A, the projection


15




h


(

FIG. 43

) is engaged with the holding portion


47


. By this, the rotation of the handle


15


A can be interrelated with the opening and closing of the front door


44


. More particularly, after the loading of the container


1


A into the supplying apparatus


100


A, the handle


15


A is rotated by closing the front door


44


. In the same order as described in the foregoing, the driving force is transmitted to the shutters


16


,


34


. Therefore, the discharging opening


11




a


and the supply opening


33


can be simultaneously opened. Thus, the grip


15




e


is unnecessary.




During the operation, the toner container


11


is fixed in the supplying apparatus


100


A.




The projection


15




h


is provided on the end surface of the handle


15


A, and is provided with a projection


15




h




1


.




(3) Dismounting of the Toner Supply Container




By rotation of the handle


15


A toward the operator, or by opening the front door


44


of the main assembly


124


B, driving force in the opposite direction is transmitted in the order similar to (2). The shutter


16


closes the discharging opening


11




a


, and the main assembly shutter


34


closes the supply opening


33


, thus completing the series of the toner supplying operations.




With such a structure, the toner container is not moved during the series of the toner supplying operation. Therefore, the configuration of the toner container is not limited. The toner container configuration can be selected so as to provide a high space efficiency. Since the shutter handle is a separate member, the position of the toner discharging opening is not limited to the neighborhood of the handle. By the interrelation of the handle with the opening and closing of the front door, the number of steps included in the toner supply operation is reduced.




Each of the engaging portions


15




a


,


16




a


,


16




d


,


21




a


,


21




b


,


21




g


,


22




a


is provided with a plurality of tooth


15




a




1


,


16




a




1


,


16




d




1


,


21




a




1


,


21




b




1


,


21




g




1


,


22




a




1


.




Other Modifications




In Embodiment 5, the toner supply container is mounted to or dismounted from the main assembly of the image forming apparatus in the direction crossing with the longitudinal direction of the toner supply container. The shutter of the toner supply container is opened and closed in interrelation with the opening and closing of the door. Further, it opens and closes the main assembly shutter.




Other modifications will be described.




As shown in

FIG. 43

, similarly to Embodiments 1 through 4, when the toner supply container is mounted to or dismounted from the main assembly


124


,


124


A of the apparatus in the longitudinal direction, the door


124




f


and the toner supply container


1


are interrelated with each other.

FIG. 44

shows a further embodiment. In the embodiment, the main assembly of the apparatus opens and closes the upper frame


124




c


relative to the lower frame


124




d


about the hinge


124




e


. In the case that toner supply container


1




a


,


1




b


,


1




c


,


1




d


is mounted or demounted in the longitudinal direction or in the direction perpendicular thereto, relative to the upper frame


124




c


(or lower frame


124




d


), the opening and closing of the upper frame


124




c


and the opening and closing of the shutter of the toner supply container


1




a


through


1




d


may be interrelation with each other.




The mechanism for locking the handle may be used in the other embodiments. The toner supply container of this embodiment can be used with the main assembly of this embodiment.




Accordingly, the embodiments described in the foregoing provide:




A toner supply container (


1


,


1


A,


1




a


through


1




d


) for supplying the toner to the main assembly (


124


A,


124


B) of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus, comprising:




a toner accommodating portion(toner container


11


) for accommodating toner (t) to be supplied into a main assembly of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus;




a toner discharging opening (


11




a


) for discharging the toner accommodated in the toner accommodating portion, wherein the toner discharging opening is provided in the toner accommodating portion;




an openable member (shutter


16


) for openably sealing the toner discharging opening;




a rotatable member (handle


15


) rotatable relative to the toner accommodating portion;




a rotating force receiving portion (driving force reception side engaging portion


16




a


,


16




d


, contact portion


16




n


) for receiving rotating force produced by rotation of the rotatable member through a rotating force transmission member (driving force transmission member) provided in the main assembly of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus to unseal the toner discharging opening by the rotation of said rotatable member when the toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus.




The rotatable member includes a grip portion (grip


15




e


) and a plurality of teeth (


15




a




1


) integral with the grip portion, wherein the rotating force produced by rotation of the grip portion by an operator is transmitted to the rotating force receiving portion through the teeth and the driving force transmission member (


21


) when the toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus, and wherein by the transmission, said openable member is moved from a sealing position to an opening position to unseal the toner discharging opening.




The rotatable member (handle


15


A) includes a plurality of teeth (


15




a




1


), and the rotatable member rotates in interrelation with opening and closing of a door (


44


), and wherein rotating force produced by rotation of the rotatable member in interrelation with a closing operation of the door after the toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly of said electrophotographic image forming apparatus, is transmitted to the rotating force receiving portion (engaging portion


16




d


) through the teeth and the driving force transmission member (link


49


, shaft


21


S or the like), by which the openable member is moved from a sealing position to an open position to unseal the toner discharging opening, wherein the door is openable relative to the main assembly of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus and is opened and closed to mount the toner supply container to the main assembly of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus (

FIGS. 32

to


42


).




