(19)
(11) EP 3 709 097 A1

(12) EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION
published in accordance with Art. 153(4) EPC

(43) Date of publication:
16.09.2020 Bulletin 2020/38

(21) Application number: 18880720.0

(22) Date of filing: 20.11.2018
(51) International Patent Classification (IPC): 
G03G 21/18(2006.01)
G03G 15/08(2006.01)
(86) International application number:
PCT/CN2018/116401
(87) International publication number:
WO 2019/101064 (31.05.2019 Gazette 2019/22)
(84) Designated Contracting States:
AL AT BE BG CH CY CZ DE DK EE ES FI FR GB GR HR HU IE IS IT LI LT LU LV MC MK MT NL NO PL PT RO RS SE SI SK SM TR
Designated Extension States:
BA ME
Designated Validation States:
KH MA MD TN

(30) Priority: 23.11.2017 CN 201721598738 U
28.06.2018 CN 201821014015 U

(71) Applicant: Ninestar Corporation
Zhuhai, Guangdong 519060 (CN)

(72) Inventors:
  • LUO, Qin
    Zhuhai Guangdong 519060 (CN)
  • CAO, Hui
    Zhuhai Guangdong 519060 (CN)
  • DING, Geming
    Zhuhai Guangdong 519060 (CN)
  • ZENG, Likun
    Zhuhai Guangdong 519060 (CN)

(74) Representative: Sun, Yiming 
HUASUN Patent- und Rechtsanwälte Friedrichstraße 33
80801 München
80801 München (DE)

   


(54) DRIVE FORCE-RECEIVING COMPONENT, AND TONER CARTRIDGE


(57) A force receiving part and a toner cartridge are provided in the present disclosure. The toner cartridge includes a toner cartridge body and the force receiving part. The force receiving part is configured to receive a force from the image forming device and transmit the force to the toner cartridge body. A second elastic member is provided inside the force receiving part, and the second elastic member is connected to the connecting portion at one end and the driving head at the other end; when the force receiving part is at the first position, the second elastic member has a tendency to push the driving head away from the toner cartridge body. The force receiving part further includes a first elastic member and / or a third elastic member. the force receiving part provided in the present disclosure enables automatic generation of an outlet for flowing out the toner when in use and for preventing the toner from flowing out by closing the outlet when not in use, which prevents the contamination and damage due to the developer leakage in the toner cartridge.




Description

TECHNICAL FIELD



[0001] The present disclosure relates to the field of printing technology and, more particularly, relates to a force receiving part and a toner cartridge.

BACKGROUND



[0002] 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.

[0003] 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.

[0004] 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 driving tooth structure in the existing toner cartridge may be locked with the internal engagement position of the image forming device, and the operation of the image forming device may have errors; it may also result in that the toner cartridge may have poor sealing, causing the developer in the toner cartridge to be leaked out to pollute the environment and affect image forming quality.

SUMMARY



[0005] The present disclosure provides a force receiving part. 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.

[0006] Optionally, the present disclosure further provides a force receiving part. The force receiving part may include a connecting portion, configured for connecting with the cartridge body; a driving head, configured to receive a force from an image forming device and transmit the force to the connecting portion; a rod which is capable of moving along a length direction of the toner cartridge body and is abutted against the driving head to fix the driving head relative to the connecting portion. One end of the second elastic element is connected to the connecting portion and the other end of the second elastic element is connected to the driving head; one end of the first elastic element is connected to the rod and the other end of the first elastic element is connected to the driving head. When the force receiving part is in a first position, the second elastic member has a tendency to push the driving head away from the toner cartridge body.

[0007] The present disclosure further provides a force receiving part. The force receiving part may include a connecting portion, configured for connecting with the cartridge body; a driving head, configured to receive a force from an image forming device and transmit the force to the connecting portion; a rod which is capable of moving along a length direction of the toner cartridge body and is abutted against the driving head to fix the driving head relative to the connecting portion. One end of the second elastic element is connected to the connecting portion and the other end of the second elastic element is connected to the driving head; one end of the third elastic element is connected to the connecting portion and the other end of the first elastic element is connected to the rod. When the force receiving part is in a first position, the second elastic member has a tendency to push the driving head away from the toner cartridge body.

