Abstract:
A wasted toner storing apparatus and a dry type electrophotographic image forming apparatus using the same. The wasted toner storing apparatus includes a wasted toner container accommodating wasted toner generated during a printing process, and a dispersing member inside the wasted toner container, dispersing the wasted toner inside the wasted toner container by rotation of the dispersing member.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   This application claims the benefit of Korean Application No. 2002-53822, filed Sep. 6, 2002, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates to a dry type electrophotographic image forming apparatus, and, more particularly, to a dry type electrophotographic image forming apparatus having a wasted toner storing apparatus for storing wasted toner generated during image formation. 
   2. Description of the Related Art 
   An electrophotographic image forming apparatus completes an image print by forming an electrostatic latent image on a photosensitive medium, developing the electrostatic latent image using a developing agent, and transferring the developed image to a sheet of print paper via a predetermined transfer medium. Of the different types of electrophotographic image forming apparatuses, an apparatus using toner in a powder state as a developing agent is referred to as a dry type electrophotographic image forming apparatus. 
     FIG. 1  shows one example of a dry type electrophotographic image forming apparatus. 
   The image forming apparatus shown in  FIG. 1  includes a photoreceptor drum  10  as a photosensitive medium, a charger  13  for charging the photoreceptor drum  10 , an exposing unit  12  for scanning light onto the charged photoreceptor drum  10  to form an electrostatic latent image, a developing unit  11  for supplying color toner to the electrostatic latent image to form a toner image, a transferring unit  16  for transferring the toner image to a sheet of print paper S, and a fixing unit  17  for heating and pressing the print paper S to fix the toner image on the print paper S. 
   In the above image forming apparatus, since a portion of the toner adhered to the electrostatic latent image is not transferred to the print paper S but generally remains on the surface of the photoreceptor drum  10 , the remaining toner must be removed from the photoreceptor drum  10  before the next print job. Reference numeral  14  represents a cleaning member. The cleaning member  14  is in contact with the surface of the photoreceptor drum  10  and scrapes off the toner remaining on the surface of the photoreceptor drum  10  by way of the rotation of the photoreceptor drum  10 . Wasted toner T removed from the photoreceptor drum  10  is collected in a container, which is indicated by reference numeral  18 , and the wasted toner T is transported into a wasted toner container  20  by a transporting unit  15  installed in the container  18 . 
     FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the wasted toner container  20  shown in  FIG. 1  in detail. 
   With reference to  FIG. 2 , one end of the transporting unit  15  is fixed to an inlet  21  of the wasted toner container  20 , and the wasted toner T transported from the container  18  by the transporting unit  15  enters into the wasted toner container  20  via the inlet  21 . The wasted toner T free-falls into and accumulates in the wasted toner container  20  due to the force of gravity. However, the wasted toner T is not evenly dispersed inside the wasted toner container  20 , and most of the wasted toner T accumulates in the lower portion of the inlet  21 . If the wasted toner T has piled up to the upper portion of the inlet  21  as shown in  FIG. 2 , though enough space for accommodating the wasted toner T exists inside the wasted toner container  20 , the wasted toner container  20  cannot accommodate the wasted toner T because the inlet  21  of the wasted toner container  20  is clogged with the wasted toner T. As a result, the wasted toner T removed from the photoreceptor drum  10  is not transported into the wasted toner container  20 , and instead the wasted toner T accumulates in the container  18 . However, if the capacity of the container  18  for accommodating the wasted toner is exceeded, the wasted toner T leaks outside the container  18 , whereby the image forming apparatus can be polluted. 
   In order to prevent this problem, there has been proposed a first method requiring a user to periodically shake the wasted toner container  20  to disperse the wasted toner T, and a second method of installing an individual wasted toner container driving device (not shown) which disperses the accumulated wasted toner T inside the wasted toner container  20  by vibrating the wasted toner container  20 . However, in the first method, since the user must remember the dispersion period of the wasted toner T, this method is not convenient for the user. In a case where the user forgets the dispersion period of the wasted toner T, the wasted toner T leaks. 
   Further, in the second method, in a case of vibrating the wasted toner container  20 , the one end of the transporting unit  15  may be separated from the inlet  21  such that the wasted toner T transported from the container  18  may not enter into the wasted toner container  20 , whereby the inside the image forming apparatus may be polluted. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention provides a dry type electrophotographic wasted toner storing apparatus improved to be capable of evenly dispersing wasted toner inside a wasted toner container without vibrating the wasted toner container, and a dry type electrophotographic image forming apparatus adopting the same. 
   Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. 
   According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a wasted toner storing apparatus of a dry type electrophotographic image forming apparatus comprising a wasted toner container which accommodates wasted toner generated in a print unit for printing an image on a print paper by an electrophotographic method using dry toner; and a dispersing member inside the wasted toner container that disperses the wasted toner inside the wasted toner container by rotation of the dispersing member. 