The rotating force receiving portion (engaging portion


16




a


,


16




d


) includes a plurality of teeth (


16




a




1


) provided integrally with the openable member (shutter


16


), and when the toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus, the teeth an engaged with a main assembly gear portion (


21




b


,


21




g


) of the driving force transmission member to receive a driving force for moving the openable member to the opening position from the sealing position from the main assembly gear portion, wherein the openable member is a curved plate member slidable along an outer surface of the toner accommodating portion ((container


11


) (

FIGS. 9 through 29

and


31


through


42


).




The plate member (shutter


16


) is slidable in a direction crossing with a longitudinal direction of the toner accommodating portion.




The teeth are disposed at a side opposite from a side having a grip portion (


15




e


) relative to the toner discharging opening (


11




a


) in longitudinal direction of the toner accommodating portion, and wherein the teeth are arranged in the direction crossing with the longitudinal direction of the toner accommodating portion along one end of the toner discharging opening.




The container further comprises an elastic sealing member (


35


) provided around a toner discharging opening on an outer surface of the toner accommodating portion, and the elastic sealing member is positioned between the toner accommodating portion and the plate member.




The toner discharging opening (


11




a


) is disposed adjacent to the grip portion (


15




c


) in the longitudinal direction of the toner accommodating portion (container


11


), wherein the toner supply container is inserted into the main assembly (


124


A,


124


B) of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus in the longitudinal direction of the toner accommodating portion, the container further comprising a driving force receiving portion (coupling


26




a


) on an end opposite from the end having the grip portion in the longitudinal direction of the toner accommodating portion, wherein when the toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus, the driving force receiving a portion receives driving force for rotating a toner feeding member (screw


25


, feeding blade


28


, toner feeding member


29


) provided in the toner accommodating portion ((FIG.


19


).




The rotatable member (handle


15


) is rotated through 60°-120° when the toner supply container (


1


) is mounted to the main assembly (


124


A,


124


B) of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus.




The toner supply container (


1


) is mounted to the main assembly of said electrophotographic image forming apparatus while the toner discharging opening (


11




a


) is faced down and while the toner accommodating portion (container


11


) is prevented from rotating in a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction thereof.




The rotatable member (handle


15


) is an integrally-molded product of resin material provided at one longitudinal end of the toner accommodating portion (container


11


), and the one end is at an upstream side in a mounting direction of the toner supply container relative to the main assembly of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus, the mounting direction being along the longitudinal direction of the toner supply container.




The container further comprises a toner filling opening (


12




a


), at one longitudinal end of the toner accommodating portion (container


11


), for filling toner into the toner accommodating portion, wherein the toner filling opening is sealed by a cap (


14


), and the toner filling opening and cap are covered with said rotatable member.




A projection height of the rotating force receiving portion is smaller than a projection height of a driving force transmitting portion provided on the rotatable member so as to avoid interference between a rotating force receiving portion of the openable member and the drive transmission member when the toner supply container is inserted into the main assembly of the apparatus.




A rotating force receiving portion of the openable member and a driving force transmitting portion of the rotatable member are provided at positions different from each other in a direction crossing with the longitudinal direction of the toner accommodating portion.




The driving force transmitting portion is provided with a plurality of teeth, which are engaged with a gear provided in the main assembly of the apparatus when toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly of the apparatus.




There is further provided:




A toner supply container for supplying toner into a main assembly of electrophotographic image forming apparatus, comprising:




a toner accommodating portion (container


11


) for accommodating the toner;




a toner discharging opening (


11




a


), provided in the toner accommodating portion, for discharging toner accommodated in the toner accommodating portion;




an openable member (shutter


16


) for openably sealing the toner discharging opening;




a driving force receiving portion (engaging portion


16




a


, contact portion


16




h


) for receiving driving force to move the openable member to open the toner discharging opening when said container is mounted to the main assembly of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus.




There is further provided:




A toner supply container for supplying toner to a main assembly of electrophotographic image forming apparatus, comprising:




a toner accommodating portion (container


11


) for accommodating the toner;




a toner discharging opening (


11




a


), provided in the toner accommodating portion, for discharging the toner accommodated in the toner accommodating portion;




an openable member (shutter


16


) for openably sealing the toner discharging opening,




a rotatable member (handle


15


) rotatable relative to the toner accommodating portion




wherein when the container is mounted to the main assembly of said electrophotographic image forming apparatus, a toner receiving opening provided in the main assembly of the apparatus can be opened by rotating the rotatable member.




