Toner container, image forming apparatus including same, and connecting structure for connecting toner container and image forming apparatus

Abstract

A toner container includes a cylindrical container body, a cap having a toner outlet, and a shutter. The cap includes a primary positioning primary positioning hole, formed in a top front surface perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the toner container, extending in the longitudinal direction, to determine an installation position of the cap relative to the image forming apparatus, a secondary positioning hole, formed in a bottom front surface perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the toner container, extending in the longitudinal direction forward the toner outlet, to subsidiary determine the installation position of the cap, and a first restriction member to position the cap in a horizontal direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, projecting vertically upward from an outer circumferential surface of the cap and symmetrical about a virtual perpendicular line passing through a cross-sectional center position of the primary positioning hole perpendicular to the longitudinal direction.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a toner container included in an image forming apparatus such as a copier, a printer, a facsimile machine, a plotter, and a multi-function machine, and a connecting structure for connecting a toner container and an image forming apparatus.

2. Discussion of the Background

Electrophotographic image forming apparatuses such as copiers, printers, facsimile machines, plotters, multi-function machines, or the like typically include toner containers. In general, cylindrical toner containers (bottles) that are removably installable in the image forming apparatuses are used.

Thus, for example, in JP-H04-1681-A and JP2002-268344-A, a toner container (toner cartridge) that is removably installable in the image forming apparatus, and mainly includes a container body (bottle body) and a cap (handle member).

A problem with the arrangement shown in these examples occurs when a user inserts the toner container into the image forming apparatus with the container cap askew, resulting in positional deviation of the toner container relative to the image forming apparatus because the position of the container cap is not determined in the image forming apparatus.

In view of the foregoing, there is market demand for toner containers whose cap is reliably positioned in the image forming apparatus without adversely affecting discharge of the toner.

SUMMARY

In view of the foregoing, one illustrative embodiment of the present invention provides a toner container that is removably installable in an image forming apparatus and includes a cylindrical container body, a cap, and a shutter. The cylindrical container body, having an opening in one end thereof, conveys toner contained in the container body to the opening. The cap, into which the end of the container body having the opening is inserted, has a toner outlet to discharge the toner discharged from the opening of the container body vertically downward. The shutter, slidably held in a bottom portion of the cap, opens the toner outlet by movement from the cap side to the container body side when the toner container is installed in the image forming apparatus, and closes the toner outlet by movement from the container body side to the cap side when the toner container is removed from the image forming apparatus. The cap includes a primary positioning hole, a secondary positioning hole, and at least one first restriction member. The primary positioning hole, formed in a top front surface perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the toner container, extends in the longitudinal direction and functions as a main positioning reference to determine an installation position of the cap relative to the image forming apparatus. The secondary positioning hole, formed in a bottom front surface perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the toner container opposite the primary positioning hole, extends in the longitudinal direction forward the toner outlet and functions as a sub positioning reference to determine the installation position of the cap relative to the image forming apparatus. The first restriction member that positions the cap in a horizontal direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the cap projects vertically upward from an outer circumferential surface of the cap and symmetrical about a virtual perpendicular line passing through a cross-sectional center position of the primary positioning hole in perpendicular to the long direction of the toner container.

Another illustrative embodiment of the present invention provides an image forming apparatus that includes a toner container frame, provided in a main body of the image forming apparatus, and at least one toner container, removably installable in the toner container frame. The toner container includes the cylindrical container body, the cap, and a shutter, slidably held on a bottom side of the cap, to open the toner outlet as the cap moves in the toner container frame in a direction in which the toner container is inserted into the toner container frame while the shutter is stopped in the toner container frame, and to close the toner outlet as the cap moves in the toner container frame in a direction in which the toner container is removed from the toner container frame while the shutter is stopped in the toner container frame. The toner container frame includes an insertion portion in which an inserting opening is formed to insert the toner container into the toner container frame, a container holder to hold the container body of the toner container, a cap holder to hold the cap of the toner container, provided in an extreme upstream portion of the toner container frame in a direction in which the toner container is inserted into the toner container frame. The cap holder includes a first reference pin, a second reference pin, and an engaged portion. The first reference pin, to engage the first hole of the cap of the toner container projects inward from an extreme upstream portion of an interior wall of the cap holder in the direction in which the toner container is inserted into the toner container frame. The second reference pin to engage the second hole of the cap of the toner container projects inward from extreme upstream interior wall of the cap holder in the direction in which the toner container is inserted into the toner container frame. The engaged portion, to engage the first restriction member of the cap of the toner container, projecting downward from a ceiling of the cap holder, extends in the direction in which the toner container is inserted into the toner container frame.

Another illustrative embodiment of the present invention provides a connecting structure for connecting a toner container and an image forming apparatus, including a shutter disposed on the toner container, and an engaging member that engages the shutter. The shutter is slidable between a first closed position covering a toner outlet formed in the container and a second opening position exposing the toner outlet upon installation of the toner container.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete appreciation of the disclosure and many of the attendant advantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an overall schematic view illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus according to a first illustrative embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an image forming unit included in the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing supply of toner to the toner supply device from the toner container connected to the toner supply device included in the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a toner container frame included in the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1, in which the toner container shown in FIG. 3 is set;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the toner container shown in FIG. 3 when view from obliquely above;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the toner container shown in FIG. 5 when view from obliquely underneath;

FIG. 7 is a set of six sides views of the toner container shown in FIG. 5, including a topside view, a front view, a left side view, a backside view, a bottom view, and a right side view;

FIG. 8 is a front view of the toner container shown in FIG. 5 when view from a cap side;

FIG. 9A is an exploded view illustrating the toner container shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 9B is an exploded view illustrating a variation of the toner container shown in FIG. 9A;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a container body included in the toner container shown in FIG. 5 when view from obliquely above;

FIG. 11 is an enlarged view illustrating vicinity of an opening of the container body shown in FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view illustrating an agitator provided in the container body shown in FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a perspective view illustrating a variation of the agitator provided in the container body shown in FIG. 11;

FIG. 14 is a perspective view illustrating a cap included in the toner container shown in FIG. 5 when viewed from the front side obliquely;

FIG. 15 is a perspective view illustrating the cap shown in FIG. 14 when viewed from another angle;

FIG. 16 is a perspective view illustrating the cap shown in FIG. 14 when viewed from connection side in which the cap connects the container body in the toner container;

FIG. 17 is a perspective view illustrating the cap shown in FIG. 14 when viewed from another angle of the connection side shown in FIG. 16;

FIG. 18 is a perspective view illustrating a shutter provided on the cap shown in FIG. 14 when viewed from the bottom obliquely, when the shutter fully closes a toner outlet formed in a bottom surface of the cap;

FIG. 19 is a perspective view illustrating the shutter provided on the cap shown in FIG. 18, when the shutter partly opens the toner outlet;

FIG. 20 is a perspective view illustrating the shutter provided on the cap shown in FIG. 18, when the shutter fully opens the toner outlet;

FIGS. 21A through 21C are diagrams schematically showing a process in which the shutter is opened relative to a shutter container of the cap shown in FIG. 16 in synchronization with the installation of the toner container into the toner container frame;

FIG. 22 is a perspective view illustrating the cap when viewed from the angle shown in FIG. 15, when the shutter is detached from the cap;

FIG. 23 is a perspective view illustrating a first cap body in the cap shown in FIG. 22;

FIG. 24 is a perspective view illustrating the first cap body in the cap shown in FIG. 23 when viewed from another angle;

FIG. 25 is a perspective view illustrating a second cap body in the cap shown in FIG. 22;

FIG. 26 is a perspective view illustrating the shutter shown in FIG. 18;

FIG. 27 is a perspective view illustrating the shutter shown in FIG. 26, when viewed from another angle;

FIG. 28A is a cross-sectional view illustrating vicinity of the cap in the toner container shown in FIG. 9A;

FIG. 28B is a cross-sectional view illustrating a variation of the cap in the toner container shown in FIG. 9B;

FIG. 29 is a perspective view illustrating an inner portion of the cap in the toner container shown in FIG. 5;

FIGS. 30A through 30D show vicinity of inserting openings in inserting portions of the toner container frame shown in FIG. 4 when the respective color of the toner containers are set in the inserting opening;

FIGS. 31A through 31C shows variations of the inserting portions shown in FIGS. 30A through 30D when variations of the toner containers are set in the insertion openings of the insertion portions.

FIG. 32 is a perspective view illustrating a bottle holder in the toner container frame shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 33 is a top view illustrating the bottle holder in the toner container frame shown in FIG. 32;

FIG. 34 is an enlarged perspective view illustrating the bottle holder close to front end shown in FIG. 32;

FIG. 35 is an enlarged perspective view illustrating the bottle holder close to front end shown in FIG. 34 when viewed from another angle;

FIG. 36 is an enlarged perspective view illustrating the bottle holder close to front end shown in FIG. 34 when viewed from another angle;

FIG. 37 is a perspective view illustrating a cap holder in the toner container frame shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 38 is an enlarged perspective view illustrating vicinity of a front wall of the cap holder shown in FIG. 37;

FIG. 39 is an enlarged perspective view illustrating the vicinity of the front wall of the cap holder shown in FIG. 38 when viewed from another angle;

FIG. 40 is an enlarged perspective view illustrating the vicinity of the front wall of the cap holder shown in FIG. 38 when viewed from another angle;

FIG. 41 is a cross sectional view illustrating the cap holder shown in FIG. 37;

FIG. 42 is a perspective view illustrating a process in which each toner container is fitted into the toner container frame shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 43 is a bottom view illustrating a process in which the toner outlet shown in FIG. 20 is opened by the shutter of the cap by engaging the shutter with a shutter closing member in the cap holder;

FIGS. 44 and 45 are bottom views illustrating the process in which the toner outlet is further opened by the shutter of the cap by engaging the shutter with a shutter closing member in the cap holder shown in FIG. 43;

FIGS. 46A through 46D are schematic diagrams illustrating a process in which the cap of the toner container shown in FIG. 14 is inserted into the cap holder shown in FIG. 37;

FIG. 47 is a perspective diagram illustrating vicinity of the toner outlet shown in FIG. 20 in the cap placed upside down and a seal member of the cap holder;

FIGS. 48A and 48B are perspective diagrams illustrating variations of the vicinity of the toner outlet in the cap shown in FIG. 47 placed upside down and the seal member of the cap holder;

FIG. 49 is a perspective view illustrating a cap of a toner container according to a second illustrative embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 50 is a front view illustrating the cap of the toner container shown in FIG. 49;

FIG. 51 is a schematic perspective view illustrating a cap holder in which the cap shown in FIG. 49 is inserted;

FIG. 52 is a perspective view illustrating a cap of a toner container according to a third illustrative embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 53 is a schematic perspective view illustrating a cap holder in which the cap shown in FIG. 52 is inserted;

FIG. 54 is a cross sectional view illustrating a toner container according to a fourth illustrative embodiment of the present invention, when viewed from front side;

FIG. 55 is a cross sectional view illustrating vicinity of a cap of the toner container shown in FIG. 54;

FIG. 56 is a perspective view illustrating a flexible member provided close to a toner outlet in the cap of the toner container shown in FIG. 54; and

FIG. 57 is a cross sectional view illustrating a structure of a toner container according to a fifth illustrative embodiment of the present invention, when viewed from longitudinal side of the toner container.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In describing preferred embodiments illustrated in the drawings, specific terminology is employed for the sake of clarity. However, the disclosure of this patent specification is not intended to be limited to the specific terminology so selected and it is to be understood that each specific element includes all technical equivalents that operate in a similar manner and achieve a similar result.

Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals designate identical or corresponding parts throughout the several views thereof, and particularly to FIG. 1, an image forming apparatus that is an electrophotographic printer (hereinafter referred to as a printer) according to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention is described. It is to be noted that although the image forming apparatus of the present embodiment is a printer, the image forming apparatus of the present invention is not limited to a printer.

First Embodiment

Referring now to FIGS. 1 through 46, a first embodiment of the present invention is described in detail below.

Initially, structure and operation of the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment are described. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a structure of an entire image forming apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, in a toner container frame 70 is provided in an upper part of the image forming apparatus 100, and four toner containers 32Y, 32M, 32C, and 32K respectively corresponding to yellow, magenta, cyan, and black are detachably installable in the toner container frame 70 (see FIGS. 4 and 42). The toner container 32Y functions as a toner container.

An intermediate transfer unit 15 is provided beneath the toner container frame 70. The intermediate transfer unit 15 includes an intermediate transfer belt 8. Image forming units 6Y, 6M, 6C, and 6K respectively corresponding to yellow, magenta, cyan, and black are positioned to face the intermediate transfer belt 8. Toner supply devices 60Y, 60M, 60C, and 60K are provided beneath the corresponding toner containers 32Y, 32M, 32C, and 32K. Different color toner contained in the toner containers 32Y, 32M, 32C, and 32K are supplied to corresponding developing devices in the image forming units 6Y, 6M, 6C, and 6K by the corresponding toner supply devices 60Y, 60M, 60C, and 60K.

The image forming units 6Y, 6M, 6C, and 6K are described in further detail below with reference to FIG. 2 in addition to FIG. 1, after which the elements shown in FIG. 1 that are not described above are described. In the following description, since configurations of elements for forming yellow, magenta, cyan, and black images are substantially identical to each other, in some cases, elements for yellow (given the reference character suffix Y) are described as representative.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the image forming unit 6Y included in the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1.

As shown in FIG. 2, the image forming unit 6Y corresponding to yellow includes a photoconductor drum 1Y, and in the vicinity of the photoconductor drum 1Y, a charging device 4Y, a developing device 5Y (developing section), a cleaning device 2Y, and a discharging device (not shown) are provided in the image forming unit 6Y. Image forming processes (a charging process, an exposing process, a developing process, a primary-transfer process, and a cleaning process) are performed on the photoconductor drum 1Y, and a yellow image is formed on the photoconductor drum 1Y.

Each of the image forming units 6M, 6C, and 6K has a structure substantially identical to the structure of the image forming unit 6Y and forms a corresponding color image. Therefore, in the following, the image forming unit 6Y is mainly described while omitting the descriptions of the image forming units 6M, 6C, and 6K.

In FIG. 2, the photoconductor drum 1Y is rotated in a clockwise direction indicated by arrow c, by a driving motor (not shown). Then, the surface of the photoconductor drum 1Y is uniformly charged by the charging device 4Y (the charging process), after which the surface of the photoconductor drum 1Y reaches a portion receiving a laser beam L emitted from an exposure device 7 (see FIG. 1) and an electrostatic latent image corresponding to yellow is formed on the photoconductor drum 1Y with the laser beam L at that position (the exposing process).

Then, the surface of the photoconductor drum 1Y on which the electrostatic latent image has been formed reaches a position facing the developing device 5Y, and the electrostatic latent image is developed at the position. Thus, a yellow toner image is formed (the developing process).

Then, the surface of the photoconductor drum 1Y on which the toner image has been formed reaches a position facing the intermediate transfer belt 8 and a primary-transfer bias roller 9Y, and the toner image on the photoconductor drum 1Y is transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 8 at that position (the primary-transfer process). At this time, a small amount of toner that has not been transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 8 remains on the photoconductor drum 1Y.

Subsequently, the surface of the photoconductor drum 1Y reaches a position facing the cleaning device 2Y and the toner remaining on the surface of the photoconductor drum 1Y is mechanically removed by a cleaning blade 2a (the cleaning process).

Finally, the surface of the photoconductor drum 1Y reaches a position facing the discharging device and electric charges remaining on the surface of the photoconductor drum 1Y are discharged.

Thus, the image forming process on the photoconductor drum 1Y is completed.

It is to be noted that the above-described image forming process is performed in the image forming units 6M, 6C, and 6K, similar to the image forming unit 6Y. That is, the corresponding photoconductor drums 1M, 1C, and 1K are irradiated with the laser beams L corresponding to image data, emitted from the exposure device 7 positioned beneath the image forming units 6M, 6C, and 6K. Specifically, the exposure device 7 causes light sources to emit the laser beams L and directs the laser beams L onto the corresponding photoconductor drums 1M, 1C, and 1K via plural optical elements while the laser beams L are deflected by a rotating polygon mirror to scan the surfaces of the photoconductor drums 1M, 1C, and 1K, respectively. After the developing process, the toner images formed on the respective photoconductor drums 1Y, 1M, 1C, and 1K are transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 8 and superimposed one on another thereon. Undergoing theses processes, a multicolor image is formed on the intermediate transfer belt 8.

Returning now to FIG. 1, the intermediate transfer unit 15 includes the intermediate transfer belt 8, four primary-transfer bias rollers 9Y, 9M, 9C, and 9K, a secondary-transfer backup roller 12, plural tension rollers (not shown), and an intermediate transfer cleaning section (not shown). The intermediate transfer belt 8 is supported by plural rollers and is endlessly rotated in a direction indicated by arrow T shown in FIG. 1 by the secondary-transfer backup roller 12.