[0008] The present disclosure further provides a force receiving part. The force receiving part may include a connecting portion, configured for connecting with the cartridge body; a driving head, configured to receive a force from an image forming device and transmit the force to the connecting portion; a rod which is capable of moving along a length direction of the toner cartridge body and is abutted against the driving head to fix the driving head relative to the connecting portion. One end of the second elastic element is connected to the connecting portion and the other end of the second elastic element is connected to the driving head; one end of the third elastic element is connected to the connecting portion and the other end of the first elastic element is connected to the rod; and one end of the first elastic element is connected to the rod and the other end of the first elastic element is connected to the driving head. When the force receiving part is in a first position, the second elastic member has a tendency to push the driving head away from the toner cartridge body.

[0009] The present disclosure further provides a toner cartridge which may use any above-mentioned force receiving part. When the toner cartridge is installed into the image forming device, the cooperation of the second elastic element and the first elastic element and/or the third elastic element may automatically open the toner cartridge; and when the toner cartridge is uninstalled from the image forming device, the toner cartridge may be automatically sealed, which may avoid the situation where the driving tooth structure of the toner cartridge and the internal engagement of the image forming device are locked in the existing technology, also reduce the possibility of errors in the operation of the machine and improve the tightness of the machine, and further effectively prevent the developer in the toner cartridge from leaking which may pollute the environment and affect the image forming quality.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS



[0010] 

FIG. 1 illustrates a stereoscopic view of a force receiving part in the first embodiment;

FIG. 2 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a force receiving part after being cut along the length direction of the force receiving part in the first embodiment;

FIG. 3 illustrates a stereoscopic view of a connecting portion in the first embodiment;

FIG. 4 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a connecting portion after being cut along the length direction of the force receiving part in the first embodiment;

FIG. 5 illustrates a stereoscopic view of a driving head in the first embodiment;

FIG. 6 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a driving head after being cut along the length direction of the force receiving part in the first embodiment;

FIG. 7 illustrates a stereoscopic view of a stopper in the first embodiment;

FIG. 8 illustrates a stereoscopic view of a moving element in the first embodiment;

FIGS. 9-10 illustrate stereoscopic views of a rod from different angles in the first embodiment;

FIG. 11 illustrates a stereoscopic view of a moving element in the second embodiment;

FIG. 12 illustrates a stereoscopic view of a force receiving part in the second embodiment;

FIG. 13 illustrates a stereoscopic view of a force receiving part in the third embodiment;

FIG. 14 illustrates a structural exploded view of a first moving element, a second moving element, and a driving head in the fourth embodiment;

FIG. 15 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a first moving element, a second moving element, and a driving head of being cut along the rotating axis of the force receiving part in the fourth embodiment; and

FIG. 16 illustrates a stereoscopic view of a driving head in the fourth embodiment.


DETAILED DESCRIPTION


The first embodiment



[0011] A force receiving part used for the toner cartridge is provided in one embodiment, which may enable the toner cartridge to receive the rotational driving force provided by the image forming device. FIGS. 1-10 are schematics of the force receiving part according to one embodiment.

[0012] FIG. 1 illustrates a stereoscopic view of a force receiving part. FIG. 2 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a force receiving part after being cut along the length direction of the force receiving part. The force receiving part may include a connecting portion 110, a driving head 120, a stopper 130, a moving element 140, a rod 150, and three elastic elements including a first elastic element 161, a second elastic element 162, and a third elastic element 163.