There is further provided:




A toner supply container for supplying toner to the main assembly of electrophotographic image forming apparatus, comprising:




a toner accommodating portion (container


11


) for accommodating the toner;




a toner discharging opening (


11




a


), provided in the toner accommodating portion, for discharging the toner accommodated in the toner accommodating portion;




an openable member (shutter


16


) for openably sealing the toner discharging opening,




a rotatable member (handle


15


) rotatable relative to the toner accommodating portion




wherein when the container is mounted to the main assembly of said electrophotographic image forming apparatus, rotating force of said rotatable member is transmitted to the openable member through a rotating force transmission member provided in the main assembly of the apparatus.




There is further provided:




A toner supply container (


1


) for supplying toner (t) to a main assembly (


124


A,


124


B) of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, wherein the main assembly of the apparatus includes a first main assembly engaging portion (driving force reception side engaging portion


21




a


), a second main assembly engaging portion (driving force transmission side engaging portion


21




a


engaging portion


22




b


), and a driving force transmitting portion (shaft


21




s


) for transmitting to the second main assembly engaging portion driving force received by said first main assembly engaging portion;




a toner accommodating portion (container


11


) for accommodating the toner;




a toner discharging opening (


11




a


) for discharging the toner accommodated in said toner accommodating portion;




an openable member (shutter


16


) for openably sealing said toner discharging opening, a first container engaging portion (driving force transmission side engaging portion


15




a


) for transmitting the driving force to said first main assembly engaging portion when said toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly of said apparatus;




a second container engaging portion for. receiving driving force from said second main assembly engaging portion when said toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly of said apparatus;




wherein when said toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly of said apparatus, the driving force transmitted to the main assembly of said apparatus by said first container engaging portion is received from the main assembly of apparatus by the second container engaging portion, and the openable member is moved by the driving force to unseal said toner discharging opening.




The first main assembly engaging portion and the second main assembly engaging portion are not limited to the gear disclosure in the foregoing. For example, they may be a friction wheel, pin wheel or the like. Similarly, the first container engaging portion and the second container engaging portion are not limited to the gears disclosed in the foregoing. If the transmission of the driving force is possible relative to the first main assembly engaging portion and the second main assembly engaging portion, a friction wheel, pin wheel or the like are usable. When a gear is used, the tooth may be formed on the entire circle, or only on a part thereof, or they are not limited to tooth. For example, the configuration or number of the tooth are properly selected by one skilled in the art. The driving force transmitting portion is not limited to the shaft. It may be any if the transmission of the driving force is possible, such as a gear train.




As described in the foregoing, according to the present invention, the toner supply operativity can be improved.




While the invention has been described with reference to the structures disclosed herein, it is not confined to the details set forth and this application is intended to cover such modifications or changes as may come within the purposes of the improvements or the scope of the following claims.