   According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a dry type electrophotographic image forming apparatus comprising a print unit for printing an image on a print paper by an electrophotographic method using dry toner; and a wasted toner storing apparatus container for storing wasted toner generated in the print unit, wherein the wasted toner storing apparatus includes a wasted toner container for accommodating the wasted toner, and a dispersing member inside the wasted toner container that disperses the wasted toner inside the wasted toner container by rotation of the dispersing member. 
   The image forming apparatus further comprises a feeding cassette which is installed/removed in/from the print unit for accommodating the print paper to be supplied to the print unit, and the dispersing member is coupled with the cassette so as to rotate during an installing/removing operation of the feeding cassette. 
   The dispersing member may include a rotation axis inside the wasted toner container and a plurality of spiral protrusions which are disposed on the rotation axis to disperse the wasted toner. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     These and/or other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the preferred embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which: 
       FIG. 1  is a schematic view showing one example of a dry type electrophotographic image forming apparatus; 
       FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a wasted toner container shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 3  is a schematic view showing one example of a dry type electrophotographic image forming apparatus adopting a wasted toner storing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; and 
       FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the wasted toner storing apparatus shown in FIG.  3 . 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   Reference will now be made in detail to the present preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below in order to explain the present invention by referring to the figures. 
   With reference to  FIG. 3 , a print unit  200  of an image forming apparatus includes a photoreceptor drum  100  as a photosensitive medium, a charger  110  for charging the photoreceptor drum  100 , a laser scanning unit (LSU)  120  as an exposing unit for scanning light onto the charged photoreceptor drum  100  to form an electrostatic latent image of a desirable image, a developing unit  130  for developing the electrostatic latent image with toner, in a powder state, having the four colors of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K) to form a toner image, a transferring unit having a transfer belt  140  for superimposing the toner images of four colors formed on the photoreceptor drum  100  sequentially and transferring the superimposed image to a sheet of print paper S, and a fixing unit  150  for heating and pressing the print paper S to fix the image on the print paper S. Reference numeral  170  represents a cleaning device for a photoreceptor drum, reference numeral  180  represents an eraser, and reference numeral  160  represents a cleaning device for a transfer belt. A feeding cassette  300  for supplying the print papers is installed at the lower portion of the print unit  200 . The feeding cassette  300  is installed to be removable from the print unit  200  so as to accommodate a large amount of print paper. 
   In the above structure, a color image is formed as follows. Firstly, if the photoreceptor drum  100  is charged by the charger  110 , the LSU  120  scans light onto the photoreceptor drum  100  to form an electrostatic latent image corresponding to a first color to be developed. For example, if yellow (Y) is determined as the first color, the developing unit  130 -Y corresponding to yellow accesses the photoreceptor drum  100  and develops the electrostatic latent image formed on the photoreceptor drum  110  with yellow toner to form a yellow toner image. The yellow image thus formed is transferred to the transfer belt  140 . 
   Next, an electrostatic latent image corresponding to a second color to be developed is formed by the charging and the exposure performed by the photoreceptor drum  100 . For example, if magenta (M) is determined as a second color, the developing unit  130 -M corresponding to magenta accesses the photoreceptor drum  100  and develops the electrostatic latent image formed on the photoreceptor drum  100  with magenta toner to form a magenta toner image. The magenta image thus formed is superimposed on and transferred to the transfer belt  140 , to which the yellow image has been transferred. Cyan and black are also developed and transferred sequentially using the above-described method to form a final image of a desirable color on the transfer belt  140 . Thereafter, the color image thus formed is transferred to the print paper S, which is supplied between the transfer belt  140  and a transfer back-up roller  140   a  from the feeding cassette  300 , and is heated and pressed when passed through the fixed unit  150  so that the color image is completely fixed on the print paper S. 
   In the image formation process as described above, when the toner image is transferred from the photoreceptor drum  100  to the transfer belt  140 , or from the transfer belt  140  to the print paper S, a portion of the toner for forming an image is not transferred, and remains on the photoreceptor drum  100  and the transfer belt  140 . The remaining toner must be removed before the next print job. For this removal work, the cleaning unit  170  for the photoreceptor drum  100  and the cleaning unit  160  for the transfer belt  140  are provided. 