[0013] FIG. 3 illustrates a stereoscopic view of the connecting portion 110. FIG. 4 illustrates a cross-sectional view of the connecting portion 110 after being cut along the length direction of the force receiving part. The connecting portion 110 may include a first abutting surface 111, a fixing protruding block 112, a protruding eave 113, and a buckle 114, where the buckle 114 is used for connecting with the toner cartridge body. FIG. 5 illustrates a stereoscopic view of the driving head 120. FIG. 6 illustrates a cross-sectional view of the driving head 120 after being cut along the length direction of the force receiving part. The driving head 120 may include a driving tooth 121, a fixing rod 122, a second abutting surface 123, a first limiting hole 124, a limiting protrusion 125, a transmission rod 126, a guide trench 127, and an eighth abutting surface 128, where the driving tooth 121 may protrude along the direction perpendicular to the length direction of the force receiving part, and may be connected to the fixing rod 122. The driving tooth 121 may have a side surface adjacent to the direction of the toner cartridge body, and the side surface may be a driving tooth lower inclined surface 1211. The driving tooth inclined surface 1211 may be inclined toward the direction of the toner cartridge body along the length direction of the toner cartridge body. The free end of the fixing rod 122 protruding from the second abutting surface 123 may be connected to the driving tooth 121. Optionally, a hollow protrusion 1241 may be disposed around the first limiting hole 124 along the length direction of the force receiving part, and the limiting trench 1242 may also be disposed on the inner wall of the hollow protrusion 1241. A third abutting surface 1251 may be disposed on the free end of the limiting protrusion 125. The transmission rod 126 may protrude from the eighth abutting surface 128 toward the direction of the toner cartridge body along the length direction of the force receiving part, and a protrusion 1261 may be disposed on the free end of the transmission rod 126. Optionally, a fourth abutting surface 1262, a fifth abutting surface 1263, a sixth abutting surface 1264, and a seventh abutting surface 1265 may be disposed on the protrusion 1261. The guide trench 127 may pass through the second abutting surface 123 and the eighth abutting surface 128, and a guide hole 1271 may be formed. Optionally, the quantity of the transmission rods 126 may be two, the quantities of the fixing rods 122 and the driving teeth 121 may respectively be four, and the quantities of the guide trenches 127 and the guide holes 1271 may respectively be four. The protrusion 1261 may be snapped onto the protruding eave 113 of the connecting portion 110. The transmission rod 126 may be elastically deformable, so that the protrusion 1261 may move to a certain extent, thereby firmly connecting the driving head 120 with the connecting portion 110. The driving tooth lower inclined surface 1211 may be disposed on the driving tooth 121, such that the driving head 120 may not be snapped to affect the uninstallation process of the toner cartridge when the driving head 120 is detached from the image forming device.

[0014] FIG. 7 illustrates a stereoscopic view of the stopper 130. The stopper 130 may include a fixing portion 131, a blocking portion 132, a transmission hole 133, a through hole 134, a second limiting hole 135, a tenth abutting surface 136, and the eleventh abutting surface 137, where a fixing trench 1311 may be optionally disposed on the fixing portion 131, the fixing trench 1311 may be connected to the fixing protrusion 112 of the connecting portion 110, and a ninth abutting surface 1321, which may be abutted against the third abutting surface 1251 on the limiting protrusion 125 of the driving head, may be further disposed on the blocking portion 132. Furthermore, the blocking portion 132 may not only be disposed between the tenth abutting surface 136 and the eleventh abutting surface 137, and also be disposed on the fixing portion 131 by changing the position of the fixing protrusion 112 on the connecting portion 110, or the distance that the limiting protrusion 125 protrudes from the driving head 120, or the height of the fixing portion 131 on the stopper 130. The separate arrangement of the stopper 130 and the connecting portion 110 may not only reduce the difficulty of the entire production process, but also reduce the difficulty of reprocessing defective products; the arrangement of the through hole 134 and the transmission hole 133 may enable the developer in the toner cartridge body to flow out smoothly without causing blockage.

[0015] FIG. 8 illustrates a stereoscopic view of the moving element 140. The moving element 140 may include a twelfth abutting surface 141, a connecting rod 142, a pushing rod 143, a third limiting hole 144, a thirteenth abutting surface 145, and the fourteenth abutting surface 146, where optionally, the quantity of the pushing rods 143 may be two, and the pushing rods 143 may protrude from a direction perpendicular to the fourteenth abutting surface 146. A free end 1431 may be on the pushing rod 143, and the twelfth abutting surface 141 may be abutted against the pushing device in the image forming device. Optionally, the structures including the twelfth abutting surface 141 may be connected by the connecting rod 142. The driving head 120 may be pushed by the moving part 140, especially acting on the deformable transmission rod 126 directly, such that the driving head 120 may not be stuck in the process of moving toward the toner cartridge, and the breakage risk of the transmission rod 126 after long time use may also be reduced. The arrangement of the sixth abutting surface 1264 on the driving head 120 may also reduce the adverse effect of the contact of the transmission rod 126 with the free end 1431 of the pushing rod on the lifetime of the transmission rod 126.