The four primary-transfer bias rollers 9Y, 9M, 9C, and 9K respectively press against the four photoconductor drums 1Y, 1M, 1C, and 1K via the intermediate transfer belt 8, thus forming primary-transfer nips therebetween. A transfer bias voltage whose polarity is inverted relative to the polarity of the toner is applied to the four primary-transfer bias rollers 9Y, 9M, 9C, and 9K. The intermediate transfer belt 8 sequentially passes through the primary-transfer nips formed between the primary-transfer bias rollers 9Y, 9M, 9C, and 9K and the photoconductor drums 1Y, 1M, 1C, and 1K while rotating in the direction indicated by arrow T shown in FIG. 1. Thus, the toner images on the photoconductor drums 1Y, 1M, 1C, and 1K are primarily transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 8 and superimposed one on another thereon, forming a four-color (multicolor) toner image.

Then, the intermediate transfer belt 8 onto which the toner images have been transferred and superimposed one on another thereon reaches a position facing a secondary-transfer roller 19. A secondary-transfer nip is formed at the position where the intermediate transfer belt 8 is sandwiched between the secondary-transfer backup roller 12 and the secondary-transfer roller 19. Then, the four-color toner image formed on the intermediate transfer belt 8 is transferred onto a recording medium P (for example, paper) carried to the secondary nip (a secondary transfer process). At this time, a certain amount of toner can remain on the intermediate transfer belt 8, not transferred onto the recording medium P.

Then, the intermediate transfer belt 8 reaches a position facing the intermediate transfer cleaning section and the toner remaining on the intermediate transfer belt 8 is removed at that position. Thus, the secondary-transfer process that is performed on the intermediate transfer belt 8 is completed.

The recording medium P is carried to the secondary nip from a paper feeding section 26 positioned at a lower part of the image forming apparatus 100 via a paper feeding roller 27, a pair of registration rollers 28, and so on.

Specifically, the plural recording media P (multiple sheets of paper) are stacked and stored in the paper feeding section 26. When the paper feeding roller 27 is rotated counterclockwise in FIG. 1, the recording medium P on the top is carried to a position between the pair of registration rollers 28.

The recording medium P carried to the pair of registration rollers 28 is temporarily stopped at a roller nip position of the pair of registration rollers 28 whose rotation is stopped. Then, the pair of registration rollers 28 is rotated again, timed to coincide with formation of the multicolor image on the intermediate transfer belt 8, and thus the recording medium P is carried to the secondary-transfer nip. Then, the multicolor image is transferred onto the recording medium P.

The recording medium P onto which the multicolor image has been transferred in the secondary-transfer nip is carried to a fixing section 20 and the multicolor image on the recording medium P is fixed with heat and pressure from a fixing belt (not shown) and a pressure roller (not shown) of the fixing section 20.

The recording medium P on which the multicolor image has been formed is output to a stack section 30 via a pair of paper output rollers 29. When plural recording media P are output, the output plural recording media P are sequentially stacked on the stack section 30. Thus, a sequence of image forming processes performed in the image forming apparatus 100 is completed.

Next, with reference to FIG. 2, structure and operation of the developing device 5Y in the image forming unit 6Y are described in detail below.

The developing device 5Y includes a developing roller 51Y facing the photoconductor drum 1Y, a doctor blade 52Y facing the developing roller 51Y, developer containers 53Y and 54Y, two developer conveying screws 55Y respectively disposed in the developer containers 53Y and 54Y, and a concentration detector 56Y for detecting a toner concentration in a developer G. The developing roller 51Y includes a magnet (not shown) fixed inside the developing roller 51Y and a sleeve (not shown) that is outermost portion of the developing roller 51 and is rotated around the magnet. The developer G that is two-component developer consisting essentially of carrier particles (toner carrier) and toner particles is contained in the developer containers 53Y and 54Y. The developer container 54Y is connected to a toner dropping route 64Y via an opening formed on an upper side of the developer container 54Y.

Next, operation of the developing device 5Y is described below.

The sleeve of the developing roller 51Y is rotated in a direction indicated by arrow b shown in FIG. 2, and the developer G carried on the developing roller 51Y by a magnetic field generated by the magnet is transported in that direction as the sleeve is rotated. The toner concentration of the developer G in the developing device 5Y is adjusted within a predetermined range. Specifically, toner contained in the toner container 32Y (see FIG. 1) is supplied to the developer container 54Y by the toner supply device 60Y (see FIG. 1) corresponding to the amount of toner consumed in the developing device 5Y. The toner supply device 60Y is described below in detail.

The toner supplied to the developer container 54Y are mixed with the developer G in the developer container 54Y, and the developer G is circulated in the two developer containers 53Y and 54Y while stirred by the developer conveying screws 55Y. While the developer G is moved in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the paper on which FIG. 2 is drawn, the toner particles in the developer G adhere to carrier particles, charged with friction with the carrier particles, and are carried on the developing roller 51Y together with the carrier particles by a magnetic force formed on the developing roller 51Y.

Then, the developer G carried on the developing roller 51Y is transported in the direction indicated by arrow b in FIG. 2 to the doctor blade 52Y. The amount of the developer G on the developing roller 51Y is adjusted to a suitable value by the doctor blade 52Y, after which the developer G is carried to a developing region facing the photoconductor drum 1Y. The toner particles in the developer G are attracted to an electrostatic latent image formed on the photoconductor drum 1Y by an electric field generated in the developing region. As the sleeve rotates, the developer G remaining on the developing roller 51Y reaches an upper part in the developer container 53Y and drops from the developing roller 51Y.

Next, referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the toner supply devices 60Y, 60M, 60C, and 60K are described below.

Herein, FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing supply of toner to the toner supply device 60 from the toner container 32Y connected to the toner supply device 60. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the toner container frame 70 included in the image forming apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 1, respectively. In FIGS. 3 and 4, the respective color toners contained in the corresponding toner containers 32Y, 32M, 32C, and 32K in the toner container frame 70 are suitably supplied to the corresponding developing devices 5Y, 5M, 5C, and 5K by the corresponding toner supply devices 60Y, 60M, 60C, and 60K according to the amount of the corresponding toner consumed. The structure of each of the toner supply devices 60Y, 60M, 60C, and 60K is substantially equal, and the structure of each of the toner containers 32Y, 32M, 32C, and 32K is substantially equal. Therefore, the toner supply device 60Y and the toner container 32Y are described as representative.

When the toner container 32Y is installed in the toner container frame 70 in a direction indicated by arrow Q in FIG. 4, a shutter 34d (shown in FIGS. 3 and 9) of the toner container 32Y is moved in synchronization with the installation of the toner container 32Y, and a toner outlet W (see FIG. 3) of the toner container 32Y is opened. Consequently, the toner outlet W of the toner container 32Y overlaps a toner supply opening 73w of the toner supply device 60. Accordingly, the toner contained in the toner container 32Y is discharged from the toner container 32Y through the toner outlet W and the toner supply opening 73w and stored in a toner tank of the toner supply device 60Y.

As shown in FIG. 3, the toner container 32Y is a substantially cylindrical toner bottle and includes a container body (bottle body) 33Y formed integrally with a gear 33Yc (33c) and a cap 34Y. The cap 34Y is attached to the toner container frame 70 so as not to rotate. The toner outlet W is formed on a lower side of the cap 34Y of the toner container 32Y. In addition, the toner supply device 60Y includes a toner tank 61Y, a toner conveying screw 62Y, a toner conveying tube 63Y, the toner dropping route 64Y (shown in FIG. 2), a toner agitator 65Y, a toner end sensor 66Y (detecting unit), and a driving unit 91. It is to be noted that, in FIG. 3, reference character 33d represents a handle part.

In FIG. 3, the container body 33Y is rotatably held by the cap 34Y and is rotated in a direction indicated by arrow d shown in FIG. 3 by the driving unit 91 that includes a driving motor (not shown), a driving gear 81, and the like. By rotating the container body 33Y, spiral protrusions 33b protruding inward from an inner circumferential face of the container body 33Y convey the toner contained in the container body 33Y in a longitudinal direction of the toner container 32Y (from left to right in FIG. 3) and discharges the toner from the toner outlet W.

That is, the container body 33Y of the toner container 32Y is rotated by the driving unit 91 as required, thus supplying the toner suitably to the toner tank 61Y of the toner supply device 60. When the service life of each of the toner containers 32Y, 32M, 32C, and 32K has expired, that is, when almost all toner in the toner container 32Y have been consumed, an old one is replaced with a new one.

Further, the toner tank 61Y is positioned beneath the toner outlet W of the container body 33Y of the toner container 32Y and stores the toner discharged through the toner outlet W from the toner container 32Y via the toner supply opening 73w (see FIGS. 3 and 42). The bottom part of the toner tank 61Y is connected to an upstream side in the developer conveyance direction of the toner conveying screw 62Y.

The toner end sensor 66Y is disposed on a wall surface of the toner tank 61Y at a predetermined height from the bottom surface of the toner tank 61Y. The toner end sensor 66Y detects that the amount of the toner stored in the toner tank 61Y becomes less than a predetermined amount. As the toner end sensor 66Y, a piezoelectric sensor can be used.

With reference to FIG. 3, when the toner end sensor 66Y detects a signal indicating that the amount of the toner stored in the toner tank 61Y is less than the predetermined value, the signal is sent to a controller 90. The controller 90 controls the driving unit 91 (including the driving gear 81) to rotate the toner container 32Y for a predetermined period to supply toner to the toner tank 61Y.

When the toner end sensor 66Y continues to detect the signal even if the driving unit 91 repeats rotating the toner conveyance member 32Y3 in the toner container 32Y during a predetermined time period, the controller 90 determines that no toner remains in the toner container 32Y. Then, the controller 90 displays a message that instructs users to replace the toner container 32Y with a new one on a display (not shown) of the image forming apparatus 100.

The toner agitator 65Y (rotating member) is disposed at an inner center position of the toner tank 61Y near the toner end sensor 66Y for preventing the toner stored in the toner tank 61Y from being coagulated. The toner agitator 65Y includes a flexible member (not shown) provided on a shaft, rotates in a clockwise direction indicated by an arrow shown in FIG. 3, and stirs the toner in the toner tank 61Y. In addition, since the tip of the flexible member of the toner agitator 65Y slidably contacts the detecting surface of the toner end sensor 66Y with every a rotational cycle of the toner agitator 65Y, a decrease in the detecting accuracy due to toner adhering to the detecting surface of the toner end sensor 66Y is prevented.

The toner conveying screw 62Y conveys the toner retained in the toner tank 61Y obliquely upward. More specifically, the toner conveying screw 62Y linearly conveys the toner from the bottom side of the toner tank 61Y to the upper side of the developing device 5Y. Then, the toner thus conveyed by the toner conveying screw 62Y drops under its own weight through the toner dropping route 64Y (see FIG. 2) and is supplied to the development device 5Y (developer container 54Y).

Referring now to FIG. 4, the toner container frame 70 includes a cap holder 73 that holds four caps 34Y, 34M, 34C, and 34K of the toner container 32Y, 32M, 32C, and 32K, a bottle holder 72 that holds four container bodies 33Y, 33M, 33C, 33K of the toner containers (bottles) 32Y, 32M, 32C, and 32K, and an inserting portion 71 having four inserting openings 710 through which the toner containers 32Y, 32M, 32C, and 32K are inserted when the toner containers 32Y, 32M, 32C, and 32K are inserted into and detached from the toner container frame 70. The structure of the bottle holder 72 and the inserting portion 71 is described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 32 through 46.

As shown in FIG. 1, when a main body cover (not shown) positioned on the front side of the image forming apparatus 100 is opened, the inserting portion 71 of the toner container frame 70 is exposed. That is, attachment and removal of the toner containers 32Y, 32M, 32C, and 32K are performed from the front side of the image forming apparatus 100 in the longitudinal direction of the toner containers 32Y, 32M, 32C, and 32K, that is, a direction orthogonal to the surface of paper on which FIG. 1 is drawn.

Herein, the length in the longitudinal direction of the bottle holder 72 is almost equal to the length in the longitudinal direction of the container body 33Y. In addition, the cap holder 73 is attached to one side (front end side) of the bottle holder 72 in the longitudinal direction (direction of insertion), and the inserting portion 71 is provided on the other side (back end side) of the bottle holder 72 in the longitudinal direction (direction of insertion).

Therefore, as the toner container 32Y is inserted into the toner container frame 70, the cap 34Y passes through the bottle holder 72, slides on the bottle holder 72 for a certain distance, and then is set in the cap holder 73.

Further, four antennas 73e (see FIGS. 38 and 39) dedicated for radio frequency identification (RFID) chips 35 (see FIGS. 5 and 9) are provided on the cap holder 73 of the toner container frame 70. Specifically, the four antennas 73e communicate with the RFID chips 35, serving as electronic data storages, installed in respective mounting sections 34k (see FIGS. 14 and 15) positioned on a front surfaces of the corresponding toner containers 32Y, 32M, 32C in a direction in which the toner container 32Y is installed into the toner container holder 70. The toner container 32Y, 32M, 32C, and 32K are aligned on the antenna 73e so that the RFID chips 35 face the antennas 73e, respectively.

The data exchanged between the toner container 32Y, 32M, 32C, and 32K and the image forming apparatus 100 includes, for example, the production serial number of the toner container, the recycle number of the toner container, the type of toner, the production lot number of the toner, the production date of the toner, the manufacturer of the toner, the amount of toner in the toner container, the multicolor of toner, and a usage history of the image forming apparatus 100. Other data may also be included.

Alternatively, after the toner container 32Y is set in the toner container frame 70 in the image forming apparatus 100, the data transmitted from the image forming apparatus 100 to the toner container 32Y is stored in the RFID chip 35.

Referring to FIGS. 5 through 31, configuration and operation of the toner container 32Y are described below.

It is to be noted that, in the toner container 32 and the toner container frame 70, reference character suffixes Y, M, C, and K attached to identical reference numerals indicate only that components indicated thereby are used for forming different single-color images, respectively, and hereinafter may be omitted when color discrimination is not necessary.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are perspective views of the toner container 32Y, and FIG. 7 is a set of six side views including a topside view, a front view, a left side view, a backside view, a bottom view, and a right side view. It is to be noted that reference character 34f in FIG. 7 represents second engaging members.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the toner container 32Y includes the container body 33Y and the cap 34Y. More specifically, with reference to FIG. 9A, which is an exploded view illustrating the toner container 32Y, the toner container 32Y includes an agitator 33f, a cap seal 37, the shutter 34d, a shutter seal 36 serving as a seal member, and the RFID chip 35 serving as the electronic data storage, in addition to the container body 33Y and the cap 34Y.

FIGS. 8, 9A, and 10 are respectively a front view (from the cap side), an exploded view, and a perspective view of the toner container 32Y, and FIG. 11 is an enlarged view illustrating vicinity of the opening A of the container body 33Y. It is to be noted that, in FIG. 8, reference characters 34a, 34b, 34c, 34g, 34h, 34m, 34s respectively represent a primary positioning hole, a secondary positioning hole, lateral protrusions, a first discrimination portion, a second discrimination portion, a projecting member, and a vertical faces.

As shown in FIGS. 9A through 11, an opening A and the gear 33c that rotates together with the container body 33Y are provided on the front end side of the container body 33Y (front side of paper on which FIG. 8 is drawn). An end portion of the bottle body 33Y that encloses the opening A is hereinafter referred to as a mouth portion 33a of the container body 33Y. In addition, a hollow B and a dropping route C are formed in the cap 34Y (see FIGS. 28A and 52). The opening A is formed in edge face 34a (backside end) of the container body 33Y so that the toner in the container body 33Y is discharged to a space (the hollow B) in the cap 34Y.

It is to be noted that, conveyance of toner from the container body 33Y to the hollow B in the cap 34Y (rotation of the toner container 33Y) is performed as required to an extent that the level of toner does not fall below a predetermined limitation line.

As shown in FIG. 11, the gear 33c rotates the container body 33Y around a rotary axis (indicated by a broken line in FIG. 11) by engaging the driving gear 81 in the toner container frame 70 of the image forming apparatus 100. More specifically, the gear 33c is provided around the opening A and has multiple teeth that are radially arranged relative to the rotary axis of the container body 33Y. In addition, the gear 33c is partly exposed from a notch 34x (shown in FIG. 22) at the lower left in FIG. 8 (an engagement position) and engages the driving gear 81 in the image forming apparatus 100. Then, the driving force transmitted from the driving gear 81 to the gear 33c rotates the container body 33Y in a clockwise direction in FIG. 8. It is to be noted that, in the present embodiment, the driving gear 81 and the gear 33c are spur wheel gears.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the handle part 33d that is grasped by the user when the toner container 32Y is inserted into and released from the image forming apparatus 100 is provided on the back end side of the container body 33Y opposite to the front end side where the gear 33c is positioned. The user inserts/releases the toner container 32Y into/from the image forming apparatus 100 while holding the handle part 33d. At this time, the toner container 32Y is moved in a direction indicated by arrow Q shown in FIG. 5.

