EP3705948B1

EP3705948B1 - Power receiving component and toner cartridge

Info

Publication number: EP3705948B1
Application number: EP19793599.2A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Qin LUO
Original assignee: Ninestar Corp
Current assignee: Ninestar Corp
Priority date: 2018-04-23
Filing date: 2019-04-18
Publication date: 2022-03-02
Anticipated expiration: 2039-04-18
Also published as: EP3705948A1; CN209980017U; CN110389514A; EP3705948A4; WO2019206015A1

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to the field of printing technology and, more particularly, relates to a force receiving part and a toner cartridge.

BACKGROUND

A toner cartridge is a replaceable consumable which is widely used in the field of electronic image forming. The toner cartridge is used in an image forming device to provide developer to the image forming device. The image forming device is a device which forms images on a recording material by an electrophotographic imaging processing technique, and may include, for example, an electrophotographic copier, a laser printer, an electrophotographic printer, a facsimile machine, and a word processor, and the like.
The existing toner cartridge may mainly include a cartridge body and a force receiving part. A large amount of developer is contained in the cartridge body having a column-structure. The force receiving part, which is connected to the cartridge body, may be disposed on a sidewall at one end of the cartridge body along the length direction. The force receiving part may receive a rotational driving force from the image forming device and then the rotational driving force may be transmitted to other parts of the toner cartridge, such that the toner cartridge may discharge the developer outwardly. The toner outlet, for discharging the developer, of the toner cartridge may be configured at or near the force receiving part.
The connecting portion between the existing image forming device and the toner cartridge may be a rotational driving force transmission part of the image forming device. A special structure may be disposed at the rotational driving force transmission part. A needle-like component may be at the center of the rotational driving force transmission part and may be coplanar with the opening of the rotational driving force transmission part. When the toner cartridge is installed on the image forming device, the rotational driving force transmission part may move along the direction toward the toner cartridge, and the needle-like component of the rotational driving force transmission part may deeply enter the inside of the force receiving part accordingly. Then, a pushing component around the inner wall of the rotational driving force transmission part may retract along the direction away from the toner cartridge, and then the image forming device may drag the toner cartridge to move along the direction away from the rotational driving force transmission part, such that the outlet on the toner cartridge may be opened and the developer may be discharged from the toner cartridge. When the image forming operation of the image forming device stops and the toner cartridge is uninstalled from the image forming device, the image forming device may drag the toner cartridge to move along the direction toward to the rotational driving force transmission part to close the outlet on the toner cartridge; the pushing component around the inner wall of the rotational driving force transmission part may push along the direction toward the toner cartridge; the rotational driving force transmission part may move along the direction away from the toner cartridge; and at this point, the toner cartridge may be removed. Due to poor structure design, non-proper use, unqualified production materials and the like of the existing toner cartridge, it may result in that the rotational driving force transmission part may not be engaged with the force receiving part or may be easily disengaged after the engagement. EP3709097 A1 , EP2735917 A1 , WO 2015/067124 represent relevant prior art, wherein EP3709097 A1 is a prior art document falling within the terms of Art. 54(3) EPC.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure provides a force receiving part and a toner cartridge, which may prevent the toner cartridge from leaking the developer stored in the toner cartridge during transportation and movement to cause environmental pollution. The invention is defined by the appended claims.
The present disclosure provides a force receiving part and a toner cartridge. One end of the force receiving part may be connected to the toner cartridge body and the other end of the force receiving part may be engaged with the rotational driving force transmission part of the image forming device, thereby transmitting the rotational driving force to the cartridge body. When the toner cartridge is in operation in the image forming device, the rotational driving force transmission part may be engaged with the force receiving part and the developer in the toner cartridge may enter the image forming device from the toner cartridge. When the toner cartridge is uninstalled from the image forming device, the developer in the toner cartridge may no longer enter the outside from the toner cartridge, which may prevent the toner cartridge from leaking the developer stored in the toner cartridge during transportation and movement to cause environmental pollution.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a stereoscopic view of a force receiving part in the first embodiment;
FIG. 2 illustrates an exploded view of parts of a force receiving part in the first embodiment;
FIGS. 3-8 illustrate cross-sectional views of a force receiving part in different states along a cross-sectional plane of the toner cartridge body in the first embodiment;
FIG. 9 illustrates a stereoscopic view of a force receiving part in the second embodiment;
FIGS. 10-14 illustrate cross-sectional views of a force receiving part in different states along a cross-sectional plane of the toner cartridge body in the third embodiment;
FIG. 15 illustrates a stereoscopic view of a first moving element 110a in the third embodiment;
FIG. 16 illustrates a stereoscopic view of a second moving element 110b in the third embodiment;
FIG. 17 illustrates stereoscopic views of a first moving element and a second moving element in different states in the fourth embodiment;
FIG. 18 illustrates cross-sectional views of a first moving element and a second moving element in different states along a cross-sectional plane of a rotating axis of the toner cartridge body in the fourth embodiment;
FIGS. 19-20 illustrate structural stereoscopic views of a first moving element and a second moving element when the second moving element is restricted in the fourth embodiment;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The first embodiment