[0016] FIGS. 9-10 illustrate stereoscopic views of the rod 150 from different angles. The rod 150 may include a rod body 151, a pushing block 152, a connecting rod 153, and A fifteenth abutting surface 1521 may be disposed on the pushing block 152, a sixteenth abutting surface may be disposed on the rod cap 154, and the sixteenth abutting surface may be abutted against the needle device of the image forming device. An anti-lost protrusion 1543 may be optionally disposed on the rod cap 154 to restrict the moving range of the rod 150. The connecting rod 153 may be connected to the rod body 151 and the pushing block 152, and the rod cap 154 may be connected to the rod body 151. Optionally, a triangular protrusion 1512 may be disposed on the rod body 151, and a window 1542 may be disposed at the rod cap 154 accordingly, such that the triangular protrusion 1512 may protrude from the window 1542, thereby installing the rod cap 154 on the rod body 151. The trench 1511 on the rod body 151 may contain the first elastic element 161. Optionally, the anti-lost protrusion 1543 of the rod cap 154 on the rod 150 may be located in the limiting trench 1242 on the hollow protrusion 1241 of the driving head 120, such that the rod 150 may be prevented from deviating during the rotation process, and the deviation may cause that the fifteenth abutting surface 1521 on the pushing block 152 of the rod 150 may not be abutted against the seventh abutting surface 1265 on the transmission rod 126 of the driving head 120. The fifteenth abutting surface 1521 and the seventh abutting surface 1265 on the driving head may both be inclined toward the direction away from the toner cartridge body along the length direction of the toner cartridge body, such that the abutting may be easier, the transmission rod 126 on the driving head 120 may be more easily deformed, and the free end of the transmission rod 126 may be more easily snapped on the protruding eave 113.

[0017] In the existing technology, the fixing protrusion 112 of the connecting portion 110 may be abutted against the transmission rod 126 of the driving head 120, thereby transmitting the rotational driving force from the driving head 120 to the connecting portion 110. In the present disclosure, the fixing protrusion 112 of the connecting portion 110 may be connected to the stopper 130 and the transmission rod 126 on the driving head 120 may be abutted against the transmission hole 133 on the stopper 130, thereby transmitting the rotational driving force from the driving head 120 to the stopper 130, and then from the stopper 130 to the connecting portion 110.

[0018] When the force receiving part, after being assembled, is installed on the toner cartridge body, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the first abutting surface 111 of the connecting portion 110 may be abutted against the eighth abutting surface 128 on the driving head 120, the third abutting surface 1251 on the limiting protrusion 125 of the driving head 120 may be abutted against the ninth abutting surface 1321 on the blocking portion 132 of the stopper 130, and the fifteenth abutting surface 1521 on the pushing block 152 of the rod 150 may be abutted against the seventh abutting surface 1265 on the transmission rod 126 of the driving head 120. The protruding eave 113 of the connecting portion 110 may be abutted against the fourth abutting surface 1262 on the transmission rod 126 of the driving head 120. The two ends of the first elastic element 161 may be respectively connected to the rod cap 154 of the rod 150 and the thirteenth abutting surface 145 on the moving element 140, and the two ends of the second elastic element 162 may be respectively connected between the fourteenth abutting surface 146 on the moving element 140 and the tenth abutting surface 136 on the stopper 130. Obviously, the two ends of the first elastic element 161 and the second elastic element 162 may also use the abutting manner. Optionally, the third elastic element 163 may also be disposed and the two ends of the third elastic element 163 may be respectively connected to the eleventh abutting surface 137 on the stopper 130 and the connecting rod 153 of the rod 150. The transmission rod 126 of the driving head 120 may pass through the transmission hole 133 on the stopper 130 and may drive the stopper 130 and the connecting portion 110 to rotate jointly when the driving head rotates. The connecting rod 142 of the moving element 140 may be located in the guide trench 127 on the driving head and pass through the guide hole 1271. The fixing trench 1311 on the fixing portion 131 of the stopper 130 may be connected to the fixing protrusion 112 of the connecting portion 110, such that the stopper 130 may be fixed on the connecting portion 110. The rod 150 may sequentially pass through the first limiting hole 124 on the driving head 120, the second limiting hole 135 on the stopper 130, and the third limiting hole 144 on the moving element 140. At this point, the second elastic element 162 may tend to push the driving head away from the direction of the toner cartridge, which is a first position of the force receiving part, and at this point, the entire toner cartridge may be in a sealed state, and the developer in the toner cartridge may be isolated from the outside.