Claims
  • 1. A toner supply container for supplying toner into a main assembly of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, wherein said toner supply container is detachably mountable to the main assembly of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus, said toner supply container comprising:a toner accommodating portion for accommodating toner to be supplied into the main assembly; a toner discharging opening for discharging the toner accommodated in said toner accommodating portion, said toner discharging opening being provided in said toner accommodating portion; an openable member for openably sealing said toner discharging opening; a rotatable member, which is rotatable relative to said toner accommodating portion, for imparting a rotating force to a rotating force transmission member provided in the main assembly when said toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly; and a rotating force receiving portion for receiving a rotating force from the rotating force transmission member when said toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly to move said openable member relative to said toner accommodating portion so as to open said toner discharging opening.
  • 2. A container according to claim 1, wherein said rotatable member includes a grip portion and a plurality of teeth integral with said grip portion, wherein a rotating force produced by rotation of said grip portion by an operator is transmitted to said rotating force receiving portion through said teeth and the rotating force transmission member when said toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly and wherein said openable member is moved from a sealing position to an opening position to unseal the toner discharging opening by the rotating force transmission member.
  • 3. A container according to claim 2, wherein said toner discharging opening is disposed at an end of said toner accommodating portion closer to said grip portion than an end of said toner accommodating portion opposed from the end provided with said grip portion, in the longitudinal direction of said toner accommodating portion, wherein said toner supply container is inserted into the main assembly in the longitudinal direction of said toner accommodating portion, said container further comprising a driving force receiving portion on the end opposite from the end having the grip portion in the longitudinal direction of said toner accommodating portion, wherein when said toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly, said driving force receiving portion receiving a driving force for rotating a toner feeding member provided in said toner accommodating portion.
  • 4. A container according to claim 1, wherein said rotatable member includes a plurality of teeth, and said rotatable member rotates in interrelation with opening and closing of a door, and wherein the rotating force produced by rotation of said rotatable member in interrelation with a closing operation of said door after said toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly, is transmitted to said rotating force receiving portion through said teeth the rotating driving force transmission member, by which said openable member is moved from a sealing position to an open position to unseal said toner discharging opening, wherein said door is openable relative to the main assembly and is opened and closed to mount said toner supply container to the main assembly.
  • 5. A container according to claim 2, wherein said rotating force receiving portion includes a plurality of teeth provided integrally with said openable member, and when said toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly, said teeth of said openable member are engaged with a main assembly gear portion of the rotating force transmission member to receive the rotating force for moving said openable member to the opening position from the sealing position from the main assembly gear portion, wherein said openable member is a curved plate member slidable along an outer surface of said toner accommodating portion.
  • 6. A container according to claim 5, wherein said curved plate member is slidable in a direction crossing with a longitudinal direction of said toner accommodating portion.
  • 7. A container according to claim 6, wherein, said toner discharging opening is disposed between said teeth of said openable member and said grip portion in a longitudinal direction of said toner accommodating portion, andwherein said teeth of said openable member are arranged in a direction crossing with the longitudinal direction of said toner accommodating portion.
  • 8. A container according to claim 7, further comprising an elastic sealing member provided around a toner discharging opening on an outer surface of said toner accommodating portion, and said elastic sealing member is positioned between said toner accommodating portion and said curved plate member.
  • 9. A container according to claim 7, wherein said rotatable member is an integrally-molded product of resin material provided at one longitudinal end of said toner accommodating portion, and said one end is at an upstream side in a mounting direction of said toner supply container relative to the main assembly, the mounting direction being along the longitudinal direction of said toner supply container.
  • 10. A container according to claim 9, further comprising a toner filling opening, at one longitudinal end of said toner accommodating portion, for filling said toner accommodating portion with toner, wherein said toner filling opening is sealed by a cap, and said toner filling opening and cap are covered by said rotatable member.
  • 11. A container according to claim 5, wherein said toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly while said toner discharging opening is faced down and while said toner accommodating portion is prevented from rotating in a direction substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of said toner accommodating portion.
  • 12. A container according to claim 2 or 4, wherein said rotatable member is rotated through 60°-12° when said toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly.
  • 13. A container according to claim 5, wherein a projection height of said rotating force receiving portion is smaller than a projection height of a driving force transmitting portion provided on the rotatable member so as to avoid interference between said rotating force receiving portion of said openable member and said drive rotating force transmission member when said toner supply container is inserted into the main assembly.
  • 14. A container according to claim 5, wherein said rotating force receiving portion of said openable member and a driving force transmitting portion of said rotatable member are provided at positions different from each other in a direction crossing with a longitudinal direction of said toner accommodating portion.
  • 15. An apparatus according to claim 13 or 14, wherein said rotating force receiving portion is provided with a plurality of teeth, which are engaged with a gear provided in the main assembly when toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly.