A force receiving part is provided in one embodiment. Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the force receiving part include a moving element 110, a receiving element 120, a transmission element 130, and a first elastic element 150. Optionally, an elastic washer 140 may also be disposed at the force receiving part.
As shown in FIG. 3, a protruding eave 131 and a protruding block 132 may be disposed on the transmission element 130. The transmission element 130 may be connected to the toner cartridge body. The inner wall of the toner cartridge body may be abutted against the outer wall of the transmission element 130 or the outer wall of the toner cartridge body may be abutted against the inner wall of the transmission element 130. The connection manner may include, but may not be limited to, existing technologies in the mechanical industry, such as thermoforming, gluing, riveting, and the like, which may not be described in detail herein.
A receiving tooth 123, a support rod 124, a transmission rod 125, an anti-detachment trench 126, a first locking tooth 122, and a second locking tooth 121 are disposed at the receiving element 120, where the receiving tooth 123 receive the rotational driving force from the image forming device; the support rod 124 may be elastic and inwardly deviated along the radial direction of the rotating axis of the toner cartridge body; the transmission rod 125 may be abutted against the protruding block 132, such that the rotational driving force is transmitted from the receiving element 120 to the transmission element 130, and further to the toner cartridge body; and the first locking tooth 122 and the second locking tooth 121 may be used to prevent the receiving element 120 from detaching from the transmission element 130. When the toner cartridge works normally in the image forming device, the first locking tooth 122 may be just abutted against the protruding eave 131 or the first locking tooth 122 has not be abutted against the protruding eave 131. The second locking tooth 121, a backup measure, may be used as a safety measure when the first locking tooth 122 breaks or the first locking tooth 122 is pulled out of the position, where the first locking tooth 122 is abutted against the protruding eave, with the receiving element 120; at this point, the second locking tooth 121 may be abutted against the protruding eave, preventing the entire receiving element 120 from being pulled out of the transmission element 130. Optionally, in order to ensure that the receiving element 120 and the transmission element 130 are separated smoothly, the first locking tooth 122 and the second locking tooth 121 may not interfere with other portions of the transmission element 130. Once a malfunction, that is, the entire receiving element 120 is pulled out of the transmission element 130, occurs in the image forming device, it may not only affect the current print quality, but also damage the inside of the image forming device, Meanwhile, if the damaged toner cartridge is not properly handled, it may also affect the health of users and even pollute air and water sources.
An abutting portion 111 and a pushing element 112 are disposed at the moving element 110. The abutting portion 111 may be abutted against the image forming device to move the moving element 110 along the direction of the rotating axis of the toner cartridge. The height of the abutting portion 111 protruding along the radial direction of the rotating axis of the toner cartridge may be greater than the height of the receiving tooth 123 protruding along the radial direction of the rotating axis of the toner cartridge.
The pushing element 112 may enter the anti-detachment trench 126. When the pushing element 112 is in the anti-detachment trench 126, due to the existence of the moving element 110, the support rod 124 may not be deviated inwardly along the radial direction of the rotating axis of the toner cartridge body.
A first elastic element 150 is disposed between the first moving element 110 and the receiving element 120. Optionally, the first elastic element 150 may be a spring. The moving position of the moving element 110 may be restricted by the receiving element 120.
The process of installing the toner cartridge into the image forming device is described in detail hereinafter. A moving part 998 on the image forming device may be located inside the rotational driving force transmission part 999.