[0019] When the toner cartridge is installed in the image forming device and the toner is ready to flow out, the needle device in the rotational driving force transmission part of the image forming device may be abutted against the sixteenth abutting surface 1541 on the rod cap 154 of the rod 150 and may push the rod 150 to move along the direction away from the image forming device during the installation process. At this point, the fifteenth abutting surface 1521 on the pushing block 152 of the rod 150 may be separated from the seventh abutting surface 1265 on the transmission rod 126 of the driving head 120, such that the fourth abutting surface 1262 on the elastic transmission rod 126 may be separated from the protruding eave 113 of the connecting portion 110. Since the second elastic element 162 is in a compressed state, the second elastic element 162 may drive the driving head 120 and the moving element 140 to move along the direction away from the toner cartridge body, thereby separating the first abutting surface 111 on the connecting portion 110 from the eighth abutting surface 128 on the driving head 120 and generating a toner outlet for flowing out the toner between the first abutting surface 111 on the connecting portion 110 and the eighth abutting surface 128 on the driving head 120; the developer in the toner cartridge body may be transported to the vicinity of the toner outlet through the through hole 134 on the stopper 130, thereby transporting the developer to the image forming device; and at this point, the force receiving part is at a second position. The pushing device of the rotational driving force transmission part of the image forming device may be abutted against the twelfth abutting surface 141 on the moving element 140 and enable the moving element 140 to move along the direction toward the toner cartridge body. Then, the moving element 140 may return to the second position of the force receiving part. The driving tooth 121 of the driving head may obtain the rotational driving force from the rotational driving force transmission part, then the force is transmitted to the stopper 130 through the fixing rod 122 and the transmission rod 126 of the driving head 120 and then to the connecting portion 110, and finally drive the toner cartridge body to move jointly.

[0020] When the image forming device stops the image formation and the toner cartridge is read to be uninstalled, the pushing device of the rotational driving force transmission part of the image forming device may be abutted against the twelfth abutting surface 141 on the moving element 140 and enable the moving element 140 to move along the direction toward the toner cartridge body. The free end 1431 of the pushing rod 143 of the moving element 140 may be abutted against the sixth abutting surface 1264 on the transmission rod 126 of the driving head 120, and the driving head 120 and the moving element 140 may move along the direction toward the toner cartridge. When the eighth abutting surface 128 on the driving head 120 is abutted against the first abutting surface 111 on the connecting portion 110, the moving element 140 may continue to move along the direction toward the toner cartridge. As the moving element 140 continues to move, the fourth abutting surface 1262 on the transmission rod 126 of the driving head 120 may be abutted against the protruding eave 113 of the connecting portion 110. When the moving element 140 continues to move, the entire toner cartridge may move along the direction away from the rotational driving force transmission part, and the rod 150, relative to the toner cartridge, may move along the direction toward the rotational driving force transmission part, thereby returning the force receiving part to the first position.

[0021] The moving range of the driving head 120 may be restricted by the third abutting surface on the limiting protrusion 125 of the driving head 120 and the ninth abutting surface on the blocking portion 132 of the stopper 130. The moving range of the moving element 140 may be restricted by the fourteenth abutting surface 146 on the moving element 140 and the tenth abutting surface 136 on the stopper 130.

[0022] Optionally, the second elastic element 162 and the third elastic element 163 may be two ends of a spring mounted on the stopper 130; only the first elastic element 161 or the third elastic element 163 may be disposed to save costs, and both the first elastic element and the third elastic element may be disposed to ensure the part stability; and a sealing part may be disposed between the first abutting surface 111 on the connecting portion 110 and the eighth abutting surface 128 on the driving head 120.

The second embodiment



[0023] The force receiving part in one embodiment is substantially same as the force receiving part in the first embodiment, and the only difference is that an abutting block 147 and a support rod 148 may be disposed on the moving element 140 in one embodiment.

[0024] As shown in FIG. 11, the support rod 148 may also be disposed on another side of the connecting rod 142 opposite to the twelfth abutting surface 141. The abutting block 147 may also be disposed on the free end of the support rod 148. The support rod 148 and the abutting block 147 may extend on the force receiving part along the direction away from the toner cartridge body.

[0025] As shown in FIG. 12, when the moveable portion 140 is located on the force receiving part, the abutting block 147 may be abutted against the side of the fixing rod 122 adjacent to the driving tooth 121, such that the driving tooth 121 may not cause the fixing rod 122 to be inwardly deviated from the radial direction of the rotating axis of the force receiving part due to the interference with the image forming device, thereby affecting the transmission of the rotational driving force.

The third embodiment



[0026] The working principle of the force receiving part in one embodiment is the same as the working principle of the force receiving part in the second embodiment, and the only difference is that the shape of the moving part 140 in one embodiment may be slightly different from the shape of the moving part in the second embodiment.