  • 16. A toner supply container for supplying toner into a main assembly of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, comprising:a toner accommodating portion for accommodating toner to be supplied into a main assembly; a toner discharging opening for discharging the toner accommodated in said toner accommodating portion, said toner discharging opening being provided in said toner accommodating portion; an openable member, slidable along an outer surface of said toner accommodating portion, for openably sealing said toner discharging opening, said openable member being slidable in a direction crossing with a longitudinal direction of said toner accommodating portion; a rotatable member, rotatable relative to said toner accommodating portion and provided at one longitudinal end of said toner accommodating portion, wherein said rotatable member is provided with a plurality of teeth and engageable with a main assembly gear portion of a rotating force treansmission member provided in the main assembly when said toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly; and a plurality of teeth as a rotating force receiving portion for receiving a rotating force produced by rotation of said rotatable member and said teeth provided on said rotatable member and the main assembly gear portion to unseal said toner discharging opening by the rotation of said rotatable member when said toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly, wherein said teeth as the rotating force receiving portion are integral with said openable member.
  • 17. A container according to claim 16, wherein the main assembly gear portion includes a first main assembly gear portion and a second main assembly gear portion rotatable integrally with the first main assembly gear portion, and said teeth of said rotatable member are engageable with the first main assembly gear portion, and said teeth of said openable member are engageable with the second main assembly gear portion when said toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly.
  • 18. A container according to claim 16, wherein said rotatable member includes a grip portion for gripping, which is integral with said teeth of said rotatable member, wherein a rotating force produced by rotation of said grip portion by an operator is transmitted to said rotating force receiving portion through said teeth of said rotatable member and said rotating force transmission member when said toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly, and wherein said openable member is moved from a sealing position to an opening position to unseal the toner discharging opening by the rotating force transmission member.
  • 19. A container according to claim 18, wherein said toner discharging opening is disposed at an end of said toner accommodating portion closer to said grip portion than an end of said toner accommodating portion opposed to the end provided with said grip portion in the longitudinal direction of said toner accommodating portion, wherein said toner supply container is inserted into the main assembly in the longitudinal direction of said toner accommodating portion, said container further comprising a driving force receiving portion of the end opposite from the end having the grip portion in the longitudinal direction of said toner accommodating portion, wherein when said toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly, said driving force receiving portion receiving a driving force for rotating a toner feeding member provided in said toner accommodating portion.
  • 20. A container according to claim 16, wherein said rotatable member rotates in interrelation with opening and closing of a door, and wherein a rotating force produced by rotation of said rotatable member in interrelation with a closing operation of said door after said toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly, is transmitted to said teeth as the rotating force receiving portion through said teeth of said rotatable member and said rotating force transmission member, by which said openable member is moved from a sealing position to an open position to unseal said toner discharging opening, wherein said door is openable relative to the main assembly and is opened and closed to mount said toner supply container to the main assembly.
  • 21. A container according to claim 18, wherein when said toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly, said teeth as said rotating force receiving portion being engaged with a main assembly gear portion of said rotating force transmission member to receive a driving force for moving said openable member to an opening position from a sealing position from the main assembly gear portion, wherein said openable member is a curved plate member slidable along an outer surface of said toner accommodating portion.
  • 22. A container according to claim 21, wherein said curved plate member is slidable in a direction crossing with a longitudinal direction of said toner accommodating portion.
  • 23. A container according to claim 22, wherein said toner discharging opening is disposed between said teeth of said openable member and said grip portion in a longitudinal direction of said toner accommodating portion, and wherein said teeth of said openable member are arranged in a direction crossing with the longitudinal direction of said toner accommodating portion.
  • 24. A container according to claim 23, wherein said rotatable member is an integrally-molded product of resin material provided at one longitudinal end of said toner accommodating portion, and said one end is at an upstream side in a mounting direction of said toner supply container relative to the main assembly, the mounting direction being along the longitudinal direction of said toner accommodating portion.
  • 25. A container according to claim 24, further comprising a toner filling opening, at one longitudinal end of said toner accommodating portion, for filling said toner accommodating portion with toner, wherein said toner filling opening is sealed by a cap, and said toner filling opening and cap are covered by said rotatable member.
  • 26. A container according to claim 22, further comprising an elastic sealing member provided around a toner discharging opening on an outer surface of said toner accommodating portion, and said elastic sealing member is positioned between said toner accommodating portion and said curved plate member.
  • 27. A container according to claim 21, wherein said toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly while said toner discharging opening is faced down and while said toner accommodating portion is prevented from rotating in a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of said toner accommodating portion.
  • 28. A container according to claim 18 or 20, wherein said rotatable member is rotated through 60°-120° when said toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly.
  • 29. A toner supply container for supplying toner into a main assembly of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, comprising:a toner accommodating portion for accommodating toner to be supplied to the main assembly of said electrophotographic image forming apparatus; a grip member provided at one longitudinal end of said toner accommodating portion, said grip member being provided for being gripped by an operator and being rotatable relative to said toner accommodating portion; a plurality of first teeth provided integrally with said grip member, said first teeth being arranged in a direction substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of said toner accommodating portion, wherein said first teeth are engageable with a first gear of a main assembly gear portion provided in the main assembly when said toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly; a toner discharging opening for discharging the toner accommodated in said toner accommodating portion, said toner discharging opening being provided in said toner accommodating portion, wherein said toner discharging opening is disposed at an end of said toner accommodating portion closer to said