In the first step, as shown in FIG. 4, when the toner cartridge is not installed in the image forming device, the pushing element 112 of the force receiving part may be in the anti-detachment trench 126; at this point, the support rod 124 may not be inwardly deviated along the radial direction of the rotating axis of the toner cartridge body. The receiving element 120 and the transmission element 130 may be attached firmly to prevent the developer stored in the toner cartridge body from flowing out. Optionally, the elastic washer 140 may be also disposed between the receiving element 120 and the transmission element 130 to improve the sealing performance.
In the second step, after the toner cartridge is installed in the image forming device, since the radial distance between the abutting portion 111 and the rotating axis of the toner cartridge body is greater than the radial distance between the receiving tooth 123 and the rotating axis of the toner cartridge body, the moving part 998 of the image forming device may push the abutting portion 111 to move the moving element 110 along the direction of the toner cartridge body and the pushing element 112 may be detached from the anti-attachment trench 126, as shown in FIG. 5. At this point, the support rod 124 may be inwardly deviated along the radial direction of the rotating axis of the toner cartridge body.
In the third step, the rotational driving force transmission part 999 on the image forming device may move along the direction of the toner cartridge body. Due to the interference between the rotational driving force transmission part 999 and the driving tooth 123, the support rod may be inwardly deviated along the radial direction of the rotating axis of the toner cartridge body, and the receiving element 120 may be engaged with the rotational driving force transmission part 999, as shown in FIG. 6.
In the fourth step, the moving part 998 on the image forming device may move along the direction away from the toner cartridge body. Due to the existence of the first elastic element 150, the moving element 110 may follow the moving part 998 to move along the direction away from the toner cartridge body, until the pushing element 112 enters the anti-detachment trench 126, as shown in FIG. 7. At this point, since the support rod 124 is pressed and abutted against by the abutting portion 112, the support rod 124 may not be inwardly deviated along the radial direction of the rotating axis of the toner cartridge body.
In the fifth step, the image forming device may drag the transmission element 130 or the toner cartridge body to move along the direction (the same direction as the direction of the toner cartridge body in the third step) away from the rotational driving force transmission part 999. Since the support rod 124 may not be inwardly deviated along the radial direction of the rotating axis of the toner cartridge body and the receiving element 120 may not be disengaged from the rotational driving force transmission part 999, a gap may be between the receiving element 120 and the transmission element 130 to allow the developer stored in the toner cartridge body to flow out, as shown in FIG. 8. Then, the image forming device may transmit the rotational driving force to the receiving element 120 through the rotational driving force transmission part 999, and then to the transmission element 130 through the transmission rod 125 and the protruding block 132, and finally to the toner cartridge body, thereby enabling the developer stored in the toner cartridge body to flow out continuously.
When the toner cartridge is uninstalled from the image forming device, in the state shown in FIG. 8, the image forming device may first push the transmission element 130 or the toner cartridge body to close the gap between the receiving element 120 and the transmission element 130 to be changed to the state shown in FIG. 7; then, the moving part 998 may move along the direction of the toner cartridge body and drive the moving element 110 to move along the direction of the toner cartridge body to be changed to the state shown in FIG. 6; next, the rotational driving force transmission part 999 may move along the direction away from the toner cartridge body to be changed to the state shown in FIG. 5; next, the moving part 998 may move along the direction away from the toner cartridge body, the moving element 110 may move along with the moving part 998 until the pushing element 112 interferes with the anti-detachment trench 126 to prevent the moving element 110 from moving further away from the toner cartridge; finally, the user may pull out the toner cartridge, and the force receiving part may be restored to the state shown in FIG. 4.