[0027] As shown in FIG. 13, in one embodiment, the twelfth abutting surface 141a may be an inclined surface which is not perpendicular to the rotating axis of the force receiving part, and the point on the twelfth abutting surface 141a which is farther from the toner cartridge body is closer to the rotating axis of the force receiving part. The support rod 148a may be located at the position of the twelfth abutting surface 141a which is closest to the rotating axis of the force receiving part and may protrude along the direction away from the toner cartridge body, and the support rod 148a may support the abutting block 147a. The support rod 148a and the abutting block 147a may have same functions as the second embodiment.

[0028] Due to the gravity and errors in long-term abrasion and transmission, the rotating axis of the rotational driving force transmission part may not be coaxial with the rotating axis of the force receiving part and small error may be between the two rotating axes. Therefore, compared with the force receiving part in the second embodiment, the force receiving part in one embodiment may not be jammed due to the interference when the force receiving part rotates into the image forming device. However, compared with the force receiving part in the second embodiment, the design in one embodiment may have higher cost of production and modification.

The fourth embodiment



[0029] In order to further facilitate the production and solve the assembly difficulty during the actual production process and long required labor hours for reassignment, the shapes and structures of the parts may be further improved in one embodiment, based on other above-mentioned embodiments. However, the principle of the entire force receiving part is the same as the principle of the force receiving part in the first embodiment.