grip portion opposed to an end of said toner accommodating portion, which is not provided with said grip portion, in a longitudinal direction of said toner accommodation portion; a plate member, slidable along an outer surface of said toner accommodating portion, for openably sealing said toner discharging opening, said plate member being slidable in a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of said toner accommodating portion and being curved along the outer surface of said toner accommodating portion; a plurality of second teeth for receiving a rotating force produced by rotation of said grip member to unseal said toner discharging opening by the rotation of said grip member when said toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly, said second teeth being arranged in a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of said toner accommodating portion, wherein said second teeth are integral with said plate member, and are engageable with a second gear of the main assembly gear portion provided in the main assembly when said toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly to receive a rotating force produced by rotation of said grip member through the first gear and the second gear; a toner feeding member, provided in said toner accommodating portion, for feeding the toner accommodated in said toner accommodating portion toward said toner discharging opening; a driving force receiving member for receiving driving force to rotate said toner feeding member by the main assembly when said toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly, said driving force receiving member being provided at a side opposite from a side having said grip member in a longitudinal direction of said toner accommodating portion; and a toner filling opening for filling said toner accommodating portion with toner, said toner filling opening being provided at a portion side opposite from a side having said driving force receiving member in the longitudinal direction of said toner accommodating portion, wherein said toner filling opening is sealed by a cap, and wherein said toner filling opening and said cap are covered with said grip member.
  • 30. A container according to claim 29, further comprising an elastic sealing member provided around a toner discharging opening on an outer surface of said toner accommodating portion, and said elastic sealing member is positioned between said toner accommodating portion and said curved plate member.
  • 31. A container according to claim 29 or 30, wherein said toner supply container is inserted into the main assembly along the longitudinal direction of said toner accommodating portion.
  • 32. A container according to claim 29, wherein said rotatable member is rotated through 60°-120° by an operator when said toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly.
  • 33. A container according to claim 29, wherein said toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly while said toner discharging opening is faced down and while said toner accommodating portion is prevented from rotating in a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of said toner accommodating portion.
  • 34. A container according to claim 29, wherein said rotatable member is integrally molded with said first teeth from a resin material, and the side having said grip member is at an upstream side in a mounting direction of said toner supply container relative to the main assembly, the mounting direction being along the longitudinal direction of said toner supply container.
  • 35. A toner supply container for supplying toner into a main assembly of electrophotographic image forming apparatus, comprising:a toner accommodating portion for accommodating toner to be supplied into main assembly; a toner discharging opening for discharging the toner accommodated in the toner accommodating portion, said toner discharging opening being provided in said toner accommodating portion; a sealing member for openably sealing said toner discharging opening; a rotatable member which is rotatable relative to said toner accommodating portion; and a rotating force receiving portion for receiving rotating force produced by rotation of said rotatable member through a rotating force transmission member provided in the main assembly to unseal a main assembly openable member which seals a toner receiving opening provided in the main assembly by rotation of said rotatable member, when said toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly.
  • 36. A container according to claim 35, wherein said rotatable member includes a grip portion and a plurality of tooth integral with said grip portion, wherein a rotating force produced by rotation of said grip portion by an operator is transmitted to said rotating force receiving portion through said teeth and rotating force transmission member when said toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly, and wherein by the transmission said main assembly openable member is moved from a sealing position to an opening position to unseal the toner receiving opening.
  • 37. A container according to claim 36, wherein said toner discharging opening is disposed at an end closer to said grip portion than an end of said toner accommodating portion as is not provided with said grip portion in a longitudinal direction of said toner accommodating portion, wherein said toner supply container is inserted into the main assembly in the longitudinal direction of said toner accommodating portion, said container further comprising a driving force receiving portion at the end opposed to the side having said grip portion in the longitudinal direction of said toner accommodating portion, wherein when said toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly, said driving force receiving portion receives a driving force for rotating a toner feeding member provided in said toner accommodating portion.
  • 38. A container according to claim 35, wherein said rotatable member includes a plurality of teeth, and said rotatable member rotates in interrelation with opening and closing of a door, and wherein a rotating force produced by rotation of said rotatable member in interrelation with a closing operation of said door after said toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly, is transmitted to said rotating force receiving portion through said teeth and the rotating force transmission member, by which said main assembly openable member is moved from a sealing position to an open position to unseal said toner receiving opening, wherein said door is openable relative to the main assembly and is opened and closed to mount said toner supply container to the main assembly.
  • 39. A container according to claim 38, wherein said toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly while said toner discharging opening is faced down and while said toner accommodating portion is prevented from rotating in a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of said toner accommodating portion.
  • 40. A container according to claim 36 or 38, wherein said rotating force receiving portion includes a plurality of teeth, and when said toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly, said teeth are engaged with a main assembly gear portion of the rotating force transmission member to receive a rotating force for moving said main assembly openable member to said opening position from said sealing position from the main assembly gear portion, wherein said main assembly openable member is a curved plate member slidable along an outer surface of said toner accommodating portion.