The second embodiment

The structure of the force receiving part in one embodiment may be substantially same as the structure of the force receiving part in the first embodiment. The difference is that the force receiving part in one embodiment may further include a second elastic element 160, and in order to accommodate the second elastic element 160, the shape of the receiving element 120 may be modified.
As shown in FIG. 9, the elastic member 160 may be on the receiving element 120. Optionally, the second elastic member 160 may be on the receiving tooth 120, and obviously, the second elastic member 160 may also be disposed at other positions of the receiving element 120. A trench may be disposed on the receiving tooth 123, such that the second elastic element 160 may be accommodated in the trench. When the moving element 110 moves toward the toner cartridge body along the direction of the rotating axis of the toner cartridge, the support rod 124, under the action of the second elastic element 160, may be inwardly deviated along the radial direction of the rotating axis of the toner cartridge body. In one embodiment, the second elastic element 160 may be a ring-shaped elastic element and disposed coaxially with the rotating axis of the force receiving part. Optionally, the second elastic element 160 may be a rubber band.
Compared with the force receiving part involved in the first embodiment, for the force receiving part in one embodiment, the second elastic element 160 may inwardly restrict the receiving element 120 along the radial direction due to the elastic force, such that the interference between the receiving tooth 123 and the image forming device during the installation and uninstallation process may be reduced, and the installation and uninstallation process of the toner cartridge may be prevented from being not smooth due to the friction and collision between the receiving tooth 123 and the image forming device.
Optionally, in order to prevent the aged and fractured second elastic element 160 from falling into the image forming device when the second elastic element 160 is a rubber product, which may damage the electronic image forming quality or the image forming device, the second elastic element may be connected to the receiving tooth 123 or the support rod 124. Bonding, thermoforming, interference fit, and the like may be selected, which may not be described in detail herein.

The third embodiment

The structure of the force receiving part in one embodiment may be substantially same as the structure of the force receiving part in the first embodiment. The difference is that the structures of the moving elements 110a and the 110b in one embodiment may be different from the structure of the moving element 110 in the first embodiment.
The process of installing the toner cartridge into the image forming device is described in detail hereinafter. The moving part 997 on the image forming device may be located outside the rotational driving force transmission part 999.
In the first step, as shown in FIG. 10, when the toner cartridge is not installed in the image forming device, the pushing element 112a (112b) of the force receiving part may be in the anti-detachment trench 126; at this point, the support rod 124 may not be inwardly deviated along the radial direction of the rotating axis of the toner cartridge body. The receiving element 120 and the transmission element 130 may be attached firmly to prevent the developer stored in the toner cartridge body from flowing out. Optionally, the elastic washer 140 may be further disposed between the receiving element 120 and the transmission element 130 to improve the sealing performance.
In the second step, after the toner cartridge is installed in the image forming device, since the radial distance between the abutting portion 111a (111b) and the rotating axis of the toner cartridge body is greater than the radial distance between the receiving tooth 123 and the rotating axis of the toner cartridge body, the moving part 997 of the image forming device may push the abutting portion 111a (111b) to move the moving element 110a (110b) along the direction of the toner cartridge body and the pushing element 112a (112b) may be detached from the anti-attachment trench 126, as shown in FIG. 11. At this point, the support rod 124 may be inwardly deviated along the radial direction of the rotating axis of the toner cartridge body.
In the third step, the rotational driving force transmission part 999 on the image forming device may move along the direction of the toner cartridge body. Due to the interference between the rotational driving force transmission part 999 and the driving tooth 123, the support rod may be inwardly deviated along the radial direction of the rotating axis of the toner cartridge body, and the receiving element 120 may be engaged with the rotational driving force transmission part 999, as shown in FIG. 12.
In the fourth step, the moving part 997 on the image forming device may move along the direction away from the toner cartridge body. Due to the existence of the first elastic element 150, the moving element 110a (110b) may follow the moving part 997 to move along the direction away from the toner cartridge body. However, unlike the first embodiment, the moving part 997 may limit the distance that the moving element 110a (110b) can move away from the toner cartridge, so that the abutting portion 112a (112b) may not completely enter the anti-detachment trench 126, as shown in FIG. 13. At this point, since the support rod 124 is pressed and abutted against by the abutting portion 112a (112b) the support rod 124 may not be inwardly deviated along the radial direction of the rotating axis of the toner cartridge body. However, if an appropriate force is applied, the end of the support rod 124 adjacent to the anti-detachment trench 126 and the receiving tooth 123 may still be slightly and inwardly deviated along the radial direction of the rotating axis of the toner cartridge body.
In the fifth step, the image forming device may drag the transmission element 130 or the toner cartridge body to move along the direction (the same direction as the direction of the toner cartridge body in the third step) away from the rotational driving force transmission part 999. The inward radial deviation of the support rod 124 along the radial direction of the rotating axis of the toner cartridge body is limited and the force required for the disengagement between the receiving element 120 and the rotational driving force transmission part 999 may be greatly greater than the friction between the receiving element 120 and the transmission element 130. Therefore, a gap may be formed between the receiving element 120 and the transmission element 130 to allow the developer stored in the toner cartridge body to flow out, as shown in FIG. 14. Then, the image forming device may transmit the rotational driving force to the receiving element 120 through the rotational driving force transmission part 999, and then to the transmission element 130 through the transmission rod 125 and the protruding block 132, and finally to the toner cartridge body, thereby enabling the developer stored in the toner cartridge body to flow out continuously.
The uninstallation process of the force receiving part from the image forming device may be substantially same as the uninstallation process in the first embodiment, which may not be described in detail herein. The advantage of such design in one embodiment may be that, due to the problems such as precision and the like, the rotational driving force transmission part in certain machine models may still move a short distance along the direction of the toner cartridge during the process of uninstalling the toner cartridge from the image forming device. In such way, uninstalling the toner cartridge using the design in one embodiment may be easier than uninstalling the toner cartridge using the design in the first embodiment.
The moving element 110a is shown in FIG. 15 and the moving element 110b is shown in FIG. 16. Both of two moving elements may be used in the design in one embodiment. The difference is that the abutting portion 111b for the moving element 110b is less likely to be deformed and damaged than the abutting portion 111a of the moving element 110a, and a stiffener 113b may be disposed adjacent to the pushing element 112b. The use of such two moving elements may mainly depend on factors, such as the size of the force receiving part, the amount of the developer contained in the toner cartridge, the cost constraints of different quality products, and the like.

