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US 7,277,664 B2Granted
Image forming device, powder feeding device, toner storage container, powder storage container, and method of recycling the containers
AssigneeRicoh Company, Ltd.
InventorsGoro Katsuyama, Nobuo Iwata, Nobuo Kasahara, Satoshi Muramatsu, Junichi Matsumoto
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A part of a toner supply path is formed in a setting unit, and a nozzle coupled to a toner container is provided, wherein the fitting direction of the toner container to the setting unit and the coupling direction of the nozzle to the toner container are different.
Claims44
An image forming apparatus comprising:
- a powder container that stores powder and supplies the powder to an image forming unit, the powder container including a storage member that stores the powder and a cap member provided below the storage member, the cap member including a powder draining unit;
- a setting unit that sets the powder container to a main body of the image forming apparatus, the setting unit having a nozzle coupled to a part of a powder supply path and the powder container, and
- a shutter member configured to open and close the powder supply path, the shutter member being disposed between a slider and the nozzle which are components of the image forming apparatus, and moves together with the slider and the nozzle in relation to the powder supply path, wherein said shutter member closes the powder draining unit, and wherein the nozzle is inserted into a shutter hole and is connected to the draining unit by shifting of an opening-closing folder of the setting unit from the opening position to the closing position.
A powder container for an image forming apparatus comprising:
- a powder storage having an opening at one end;
- a powder draining member on the opening of the powder storage, the powder draining member including a draining port configured to drain powder in the container to outside of the container, wherein at least a part of a powder passage from the powder storage to the draining port in the powder draining member is bent;
- and
- a shutter member configured to open and close the powder passage, wherein the shutter member is configured to be disposed between a slider and a nozzle which are components of the image forming apparatus when the powder container is disposed within the image forming apparatus, and moves together with the slider and the nozzle in relation to the powder passage,
- wherein the nozzle is inserted into the draining port and is connected to the powder draining unit by shifting of an opening-closing folder, which is a component of the image forming apparatus, from the opening position to the closing position.
2 more elements
A powder supplying unit for an image forming apparatus comprising:
- a powder container;
- a container mounting portion on which the powder container is mounted;
- and
- a powder supplying unit that supplies powder in the powder container to an apparatus to which the powder is to be supplied, wherein
- the powder container mounted on the container mounting portion includes:
- a powder storage having an opening at one end;
- a powder draining member configured to be mounted on the opening of the powder storage;
- and
- a draining port in the powder draining member configured to drain the powder
- stored in the powder storage to an outside of the powder container,
- at least a part of a powder passage from the powder storage to the draining port in the powder draining member being bent;
- and
- a shutter member configured to open and close the powder passage, wherein the shutter member is disposed between a slider and a nozzle, and moves together with the slider and the nozzle in relation to the powder passage, said shutter member closing the draining port, and wherein the nozzle is inserted into the draining port and is connected to the powder draining member by shifting of the opening-closing folder from the opening position to the closing position.
10 more elements
An image forming apparatus comprising:
- a powder container;
- a developing unit that develops a latent image on an image carrier by using a powder developer;
- and
- a developer supplying unit that supplies the developer to the developing unit, including:
- a nozzle;
- a container mounting portion on which the powder container is mounted;
- and
- a powder supplying unit that supplies the powder developer in the powder container to the developing unit,
- the powder container mounted on the container mounting portion, including:
- a powder storage having an opening at one end;
- a powder draining member mounted on the opening of the powder storage;
- and
- a draining port in the powder draining member configured to drain the powder stored in the powder storage to an outside of the powder container,
- at least a part of a powder passage from the powder storage to the draining port in the powder draining member being bent;
- and
- a shutter member configured to open and close the powder passage, wherein the shutter member is disposed between a slider and the nozzle, and moves together with the slider and the nozzle in relation to the powder passage, said shutter member closing the powder draining unit, and wherein the nozzle is inserted the draining port and is connected to the powder draining member by shifting of an opening-closing folder from the opening position to the closing position.
13 more elements
A powder container comprising:
- a storage member that stores a powder;
- and
- a cap member integrally formed with or fixed to the storage member, and having an opening to drain the powder, the opening to drain the powder including:
- an inner hole at a side proximate to the storage member;
- a shutter member;
- and
- a shutter hole selectively blocked by the shutter member, the inner hole and the shutter hole communicating through an indirect path with each other.
4 more elements
A powder container comprising:
- a storage member that stores a powder;
- and
- a cap member connected to the storage member, and having an opening for draining the powder, the opening for draining the powder including:
- an inner hole at a side proximate to the storage member,
- a shutter member, and
- a shutter hole selectively blocked by the shutter member, the inner hole and the shutter hole communicating with each other through an indirect path, and
- the cap member including an upper body portion and a lower body portion,
- the upper body portion is provided with a storage-fixing portion, to which the storage member is fixed,
- the lower body portion is including the shutter hole, and
- the lower body portion being substantially a rectangular parallelepiped with a width between the front and back surfaces being thinner than a width between opposite sides, and
- wherein the inner hole includes a taper, the width of which becomes narrow toward the lower part.
8 more elements
A powder container comprising:
- a storage member that stores a powder;
- and
- a cap member fixed to the storage member, and having an opening configured to drain the powder, wherein
- the opening includes:
- an inner hole at a side proximate to a storage member side;
- a shutter member;
- and
- a shutter hole through which the shutter member can be inserted or taken out, thereby opening or closing the shutter hole, the inner hole configured to communicate the powder to the shutter hole through an indirect path, and the cap member further including:
- an upper part having a storage-fixing portion to which the storage is fixed;
- an inner part having an engaging groove with which a sealing unit is engaged;
- a lower part having a fitting portion to which the inner part is fitted, and a hold portion configured to hold the sealing unit engaged with the engaging groove;
- and
- a coupling unit that detachably couples the upper part and the lower part,
- wherein the sealing unit is held by fitting the inner part to the fitting portion in the lower part.
11 more elements
An image forming apparatus comprising:
- a storage member that stores a toner;
- and
- a cap member integrally formed with or fixed to the storage member, and having an opening configured to drain the toner, wherein
- the opening includes:
- an inner hole at a side proximate to a storage member side;
- a shutter member;
- and
- a shutter hole through which the shutter member can be inserted or taken out,
- thereby opening or closing the shutter hole, the inner hole configured to communicate
- the toner to the shutter hole through an indirect path,
- wherein when the storage member is set in a main body of the image forming apparatus, the shutter member is shifted by a nozzle provided in the main body;
- and
- wherein the shutter member is disposed between a slider and the nozzle, and moves together with the slider and the nozzle in relation to the shutter hole.
10 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.