Further, the spiral protrusions 33b are provided on the inner circumferential face of the container body 33Y. The spiral protrusions 33b are spiral grooves in the outer circumferential surface of the container body 33Y when viewed from outside. The spiral protrusions 33b are for discharging the toner in the container body 33Y to the opening A by rotating the container body 33Y in a predetermined direction. The container body 33Y is formed together with peripheral elements including the spiral protrusions 33b, the gear 33c, and the handle part 33d, provided on the container body 33Y, by blow molding.

With reference to FIGS. 9A through 11, in the toner container 32Y, the agitator 33f that rotates together with the container body 33Y is fitted in the mouth portion 33a of the bottle body 33Y that encloses the opening A. The agitator 33f including stick members extending from the opening edge of the container body 33Y to the hollow B in the cap 34Y (see FIG. 28A). The agitator 33f is rotated together with the opening A of the container body 33Y, and therefore, workability in discharging toner from the opening A can be enhanced.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 12, the agitator 33f includes a pair of stick members 33f1, a circular engagement edge 33f2, and a bridge member 33f3. The pair of stick member 33f1 protrudes from the circular engagement edge 33f2 to the hollow B in the cap 34Y and their phases are shifted 180 degrees from each other. The bridge member 33f3 connects together the two stick members 33f1. This agitator 33f is fitted into the opening A of the bottle body 33Y, and the two cylindrical stick members 33f1 soften the toner in the hollow B formed in the cap 34Y while suitably weakening the conveyance force to convey the toner from the opening A of the container body 33Y to the hollow B in the cap 34Y. As a result, the amount of the toner supplied from the opening A of the container body 33Y to the hollow B in the cap 34Y does not become excessive, and therefore, the possibility of clogging of the hollow B in the cap 34Y with toner can be reduced. It is to be noted that, if the stick members 33f1 are disposed far from the toner outlet W and the toner dropping route C, the stick members 33f1 cannot soften the toner located closed to the toner outlet W because the two stick members 33f1 are cylindrical. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 28A, the stick members 33f1 are extended to a position just above the toner outlet W (toner dropping route C). More specifically, end portions of the stick members 33f1 is extended in the lateral direction in FIG. 28A more than half the diameter of the toner outlet W in that direction that is, their tips are positioned beyond a half line Ch (centerline of the cylindrical toner dropping route C) shown in FIG. 28A).

In addition, when the amount of the toner supplied from the toner container 32Y to the toner supply device 60Y is relatively small because the amount of the toner consumed in the development device 5Y is relatively small, the container body 33Y of the toner container 32Y rotates for only a short time, and accordingly the container body 32Y rotates only a small angle to an extent that the container body 32Y does not go into 360-degree roll. However, in this case, because the phases of the two stick members 33f are shifted by 180 degrees, one of the stick members 33f1 can soften the toner positioned close to the toner outlet W (toner dropping route C). Further, in the agitator 33f according to the present embodiment, the bridge member 33f3 is provided to cross a center position of the circular engagement edge 33f2, the toner positioned close to the opening A can be softened by the bridge member 33f3.

It is to be noted that, although the agitator 33f includes two stick members 33f1 in the present embodiment shown in FIG. 12, alternatively the agitator 33f can include only a single stick member 33f1 as shown in FIG. 13, or the agitator 33f can include three or greater number of stick members 33f1.

(Variation)

It is to be noted that the shape of the agitation member 33f is not limited the above-described configuration. For example, as shown in FIGS. 9B and 28B, the toner container 32Y can adopt an agitation member 32f-a that includes a pair of stick members 33f1-a instead of the stick members 33f1 shown in FIG. 12 as well. The pair of stick members 33f1-a protrudes from the circular engagement edge 33f2 to the hollow B in the cap 34Y and also protrudes inward of the small diameter space D of the container body 33Y from the circular engagement edge 33f2, and their phases are shifted 180 degrees from each other. In this variation, the stick members 33f1-a of the agitation ember 33f-a can soften the toner in the small diameter space D of the container body 33Y in addition to the toner in the hollow B.

In this variation, similarly to the agitation member 33f, the two cylindrical stick members 33f1-a soften the toner in the hollow B while suitably weakening the conveyance force to convey the toner from the opening A of the container body 33Y to the hollow B in the cap 34Y, and, because the stick members 33f1 are extended to a position just above the toner outlet, the stick member 33f1 can soften the toner located close to the toner outlet W. In addition, when the amount of the toner supplied from the toner container 32Y to the toner supply device 60Y is relatively small because the amount of the toner consumed in the development device 5Y is relatively small, the container body 33Y of the toner container 32Y rotates for only a short time, and accordingly the container body 32Y rotates only a small angle to an extent that the container body 32Y does not go into 360-degree roll. However, in this case, because the phase of the two stick members 33f are shifted by 180 degrees, one of the stick members 33f1 can soften the toner positioned close to the toner outlet W (toner dropping route C). Further, the agitation member 33f-1 also includes the bridge member 33f3 provided to cross a center position of the circular engagement edge 33f2, and therefore, the toner positioned close to the opening A can be softened by the bridge member 33f3.

Although the agitator 33f-a includes two stick members 33f1-a in the present variation, alternatively the agitator 33f-a can include only a single stick member 33f1-a, or the agitator 33f-a can include three or greater number of stick members 33f1-a.

Additionally, with reference to FIGS. 9A and 10, a protrusion 33e (hereinafter also “an engagement portion 33e”) is provided an entire outer circumferential surface of the mouth portion 33a of the container body 33Y and engages an inside hook 34j (see FIG. 29) so that the container body 33Y and the cap 34Y are connected together. Thus, the container body 33Y engages the cap 34Y rotatably relative to the cap 34Y. Therefore, the gear 33c rotates relative to the cap 34Y.

Further, referring to FIG. 28A, the container body 33Y includes a small-diameter space F positioned close to the gear 33c (front end side of the toner container) has an internal diameter A1 smaller than an internal diameter D1 of a containing space D of the container body 33Y in which the spiral protrusions 33b are formed.

A pump-up space E (indicated by a broken line circle shown in FIGS. 9A, 10 and see FIG. 28A) projecting inward from the internal face of the container body 33Y is provided close to the small-diameter space F on the front end side of the container body 33Y. When the toner is conveyed to the opening A by the spiral protrusions 33b as the container body 33Y rotates, the toner is pumped up to the small-diameter space F on the front end side of the container body 33Y through the pump-up space E. Then, the toner pumped up to the small-diameter space F is agitated by the agitator 33f and is discharged from the opening A to the hollow B in the cap 34Y.

Turning now to FIGS. 14 through 17, structure and operation of the cap 34Y according to the present embodiment are described below.

The toner container 32Y includes the shutter 34d, the shutter seal 36 serving as a seal member, the cap seal 37, and the RFID chip 35 (electronic data storage) as described above. The mouth portion 33a enclosing the opening A of the container body 33Y is inserted into back end side of an insertion opening 34z (see FIG. 29) of the cap 34Y, whose interior diameter is larger than that of the hollow B. With reference to FIGS. 20 and 28, the toner outlet W is formed in the lowest portion on the back end side of the cap 34Y so that the toner discharged from the opening A is discharged outside by dropping under its own weight.

In addition, the shutter 34d to open and close the toner outlet W is slidably held on the back end side of the cap 34Y. More specifically, the toner outlet W is opened by moving the shutter 34d from the cap 34Y to the container body 33Y (moving from the right to the left in FIG. 28A) and is closed by moving the shutter 34d from the container member 33Y to the cap 34Y. The shutter 34d opens and closes the toner outlet W by moving together with the toner container 32Y as the container body 33Y is installed into and released from the toner container frame 70 in the image forming apparatus 100.

It is to be noted that, FIGS. 18 through 20 show a series of movements when the shutter 34d opens the toner outlet W (from the start to the completion of the opening operation). FIGS. 21A through 21C are schematic diagrams illustrating the shutter 34d (a shutter deformation portion 34d2 shown in FIG. 26) when the shutter 34d opens the toner outlet W.

Next, referring to FIGS. 1415, 39, and 40, the positioning of the cap 34Y in the cap holder 73 in the image forming apparatus is described below.

As shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, a primary positioning hole 34a is formed in an upper portion (a ceiling portion) of a front surface of the cap 34Y, that is, a face perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the toner container 32Y and extended in the longitudinal direction of the cap 34Y. In addition, the primary positioning hole 34a is surrounded by a first surrounding wall 34a1, and the first surrounding wall 34a1 projects forward from the front surface of the cap 34Y in the longitudinal direction. The primary positioning hole 34a functions as a main positioning reference to determine an installation position of the cap 34Y of the toner container 32Y relative to the cap holder 73 in the image forming apparatus 100. More specifically, a main reference pin 73a of the cap holder 73 (see FIGS. 39 and 40) is fitted into the primary positioning hole 34a as the toner container 32Y to which the cap 34Y is attached is inserted into the toner container frame 70.

In addition, a secondary positioning hole 34b is formed in a lower portion (a bottom) of the front surface of the cap 34Y, that is, the face perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the toner container 32Y and is extended in the longitudinal direction of the cap 34Y to an extent not to reach the toner outlet W. In addition, the secondary positioning hole 34b is surrounded by a second surrounding wall 34b1, and the second surrounding wall 34b1 projects forward from the front surface of the cap 34Y in the longitudinal direction. The secondary positioning hole 34b functions as a sub-positioning reference to determine the installation position of the cap 34Y of the toner container 32Y relative to the cap holder 73 in the image forming apparatus 100. More specifically, a sub-reference pin 73b of the cap holder 73 (see FIGS. 39 and 40) is fitted into the secondary positioning hole 34b by moving together with the toner container 32Y as the toner container 32Y is inserted into the toner container frame 70. It is to be noted that the secondary positioning hole 34b is elliptical and its vertical diameter is longer than the horizontal diameter thereof.

The position of the cap 34Y is determined by the above-described reference holes 34a and 34b. Further, with reference to FIG. 8, the positioning holes 34a and 34b are arranged so that a virtual perpendicular lines respectively passing through center positions of the primary positioning hole 34a and the secondary positioning hole 34b are aligned with the same straight line and also pass through a center position of the round body of the cap 34Y.

Herein, with reference to FIG. 28A, the depth of the primary positioning hole 34a (length of the main reference pin 73a in the longitudinal direction) is longer than the depth of the secondary positioning hole 34b (length of the sub-reference pin 73b in the longitudinal direction). With this configuration, in installation of the cap 34Y of the toner container 32Y into the cap holder 73 of the toner container frame 70, after insertion of the main reference pin 73a into the primary positioning hole 34a (main positioning reference) is started, insertion of the sub-reference pin 73b into the secondary positioning hole 34b (sub-positioning reference) is started. Thus, the cap 34Y of the toner container 32Y can be smoothly inserted into the cap holder 73 of the container frame 70.

In addition, because the primary positioning hole 34a whose length in the longitudinal direction is longer is provided in the ceiling portion of the cap 34Y so that the primary positioning hole 34a does not recess inward from the inner face of the round body of the cap 34Y, adverse effects of the primary positioning hole 34a on the conveyance ability (fluidity) of the toner in the cap 34Y can be prevented or reduced.

Further, although the secondary positioning hole 34b provided in the bottom portion of the cap 34Y, has such a shorter length that the secondary positioning hole 34b can be formed in a relatively short space that extends from the front surface of the cap 34Y to a front end of the toner outlet W, the secondary positioning hole 34b can sufficiently function as the sub-positioning reference to determine the position of the toner container 32Y.

With reference to FIGS. 8 and 14 through 17, a first engaging member 34e and the pair of second engaging members 34f, serving as first restriction members, are formed in the ceiling portion of the cap 34Y so as to position the cap 34Y in a horizontal direction indicated by arrow Y in FIG. 14, perpendicular to the longitudinal direction (indicated by arrow X) of the cap 34Y in the cap holder 73 in the image forming apparatus 100 indicated by arrow Y. Both of the first engaging member 34e and the second engaging members 34f project upward from the outer circumferential surface of the cap 34Y (indicated by arrow Z shown in FIG. 14) symmetrically relative to a virtual perpendicular line passing through the center position of the primary positioning hole 34a in cross sectional view perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, that is, a cross sectional view in parallel to the front surface of the cap 34Y shown in FIG. 8. In addition, the first engaging member 34e and the second engaging members 34f are extended along the ceiling of the round body of cap 34Y in the longitudinal direction indicated by the arrow X in FIG. 14 (in the direction orthogonal to the surface of paper on which FIG. 8 is drawn). In addition, the first engaging member 34e and the second engaging members 34f engage corresponding engaged portions 73m (projecting portions) in the cap holder 73 (see FIGS. 38 and 39). Therefore, the cap 34Y is inserted into or released from the cap holder 73 while the horizontal position of the cap 34Y is restricted by the first engaging member 34e and the second engaging members 34f respectively engaged with the engaged portions 73m. Then, in the state in which the cap 34Y is set in to the cap holder 73, the horizontal position of the cap 34Y is restricted.

More specifically, the first engaging member 34e (restriction member) is provided just above the primary positioning hole 34a and is almost rectangular in a cross sectional view perpendicular to the longitudinal direction. Further, the first engaging member 34e has a projecting engagement portion 34e1 that projects forward from the first surrounding wall 34a1 of the primary positioning hole 34a. As shown in FIG. 14, the projecting engaging portion 34e1 has a tapered tip, that is, its front side end is smaller than the backside end thereof.

On the other hand, the second engaging members 34f (restriction member) are formed so as to sandwich the first engaging member 34e from both side, and each engaging member 34f is L shaped when viewed in a cross sectional view perpendicular to the longitudinal direction (viewed from a front side of the cap 34Y shown in FIG. 8). In FIGS. 14 and 39, the first engaging member 34e engages the two engaged member 73m, that is, the first engaging member 34e is fitted between the two engaged portion 73m, and the second engaging member 34f engages the engaged portions 73m, that is, the two second engaging members 34f sandwich the two engaged portions 73m from outside. Herein, in installation of the cap 34Y into the cap holder 73, the tapered projecting engaging portion 34e1 projecting forward from the edge of the primary positioning hole 34a engages the engaged portions 73m before the second engaging members 34f engage the respective engaged portions 73m, and thus the cap 34Y can be smoothly installed into the cap holder 73.

With reference to FIGS. 37 through 42, the cap holder 73 includes four cap-surrounding portions (frames) 731Y, 731M, 731C, and 731K that surround the caps 34Y, 34M, 34C, and 34K of the toner container 32Y, 32M, 32C, and 32K, respectively. The lateral grooves 73c that engages the corresponding pair of the lateral protrusions 34c of the cap 34Y of the toner container 32Y are recessed from both sidewalls of the corresponding cap-surrounding portion 731Y in the cap holder 73 and is extended in the direction of insertion. In addition, the engaged portion 73m that engages the first engaging member 34e and the second engaging member 34f projects downward from a ceiling of the cap-surrounding portion 731Y of the cap holder 73, extending in the direction of insertion.

Further, with reference to FIGS. 14 through 17, the pair of lateral protrusions 34c, serving as a second restriction member, is formed on both sides on the outer circumferential face of the cap 34Y so as to position the cap 34Y in a rotation direction indicated by arrow R in FIG. 14 of the cap holder 73 in the image forming apparatus 100. The lateral protrusions 34c (second restriction member) protrude from lateral sides of the cap 34Y horizontally so as to be arranged in a virtual horizontal line passing through a center position of the line connecting the center position of the primary positioning hole 34a and the center position of the secondary positioning hole 34b, when viewed in a cross sectional view perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, and is extended in the longitudinal direction, a direction orthogonal to the surface of paper on which FIG. 8 is drawn.

With this configuration, the cap 34Y is installed into the cap holder 73 while the position of the cap 34Y in the rotation direction is restricted by the two lateral protrusions 34c (second restriction members) engaged with lateral grooves 73c (groove) of the cap holder 73 shown in FIG. 38. Then, in the state in which the cap 34Y is set in the cap holder 73, the position of the cap 34Y in the rotation direction is restricted by the engagement between the lateral protrusions 34Y and the lateral grooves 71c. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 14, front end tip portions 34c1 of the lateral protrusions 34c are tapered and their front side ends are smaller than the back side ends thereof.