The fourth embodiment

A moving part, including the first moving element 110c1 and the second moving element 110c2 which are independent of each other, may be mainly provided in one embodiment, and other parts may be the same as the force receiving part in the third embodiment.
The first moving element 110c1 and the second moving element 110c2 involved in one embodiment are shown in FIG. 17 and FIG. 18. The first moving element 110c1 and the second moving element 110c2 may be independent of each other and may both perform the function of the moving element 110. When the first moving element 110c1 and the second moving element 110c2 are assembled and installed on the force receiving part, one elastic element may be disposed between each of the two moving elements, including the first moving element 110c1 and the second moving element 110c2, and the receiving element 120. Due to the function of the elastic element and the restriction of the anti-detachment trench 126 on the receiving element 120, the assembly of the first moving element 110c1 and the second moving element 110c2 may be on a same plane at this point, and the assembly structure may be similar to the structure of the moving element 110b (FIG. 16) in the third embodiment. When the image forming device operates normally, the structures of the first moving element 110c1 and the second moving element 110c2 may be substantially same as the structures of the force receiving parts in the third embodiment, as shown in FIG. 17a and FIG. 18a at this point.
However, when the internal parts of the image forming device are broken or deformed due to long work period, or when the internal parts of the image forming device interfere with the moving elements due to the precision problem during the production process of the image forming device, if the moving elements is an integrated structure, it may cause the movement of the moving elements to be restricted, so that the moving elements may not function normally and the toner cartridge may not be installed normally, which may affect the electronic image formation. However, in one embodiment, if the movement of the second moving element 110c2 is restricted, the first moving element 110c1 may still normally complete the function of the moving element to enable the toner cartridge to work normally, as shown in FIGS. 17b and 18b; similarly, if the movement of the first moving element 110c1 is restricted, the second moving element 110c2 may still normally complete the function of the moving element to enable the toner cartridge to work normally, as shown in FIGS. 17c and 18c.
For example, in the fourth step of the third embodiment, when the toner cartridge is installed on the image forming device, during the process of the moving part 997 on the image forming device moving away from the direction of the toner cartridge body, if the movement of the second moving element 110c2 is restricted, the first moving element 110c1 may still move normally away from the direction of the toner cartridge body and restrict the moveable portion 120. Therefore, the moving element 120 may not be disengaged from the rotational driving force transmission part 999 on the image forming device, as shown in FIG. 19 and FIG. 20, and the fifth step may be continued, thereby enabling the developer to flow out normally. The states shown in FIG. 19 and FIG. 20 may be the same as the states shown in FIG. 17b and FIG. 18b and may be similar to the states shown in FIG. 17c and FIG. 18c, which may not be limited in detail herein.
It should be noted that, in one embodiment, when the first moving element 110c1 is pushed toward the direction of the toner cartridge body to the maximum distance and the first moving element 110c1 is fixed, the distance that the second moving element 110c2 may move relative to the first moving element 110c1 away from the direction of the toner cartridge may be greater than or equal to the displacement of the second moving element 110c2 being pushed by the moving part 997 on the image forming device, which may ensure that in the states of FIG. 17c and FIG. 18c, the second moving element 110c2 may move a sufficient distance away from the direction of the toner cartridge body when the movement of the first moving element 110c1 is restricted, thereby preventing the support rod 124 on the transmission element 120 from being deviated inwardly relative to the radial direction of the rotating axis of the toner cartridge body.
Finally, it should be noted that the above-mentioned embodiments may be merely used to describe the technical solution of the present disclosure, rather than limiting the present disclosure. Although the present disclosure has been described in detail with reference to the above-mentioned embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that the technical solutions described in the above-mentioned embodiments may still be modified, or a part or all of the technical features may be equivalently replaced, as determined by the appended claims.