[0030] As shown in FIGS. 14-16, compared with the first embodiment, the force receiving part involved in one embodiment may mainly have the following modifications.
  1. 1) Compared with the moving element 140 in the first embodiment, the moving element may be divided into a first moving element 240a and a second moving element 240b in one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 14 and FIG. 15. FIG. 14 illustrates a structural exploded view of the first moving element 240a, the second moving element 240b, and the driving head 220; and FIG. 15 illustrates a cross-sectional view of parts in FIG. 14 being cut along the rotating axis of the force receiving part. One end of the second moving element 240b may be abutted against the one end of the first moving element 240a, the other end of the second moving element 240b may be abutted against the image forming device, and the other end of the first moving element 240a may be abutted against the driving head 220. In one embodiment, the connecting rod 242 on the second moving element may be abutted against the first moving element 240a. Such design may be mainly to facilitate assembly, such that the first moving element 240a and the second moving element 240b may be installed with corresponding reference from both sides. Obviously, the first moving element 240a may not be disengaged due to the restriction of the rod 150 and the driving head 220. For example, in one embodiment, the structure of the first moving element 240a may be basically the lower half of the moving element 140 in the first embodiment and include the pushing rod 243, the third limiting hole 244, the thirteenth abutting surface 245 and the fourteenth abutting surface 246. The pushing rod 243, the third limiting hole 244, the thirteenth abutting surface 245 and the fourteenth abutting surface 246 may all have the same structures and functions as the pushing rod 143, the third limiting hole 144, the thirteenth abutting surface 145 and the fourteenth abutting surface 246 in the first embodiment; and the rod 150 may pass through the third limiting hole 244, which may not be limited in detail herein. The second moving element 240b may have a ring-shaped support block 241, and the rod 150 may pass through the inside of the ring formed by the support block 241. The connecting rod 242 may protrude from the support block 241 along the direction of the toner cartridge body. In one embodiment, the connecting rod 242 may be located between two adjacent fixing rods 222, and the two adjacent fixing rods 222 may restrict the position of the connecting rod 242, which may be similar to the effect of the guide trench 127 in the first embodiment. A guide surface 241a and a contact end 241b may sequentially extend from the support block 241 along the direction away from the toner cartridge body. The guide surface 241 a and the contact end 241b may be abutted against the image forming device. Optionally, the quantity of the connecting rods may be four, and the quantities of the guide surfaces 241a and the contact ends 241b may be respectively four; the connecting rods 242, the guide surfaces 241a and the contact ends 241b may be in one-to-one correspondence with respect to the support blocks 241. When the second moving element 240b is pushed by the image forming device to move along the direction toward the toner cartridge body, the connecting rod 242 may be abutted against the first moving element 240a and drive the first moving element 240a to move along the direction toward the toner cartridge body. Optionally, the connecting rod 242 may be abutted against the seventeenth abutting surface 247 of the first moving element 240a closest to the second moving element 240b. The seventeenth abutting surface 247 may be disposed at the side away from the toner cartridge body, the fourteenth abutting surface 246 may be disposed at the side adjacent to the toner cartridge body, the seventeenth abutting surface 247 and the fourteenth abutting surface 246 may be disposed at opposite directions, and the seventeenth abutting surface 247 may be an annular surface. Such design may not only make the installation process simpler, but also make the part manufacturing process simpler. The fourteenth abutting surface 246 in one embodiment may have the similar function as the fourteenth abutting surface 146 in the first embodiment. However, compared with the fourteenth abutting surface 146 in the first embodiment, a ring-shaped protrusion may be disposed around the fourteenth abutting surface 246 in one embodiment, which may prevent the elastic element from deviating during the production and assembly process to affect production efficiency.
  2. 2) Compared with the first embodiment where the twelfth abutting surface 141 is abutted against the image forming device, the second moving element 240b may include the support block 241 in one embodiment, the guide surface 241a and the contact end 241b may sequentially extend from the support block 241 along the direction away from the toner cartridge body, as shown in FIG. 14. The radius of the imaginary circle enclosed by the contact ends 241 b may be smaller than the radius of the circle enclosed by the support block 241, that is, the distance between the contact end 241b and the rotating axis of the force receiving part may be smaller than the distance between the support block 241 and the rotating axis of the force receiving part. Therefore, the farther the guide surface 241a is away from the toner cartridge body, the smaller the distance from the rotating axis of the force receiving part to the guide surface 241a is. Such design may enable the second moving element 241b to be better abutted against the rotational driving force transmission part of the image forming device during the processing of installing the toner cartridge on the image forming device; and since the rotating axis (i.e., the coaxial rotating axis of the toner cartridge) of the force receiving part and the rotating axis of the rotational driving force transmission part on the image forming device cannot be coaxial due to the abrasion of long period use time, the jamming caused by the collision of the rotating axes in the image forming device during the installation of the toner cartridge may be prevented to affect the normal operation of the image forming device.
  3. 3) Compared with the first embodiment where the limiting protrusion 125 is abutted against the blocking portion 132, the limiting protrusion may be deleted in the force receiving part in one embodiment, and the transmission rod 226 may be directly used to pass through the transmission hole 133 and may be abutted against the hole wall of the transmission hole 133, as shown in FIG. 16, which may reduce the complexity of the part structures and costs. Obviously, the blocking portion 132 may not be disposed on the stopper 130. The stopper 130 disposed with the blocking portion 132 in the first embodiment may also be completely applied to the force receiving part in one embodiment, but the blocking portion 132 may no longer function and the materials may be compatible, thereby achieving the purpose of saving the number of molding and reducing costs. Meanwhile, in order to reduce the processing difficulty, the hollow protrusion 1241 may no longer be disposed to restrict the rod 150, and only the rod 150 may be installed inside the structure enclosed by the fixing rods 222.
  4. 4) Compared with the first embodiment where the fixing rod 122 supports the driving tooth 121, four fixing rods 222 may be disposed in one embodiment, where the driving teeth 221a may be disposed on two symmetrical fixing rods 222 relative to the rotating axis of the force receiving part, and the driving teeth 221a may not be disposed on two symmetrical fixing rods 222 relative to the rotating axis of the force receiving part, as shown in FIG. 16. In one embodiment, the connection line between two fixing rods 222 disposed with the driving teeth 221a may be orthogonal to the connection line between two fixing rods 222 without the driving teeth 221a. Obviously, other quantities of the fixing rods 222 and the driving teeth 221a may also be disposed, but at least two fixing rods 222 having the driving teeth 221a should be included. Limiting teeth 221b, which may prevent the disengagement of the second moving element 240a, may also be disposed on the fixing rods 222. Obviously, the limiting teeth 221b may also be disposed on a part of the fixing rods 222, but at least two fixing rods 222 should include the limiting teeth 221b. In an actual transmission process, the limiting teeth 221b may not participate in the process, and the only function of the limiting teeth 221b in one embodiment may prevent the disengagement of the second moving element 240a. Compared with the first embodiment, fewer driving teeth in one embodiment may make the engagement process smoother, and further reduce the engagement difficulty caused by the interference between the driving teeth and the image forming device.


[0031] 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. Such modifications or replacements do not make the essence of the corresponding technical solutions outside the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure.

Industrial applicability



[0032] The force receiving part and the toner cartridge provide in the embodiments of the present application may avoid the situation where the driving tooth structure of the toner cartridge and the internal engagement of the image forming device are locked in the existing technology, also reduce the possibility of errors in the operation of the machine and improve the tightness of the machine, and further effectively prevent the developer in the toner cartridge from leaking which may pollute the environment and affect the image forming quality.