As described above, in installation process of the cap 34Y into the cap holder 73, initially, the first engaging member 34e engages the engaged portions 73m, then, the second engaging members 34f engage the engaged portions 73m. Subsequently, the two lateral protrusions 34c whose front side tip 34c1 is tapered engage the lateral grooves 73c. Accordingly, the cap 34Y can be smoothly installed into the cap holder 73 while the position of the cap 34Y is reliably restricted by the restriction members 34e, 34f, and 34c.

With reference to FIGS. 14 and 15, the RFID chip 35, serving as the electronic data storage, is set in the mounting section 34k provided on the front surface of the cap 34Y. The mounting section 34k to accommodate the RFID chip 35 is enclosed by an outer rib (frame) 34k1 protruding forward from the front surface of the cap 34Y and is positioned between the primary positioning hole 34a and the secondary positioning hole 34b.

The RFID chip 35 is kept at a position facing the antenna 73e, a predetermined distance away from the antenna 73e in the cap holder 73e in the state in which the cap 34Y is set in the cap holder 73 of the toner container holder 70. Thus, the RFID chip 35 contactlessly communicates with the antenna 73e (wireless communication).

Herein, because the RFID chip 35 is mounted between the primary positioning hole 34a (main positioning reference) and the secondary positioning hole 34b (sub-positioning reference) in the present embodiment, the position of the RFID chip 35 can be determined with a higher degree of accuracy relative to the antenna 73e of the cap holder 73. Accordingly, the communication failure caused by positional deviation of the RFID chip 35 relative to the antenna 73e (antenna for RFID chip) can be prevented.

It is to be noted that the projecting engaging portion 34e1 and the two projecting members 34m project forward more than the outer rib 34k1 of the mounting section 34k surrounding the RFID chip 35. Therefore, even when the user puts the toner container 32Y on a given object with the cap 34Y on the lower side, because the mounting section 34k accommodating the RFID chip 35 contacts the object directly, the RFID chip 35 is less likely to receive damage directly and be broken.

With reference to FIGS. 14, 15, and 30A through 30D, compatibility (color discrimination) of the toner containers 32Y, 32M, 32C, and 32K is described below.

FIGS. 30A through 30D show the vicinity of the inserting openings 710Y in inserting portions 71Y, 71M, 71C, and 71K in the inserting portion 71 (shown in FIG. 4) of the toner container frame 70.

As shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, the discrimination portions 34g and 34h used for identifying compatibility are provided on the outer circumferential surface of the cap 34Y. When the toner container 32Y is properly inserted into the toner container frame 70, respective discrimination protrusions (clawed shape members) of the discrimination portions 34g and 34h engage corresponding recessed engagement portions 71g and 71h formed in the insertion portion 71 of the toner container frame 70 shown in FIGS. 30A through 30D.

It is to be noted that, in the description below, the discrimination protrusion portions 34g and 34h and the engagement portions 71g and 71h for yellow, magenta, cyan, and black are respectively given reference character Y, M, C, and K positioned between the reference numeral and the reference character g or h.

More specifically, in FIG. 30A, the discrimination portions 34Yg and 34Yh on the cap 34Y (yellow) is formed so that the discrimination protrusions of the description portions 34Yg and 34Yh are fitted into only the recessed engagement portions 71Yg and 71Yh provided around the inserting opening 710Y formed in the inserting portion 71Y of the toner container frame 70. In FIG. 30B, the discrimination portions 34Cg and 34Ch on the cap member 34C (cyan) is formed so that the discrimination protrusion of the description portions 34Cg and 34Ch are fitted into only the recessed engagement portions 71Cg and 71Ch provided around the inserting opening 710C formed in the inserting portion 71C of the toner container frame 70. In FIG. 30C, the discrimination protrusion portions 34Mg and 34Mh on the cap member 34M (magenta) is formed so that the discrimination protrusions of the discrimination portions 34Mg and 34Mh are fitted into only the recessed engagement portions 71Mg and 71Mh provided around the inserting opening 710M formed in the inserting portion 71M of the toner container frame 70. In FIG. 30D, the discrimination protrusion portions 34Kg and 34Kh on the cap member 34K (black) is formed so that the discrimination protrusions of the discrimination portions 34Kg and 34Kh are fitted into only the recessed engagement portions 71Kg and 71Kh provided around the inserting opening 710K formed in the inserting portion 71K of the toner container frame 70.

As described above, because arrangement of the discrimination protrusions in the discrimination portions 34Yg and 34Yh used for yellow (see FIGS. 8 and 9), the discrimination portions 34Mg and 34Mh used for magenta, the discrimination portions 34Cg and 34Ch used for cyan, and the discrimination portions 34Kg and 34Kh used for black are positioned differently from each other, each of the recessed engagement portions 71Yg and 71Yh, 71Mg and 71Mh, 71Cg and 71Ch, and 71Kg and 71Kh can engage only the corresponding color of the toner container 32 among the toner containers 32Y, 32M, 32C, and 32K in accordance with the identification of the discrimination portions 34Yg and 34Yh 34Mg and 34Mh 34Cg and 34Ch, and 34Kg and 34Kh. Accordingly, because the discrimination portions 34Cg and 34Ch can prevent the toner container 32Y, 32M, or 32K that contains toner other than cyan toner from being inserted into the connected to the toner container frame 71C (for cyan), failure that the desired color image cannot be formed can be prevented. That is, due to the discrimination portions 34g and 34h, the setting (color discrimination) error of the toner container 32 in the toner container frame 70 can be prevented.

Herein, the discrimination portions 34g and 34h can have the respective color identification by cutting off some of the discrimination protrusions formed therein differently in accordance with the color of toner contained in that toner container 32. When the certain protrusion from a total of eight protrusions is cut off from the discrimination portions 34g and 34h formed on the cap member 34 as shown in FIG. 8 with a cutting jig, (e.g., nippers or cutters), various types of the discrimination portions 34g and 34h can be formed. In the present embodiment, the four different discrimination portions 34g and 34h can be formed as shown in FIGS. 30A through 30D. In this configuration, in manufacturing process, manufacturing multiple different types of molds in accordance with the number of the type of the toner containers 32 (cap members 34) is not required. Instead, the cap members 34Y 34C, 34M and 34K for compatibility can be manufactured by using only one type of the mold, and therefore, the manufacturing cost of the multiple types of the toner containers 32 can be reduced. It is to be noted that, in the present embodiment, although the four types of the cap members 34 are formed as shown in FIGS. 30A through 30D, other types of cap members can be formed with a different combination of the discrimination protrusions by cutting off unnecessary discrimination protrusions differently.

FIGS. 31A through 31C shows variations of the inserting portions 71, and the toner containers 32Y, 32M, 32C, and 32K are differently arranged in the inserting portions 71 shown in FIGS. 31A through 31C. In FIGS. 31A through 31C, wherever the discrimination protrusions in the discrimination portions 34g and 34h are arranged, the discrimination portion 34g (recessed engagement portion 71g) does not interfere with the discrimination portions 34h (recessed engagement portion 71h) provided adjacent to the inserting opening 710 in the inserting portions 71. The four inserting openings 710Y, 700M, 710C, and 710K in the inserting portion 71 are arranged not in horizontal but arranged obliquely, so that the upper discrimination portion 34g (34Yg) of, for example, the toner container 32Y for yellow is located higher than the lower discrimination portion 34h (34Mh) of the adjacent toner container 32M for magenta. It is to noted that when viewed from a front side in the cross sectional view, perpendicular to the longitudinal direction in FIGS. 31A through 31C, the respective protrusions (clawed shape members) of the discrimination portions 34g project outward from the outer circumferential surface of the cap member 34 in parallel to each other, and the respective protrusions (clawed shape members) of the discrimination portions 34h project outward in parallel to each other.

In addition, the discrimination portions 34g and 34h are arranged so as to sandwich a center vertical line of the respective cap members 34 when vied from front side shown in FIG. 8. That is, one of the discrimination protrusions of the discrimination portions 34g and 34h are located on the right side of the center vertical line of the cap member 34 (see FIG. 31) and the other of the discrimination protrusions of the discrimination portions 34g and 34h are located on the left of the center vertical line. Accordingly, when any of the incorrect toner container 32M, 32C, and 32K is inserted into the opening 710Y in the inserting portion 71Y of the container frame 70, deformation of the incorrect toner containers 32M, 32C, or 32K caused by the force localized to one side of the cap member 34M, 34C, 34K, exerted from the discrimination protrusions pressing against the vicinity of the recessed engagement portions 71g and 71h of the inserting portion 71Y can be prevented. That is, when any incorrect toner container 32 M, 32C, or 32K is inserted into the opening 710Y in the inserting portion 71Y of the container frame 70, the pressing force exerted from the respective discrimination protrusions of the 34g and 34h can be distributed to the vicinity of the inserting opening 710Y of the toner container frame 70 on both sides in a balanced manner in the cap member 34M, 34C or 34K. In order to accomplish the effect, it is preferable that the discrimination portions 34g and 34h are separated from each other with differences between the angle positions thereof on the circumferential surface of the cap 34Y shifted ranging from 120° to 240°.

It is to be noted that, in FIGS. 14 and 15, the shutter 34d includes a pair of handle parts 34d11 and a pair of the shutter sliders 34d12, and a shutter container 34n of the second container body 34Y2 includes a pressing rail 34n2, a front side tip portion 34n21 of the pressing rail 34n2, and a pressure receiving face 34n3.

With reference to FIG. 15, the notch 34x is formed on the outer conferential surface of the cap 34Y, and the gear 33c in the container body 33Y is partly exposed from the notch 34x when viewed from outside. In the state in which the toner container 32Y is set in the toner container frame 70, the gear 33c exposed from the notch 34x of the cap 34Y engages the driving gear 81 provided in the cap holder 81 (see position broken line in FIG. 38), and therefore, the container body 33Y is rotated with the gear 33c by the driving gear 81.

With reference to FIGS. 16 and 17, the shutter container 34n (containing space) is formed in the lowest space of (a second cap body 34Y2 shown in FIG. 25 of) the cap 34Y. The shutter container 34n (containing space) is for containing a part of the shutter 34d (shutter deformation portion 34d2 in the shutter 34d see FIG. 26) when the shutter 34d opens the toner outlet W. The space forming the shutter container 34n is a substantially rectangular parallelepiped projecting downward from the insertion opening 34z shown in FIG. 29. (The shutter container 34n is defined by a bottom side faces of the second cap body 32Y2 and the insertion opening 34z.)

The shutter container 34n accommodates the shutter deformation portion 34d2 in a deformation state, meaning that the shutter deformation portion 34d2 is elastically deformed (pivoted) upward around a connection portion with a main shutter portion 34d1 shown in FIG. 22. Herein, with reference to FIGS. 14 and 15, the slide groove 34n1 functioning as an outside rail to guide the shutter member 32d to open and close with a shutter rail 34t (see FIG. 22) functioning as an inside rail is formed on an interior wall of the shutter container 34n. It is to be noted that the configuration and operation of the shutter 34d are described in further detail later.

In addition, with reference to FIG. 15, the pressing rail 34n2 is formed on one side of an outer surface of the shutter container 34n. Referring to FIGS. 34 and 42, a pressing member 72c is formed on the bottle holder 72 and is pressed by a compression spring 72e. The pressing rail 34n2 engages the pressing member 72c on the bottle holder 72 to determine the position of the cap 34Y passing above the bottle holder 72 while the toner container 32Y is inserted into the toner container frame 70. The pressing rail 34n2 is a recessed portion (groove) and is extended in parallel to the longitudinal direction of the toner container 32Y (direction of insertion). That is, the pressing rail 34n2 on the side face of the shutter container 34n is formed of a recessed portion, an upper projecting portion, and a lower projecting portion. Further, the pressing rail 34n2 extends an entire length of the shutter container 32n, and the pressing rail 34n2 does not have a wall portion but opens on each end. A front side tip portion 34n21 of the lower projecting portion of the pressing rail 34n2 is tapered, that is, in the front side tip portion 34n21, a tip front edge of the lower projecting portion of the pressing rail 34n2 is sloped.

Further, with reference to FIG. 14, the pressure receiving face 34n3 is formed on the other side on the outer surface of the shutter container 34n. In FIGS. 34 and 42, a pressure receiving member 72d is formed in the bottle holder 72 and slides on the pressure receiving face 34n3 to determine the position of the cap 34Y passing above the bottle holder 72 while the toner container 32Y is inserted into the toner container frame 70.

With this configuration, when the toner container 32Y installed into the toner container frame 70 and just before the cap 34Y is installed into the cap holder 73, or when the toner container 32Y released from the toner container frame 70 and just after the cap 34Y is released from the cap holder 73, the pressing rail 34n2 is pressed by engaging the pressing member 72c biased by the compression spring 72e. Then, the pressure receiving face 34n3 receives the pressing force while sliding on the pressure receiving member 72d.

Undergoing these processes, the position of the cap 34Y just before inserted into the cap holder 73 or just after released from the cap holder 73 can be restricted.

Herein, the cap 34Y communicates with the container body 33Y through the opening A, and the toner discharged from the opening A is discharged through the toner outlet W (movement indicated by arrow s shown in FIG. 3). More specifically, in the present embodiment, with reference to FIG. 28A, the lateral cylindrical hollow B (space) extends in the longitudinal direction (lateral direction in FIG. 28A). In FIG. 29, the inner diameter of the hollow B is set smaller than an inner diameter of the insertion opening 34z into which the front face of the container body 33Y is inserted. In addition, the toner dropping route C that is a cylindrical hollow extends from a lower face of the lateral cylindrical hollow B to the outermost face of the toner outlet W and has a predetermined cross-sectional area, functioning as a predetermined flow channel area (flow channel cross-sectional area).

With this configuration, the toner discharged from the opening A of the container body 33Y to the hollow B in the cap 34Y is smoothly discharged outside (to the toner tank 61Y) by dropping under its own weight.

With reference to FIGS. 22 through 25, the cap 34Y (in which the shutter 34d and the shutter seal 36 are detached) is constituted of a first cap body 34Y1 and a second cap body 34Y2 by welding. More specifically, in a manufacturing process, the lateral protrusions 34c and a shutter support section 34Y1B (lower portion) provided in the first cap body 34Y1 are fitted into corresponding notches 34Y2b and 34Y2c of the second cap body 34Y2, and then, the first cap body 34Y and the second cap body 34Y2 are bonded together (welded) so that an inner face 34Y2a of the second cap body 32Y2 is in direct contact with an engagement portion 34Y1c.

It is to be noted that, with reference to FIGS. 23 and 24, a circular cap seal 37, serving as a cap seal, is attached to a back side edge of the first cap body 34Y1 (facing the opening A formed in the container body 33Y). The cap seal 37 that is formed of an elastic material (e.g., foam resin), such as foam polyurethane and is for filling a gap between the vicinity of the opening A of the container body 33Y and the backside edge of the first cap body 34Y1.

In addition, with reference to FIG. 23, the mounting section 34k in which the RFID chip 35 is set is formed on the front surface of the first cap body 34Y1. The outer rib (wall frame) 34k1 that is an outer frame of the mounting section 34 protrudes forward from the front surface of the first cap body 34Y1. Four corner frames 34k2 to fix four corners of the rectangular RFID chip 35 are provided at four corners of the outer rib (wall frame) 34k1, inside the mounting section 34k. Because RFID chip 35 is set on the corner frames 34k2, an electronic device formed on a back side of the RFID chip 35, facing the first cap body 34Y1, can be set contactlessly with the front surface of the first cap body 34Y1.

It is to be noted that, in setting process of the RFID chip 35 in the mounting section 34k, after the RFID chip 35 is put on the corner frames 34k2, the corner frames 34k2 are partly jointed with the four corners of the RFID chip 35 by melting the part of the corner frames 34k2 with heat and pressure and cooling it to solidify it.

In addition, as shown in FIGS. 23 and 24, the two shutter rails 34t (rail members) are provided on the both side faces of the shutter support section 34Y1B (the lowest portion) of the first cap body 34Y1 (cap 34Y). The first cap body 34Y1 is formed by a round body 34Y1A and the shutter support section (bottom portion) 34Y1B in which the toner outlet W is formed. A side rib 34p and the shutter rail 34t project outward from each of side faces 34q of the shutter support section 34Y1B. Each shutter rail 34t projects along an bottom surface of the shutter support section 34Y1B and is formed with a part of outer vertical face 34s (vertical face) and a part of a horizontal face 32t2 that is a upper face of the projection portion of the shutter rail 34t.

The shutter 34d is movably guided by the shutter rails 34t in the longitudinal direction relative to the cap 34Y to open and close the toner outlet W. The shutter rail 34t is formed on the two vertical faces 34s that extend upward from the lowest surface forming the toner outlet W (see FIG. 28A), that is, the shutter rail 34t is constituted of a part of the vertical face 34s and the upper face 34t2.

