Toner cartridge opening control arrangement

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a toner cartridge for replenishing toner into an image forming apparatus and, more particularly, to a toner cartridge opening control arrangement for controlling the opening of the toner supply opening of the toner cartridge.

2. Description of the Related Art

The design of U.S. Pat. No. 6,289,193, entitled “TONER SUPPLY CONTAINER AND TONER RECEIVING CONTAINER FOR RECEIVING TONER FROM SAME” uses an magnetic member to urge the force applying portion from a predetermined position in the direction of removing the sealing member. The arrangement of the magnetic member is complicated, resulting in high manufacturing cost of the toner supply container.

The present invention has been accomplished to provide a toner cartridge opening control arrangement, which eliminates the aforesaid drawbacks. It is one object of the present invention to provide a toner cartridge opening control arrangement, which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture. According to one aspect of the present invention, the toner cartridge opening control arrangement is constructed to include a toner cartridge for accommodating toner, the toner cartridge having an opening for output of the toner into a toner receiving container, a removable sealing member adapted to close/open the opening of the toner cartridge, a force applying member for receiving an external pulling force to move the removable sealing member, a magnetism device for imparting an outward pressure to the force applying member, and a releasable locking device adapted to lock the force applying member. According to another aspect of the present invention, the magnetism device comprises a plurality of first magnets respectively provided at the toner cartridge, and a plurality of second magnets respectively provided at the force applying member and reversely aimed at the first magnets for producing a magnetic repulsive force to force the force applying member outwards from the cartridge toner.

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a toner cartridge opening control arrangement according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the developer supply container according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a part of FIG. 2 .

FIG. 4 is a perspective view in an enlarged scale of the present invention showing the action of the force applying member.

FIG. 5 is a sectional side view in an enlarged scale of a part of the developer supply container shown in FIG. 1 .

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a toner cartridge opening control arrangement in accordance with the present invention is shown comprised of a toner cartridge 1 for accommodating toner, a removable sealing member 2 , a force applying member 3 , a magnetism device 4 , and a releasable locking device 5 .

Referring to FIG. 5 and FIGS. 1 and 2 again, the toner cartridge 1 is a container provided with a bottom opening 11 for permitting supply of the toner into a toner receiving container (not shown), and two sliding rails 12 at two sides of the bottom opening 11 . The toner cartridge 1 further comprises a first cover plate 13 and a second cover plate 14 . The first cover plate 13 is moved along the sliding rails 12 to close/open the bottom opening 11 .

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 5 again, the bottom opening 11 of the toner cartridge 1 is sealed by the removable sealing member 2 . The removable sealing member 2 is a thin film member covered over the first cover plate 13 and adhered to an outer side of the rear part of the bottom opening 11 of the toner cartridge 1 . When the first cover plate 13 moved in one direction by an external force, the removable sealing member 2 is torn down from the bottom opening 11 , permitting supply of the toner into the toner receiving container.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 5 again, the force applying member 3 is provided at the rear side of the second cover plate 14 , comprising two lugs 31 disposed at two sides. When applied a pulling force to the force applying member 3 , the second cover plate 14 is moved outwards with the force applying member 3 to carry the first cover plate 13 outwards, and therefore the removable sealing member 2 is moved with the first cover plate 13 to open the bottom opening 11 of the toner cartridge 1 . The aforesaid force applying member 3 is a pull plate convenient for the holding of the hand to pull the removable sealing member 2 from the close position to the open position.

Referring to FIG. 3 and FIG. 5 again, the magnetism device 4 comprises at least one, for example, two first receptacles 15 provided at the rear side of the toner cartridge 1 , two first magnets 41 respectively installed in the first receptacles 15 , two second receptacles 32 provided at the force applying member 3 , and two second magnets 42 respectively installed in the second receptacles 32 and respectively reversely aimed at the first magnets 41 . By means of magnetic repulsion between the first magnets 41 and the second magnets 42 , the magnetism device 4 imparts an outward pressure to the force applying member 3 .

Referring to FIG. 4 and FIG. 2 again, the releasable locking device 5 is provided at the rear side of the toner cartridge 1 , comprising two bottom hooks 51 disposed at two sides of the first receptacles 15 for hooking on the lugs 31 of the force applying member 3 to hold the removable sealing member 2 and the force applying member 3 in the close position. When the bottom hooks 51 disengaged from the lugs 31 of the force applying member 3 , the magnetism device 4 immediately forces the removable sealing member 2 and the force applying member 3 outwards from the close position to the open position to open the bottom opening 11 of the toner cartridge 1 .

As indicated above, the first cover plate 13 is slidably mounted in the sliding rails 12 of the toner cartridge; the removable sealing member 2 is carried on the first cover plate 13 with a part thereof adhered to the rear side of the bottom opening 11 of the toner cartridge 1 ; the second cover plate 14 is covered on the outer side of the first cover plate 13 ; and the force applying member 3 is fastened to one end of the second cover plate 14 .

Referring to FIGS. from 1 through 5 again, when assembled, the removable sealing member 2 seals the bottom opening 11 of the toner cartridge, and the hooks 51 of the releasable locking device 5 are respectively hooked on the lugs 31 of the force applying member 3 to hold the first cover plate 13 and the second cover plate 14 in the close position. When in use, the toner cartridge 1 is mounted in the image forming apparatus and connected to the toner receiving container of the image forming apparatus (not shown). At this time, rod members A of the image forming apparatus are respectively stopped at the releasable locking device 5 to force the hooks 51 of the releasable locking device 5 away from the lugs 31 of the force applying member 3 , permitting formation of magnetic repulsion to force the force applying member 3 outwards. Thus, the user can pull the force applying member 3 with the hand to move the second cover plate 14 , the first cover plate 13 , and the removable sealing member 2 outwards, and therefore the bottom opening 11 of the toner cartridge 1 is opened, permitting supply of the toner into the toner receiving container.

A prototype of toner cartridge opening control arrangement has been constructed with the features of FIGS. 1 ˜ 5 . The toner cartridge opening control arrangement functions smoothly to provide all of the features discussed earlier.

Although a particular embodiment of the invention has been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited except as by the appended claims.