Claims

1. A force receiving part, used for a toner cartridge that includes a toner cartridge body, the force receiving part comprising:

a connecting portion, configured for connecting with the cartridge body;

a driving head, wherein one end of the driving head is configured to receive a force from an image forming device and the other end of the driving head is configured to transmit the force to the connecting portion;

a rod, wherein the rod is capable of moving along a length direction of the toner cartridge body and one end of the rod along the length direction of the toner cartridge body is abutted against the driving head to fix the driving head relative to the connecting portion;

wherein the force receiving part further includes a second elastic element; one end of the second elastic element is connected to the connecting portion and the other end of the second elastic element is connected to the driving head; when the force receiving part is in a first position, the second elastic member has a tendency to push the driving head away from the toner cartridge body; and the force receiving part is any one of three structures, wherein:

1) the force receiving part further includes a first elastic element, wherein one end of the first elastic element is connected to the driving head and the other end of the first elastic element is connected to the rod;

2) the force receiving part further includes a third elastic element, wherein one end of the third elastic element is connected to the connecting portion and the other end of the third elastic element is connected to the rod; and

3) the force receiving part further includes the first elastic element and the third elastic element, wherein one end of the first elastic element is connected to the driving head and the other end of the first elastic element is connected to the rod; and one end of the third elastic element is connected to the connecting portion and the other end of the third elastic element is connected to the rod.


 
2. The part according to claim 1, wherein:
the force receiving part further includes a stopper, wherein the stopper is connected to the connecting portion; a transmission hole is further disposed at the stopper; one end of the second elastic member is connected to the driving head and the other end is connected to the stopper; and one end of the third elastic member is connected to the rod and the other end is connected to the stopper.
 
3. The part according to claim 1, wherein:
the force receiving part further includes a moving element, wherein one end of the moving element is configured to be abutted against the image forming device and the other end of the moving element is configured to be abutted against the driving head; and when the image forming device pushes the moving element to move toward the toner cartridge body, the moving element is capable of driving the driving head to move toward the toner cartridge body.
 
4. The part according to claim 3, wherein:

the moving element includes a twelfth abutting surface and a connecting rod;

a structure including the twelfth abutting surface is connected through the connecting rod;

a support rod is disposed on a side of the connecting rod opposite to the twelfth abutting surface;

an abutting block is further disposed on a free end of the support rod, and the support rod and the abutting block extend on the force receiving part along a direction away from the toner cartridge body;

the twelfth abutting surface is an inclined surface which is not perpendicular to a rotating axis of the force receiving part, and a point on the twelfth abutting surface which is farther from the toner cartridge body is closer to the rotating axis of the force receiving part;

the support rod is located at a position of the twelfth abutting surface which is closest to the rotating axis of the force receiving part and protrudes along the direction away from the toner cartridge body, and the support rod supports the abutting block.


 
5. The part according to claim 3, wherein:
the moving element includes a first moving element and a second moving element; one end of the second moving element is abutted against one end of the first moving element, the other end of the second moving element is configured to be abutted against the image forming device, and the other end of the first moving element is abutted against the driving head.
 
6. The part according to claim 5, wherein:
the second moving element has a ring-shaped support block; a guide surface and a contact end sequentially extend from the support block along a direction away from the toner cartridge body; the guide surface and the contact end is abutted against the image forming device; a radius of an imaginary circle enclosed by the contact ends is smaller than a radius of a circle enclosed by the support block; the farther the guide surface is away from the toner cartridge body, the smaller the distance from the rotating axis of the force receiving part to the guide surface is.
 
7. The part according to claim 1, wherein:
the rod further includes a pushing block which is configured to be abutted against the driving head; a fifteenth abutting surface is disposed on an end of the pushing block adjacent to the image forming device along the length direction of the toner cartridge body; the fifteenth abutting surface is inclined toward a direction away from the toner cartridge body along the length direction of the toner cartridge body; a seventh abutting surface is disposed on a free end of the driving head adjacent to the toner cartridge body and is inclined toward the direction away from the toner cartridge body; and the fifteenth abutting surface is abutted against the seventh abutting surface.
 
8. The part according to claim 1, wherein:
a driving tooth is disposed on one end of the driving head for receiving the force from the image forming device, and a side surface of the driving teeth adjacent to the direction of the toner cartridge body is inclined toward the direction of the toner cartridge body along the length direction of the toner cartridge body.
 
9. The part according to claim 8, wherein:
a fixing rod is disposed on the driving head, the driving tooth is disposed on the fixing rod, and at least two fixing rods are disposed with driving teeth.
 
10. A toner cartridge, wherein the toner cartridge includes the force receiving part according to any one of claims 1-9.
 




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