In addition, the pair of vertical faces 34s is continuously formed from a front side end of the shutter rail 34t to the projecting portion in the longitudinal direction (also shown in FIG. 43). That is, the two projecting portions 34m (shaped like horns) that project forward from the front surface of the cap 34Y are formed. The two projecting portions 34m are positioned close to the lower edge of the secondary positioning hole 34b and are arranged to sandwich the secondary positioning hole 34b. The outer side surfaces of the two projecting members 34m are included in the outer vertical surfaces 34s. That is, the outer vertical surfaces of the projecting portions 34m are substantially aligned with the respective outer side surfaces (vertical surfaces) 34s.

With reference to FIG. 45, the outer side surfaces 34s contact first arms 73d1 of a pair of shutter closing members 73d (shutter retainer) in the cap holder 73. More specifically, the position of the shutter 34d in the cap 34Y set in the cap holder 73 is determined by the shutter closing members 73d (shutter retainer). Each shutter closing member 73d includes the wide long first arm 73d1 that contacts the side vertical face 34s of the shutter support section 34Y1B, a short second arm 73d2, and a rotary shaft 73d3 disposed in a center portion thereof.

Herein, each projection portion 34m is a member to restrain the shutter closing members 73Y from releasing the shutter 34d. In FIG. 45, when the toner container 32Y is released from the toner container frame 70, a timing at which the shutter closing member 73d releases the outer vertical faces 34s held by the first arms 73d1 can be delayed by extending the outer vertical faces 34s longer by including the projection portion 34m in the direction of insertion, from a timing at which the shutter closing members 73d completely close the shutter 34d.

Accordingly, the toner container 32Y can be prevented from being released from the image forming apparatus 100 before the shutter 34d fully closes the toner outlet W.

In particular, because the two projecting portion 34m is positioned to projects from the edge of the primary positioning hole 34a in the direction of insertion (longitudinal direction), when the cap 34Y is fully released from the cap holder 73, the hold state of the shutter 34d held by the first arm 73d1 is finally released, and thus the toner outlet W is reliably closed by the shutter 34d.

In addition, in FIGS. 23 and 24, the first cap body 34Y1 includes the primary positioning hole 34a (main positioning reference) and the secondary positioning hole 34b (sub-positioning reference) for determining the position of the cap 34Y as well as the first engaging member 34e and the lateral protrusion 34c for restriction of position, in addition to the toner outlet W.

Therefore, when the cap 34Y is formed by jointing the two molded pieces (first cap body 34Y1 and the second cap body 34Y2) by molding or thermal welding, the positional fluctuation of the toner outlet W of the cap 34Y relative to the toner supply opening 73w of the cap holder 73 caused by fluctuations in the accuracy of the molding or thermal welding can be prevented. Therefore, shortage of supplied toner caused by the position failure of the toner outlet W can be prevented. It is to be noted that the structure and the operation of the shutter closing (control) member 73d (shutter retainer) are described further detail later with reference to FIGS. 43 through 45.

Herein, the shutter 34d is attached to the bottom portion of the cap 34Y, and an upper face of the shutter 34d facing the toner discharge outlet W is sealed with the shutter seal 36 (seal member).

Next, referring to FIGS. 18 through 21C, 26, and 27, the configuration and operation of the shutter 34d is described below.

As shown in FIGS. 18 through 20, the shutter 34d opens and closes the toner outlet W in synchronization with the installation of the toner container 32Y into the toner container frame 70.

FIG. 26 is a perspective view illustrating the shutter 34d before attached to the cap 34Y. FIG. 27 shows the shutter 34d viewed from another angle different from that shown in FIG. 26 by approximately 90 degrees. As shown in FIGS. 26 and 27, the shutter 34d includes the main shutter portion 34d1 that is planar and the shutter deformation portion 34d2. The shutter deformation portion 34d2 is elastic and projects backward from the back end face of the main shutter portion 34d1 and the thickness thereof is thinner than that of the main shutter portion 34d1.

The main shutter portion 34d1 includes a main planar body 34d10, the pair of handle parts 34d11, the pair of shutter sliders 34d12, and a pair of shutter-rail enragement portions 34d15. The pair of handle parts 34d11 stands upward on front edges of side faces of the main planar body 34d10. Each of the shutter sliders 34d12 includes stand portions standing upward on a side face of the main planar body 34d10 and projecting portions projecting outward from side faces of the side edges of the main planar body 34d10 (from top of the stand portion of the standing portion thereof), and the outer projecting faces of the shutter slider 34d12 extend in parallel to the direction of insertion of the toner container 32Y. Each shutter-rail enragement portion 34d15 is formed on an inner face of the standing portion of the shutter slider 34d12 to project inward of the main planar body 34d10 (opposite the direction in which the projecting portion of the shutter slider 32Yd12 projects), positioned at a predetermined distance from the shutter seal 36.

In addition, the length of the shutter slider 32Y12 in the direction of insertion of the toner container 32Y is equal or substantially equal to the length from back side end of the shutter rail 34t to the shutter projection 34t1 formed on the shutter rails 34t in the longitudinal direction when the shutter 34d is attached to the first cap body 34Y1 (see FIGS. 23 and 24). It is to be noted that the length of the slide groove 34n1 formed in the shutter container 34n of the second cap body 34Y2 (see FIG. 25) in the direction of insertion is almost equal to the length of the shutter slider 34d12.

Then, while the shutter sliders 34d12 of the main shutter portion 34d1 is fitted into the slide grooves 34n1 (outside rail) of the second cap body 34Y2, and the shutter-rail engagement member 34d15 engages the shutter rails 34t (inside rail) of the first cap body 34Y1 by sandwiching the shutter rail 34t (inside rail) between the shutter-rail engagement member 34d15 and the shutter seal 36, the shutter 34d is moved along the rail members (the slide groove 34n1 and the shutter rail 34t). Thus, the main shutter portion 34d1 of the shutter 34d opens and closes the toner outlet W.

Herein, the upper face of the main planar body 34d10 of the main shutter portion 34d1 that faces the toner outlet W is sealed with the shutter seal 36 (seal member). The shutter seal 36 that is formed of elastic material (e.g., foam resin) is for preventing leakage of the toner between the main shutter portion 34d1 and the toner outlet W when the toner outlet W is closed by the main shutter portion 34d1 of the shutter 34d.

In the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 26 and 27, the shutter seal 36 is extended from the backside end of the main shutter portion 34d1 to a position projecting forward from the tip face of the shutter 34d in the longitudinal direction (direction of insertion). Therefore, when the cap 34Y is installed into the cap holder 73, the tip portion (projecting portion) of the shutter seal 36 closely contacts a wall 73w1 (see FIG. 38) surrounding the toner supply opening 73w. Thus, leakage of the toner from the vicinity of the toner supply opening 73w can be prevented with the shutter seal 36.

As shown FIGS. 21A through 21C, 26, and 27, the shutter deformation portion 34d2 is integrally formed with the main shutter portion 34d1 and is elastically deformable (pivotable) in a vertical direction around a connection point 34d23 between the shutter deformation portion 34d2 and the main shutter portion 34d1 (see broken circle in FIGS. 21A through 21C), as an pivoting axis. The shutter deformation portion 34d2 is positioned on the container body 33Y side in the longitudinal direction relative to the main shutter portion 34d1 (see FIG. 18). In FIG. 21A through 21C, and 27, the shutter deformation portion 34d2 includes a pair of stoppers 34d22 and a stopper release member 34d21. Each stopper 34d22 is a wall formed on a back side tip portion of the shutter deformation portion 34d2 in a direction in which the shutter 34d is opened (provided on the left side in FIGS. 21A through 21C), that is, the stopper 34d22 is positioned farthest from the main shutter portion 34d1, in the shutter deformation portion 32d2.

Because backside faces 34d220 of the stoppers 34d22 contact a contact face 34n5 of the shutter container 34n, the stoppers 34d22 restrict the movement of the shutter 34d in the direction in which the shutter 34d is opened. That is, when the toner container 32Y is not set in the image forming apparatus 100he backside face 34d220 of the stopper 34d22 of the shutter 34d contacts the contact face 34n5, and the stopper 34d22 can prevent the shutter 34d from moving toward the release position of the toner outlet W.

The stopper-release member 34d21 (stopper release projection) projects downward from a flat bottom face of the shutter deformation portion 34d2. Referring to FIGS. 71A through 71C, the stopper release member 34d21 is for moving the stopper 34d22 upward as the shutter deformation portion 34d2 elastically deforms upward when external force is exerted on the shutter deformation portion 34d2, and thus the contact between the backside face 34d220 of the stopper 34d22 and the contact face 34n5 is released.

The stopper release member 34d21 is a mountain-shaped projection formed between the stopper 34d22 and the connection point 34d23 between the main shutter portion 34d1 and the shutter deformation portion 34d2. The stopper release member 34d21 is sloped on both sides in the direction in which the shutter 34d is opened.

Additionally, with reference to FIGS. 32 and 42, a stopper-release pressing member 72b that is a trapezoidal rib is provided in the bottle holder 72, in a front end of the bottle receiving face 72a (a downstream side in which the toner container 32Y is installed into the bottle holder 72). The stopper-release pressing member 72b is for pressing the stopper release member 34d21 of the shutter 34d to releasing the contact between the stopper 34d2 and the contact face 34n5.

With this configuration, in conjunction with insertion of the toner container 32Y into the toner container frame 70, the sloped side of the stopper release member 34d21 contacts the stopper-release pressing member 72b and then the stopper release member 34d21 climbs onto the stopper-release pressing member 72b. Thus, with the stopper-release member 34d21 pushed up by the stopper-release pressing member 72, that is, with the external force from below, the shutter deformation portion 34d2 is deformed upward and the stopper 3422 is moved up. Thus, the contact between the backside face 34d220 of the stopper 34d22 and the contact face 34n5 is released, and the shutter 34d becomes movable in the direction in which the shutter 34d is opened

Next, with reference to FIGS. 21A through 21C, the operation of the shutter 34d relative to the shutter container 34n of the cap 34Y in synchronization with the installation of the toner container 32Y into the toner container frame 70 is described below. It is to be noted that the positions of the shutter 34d shown in FIGS. 21A, 21B, and 21C respectively correspond in respective positions to the shutter member 34b those relative to the second cap body 34Y2 shown in FIGS. 18, 19, and 20. When the insertion of the toner container 32Y into the toner container frame 70 is started, the shutter container 34n starts moving in the direction of insertion (from left side to right side in FIGS. 21A through 21C).

In a state shown in FIG. 21A, because the stopper release member 34d21 does not reach the stopper-release pressing member 72b in the bottle holder 72, the movement of the shutter 34d in the opening direction is restricted by contacting the backside face 34d220 of the stopper 34d22 with the contact face 34n5 that is front end face of the shutter container 34n.

Then, when the installation process of the toner container 32Y proceeds, in a state shown in FIG. 21B, the stopper release member 34d21 is pressed up by the stopper-release pressing member 72b, and the shutter deformation portion 34d2 elastically deforms (pivots) around the connection point 34d23 between the shutter deformation portion 34d2 and the main shutter portion 34d1, indicated by a broken circle shown in FIG. 21B. As a result, the contact between the backside face 34d220 of the stopper 34d22 and the contact face 34n5 of the shutter container 32n is released, and the shutter 34d become movable relative to the opening direction.

Subsequently, the front side tip of the main shutter portion 34d1 of f the shutter 34d contacts the wall 73w1 surrounding the toner supply opening 73w in four directions (see FIGS. 38 and 39), and the movement of the shutter 34d on the cap holder 73 of the toner container frame 70 is restricted. Namely, the shutter 34d is stopped relative to the toner container frame 70 in the longitudinal direction. However, the toner container 32Y is further moved in the direction of insertion, and therefore, the shutter 34d is moved relative to the toner container 32Y in the opening direction. That is, the shutter 34d is moved relative to the toner container 32Y to the container body 33Y side from the position shown in FIG. 21B to the position shown in FIG. 21C, and then, the shutter 34d is accommodated by the shutter container 32n (container space).

Then, in the state shown in FIG. 21C, the toner outlet W is fully opened by moving the cap 34Y relative to the cap holder 73, that is, moving the shutter 34d relatively to the cap 34Y in the opening direction. At this time, the stopper release member 34d21 of the shutter 34d is stored in a notch 34n6 formed on bottom face of the shutter container 34n (see FIG. 20).

As described above, in the toner container 32Y according to the present embodiment, the shutter 34d includes the main shutter portion 34d1 and the shutter deformation portion 34d2 that elastically pivots around the connection point 34d23 therebetween, and the shutter deformation portion 34d2 includes the stopper 34d21 to restrict the movement of the shutter 34d in opening direction when the toner container 32Y is not set in the image forming apparatus 100. Therefore, when the toner container 32Y is not installed, the shutter 34d can be prevented from opening the toner outlet W spontaneously. In other words, only when the toner container 32Y is installed into the image forming apparatus 100, the shutter 34d opens the toner outlet W in synchronization with the installation thereof.

Herein, the shutter-rail engagement members 34d15 (see FIG. 26) also function as second stoppers to restrict the movement of the shutter 34d in a closing direction (direction opposite the direction in which the stopper 34d22 restricts the movement of the shutter 34d) by contacting a second contact face 34t3 (front side end wall of the shutter rail 34t) indicated by a broken circle shown in FIGS. 22 and 23. More spherically, when the shutter 34d changes the state from an opening state in which the shutter 34d opens the toner outlet W (see FIG. 20) to a closing state in which the shutter 34d closes the toner outlet W (see FIG. 18), the position of the shutter 34d in close state is determined by contacting the shutter-rail engagement member 34d15 of the shutter 34d with the second contact face 34t3 on the shutter rail 34t on front side of the closing direction and by contacting the backside face 34d220 of the stopper 34d22 with the contact face 34n5 of the shutter container 34n on the back side of the closing direction. At this time, when the shutter-rail engagement portions 34d15 contact the second contact faces 34t3 immediately after passing over the projection portion 34t1 on the shutter rail 34t (see FIGS. 23 and 24), the user can feel the click sensation and recognize that the shutter 34d fully closes the toner outlet W.

It is to be noted that, as shown in FIGS. 22 through 24, each rib 34p extended in the longitudinal direction projects from the vertical face 34q and is positioned above the shutter rail 34t, and outer side faces of the rib 34p are aligned with the outer vertical face 34s. Each rib 34p prevents the first arm 73d1 of the shutter closing member 73d from entering a gap between the shutter rail 32t and the rib 34p when the outer vertical face 34s of the shutter rail 34t is held by the first arm 73d1. That is, the distance between the shutter rail 34t and the rib 34p (height of the recess) is narrower (lower) than the height of the first arm 73d1 (the length in a direction orthogonal to the surface of paper on which FIG. 45 is drawn).

It is to be noted that the rib 34p requires to include only a projections projecting laterally (in a direction orthogonal to the surface of paper on which FIG. 28A is drawn.) and a portion extending in the longitudinal direction (lateral direction in FIG. 28A), and therefore, the above-described extending vertical side surface is not always required.

Additionally, referring to FIGS. 26 and 27, the pair of handle parts 34d11 is provided on the both side face in the front side of the main shutter portion 34d1.

As shown in FIGS. 43 through 45, each handle part 34d11 is held by the second arm 73d2 of the shutter closing members 73d (shutter retainer). Each handle part 34d11 includes a sidewall 34d11c standing from a/the side edge of the main planar body 34d10 and also function as a sidewall of the main planar body 34d10, an engagement wall 34d11a standing on a/the front end of the main shutter portion 34d1, and a movement restriction wall 34d11b extending in parallel to the direction of insertion and provided in an upper portion of the handle part 34d11, above the sidewall 3411c in FIG. 26.

As shown in FIGS. 38 and 42, the shutter closing member 73d (shutter retainer) is provided on the inner bottom face of the cap holder 73 and is disposed upstream from the toner supply opening 73w in the direction of insertion of the toner container 32Y. The pair of shutter closing members 73d each of which is hoof-shape is arranged so as to face each other in a lateral direction in FIG. 43, and is rotatable around the rotary shaft 73d3 in which a torsion coil spring 73f (see FIG. 42) is provided.

With this configuration, when the shutter 34d opens and closes the toner outlet W, the handle part 34d11 is held by the second arm 73d2 of the shutter closing member 73d (shutter retainer), and the outer vertical face 34s of the shutter support section 34Y1B of the cap 34Y is held by the first arm 73d1, thus determining the positions of the shutter 34d and the cap 34Y. Therefore, the position of the shutter 34d and the cap 34Y in the cap holder can be determined, and opening and closing operation of the shutter 34d can be smoothly performed.