Claims

A toner cartridge that includes a force receiving part and a toner cartridge body and is detachably installed on an image forming device, the force receiving part comprising:
a receiving element (120), including a receiving tooth (123), a support rod (124), and a transmission rod (125), and being capable of engaging with the image forming device, wherein:
the receiving tooth is configured to receive a force from the image forming device;

the support rod is capable of inwardly deviating along a radial direction of a rotating axis of the toner cartridge body, wherein the receiving tooth is disposed at a free end of the support rod; and

the transmission rod is configured to transmit the force received by the receiving tooth from the image forming device to the toner cartridge body; and

a moving element (110, 110a, 110b), capable of moving relative to the support rod, wherein during a moving process of the moving element relative to the support rod, in at least one position the support rod is interacted with the moving element and the receiving element is unable to disengage from the image forming device, characterized in that

a first elastic element (150) is disposed between the moving element and the receiving element;

the moving element includes an abutting portion (111, 111a, 111b) and a pushing element (112, 112a, 112b);

the image forming device is abutted against the pushing element and configured to push the moving element to move along a direction of the rotating axis of the toner cartridge body;

the pushing element is abutted against the support rod,

an anti-detachment trench (126) is disposed on the support rod;

the pushing element is located inside the anti-detachment trench; and

the anti-detachment trench is configured to prevent the moving element from detaching from the force receiving part when the moving element moves relative to the support rod.
The toner cartridge according to claim 1, wherein:
during the moving process of the moving element relative to the support rod, the support rod is unable to inwardly deviate along the radial direction of the rotating axis of the toner cartridge body in the at least one position under action of the moving element.
The toner cartridge according to claim 1 or 2, wherein:
the transmission rod is rigidly connected to the support rod; the force receiving part includes a transmission element (130); and the transmission element is connected to the toner cartridge body and abutted against the transmission rod, such that the transmission rod is configured to transmit the force received by the receiving tooth from the image forming device to the toner cartridge body.
The toner cartridge according to claim 3, wherein:
a locking tooth (121, 122) is disposed on the transmission rod to prevent the receiving element from being detached and separated from the transmission element.
The toner cartridge according to claim 1 or 2, wherein:
the force receiving part includes a second elastic element (160) configured to enable the support rod to be inwardly deviated relative to the radial direction of the rotating axis of the toner cartridge body.
The toner cartridge according to claim 5, wherein:
the second elastic element is a ring-shaped elastic element and abutted against the receiving tooth.
The toner cartridge according to claim 1 or 2, wherein:
the moving element includes a first moving element (110c1) and a second moving element (110c2), and the first moving element and the second moving element are independent from each other.