  • 41. A container according to claim 40, wherein said curved plate member is slidable in a direction crossing with a longitudinal direction of said toner accommodating portion.
  • 42. A container according to claim 41, wherein said toner discharging opening is disposed between said teeth of said openable member and said grip portion in a longitudinal direction of said toner accommodating portion, and wherein said teeth are arranged in the direction crossing with the longitudinal direction of said toner accommodating portion along one end of said toner discharging opening.
  • 43. A container according to claim 42, wherein said rotatable member is an integrally-molded product of resin material provided at one longitudinal end of said toner accommodating portion, and said one end is at an upstream side in a mounting direction of said toner supply container relative to the main assembly, the mounting direction being along the longitudinal direction of said toner accommodating portion.
  • 44. A container according to claim 36 or 38, wherein said rotatable member is rotated through 60°-120° when said toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly.
  • 45. A container according to claim 35, further comprising a second sealing member for openably sealing said toner discharging opening, wherein said second sealing member is a flexible seal and is unsealed by being peeled off a surface of said toner accommodating portion by an operator, wherein the seal is peeled after said toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly.
  • 46. An electrophotographic image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording material with toner, which electrophotographic image forming apparatus is supplied with the toner from a toner supply container, comprising:(a) a rotating force transmission member; (b) a toner container mounting portion for detachably mounting said toner supply container, said toner supply container including: a toner accommodating portion for accommodating toner to be supplied into a main assembly of said electrophotographic image forming apparatus; a toner discharging opening for discharging the toner accommodating in the toner accommodating portion, said toner discharging opening being provided in said toner accommodating portion; a container openable member for openably sealing said toner discharging opening; a rotatable member, which is rotatable relative to said toner accommodating portion, for imparting a rotating force to the rotating force transmission member provided in said main assembly when said toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly; a rotating force receiving portion for receiving the rotating force from said rotating force transmission member when said toner supply container is mounted to said main assembly to move said openable member relative to said toner accommodating portion so as to open said toner discharging opening; (c) a feeding member for feeding the recording material.
  • 47. An apparatus according to claim 46, wherein said rotating force transmission member includes a main assembly gear portion, and said main assembly gear portion includes a first gear and a second gear, wherein said first gear and second gear are rotated integrally through a shaft, wherein when said toner supply container is mounted to said assembly said first gear is engaged with a first plurality of teeth provided on said rotatable member, and said second gear is engaged with a second plurality of teeth provided on said rotating force receiving portion.
  • 48. An apparatus according to claim 46, further comprising a toner reception opening for receiving the toner to be supplied from said toner supply container, and a main assembly openable member for openably sealing said toner reception opening, wherein when said toner supply container is mounted to said main assembly said container openable member and main assembly openable member are moved in interrelation with each other.
  • 49. An apparatus according to claim 46, wherein said main assembly gear portion includes a first gear and a second gear, wherein said first gear and second gear are rotated integrally through a shaft, wherein when said toner supply container is mounted to said main assembly said first gear is engaged with a first plurality of teeth provided on said rotatable member, and said second gear is engaged with a second plurality of teeth provided on said rotating force receiving portion.
  • 50. An apparatus according to claim 46, further comprising a toner reception opening for receiving the toner to be supplied from said toner supply container, and a main assembly openable member for openably sealing said toner reception opening, wherein when said toner supply container is mounted to said main assembly said container openable member and main assembly openable member are moved in interrelation with each other.
  • 51. An electrophotographic image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording material with toner, which electrophotographic image forming apparatus is supplied with the toner from a toner supply container, comprising:(a) a main assembly gear portion; (b) a toner container mounting portion for mounting said toner container, said toner container including: a toner accommodating portion for accommodating toner to be supplied into a main assembly; a toner discharging opening for discharging the toner accommodated in the toner accommodating portion, said toner discharging opening being provided in said toner accommodating portion; a container openable member, slidable along an outer surface of said toner accommodating portion, for openably sealing said toner discharging opening, said container openable member being slidable in a direction crossing with a longitudinal direction of said toner accommodating portion; a rotatable member which is rotatable relative to said toner accommodating portion and which is provided at one longitudinal end of said toner accommodating portion, said rotatable member being provided with a first plurality of teeth arranged and engageable with said main assembly gear portion when said toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly, a second plurality of teeth as a rotating force receiving portion for receiving rotating force produced by rotation of said rotatable member through said teeth provided on said rotatable member and said main assembly gear portion to unseal said toner discharging opening by the rotation of said rotatable member when said toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly of said electrophotographic image forming apparatus, wherein the teeth as said rotating force receiving portion are integral with said container openable member; (c) a feeding member for feeding the recording material.