At this time, the second arm 73d2 of each shutter closing members 73d (shutter retainer) holds the sidewall 34d11c of the handle part 34d11 in the main shutter portion 34d1, and the movement restriction wall 34d11b prevents the handle part 34d11 from moving relative to the second arm 73d2. The engagement wall 34d11a engages a recessed portion of the second arm 73d2, which is described in further detail later.

Herein, with reference to FIGS. 20, 45, and 47, the shape of the toner outlet W is described below.

In FIGS. 20 and 45, the toner outlet W, formed in the cap 34Y, is opened and closed by the above-described shutter 34d and is hexagonal when viewed from the lower side of the cap 34Y. More specifically, a rim 34r that projects downward from a lowest face of the shutter support section 34Y1B in the cap 34Y is positioned forms enclosure of the hexagonal toner outlet W. The enclosure of the rim 34r is sharpened toward both ends away from a center position of the toner outlet W in the direction of insertion and includes tips 34r1 positioned on both sides of the rim 34r in the longitudinal direction (vertical direction in FIG. 45) of the toner container 32Y. That is, the width of the toner outlet W is reduced with increases in the distance from the center position of the toner outlet W. Specifically, when viewed from the lower side, the rim 34r is hexagonal and includes two pairs of side rims 34r10 that form apexes (tips 34r1) and a pair of parallel-side rims 34r2 extending in the longitudinal direction (vertical direction in FIG. 45). Then, the toner outlet W is hexagonal in conformity with the shape of the hexagonal rib 34b.

As descried above, the width (length in the direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the of the toner container 32Y) of the rim 34r surrounding the toner outlet W is gradually narrowed toward the tips 34r1 in the longitudinal direction (open and close direction of the shutter 34d). Therefore, when the shutter 34d closes the toner outlet W, sliding contact between the shutter seal 36 attached to the shutter 34d and the rim 34r of the toner outlet W is started at the tip 34r1 having a smaller area. Then, the contact area between the shutter seal 36 and the side rims 34r10 of the rim 34r is gradually increased as the width of the enclosure of the rim 34r increases. With this configuration, although the shutter seal 36 contacts the rim 34r, peeling the shutter seal 36 from the shutter 34d or damage to the shutter seal 36 can be prevented. Conversely, when the shutter 34d opens the toner outlet W, the contact area between the shutter seal 36 and the side rims 34r10 is gradually decreased, and therefore, the damage to the shutter seal 36 caused by the contact with the rim 34r can be reduced.

In addition, referring to FIG. 47, the surroundings of the toner supply opening 73w of the cap holder 73 (see FIG. 42) is sealed with a seal member 76 formed of elastic material (e.g., foam resin). Therefore, toner scattering in the vicinity of the toner supply opening 73w communicating with the toner outlet W of the toner container 32Y can be prevented. Therefore, similarly, in installation of the cap member 34Y into the cap holder 73 in the longitudinal direction, when the rim 34r of the cap 34Y contacts the seal member 76 on the vicinity of the toner supply opening 73w, initially, sliding contact between the rim 34r and the seal member 76 is started at the tip 34r1 having a smaller area. Then, the contact area between the seal member 76 and the side rims 34r10 of the rim 34r is gradually increased as the width of the enclosure of the rim 34r increases.

Accordingly, the peeling the seal member 76 from the toner supply opening 73w and damage to the seal member 76 can be alleviated. Conversely, in releasing the cap 34Y from the cap holder 73 in the longitudinal direction, the contact area (sliding area) between the side rim 34r10 of the rim 34r and the seal member 76 on the toner supply opening 73w is gradually decreased, and therefore, the damage to the seal member 76 surrounding the toner supply opening 73w caused by the contact with the rim 34r can be reduced.

It is to be noted that in FIG. 47, the cap 34Y and the seal member 76 are illustrated upside down so as to clearly show the relative positions of the seal member 76 surrounding the toner supply opening 73w and the toner outlet W.

Undergoing these processes, the toner contained in (retained in) the toner container 32Y can be reliably prevented from being scattered outside as the toner container 32Y is installed in or released from the image forming apparatus 100.

It is to be noted that, although not clearly shown in the drawings, in the present embodiment, the projecting amount of the rim 34r shown in FIG. 20 of the cap 34Y gradually decreases in the longitudinal direction (vertical direction in FIG. 45) with increases in the distance from the center position of the toner outlet W, that is, the height of the rim 34r of the cap 34Y decreases toward the tips 34r1 on both sides in the longitudinal direction.

In this configuration, when the shutter seal 36 attached to the shutter 34d slides on the rim 34r in synchronization with the installation of the toner container 32Y in the longitudinal direction, peeling the shutter seal 36 from the shutter 34d can be prevented, and the shutter seal 36 is less likely to be damaged. Similarly, when the rim 34r slides on seal member 76 (see FIG. 42) surrounding the toner supply opening 73w in synchronization with the installation of the toner container 32Y in the longitudinal direction, peeling the seal member 76 from the toner supply opening 73w can be prevented, the seal member 76 is less likely to be damaged.

It is to be noted that the shape of the rim 34r and the toner outlet W is not limited the above-described configuration. FIGS. 48A and 48B illustrate variations of the shape of the rim 34r and the toner outlet W. For example, as shown in FIG. 48A, a projection amount of a tip portions in the longitudinal direction of a rim 34r-a gradually decreases with increases in the distance from the center position of the toner outlet W. More specifically, tapered tips 34r3 sloped in the vertical direction are provided outside the tips 34r1 on both sides of the rim 34r-a.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 48B, a toner outlet W-b formed on the bottom surface of the cap 34Y is rectangular although a rim 34r-b that surround the rectangular toner outlet W-b is hexagonal. In this configuration, in order to form apexes of the rim 34r-b, the rim 34r-b includes a pair of triangular portions 34r4 positioned both end portions of the rim 34r-b in the longitudinal direction, and the triangle rim 34r4 is tapered, that is, sloped in the vertical direction.

Similarly to the configuration shown in FIG. 47, in a variation shown in FIGS. 48A and 48B, when the shutter 34d closes the toner outlet W, sliding contact between the rim 34r surrounding the toner outlet W and the shutter seal 36 attached to the shutter 34d or the seal member 76 attached to the toner supply opening 73w is started at the tip 34r1 having smaller area. Then, the contact area between the side rims 34r10 of the rim 34r and the seal member 76 or the shutter seal 36 is gradually increased as the width of the enclosure of rim 34r increases, and vice versa. With this configuration, because the seal member 76 or the shutter seal 36 can smoothly slide on the rim 34r, peeling the shutter seal 36 from the shutter 34d or peeling the seal member 76 from the toner supply opening 73w and the damage to the shutter seal 36 or the seal member 76 can be prevented

Herein, the respective color toners contained in the toner container 32Y, 32M, 32C, and 32K according to the embodiments of the present invention have a volume average particle diameter of 3 μm to 8 μm. Additionally, the ratio of Dv/Dn is 1.00 to 1.40 when Dv represents a volume average particle diameter and Dn represents a number average particle diameter.

Accordingly, the high quality image can be kept, and suitable developing ability can be kept even when the toner is agitated in the development device 5 for a relatively long time. In addition, the above-described toner particles can be effectively and reliably transported without clogging the toner supply path such as the toner conveying tube 63Y. It is to be noted that volume average particle diameter Dv, and number average particle diameter Dn of the toner particles can be measured by COULTER Counter TA-II (COULTER ELECTRONIC COMPANY) and COULTER Multisizer II (COULTER ELECTRONIC COMPANY).

In addition, as for the toner contained in the toner container 32Y, 32M, 32C, and 32K, substantially spherical toner that desirably has a first shape factor SF1 and a second shape factor SF2 both within a range of 100 to 180 is used.

Therefore, higher transfer effectiveness can be kept while preventing degradation of cleaning performance. Further, the toner can be supplied effectively and reliably without clogging the toner supply path, such as the toner conveying tube 63.

Herein, referring to FIG. 7, the first shape factor “SF-1” is a parameter representing the roundness of a particle and can be calculated by the following formula:SF1={M²/S}×(100π/4)  (Formula 1)

wherein M represents the maximum particle diameter of a spherical shaped figure obtained by projecting a toner particle on a two dimensional plane, and “S” represents the projected area of elliptical-shaped figure.

The toner particle is a perfect sphere when the first shape factor SF1 is 100. The larger the SF1 becomes, the more the toner particle becomes amorphous.

In addition, the second shape factor “SF-2” is a value representing irregularity (i.e., a ratio of convex and concave portions) of the shape of the toner particle. The shape factor “SF-2” of a particle is calculated by the following Formula 2:SF2={N²/S}×(100π/4)  (Formula 2)

wherein N is a peripheral length of a toner particle projected on a two-dimensional surface and d “S” represents the projected area of elliptical-shaped figure.

The toner particle is flat when the first shape factor SF1 is 100. The larger the first shape factor SF1 becomes, the more the toner particle has irregularities.

The first shape factor SF1 and second shape factor SF2 can be measured by taking a photograph using a scanning electron microscope, S-800 (Hitachi, Ltd.) and analyzing the photograph using an image analyzer, LUSEX3 (NIRECO CORPORATION).

Next, turning now to FIGS. 32 through 46, structures and operations of the bottle holder 72 and the cap holder 73 in the toner container frame 70 are described below.

As described with reference to FIG. 4, the toner container frame 70 includes the bottle holder 72, the cap holder 73, and the insertion portion 71. The user installs the toner container 32Y into the toner container frame 70 from the insertion portion 71 while holding the handle part 33d with the longitudinal side of the toner container 32Y in the horizontal direction and with the cap 34Y forming the front end of the toner container 32Y. The toner container 32Y inserted through the insertion opening 710 is pressed into the cap holder 73 while sliding on a bottle receiving face 72aY (see also FIGS. 34 and 35).

Herein, with reference to FIGS. 32 and 33, bottle receiving faces 72aY, 72aM, and 72aC, and 72aK (hereinafter also collectively “bottle receiving faces 72a”) for respective colors are formed on the bottle holder 72, and the toner containers 32Y 32M, 32C, and 32K are inserted into the corresponding portions of the bottle holder 72 in a direction indicated by an arrow shown in FIGS. 32 and 33. Thus, the bottle receiving face 72a functions as a sliding face on which the toner container 32 slides when the toner container 32 is installed into or released from the toner container frame 70 and also functions as a holder to hold the rotating container body 33Y after the toner container 32Y is fully set.

Further, in FIG. 37, the bottle holders 730Y, 730M, 730C, and 730K for respective color toners are formed in the cap holder 73, and, when the toner containers 32Y, 32M, 32C, and 32K are inserted into the toner container frame 70 in the direction indicated by the arrow shown in FIGS. 32 and 33, the caps 34Y, 34M, 34C, and 34K are held in position not to rotate by the respective cap holders 73Y, 73M, 73C, and 73K.

Referring to FIGS. 32 through 36, the bottle holder 72 of the toner container frame 70 further includes, for each color, a torsion coil spring 72f in addition to the bottle receiving face 72a, the stopper-release pressing member 72b, a pressing member 72c, the pressure receiving member 72d, and the compression spring 72e.

In FIG. 33, the pressing member 72c is provided in the right side sidewall of the bottle holder 71a and disposed on the downstream side in the direction of insertion of the toner container 32Y. As shown in FIGS. 34 and 36, a tip of the pressing member 72c is mountain-shaped or trapeziform, and the bottom portion of the pressing member 72c is connected to the one side of the compression spring 72e. The pressing member 72c is biased leftward in FIG. 33 by the compression spring 72e.

By contrast, in FIG. 33, the pressure receiving member 72d is provided on the left side sidewall of the bottle receiving face 72a facing the pressing member 72c and is positioned on the downstream side in the direction of insertion of the toner container 32Y. As shown in FIG. 35, the pressure receiving member 72d is curved V-shaped whose valley portion faces a right lower side in FIG. 33, and the torsion coil spring 72f is connected to the valley portion. The pressure receiving member 72d can pivot around a shaft of the coil portion of the torsion coil spring 72f.

Then, the position of the cap 34Y is determined by the above-configured the pressing member 72c and the pressure receiving member 72d just before the cap 34Y is inserted into the cap holder 73 in installation of the toner container 32Y into the toner container frame 70. More specifically, the cap 34Y is pressed leftward in FIG. 33 by the pressing member 72c while the pressing rail 34n2 (see FIG. 15) of the cap 34Y engages the pressing member 72c. Then, while the pressure receiving face 34n3 (see FIG. 14) slides on the pressure receiving member 72d, the pressure receiving member 72d receives the pressing force thus exerted on the cap 34Y by the pressing member 72c. Thus, the position of the cap 34Y in the bottle holder 72 can be determined on the right side and the left side in FIG. 33.

With reference to FIGS. 37 through 41, the cap holder 73 of the toner container frame 70 includes the main-reference pin 73a, the sub-reference pin 73b, the engaged portion 73m, the pair of lateral grooves 73c, the pair of shutter closing members 73d (shutter retainer), the toner supply opening 73w surrounded by the wall 73w1, an escape portion 73k, the antenna 73e dedicated for the RFID chip 35, and the driving gear 81.

As described-above using FIG. 14, the main-reference pin 73a and the sub-reference pin 73b are respectively fitted into the primary positioning hole 34a and the secondary positioning hole 34b. Thus, the position of the cap 34Y in the cap holder 73 is determined.

Herein, with reference to FIG. 41, the main-reference pin 73a has a length longer than that of the sub-reference pin 73b in the longitudinal direction. The positions of bases (reference faces) of the pins 73a and 73b are on the same plane. In addition, the main reference pin 73a is tapered whose diameter decreases toward a tip thereof. Thus, the cap 34Y can be smoothly inserted into the cap holder 73 in the longitudinal direction in the installation process of the toner container 32Y into the container frame 70.

In addition, the engaged portions 73m engage the first engaging member 34e and the second engaging member 34f, serving as the first restriction members, formed in the cap 34Y of the toner container 32Y. Therefore, the cap 34Y is inserted into or released from the cap holder 73 while the horizontal position of the cap 34Y is restricted by the first engaging member 34e and the second engaging members 34f respectively engaged with the engaged portions 73m. Then, in the state in which the cap 34Y is set in to the cap holder 73, the horizontal position of the cap 34Y is restricted.

In addition, the lateral grooves 73c engage the lateral protrusions 34c (second restriction member) formed in the cap 34Y of the toner container 32Y. With this configuration, the cap 34Y is installed into the cap holder 73 while the position of the cap 34Y in the rotation direction is restricted by the two lateral protrusions 34c (second restriction members) engaged with the lateral grooves 71c (groove) of the cap holder 73 shown in FIG. 38.

Next, operation of the shutter closing member 73d in conjunction with the opening and closing operation of the shutter 34d is described in further detail below with reference to FIGS. 43 through 45.

Referring to FIG. 43, in the opening operation of the shutter 34d, initially, as the cap 34Y of the toner container 32Y is installed into the cap holder 73 in a direction indicated by an arrow in FIG. 43, the first arms 73d1 contact the outer vertical surface 34s of the projection members 34m, and the second arm 73d2 contact the handle parts 34d11.

Referring to FIG. 44, when the toner container 32Y is further inserted into the toner container frame 70 from the state shown in FIG. 43, because the outer vertical faces 34s of the cap 34Y press the long arms 73d1 of the shutter closing members 73d, the shutter closing members 73d (shutter retainer) are rotated around the rotation shaft 73d3 as indicated by arrow O shown in FIG. 43. Subsequently, the first arms 73d1 hold the outer vertical faces 34s of the projection portions 34m, and the second arms 73d2 hold the side walls 34d11c of the handle parts 34d11 in the main shutter portion 34d1 of the shutter 34d while engaging the engagement wall 34d11a of the handle part 34d11 of the shutter 34d.

Subsequently, when the toner container 32Y is further inserted into the toner container frame 70 from the state shown in FIG. 44, the shutter 34d contacts the wall 73w1 surrounding the toner supply opening 73w in the cap holder 73 (see FIG. 38) and is sandwiched between the wall 73w1 and the second arm 73d2. In this state, the shutter 34d cannot proceed any further in the direction of insertion. That is, the absolute movement of the shutter 34d is stopped and the shutter 34d does not move in the cap holder 73. However, because the cap 34Y of the toner container 32Y can further move forward in the direction of insertion with the shutter 34d fixed in position in the cap holder 73, the shutter 34d moves relative to the cap 34Y of the toner container 32Y.