   The cleaning unit  170  for the photoreceptor drum  100  removes the toner remaining on the surface of the photoreceptor drum  100  after the toner image is transferred from the photoreceptor drum  100  to the transfer belt  140 . The cleaning unit  170  for the photoreceptor drum  100  includes a first cleaning member  171  contacting the surface of the photoreceptor drum  100 , a first container  173  for temporarily collecting the removed wasted toner T, and a first transporting unit  172  for transporting the wasted toner T to a wasted toner container  400 . The cleaning unit  160  for the transfer belt  140  removes the toner remaining on the surface of the transfer belt  140  after the toner image is transferred from the transfer belt  140  to the print paper S. The cleaning unit  160  for the transfer belt  140  includes a second cleaning member  161  contacting the surface of the transfer belt  140 , a second container  163  for temporarily collecting the removed wasted toner T, and a second transporting unit  162  for transporting the wasted toner T to the wasted toner container  400 . The wasted toner T, which is removed from the photoreceptor drum  100  and the transfer belt  140 , and is collected in the first container  173  and the second container  163 , is transported to the wasted toner container  400  by the first transporting unit  172  and the second transporting unit  162 . 
     FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a wasted toner storing apparatus shown in FIG.  3 . 
   As shown in  FIG. 4 , the wasted toner storing apparatus includes the wasted toner container  400  provided with a first inlet  410 , a second inlet  420 , and a dispersing member  430  installed inside the wasted toner container  400 . One end of the first transporting unit  172  and one end of the second transporting unit  162  are fitted to the first inlet  410  and the second inlet  420 , respectively. Thus, the wasted toner T is transported from the first container  173  and the second container  163  to the wasted toner container  400  by the first inlet  410  and the second inlet  420 , respectively. The dispersing member  430  includes a rotatable rotation axis  431  installed inside the wasted toner container  400 , and a plurality of spiral wings  432  formed on the rotation axis  431 . A first gear  440  is coupled to one end of the rotation axis  431  protruding outside the wasted toner container  400 . The first gear  440  is one example of a power transmitting unit rotating the dispersing member  430 . 
   The dispersing member  430  does not always have to rotate. Rather, it may be preferable that the dispersing member  430  rotates occasionally in order to disperse the accumulated wasted toner T, when a considerable amount of wasted toner T has accumulated around the inlets  410  and  420 . Such an embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG.  4 . The dispersing member  430  is configured to rotate interlocking with the movement of the feeding cassette  300 . A rack gear  310  is formed on the one side of the feeding cassette  300  in the movement direction of the feeding cassette  300 , and the rack gear  310  is engaged with a pinion  320 . The first gear  440  is connected to the pinion  320  by driven gears  330 ,  340 , and  350 . 
   In the above-described structure, if the feeding cassette  300  is pulled out in the A direction, as indicated in  FIG. 4 , for filling the print paper, the horizontal motion of the rack gear  310  is changed into a rotary motion by the pinion  320 , and the rotary motion is transmitted to the first gear  440 , whereby the dispersing member  430  rotates. If the feeding cassette  300  is pushed in the B direction, as indicated in  FIG. 4 , after filling the print paper, the dispersing member  430  rotates in the opposite direction of the rotation direction when the feeding cassette  300  is pulled out. If the dispersing member  430  rotates in both directions, the wasted toner T accumulated around the inlets  410  and  420  is transported in both directions, as indicated by D in  FIG. 4 , by the spiral wings  432 . Thus, since the wasted toner T is evenly dispersed inside the wasted toner container  400 , the inlets  410  and  420  are prevented from being clogged. Since 100-250 sheets of print paper can generally be filled in the feeding cassette  300 , the wasted toner accumulated inside the wasted toner container  400  is dispersed in every print period of 100-250 sheets of print paper. 
   In addition to the above-described structure, the first gear  440  may be connected to a separate driving device (not shown) having a driving motor (not shown) for rotating the dispersing member  430 , or may be connected to a driving device (not shown) for driving the photoreceptor drum  100  and the transfer belt  140 . Various devices other than the gear, for example, a belt, may be used as a power transmitting unit. 
   Although the color image forming apparatus using the transfer belt as a transferring unit is described in this embodiment of the present invention, the present invention is not limited thereto. That is, the wasted toner storing apparatus according to the present invention can be adopted in most electrophotographic image forming apparatuses using dry toner. Therefore, the wasted toner storing apparatus according to the present invention can be adopted in not only color image forming apparatuses but also mono image forming apparatuses. 
   As described above, the wasted toner storing apparatus of the dry type electrophotographic image forming apparatus according to the present invention has several advantages, some of which are listed below. 
   First, since wasted toner is transported in both directions by rotating the dispersing member installed inside the wasted toner container without vibrating the wasted toner container, the inlets of the wasted toner container can be prevented from being clogged. 
   Second, since the dispersing member rotates only inside the wasted toner container, and the wasted toner container itself does not vibrate with the dispersing member, the first and second inlets and the first and second transporting units of the wasted toner container can be prevented from being separated from each other, thereby preventing the wasted toner from leaking. 
   Although a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in this embodiment without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.