  • 52. An electrophotographic image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording material with toner supplied from a toner supply container, comprising:(a) a main assembly gear portion including a first gear and a second gear; (b) a toner container mounting portion for mounting said toner container, said toner container including: a toner accommodating portion for accommodating toner to be supplied to the main assembly; a grip member provided at one longitudinal end of said toner accommodating portion, said grip member provided for being gripped by an operator and being rotatable relative to said toner accommodating portion; a plurality of first teeth provided integrally with said grip member, said teeth being arranged in a direction substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of said toner accommodating portion, wherein said first teeth are engageable with the first gear when said toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly; a toner discharging opening for discharging the toner accommodated in said toner accommodating portion, said toner discharging opening being provided in said toner accommodating portion, wherein said toner discharging opening is disposed at an end closer to said grip portion than an end of said toner accommodating portion, which is not provided with said grip portion, in the longitudinal direction of said toner accommodating portion; a plate member, slidable along an outer surface of said toner accommodating portion, for openably sealing said toner discharging opening, said plate member being slidable in a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of said accommodating portion and being curved along the outer surface of said toner accommodating portion; a plurality of second teeth for receiving a rotating force produced by rotation of said grip member to unseal said toner discharging opening by rotating said grip member when said toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly, said second teeth being arranged in a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of said toner accommodating portion wherein said second teeth are integral with said plate member, and are engageable with the second gear when said toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly to receive a rotating force produced by rotating said grip member through the first gear and the second gear; a toner feeding member, provided in said toner accommodating portion, for feeding the toner accommodated in said toner accommodating portion toward said toner discharging opening; a driving force receiving member for receiving a driving force to rotate said toner feeding member by the main assembly when said toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly, said driving force receiving member being provided at a portion opposite from a portion having said grip member in the longitudinal direction of said toner accommodating portion; a toner filling opening for filling said toner accommodating portion with toner, said toner filling opening being provided at an end opposed to an end having said driving force receiving member in the longitudinal direction of said toner accommodating portion, wherein said toner filling opening is sealed by a cap, and wherein said toner filling opening is sealed by a cap, and wherein said toner filling opening and said cap are covered with said grip member; (c) a feeding member for feeding the recording material.
  • 53. An apparatus according to claim 52, further comprising a toner reception opening for receiving the toner to be supplied from said toner supply container, and a main assembly openable member for openably sealing said toner reception opening, wherein when said toner supply container is mounted to said main assembly said plate member and main assembly openable member are moved in interrelation with each other.
  • 54. An electrophotographic image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording material with toner supplied from a toner supply container, comprising:(a) rotating force transmission member; (b) a toner container mounting portion for mounting said toner container, said toner container including: a toner accommodating portion for accommodating toner to be supplied into a main assembly; a toner discharging opening for discharging the toner accommodated in the toner accommodating portion, said toner discharging opening being provided in said toner accommodating portion; a sealing member for openably sealing said toner discharging opening; a rotatable member, which is rotatable relative to said toner accommodating portion; and a rotating force receiving portion for receiving a rotating force produced by rotating of said rotatable member through said rotating force transmission member provided in the main assembly to unseal a main assembly openable member, which seals a toner reception opening provided in the main assembly by rotating said rotatable member, when said toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly; and (c) a feeding member for feeding the feeding member.
  • 55. An apparatus according to claim 54, wherein said rotating force transmission member includes a main assembly gear portion, and said main assembly gear portion includes a first gear and a second gear, wherein said first gear and second gear are rotated integrally through a shaft, wherein when said toner supply container is mounted to said main assembly said first gear is engaged with a first plurality of teeth provided on said rotatable member, and said second gear is engaged with a second plurality of teeth provided on said rotating force receiving portion.
  • 56. An apparatus according to claim 54, further comprising a toner reception opening for receiving the toner to be supplied from said toner supply container, and a main assembly openable member for openably sealing said toner reception opening, wherein when said toner supply container is mounted to said main assembly said container openable member and main assembly openable member are moved in interrelation with each other.
  • 57. A toner supply container for supplying toner to a main assembly of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, wherein the main assembly including a first main assembly engaging portion, a second main assembly engaging portion and a driving force transmitting portion for transmitting to said second main assembly engaging portion driving force received by said first main assembly engaging portion, said container comprising:a toner accommodating portion for accommodating the toner; a toner discharging opening for discharging the toner accommodated in said toner accommodating portion; an openable member for openably sealing said toner discharging opening a first container engaging portion for transmitting driving force to said first main assembly engaging portion when said toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly; and a second container engaging portion for receiving driving force from said second main assembly engaging portion when said toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly, wherein when said toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly, the driving force transmitted to the main assembly by said first container engaging portion is received by said second container engaging portion from the main assembly, and said openable member is moved by the driving force to open said toner discharging opening.
  • 58. A toner supply container for supplying toner to a main assembly of an image forming apparatus, wherein said toner supply container is detachably mountable to the main assembly, said toner supply container comprising:a toner accommodating portion for accommodating the toner, said toner accommodating portion being provided with a toner discharging opening for discharging the toner from said toner accommodating portion; an openable member for openably closing said toner discharging opening; a movable member, which is movable relative to said toner accommodating portion, for imparting a driving force to a driving force transmission member provided in the main assembly; a driving force receiving portion for receiving the driving force from said driving force transmission member when said toner supply container is mounted to the main assembly to move said openable member relative to said toner accommodating portion so as to open said toner discharging opening.
Priority Claims (2)
Number Date Country Kind
9-283041 Sep 1997 JP
10-286014 Sep 1998 JP
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Entry
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