More specifically, in the state shown in FIG. 45, as the shutter support portion 34Y1B of the cap 34Y further moves in the cap holder 73 in the direction of insertion while the shutter 34d is stopped in the cap holder 73, the shutter 34d can open the toner outlet W by moving relative from the cap 34Y side to the container body 33Y side. At this time, in FIG. 45, the shutter 34d opens the toner outlet W while the first arms 73d1 hold both sides of the outer vertical faces 34s of the shutter support section 34Y1B of the cap 34Y, and the second arms 73d2 hold the handle part 34d11 of the shutter 34d. Therefore, the state of the shutter 34d and the cap 34Y in the cap holder 73 is determined, and the shutter 34d can be smoothly opened.

On the other hand, in detachment of the cap 34Y of the toner 32Y from the cap holder 73 of the toner container frame 70, the above-described operation is performed in the reverse sequence (vise versa). That is, when the toner container 32Y is pulled out from the toner container from 73, the shutter closing members 73d are moved from the state shown in FIG. 45 to the state shown in FIG. 43, via the state shown in FIG. 44 as the shutter 34d closes the toner outlet W.

As described above, in the present embodiment, because the outer vertical faces 34s is longer in the direction of insertion (upward in FIG. 44, the timing at which the shutter closing member 73d releases the outer vertical faces 34s held by the first arms 73d1 can be delayed from when the shutter closing members 73d completely closes the shutter 34d. More specially, because the outer vertical face 34s of the projection portion 34m is lengthened to project upward in FIG. 44, when the shutter 34d closes from the state shown in FIG. 45 to the state shown in FIG. 44, with the first arms 73d1 holding the outer vertical faces 34s of the projection portions 34m and the second arms 73d2 holding the handle parts 34d11 of the shutter 34d, the shutter 34d can fully closed while preventing the shutter closing member 73d from rotating in the direction indicated by arrow P in FIG. 44 (to a state shown in FIG. 43).

Namely, if the outer vertical faces 34s are not extended to project forward (upward in FIG. 44), the first arms 73d1 release the holding outer vertical face 34s earlier than in the configuration shown in FIGS. 43 through 45, and accordingly the shutter closing members 73d are relatively early rotated in the arrow P direction in FIG. 43 although the shutter 34d has not yet fully closed the toner outlet W.

By contrast, in the present embodiment, because the cap 34Y includes the projection portions the toner container 32Y is not released from the image forming apparatus before the shutter 34d fully closes the toner outlet W.

It is to be noted that, with reference to FIGS. 38 and 39, because the projection portion 34m projects forward from the reference wall face 34a, in order not to hit an inner front wall of the cap holder 73, escape portions 73 constituted as holes or concave portions are formed in the inner surface of the cap holder 73, in portions facing the projection portion 34m, and therefore, the projection portion 34m is fitted into the escape portion 73k.

Next, with reference to FIGS. 35 and 46A through 46D, the states of the cap 34Y in the cap holder 73 and bottle holder 72 in insertion of the toner container 32Y are described below.

Initially, referring to FIG. 35, in the insertion of the toner container 32Y into the bottle holder 72, the cap 34Y slides on the bottle receiving face 72a and is held by the pressing member 72c and pressure-receiving member 72d, jolting of the cap 34Y immediately before the cap 34Y is inserted into the cap holder 73 is inhibited.

Subsequently, the first engaging member 34e and the second engaging members 34f engage the engaged portion 73m, and the lateral protrusions 34c are fitted into the lateral grooves 73c, thus fixing the position of the cap 34Y in the lateral direction and vertical direction in the cap holder 73. At this time, the state of the cap 34Y is shifted from the position shown in FIG. 46A to the position shown in FIG. 46B.

Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 46C, the main-reference pin 73a of the cap holder 73 is fitted into the primary positioning hole 34a of the cap 34Y, and then the sub-reference pin 73b is fitted into the secondary positioning hole 34b of the cap 34Y. The step-by step positioning of the cap 34Y in the cap holder 73 is completed.

In addition, while the positioning is performed (before engagement between the sub-reference pin 73b and the secondary positioning hole 34b is completed), the stopper-release pressing members 72b release the contact between the stopper 34d22 of the shutter 34d and the contact face 34n5 of the shutter container 34n in the cap 34Y, and then, the shutter closing members 73d (shutter retainer) determine the position of the shutter 34d and the cap 34Y in the cap holder 73 (see FIG. 46C). Thus, the shutter 34d is opened by the shutter closing members 73d.

Additionally, before the engagement between the secondary positioning hole 34b and the sub-reference pin 73b is completed, the rim (wall) 72w1 surrounding the toner outlet W of the cap 34Y slides on the seal member 76 surrounding the toner supply opening 73w in the cap holder 73.

Then, the opening toner outlet W of the cap 34Y communicates with the toner supply opening 73w, and consequently, the setting of the cap 34Y of the toner container 23Y in the cap holder 73 in the toner container holder 70 is completed (see FIG. 46D). At this time, the gear 33c of the container body 33Y engages the driving gear 81 in the image forming apparatus 100, and the RFID chip 35 of the cap 34Y is set to a position suitable for communication with the antenna 73e in the image forming apparatus 100.

As described above, in the present embodiment, in the installation of the toner container 32Y into the toner container frame 70, because the position of shutter 34d of the cap 34Y is determined in the cap holder 73 by the shutter closing member 73d, opening the shutter 34d in a tilted state can be prevented. In addition, in the installation of the toner container 32Y, after the main-reference pin 73a in the cap holder 73 is fitted into the primary positioning hole 34a of the cap 34Y, that is, main positioning is finished, the position of the shutter 34d in the cap holder 73 is determined by the shutter closing member 73d (shutter retainer). Then, the sub-reference pin 73b of the cap holder 73 is fitted into the secondary positioning hole 34b of the cap 34Y, that is, sub-positioning is finished, and thus, step by step positioning is completed. Therefore, the positions of the shutter 34d and cap 34Y can be corrected before step-by step positioning is completed.

In addition, before the position of the cap 34Y is determined by fitting the main-reference pin 73a into the primary positioning hole 34a, the lateral position as well as vertical position of the cap 34Y is restricted by fitting the lateral protrusions 34c of the cap 34Y into the lateral grooves 73c in the cap holder 73 and the like, and therefore, the cap 34Y can be smoothly inserted into the cap holder 73.

Further, after the shutter closing members 73d determine the position of the shutter 34d and the cap 34Y in the cap holder 73, the seal member 76 surrounding the toner supply opening 73w slides on the rim 34r surrounding the toner outlet W in the cap 34Y. Subsequently, the secondary positioning hole 34b of the cap 34Y engages the sub-reference pin 73b, thus step-by-step positioning is completed. Therefore, the position of the shutter 34d of the cap 34Y can be corrected without receiving the sliding resistance caused between the seal member 76 and the toner outlet W. In addition, in the present embodiment, because the shutter closing members 73d are provided close to not the main-reference pin 73a but the sub-reference pin 73b, the position of the shutter 34d and the cap 34Y in the cap holder 73 can be easily corrected.

Conversely, in the removal of the toner container 32Y from the toner container frame 70, after the engagement between the secondary positioning hole 34b of the cap 34Y and the sub-reference pin 73b of the cap holder 73 is released, the engagement state between the primary positioning hole 34a of the cap 34Y and the main-reference pin 73a is kept until the closing process of the shutter 34d is completed. Therefore, closing the shutter 34d in the cap 34Y in a tilted state can be prevented.

It is to be noted that, in FIG. 42, because the seal member 76 is provided around the toner supply opening 73w in the cap holder 73 to prevent the leakage of the toner from a gap between the opening toner outlet W in the cap 34Y and the toner supply opening 73w in the cap holder 73 as described above, when the cap 34Y is in the cap holder 73, a reaction force generated by the elastic deformation of the seal member 76, which is an upward force in FIG. 28A, is exerted on the cap 34Y. However, as shown in FIG. 27, in the cap 34Y according to the present embodiment, the primary positioning hole 34a that engages the main-reference pin 73 is formed just above the toner outlet W, at the position on which the reaction force from the seal member 76 is exerted. Therefore, floating and tilt of the cap 34Y caused by the reaction force can be prevented.

Further, referring to FIG. 28A, in the cap 34Y according to the present embodiment, the primary positioning hole 34a that engages the main-reference pin 73a is at a farthest position (ceiling) from the toner outlet W connected to the toner supply opening 73w, above the toner outlet W. Therefore, if backlash is present in the engagement between the main-reference pin 73a and the primary positioning hole 34a, thereby causing the cap 34Y to tilt, the tilt of the cap 34Y is less likely to cause the positional deviation of the toner outlet W relative to the toner supply opening 73w in the cap 34Y according to the present embodiment.

As described above, in the image forming apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment, besides opening and closing the main body cover 110, users can complete insertion and removal of the toner container 32Y from the image forming apparatus 100 with a single action of moving the toner container 32Y in the longitudinal direction while handling the handle part 33d because the shutter 34d opens and closes the toner outlet W in synchronization with the movement of the toner container 32Y.

In addition, in the toner container 32Y according to the present embodiment, because the toner outlet W opens downward and has a relatively large opening area, the toner can be discharged from the toner outlet W directly under its own weight.

Further, the toner container 32Y is installed in the toner container frame 70 in the image forming apparatus 100 not from above but from a front side of the toner container frame 70 in the image forming apparatus 100. Therefore, design flexibility in layout above the toner container frame 70 can be enhanced. For example, even when a scanner (document reader) is positioned just above the toner supply device 60, the workability and operability of installation and removal of the toner container 32Y in/from the toner container frame 70 in the image forming apparatus 100 is not degraded.

In addition, because the toner container 32Y is installed in the image forming apparatus 100 with its long side horizontal, toner capacity of the toner container 32Y can be increased without sacrificing the design flexibility in vertical layout of the entire the image forming apparatus 100, and frequency of replacement of the toner container 32Y can be reduced.

As described above, the toner container 32Y according to the present embodiment includes the shutter 34d that moves in the longitudinal direction to open and close the toner outlet W formed in the bottom surface of the cap 34Y, the primary positioning hole 34a and the secondary positioning hole 34b disposed at suitable positions, respectively serving as the main-positioning reference and the sub-positioning reference, and the first restriction member including the first engaging member 34e and the second engaging members 34f both disposed close to the primary positioning hole 34a. Thereby, the setting space for the toner container 32Y in the image forming apparatus 100 can be secured and installation and removal of the toner container in/from the toner container frame 70 in the image forming apparatus 100 can be facilitated. Therefore, when the toner is discharged from the toner outlet under its own weight, the position of the cap 34Y is reliably determined in the image forming apparatus 100 at a suitable position without any adverse effect to discharge of the toner.

Second Embodiment

A second embodiment is described below with reference to FIGS. 49 through 51.

FIG. 49 is a schematic perspective diagram illustrating vicinity of a cap 34Y-α of a toner container 32Y-α according to the second embodiment and corresponds to FIG. 15 of the first embodiment. FIG. 50 is a front vied illustrating the cap 34Y-α and corresponds to FIG. 8 that illustrates the cap 34Y according to the first embodiment FIG. 51 is a schematic perspective diagram illustrating a cap-surrounding portion 731Y-α in the cap holder 73-α in which the cap 34Y-α is inserted.

The configuration of lateral protrusions 34c-α in this embodiment is different from the lateral protrusions 34c in the first embodiment.

With reference to FIGS. 49 and 50, similarly to the toner container 32Y in the first embodiment, the toner container 32Y-α also includes the container body 33Y and the cap 34Y-α in the present embodiment. It is to be noted that, for ease of illustration and description, the primary positioning hole 34a (main-positioning reference) and the secondary positioning hole 34b (sub-positioning reference) are omitted in FIGS. 49 and 50, and components of the toner container 32Y-α similar to those of the toner container 32Y in the first embodiment are given identical numerals and the description thereof is omitted below.

With reference to FIG. 51, similarly to the cap holder 73 in the first embodiment, a cap holder 73Y-α includes a pair of lateral grooves 73-α and engaged portions 73m-α. Each of cap-surrounding portions 731Y-α, 731M-α, 731C-α, and 731K-α in the cap holder 73-α is rectangular parallelepiped including a cylindrical hollow so as to surround the respective first cap bodies 34Y1-α, 34M-α, 34C-α, and 34K-α. It is to be noted that, in FIG. 51, although the cap holder 73Y-α is simplified with the main-reference pin 73a and the sub-reference pin 73b omitted for simplicity, the main-reference pin 73a and the sub-reference pin 73b are provided extreme upstream in the inner wall of the cap holder 73 Y-α (backside in FIG. 51).

In addition, in the cap 34Y-α according to the second embodiment, the first engaging member 34e and the second engaging members 34f engage corresponding engaged portions 73m (projecting portions) in the cap holder 73 (see FIGS. 49 and 50). Therefore, the cap 34Y-α is inserted into or released from the cap holder 73 while the horizontal position of the cap 34Y-α is restricted by the first engaging member 34e and the second engaging members 34f respectively engaged with the engaged portions 73m. Then, in the state in which the cap 34Y-α is set in to the cap holder 73, the horizontal position of the cap 34Y-α is restricted.

With this configuration, the cap 34Y-α is installed into the cap holder 73-α while the position of the cap 34Y-α in the rotation direction is restricted by the two lateral protrusions 34c-α (second restriction members) shown in FIG. 49 engaged with lateral grooves 73c-α (groove) of the cap holder 73-α shown in FIG. 51. Then, in the state in which the cap 34Y is set in the cap holder 73-α, the position of the cap 34Y-α in the rotation direction is restricted by the engagement between the lateral protrusions 34Y-α and the lateral grooves 71c-α.

The lateral protrusions 34c-α (second restriction member) protruding from lateral sides of the cap 34Y-α horizontally are arranged symmetrically on a virtual horizontal line passing through a center position of the line, at positions away the center position. Each lateral protrusions 34c-α extends in the direction of insertion. Therefore, the cap 34Y-α can be inserted into the cap holder 73-α in balanced manner, guided by the lateral groove 73c-α of the cap holder 73-α.

In addition, with reference to FIGS. 49 and 50, the pair of lateral protrusions 34c-α is provided in a small (small outer) diameter portion of the cap 34Y-α in the front side of the direction of insertion, that is, the lateral protrusion 34c-α is formed on the first cap body 34Y1-α shown in FIG. 24. Moreover, as shown in FIG. 50, the lateral protrusions 34c-α are formed so as not to project from the outer diameter of the second cap body 34Y2 when viewed in a cross sectional view perpendicular to the direction of insertion, that is, a direction orthogonal to the surface of paper on which FIG. 50 is drawn. Accordingly, the lateral protrusions 34c-α can be formed by using the space effectively without increasing the size of the cap 34Y-α, that is, the outer diameter of the cap 34Y-α.

As described above, similarly to the toner container 32Y-α in the first embodiment, the toner container 32Y-α further includes the shutter 34d that moves in the longitudinal direction to open and close the toner outlet W formed in the bottom surface of the cap 34Y-α, the primary positioning hole 34a and the secondary positioning hole 34b disposed at suitable positions, respectively serving as the main-positioning reference, and the secondary positioning hole 34b serving as the sub-positioning reference, and the first restriction member including the first engaging member 34e and the second engaging members 34f both disposed close to the primary positioning hole 34a. Thereby, the setting space for the toner container 32Y-α in the image forming apparatus 100 can be secured and the installation and removal of the toner container in/from the toner container frame 70 in the image forming apparatus 100 can be facilitated. Therefore, when the toner is discharged from the toner outlet W under its own weight, the position of the cap 34Y-α is reliably determined in the image forming apparatus 100 at a suitable position without any adverse effect to discharge of the toner.

Third Embodiment

A third embodiment is described below with reference to FIGS. 52 and 53.

FIG. 52 is a schematic perspective diagram illustrating vicinity of a cap 34Y-β of the toner container 32Y-β according to the third embodiment and corresponds to FIG. 49 of the second embodiment. FIG. 53 is a schematic perspective diagram illustrating a cap-surrounding portion 731Y-β in the cap holder 73-β in which the cap 34Y-β is inserted, and corresponds to the cap-surrounding portion 731Y-α in the cap holder 73-β according to the second embodiment shown in FIG. 51.

The configuration of lateral protrusions 34c-β in this embodiment is different from the lateral protrusions 34c-α in the second embodiment.

With reference to FIG. 53, similarly to the toner container 32Y in the first embodiment, the toner container 32Y-β also includes the container body 33Y-β and a cap 34Y-β in the present embodiment. It is to be noted that for ease of illustration and description, the primary positioning hole 34a (main reference) and the secondary positioning hole 34b (sub reference) are omitted in FIG. 52, and components of the toner container 32Y-β similar to those of the toner container 32Y in the first embodiment are given identical numerals and the description thereof is omitted below.

With reference to FIG. 53, similarly to the toner container 32Y in the first embodiment, a cap holder 73Y-β includes a pair of lateral grooves 73-β and engaged portions 73m-β. Each of cap-surrounding portion 731Y-β, 731M-β, 731C-β, and 731K-β in the cap holder 73-β is rectangular parallelepiped including a cylindrical hollow in surrounding portion of the first cap bodies 34Y1-β, 34M1-β, 34C1-β, and 34K1-β. It is to be noted that, in FIG. 53, although the cap holder 73d is simplified with the figure of the main-reference pin 73a and the sub-reference pin 73b omitted for simplicity, the main-reference pin 73a and the sub-reference pin 73b are provided extreme upstream in the inner wall of the cap holder 73-β (backside in FIG. 53).

In addition, in the cap 34Y-β according to the third embodiment, the first engaging member 34e and the second engaging members 34f shown in FIG. 52 engage corresponding engaged portions 73m (projecting portions) in the cap holder 73-β (see FIG. 53). Therefore, the cap 34Y-β is inserted into or released from the cap holder 73-β while the horizontal position of the cap 34Y-β is restricted by the first engaging member 34e and the second engaging members 34f respectively engaged with the engaged portions 73m. Then, in the state in which the cap 34Y-β is set in to the cap holder 73-β, the horizontal position of the cap 34Y-β is restricted.

With this configuration, the cap 34Y-β is installed into the cap holder 73-β while the position of the cap 34Y-β in the rotation direction is restricted by the two lateral protrusions 34c-β (second restriction members) shown in FIG. 52 engaged with lateral grooves 73c-β (groove) of the cap holder 73-β shown in FIG. 53. Then, in the state in which the cap 34Y-β is set in the cap holder 73-β, the position of the cap 34Y-β in the rotation direction is restricted by the engagement between the lateral protrusions 34Y-β and the lateral grooves 71c-β.

The lateral protrusions 34c-β (second restriction member) protruding from lateral sides of the cap 34Y-β horizontally are arranged above a virtual horizontal plane passing through a center position of the cap 34Y-β, at positions away the center position. That is, the lateral protrusions 34c-β is disposed far from the toner outlet W.

Further, as shown in FIG. 53, each of the lateral grooves 73c-β of the cap holder 73-β is provided at an upper position facing the lateral protrusions 34c-β, compared with the position of the lateral grooves 73c-α in the second embodiment shown in FIGS. 49 and 50. In this configuration, in the cap 73Y-β, because the distance between the outer ends of the lateral grooves 73c-β in the width direction (horizontal direction) can be reduced, the width (horizontal length in the direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction) of the cap holder 73Y-β can be narrowed, that is, the respective cap-surrounding portion 731Y of the cap holder 73-β can be made more compact.

In addition, compared with a comparative configuration in which lateral positions 34c-β are arranged beneath the virtual horizontal plane (closer to the toner outlet W), in the configuration the lateral protrusions 34c-β are positioned above the virtual horizontal plane passing through the center position of the cap 34Y-β, even when the width (horizontal direction) of the lateral protrusions 34c-β are relatively small, floating and the tilt of the toner container 32Y-β can be prevented by the reaction force caused by the seal member 76 provided between the toner outlet W and the toner supply opening 73w.

As described above, similarly to the toner container 32Y in the first embodiment, the toner container 32Y-β includes the shutter 34d that moves in the longitudinal direction to open and close the toner outlet W formed in the bottom surface of the cap 34Y-β, the primary positioning hole 34a and the secondary positioning hole 34b disposed at suitable positions, respectively serving as the main-positioning reference, and the sub-positioning reference, and the first restriction member including the first engaging member 34e and the second engaging members 34f both disposed close to the primary positioning hole 34a. Thereby, the setting space for the toner container 32Y-β in the image forming apparatus 100 can be secured and the installation and removal of the toner container in/from the toner container frame 70 in the image forming apparatus 100 can be facilitated. Therefore, when the toner is discharged from the toner outlet W under its own weight, the position of the cap 34Y-β is reliably determined in the image forming apparatus 100 at a suitable position without any adverse effect to discharge of the toner.

Fourth Embodiment

A fourth embodiment is described below with reference to FIGS. 54 through 56.

FIG. 54 is a schematic cross sectional view illustrating a cap 34Y-γ of a toner container 32Y-γ when viewed in the longitudinal direction of a toner container 32Y-γ and illustrates a cross section of the cap 34Y-γ perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, at the position of a toner outlet W. FIG. 55 is a cross sectional view illustrating the vicinity of the cap 34Y-γ of the toner container 32Y-γ and corresponding to FIG. 28A that illustrates the vicinity of the cap 34Y according to the first embodiment. FIG. 56 is a perspective view illustrating a flexible member 34u provided close to the toner outlet W of the toner container 32Y-γ.

This embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the toner container 32Y-γ includes the flexible member 34u disposed close to the toner outlet W.

With reference to FIG. 54, similarly to the toner container 32Y in the first embodiment, the toner container 32Y includes the container body 33Y and the cap 34Y-γ. More specifically, with reference to FIG. 55, which is an exploded view illustrating the toner container 32Y-γ, the toner container 32Y-γ includes cap seal 37, the shutter 34d, a shutter seal 36 serving as a seal member, and the RFID chip 35 serving as the electronic data storage, in addition to the container body 33Y-γ and the cap 34Y-γ.

Further, with reference to FIG. 54, similarly to the toner container 32Y in the first embodiment, in the toner container 32Y-γ, the agitator 33f-γ that rotates together with the container body 33Y-γ is fitted in the opening A enclosed by the edge face 33a (see FIGS. 10 through 12). In addition, the agitator 33f includes the pair of stick member 33f1 that protrudes from the circular engagement edge 33f2 to the hollow B in the cap 34Y

Herein, with reference to FIGS. 54 and 55, different from other embodiments, the flexible member 34u that is constructed of a flexible member such as Mylar (registered trademark) having a thickness ranging from 0.188 mm to 0.500 mm extends from the toner drop route C to the hollow B in the cap 34Y-γ.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 56, the flexible member 34u that is a strip having a single bent portion like a boomerang, and is divided by the bent portion into a fixing portion 34u1 and a flexible portion 34u2. The fixing portion 34u1 that is wider than the flexible portion 34u2 functions as an attachment face and is attached to (glued to) an interior wall of the toner dropping route C positioned close to the interior wall of the toner outlet W, that is, positioned close to the interior wall on the downstream side in the rotation direction of the agitation member 33f. Further, the fixing portion 34u2 is bonded to the interior wall of the toner dropping route C so that the bending portion of the flexible member 34u is positioned in the toner dropping route C.

Further, a tip of the flexible portion 34u1 of the flexible member 34u is a free end and the flexible portion 34u1 extends from the toner dropping route C to the hollow B. In addition, the tip of the flexible portion 34u1 vibrates by contacting the rotating stick members 33f1 of the agitation member 33f. Therefore, when the toner dropping route C is clogged with toner close to the toner outlet W), the toner accumulated in the vicinity of the toner outlet W can be separated by the flexible member 34u, and accordingly the toner can be further smoothly discharged from the toner outlet W.

It is to be noted that the configuration of the flexible member 34u is not limited to the shape according to the present embodiment, and, for example, the flexible member 34u can adopt shapes without a bending portion or the shape of the fixing portion can be changed.

Herein, similarly to the toner container 32Y-α in the first embodiment, the toner container 32Y-γ further includes the shutter 34d that moves in the longitudinal direction to open and close the toner outlet W formed in the bottom surface of the cap 34Y-γ, the primary positioning hole 34a and the secondary positioning hole 34b disposed at suitable positions, respectively serving as the main-positioning reference and the sub-positioning reference, at suitable position, and the first restriction member including the first engaging member 34e and the second engaging members 34f both disposed close to the primary positioning hole 34a. Thereby, the setting space for the toner container 32Y-γ in the image forming apparatus 100 can be secured and the installation and removal of the toner container in/from the toner container frame 70 in the image forming apparatus 100 can be facilitated. Therefore, when the toner is discharged from the toner outlet W under its own weight, the position of the cap 34Y-γ is reliably determined in the image forming apparatus 100 at a suitable position without any adverse effect to discharge of the toner.

It is to be noted that although including single-component developer consisting essentially of only toner in the above-descried embodiments, the toner container 32Y, 32M, 32C, and 32K can also contain two component developer including toner and carrier to suitably supply a two-component development device. In this case, the effects described above can be achieved.

In addition, in the above-described embodiments, part or all of each of the image forming units 6Y, 6M, 6C, and 6K can be housed in a common unit casing and thus be formed as a process cartridge. In this case, the similar effects as those in the above-described embodiments can be attained.

Fifth Embodiment

FIG. 57 is a cross sectional view illustrating a container body 33 according to a fifth embodiment.

Although the container body 33Y is rotatable relative to the cap 34Y to convey the toner contained in the container body 33Y to the opening A in the above-described embodiments, in the present embodiment neither a container body 33Y-δ nor a cap 34Y-δ are rotatable when installed in the toner container holder 70. Instead, the container body 34Y-δ includes a conveyance member 46Y to convey the toner contained in the container body 33Y-δ to the opening A. For example, a conveyance member is a rotary member to rotate in a predetermined direction and includes a rotary shaft 45Y and a conveyance coil or multiple conveyance blades.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 57, the toner container 32Y-δ mainly includes the container body 33Y-δ, a gear 44Y, and the cap 34Y-δ (bottle cap). The opening A-δ is formed on the top of the container body 33Y-δ and the outer surface of the opening A-δ, and the gear 44Y is rotatably attached around the outer surface of the opening A-δ.

The gear 44Y engages the driving gear 81 in the image forming apparatus 100 and rotates around the opening A-δ of the container body 33Y-δ for rotating a coil 46Y around a rotary shaft 45Y. Further, the toner contained in the container body 33Y-δ is discharged from the opening A-δ to space B-δ in the cap 34Y-δ. The gear 44Y and the rotary shaft 45Y together form a single member, and the rotary shaft 45Y is connected to the spiral shaped coil 46Y serving as the conveyance member. The one end of the rotary shaft 45Y is supported by a bearing 34Y-δ of the cap 34Y-δ. The coil 46Y extends from the opening W to the backside portion of the (bottom portion) of the container body 33Y-δ. With this configuration, as the gear 44Y rotates around the container body 33Y-δ, the rotary shaft 45Y and the coil 46Y are rotated. Thus, the toner contained in the container body 33Y-δ is conveyed to the opening A by the conveyance force from the coil 46Y.

It is to be noted that the gear 44Y is provided around the outer circumferential surface of the container body 33Y-δ so that the gear is sandwiched between the inner face of the cap 34Y-δ and the outer surface of the container body 33Y-δ.

An elastic member 47Y is provided between the gear 44Y and the container body 33Y-δ, and a seal member 48Y is formed between the gear 44Y and the cap 34Y-δ. In this configuration, the entire toner container 32Y-δ can be sealed reliably. That is, leakage of the toner from the gaps between the gear 44Y and the container body 33Y-δ or the gear 44Y and the cap 34Y-δ can be prevented.

Further, the above-described features of the first embodiment to the fourth embodiment can be adapted in the toner container 32Y-δ according to the present embodiment. Accordingly, the similar effect can be achieved.

In addition, with reference to FIG. 1, entire toner conveyance route formed of the toner tank 61Y, the toner conveyance path 63Y including the toner conveying screw 62Y, and the toner dropping route 64Y included in the toner supply device 60Y is -shaped when viewed from a direction orthogonal to the surface of paper on which FIG. 1 is drawn. In addition, in FIG. 1, the toner dropping route 64Y and the downstream side of the toner conveyance path 63Y in the toner conveyance direction is provided immediately above the image forming unit 6Y (process cartridge), that is, the toner dropping route 64Y and the downstream side of the toner conveyance path 63Y are provided immediately above an attachment/detachment opening in the image forming apparatus 100 in which the image forming unit 6Y (process cartridge) is installed.

Further, the toner container 32, the toner tank 61, and the upstream side of the toner conveyance path 63 including the toner conveying screw 62 for each color are provided not the image forming section 6 for that color that above the adjacent image forming section 6 for another color (in FIG. 1, the image forming section 6 on the left). That is, for example, the toner container 32M, and a toner tank 61M and the upstream side of a toner conveyance path 63M for magenta are not positioned immediately above the image forming section 6M, but above the image forming section 6Y.

Thus, in a tandem-type image forming apparatus in which multiple image forming units are arranged in parallel, when the image forming units 6 (process cartridge) is attached to or detached from the image forming apparatus 100, the image forming units 6 and the toner supply devices 60 do not interfere with each other. Therefore, in the image forming apparatus 100, the length in the vertical direction from the toner containers 32Y, 32M, 32C, and 32K to the image forming unit 6Y, 6M, 6C, and 6K can be shortened, and as a result, the fluctuation in the amount of toner supplied to the corresponding development devices 5Y, 5M, 5C, and 5K can be prevented.

Further, the present invention is not limited to the specifically disclosed embodiments, and variations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. That is, in the embodiments of the present invention, the number of elements, the positions of the corresponding elements, and the shapes of the corresponding elements are not limited to the specifically disclosed embodiments.

Numerous additional modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the disclosure of this patent specification may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein.

Claims

1. A toner container to contain toner and removably installable in an image forming apparatus horizontally in a longitudinal direction of the toner container, the toner container comprising: a toner outlet to discharge toner vertically downward to an outside of the toner container;a shutter to open and close the toner outlet;a primary hole formed in an upper surface of the toner container and extending in the longitudinal direction of the toner container from a front surface of the toner container, and perpendicular to the longitudinal direction thereof;a secondary hole disposed below the primary hole and extending in the longitudinal direction of the toner container not to reach the toner outlet from the front surface of the toner container, and perpendicular to the longitudinal direction thereof toward the toner outlet; anda restriction member projecting horizontally from lateral sides on an outer circumferential surface of the toner container and extending in the longitudinal direction of the toner container, the restriction member to restrict the toner container with respect to the image forming apparatus.

2. The toner container according to claim 1, wherein the restriction member includes a tapered front end tip portion.

3. The toner container according to claim 1, further comprising: a cylindrical hollow extending in the longitudinal direction of the toner container; anda cylindrical toner dropping route extending from a lower circumference of the cylindrical hollow toward the toner outlet and having a predetermined cross-sectional area.

4. The toner container according to claim 1, wherein the secondary hole is elliptical and has a vertical diameter longer than a horizontal diameter thereof.

5. The toner container according to claim 1, further comprising an electronic data storage to store electronic data disposed on the front surface of the toner container perpendicular to the longitudinal direction thereof, the electronic data storage positioned between the primary hole and the secondary hole.

6. The toner container according to claim 1, further comprising a rotatable spiral protrusion protruding inward from an inner circumferential face of the toner container.

7. An image forming apparatus comprising the toner container according to claim 1.

8. A toner container to contain toner, the toner container being removably installable in an image forming apparatus horizontally in a longitudinal direction of the toner container, the toner container comprising: a toner outlet to discharge toner vertically downward to an outside of the toner container;a shutter to open and close the toner outlet;an opening formed in an upper portion of the toner container and extending in the longitudinal direction of the toner container from a front surface of the toner container, to receive a protrusion of the image forming apparatus so that the protrusion is inserted into the opening;an electronic data storage, provided on the front surface of the toner container and disposed below the opening, to exchange data with an image forming apparatus; anda plurality of lateral protrusions projecting horizontally from lateral sides on an outer circumferential surface of the toner container and extending in the longitudinal direction of the toner container, the plurality of lateral protrusions to engage a plurality of grooves of the image forming apparatus.

9. The toner container according to claim 8, wherein each of the plurality of lateral protrusions includes a tapered portion.

10. The toner container of claim 8, further comprising: a cylindrical hollow extending in the longitudinal direction of the toner container; anda cylindrical toner dropping route extending from a lower circumference of the cylindrical hollow toward the toner outlet and having a predetermined cross-sectional area.

11. The toner container of claim 8, further comprising a secondary opening, wherein the secondary opening is elliptical and has a vertical diameter longer than a horizontal diameter thereof.

12. The toner container of claim 8, further comprising a rotatable spiral protrusion protruding inward from an inner circumferential face of the toner container.

13. A toner container to contain toner and removably installable in an image forming apparatus horizontally in a longitudinal direction of the toner container, the toner container comprising: a toner outlet to discharge toner vertically downward to an outside of the toner container;a shutter to open and close the toner outlet;an opening formed in an upper portion of the toner container and extending in the longitudinal direction of the toner container from a front surface of the toner container;an electronic data storage, provided on the front surface of the toner container and disposed below the opening, to exchange data with an image forming apparatus;a plurality of lateral protrusions projecting horizontally from lateral sides on an outer circumferential surface of the toner container and extending in the longitudinal direction of the toner container, the plurality of lateral protrusions to engage a plurality of grooves of the image forming apparatus; anda secondary opening, wherein the secondary opening is elliptical and has a vertical diameter longer than a horizontal diameter thereof.