Toner cartridge and image forming apparatus to be mounted with the toner cartridge
First Claim
1. A toner cartridge to be removably mounted in an image forming apparatus including a cartridge insertion port for receiving the toner cartridge, the toner cartridge comprising:
- a toner bottle which contains toner; and
a support member which supports the toner bottle in an axially rotatable manner;
wherein the toner bottle has a toner outlet port provided in a portion thereof supported by the support member;
the support member has an outlet port shutter provided slidably on an outer surface thereof for opening and closing the toner outlet port, and a projecting engagement portion for positioning the toner cartridge with respect to the cartridge insertion port in the mounting of the toner cartridge;
the support member and the toner bottle respectively have a projection and a recess serving as a locking portion and a to-be-locked portion for restricting rotation of the toner bottle with respect to the support member when the toner cartridge is not mounted in the image forming apparatus.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A toner cartridge is provided, which comprises a toner bottle containing toner, and a support member supporting the toner bottle in an axially rotatable manner. The toner bottle has a toner outlet port provided in a portion thereof supported by the support member. The support member has an outlet port shutter provided slidably on an outer surface thereof for opening and closing the toner outlet port, and a projecting engagement portion for positioning the toner cartridge with respect to a cartridge insertion port of an image forming apparatus when the toner cartridge is mounted in the image forming apparatus. The support member and the toner bottle respectively have a projection and a recess serving as a locking portion and a to-be-locked portion for restricting rotation of the toner bottle with respect to the support member when the toner cartridge is not mounted in the image forming apparatus.
64 Citations
12 Claims
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1. A toner cartridge to be removably mounted in an image forming apparatus including a cartridge insertion port for receiving the toner cartridge, the toner cartridge comprising:
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a toner bottle which contains toner; and
a support member which supports the toner bottle in an axially rotatable manner;
wherein the toner bottle has a toner outlet port provided in a portion thereof supported by the support member;
the support member has an outlet port shutter provided slidably on an outer surface thereof for opening and closing the toner outlet port, and a projecting engagement portion for positioning the toner cartridge with respect to the cartridge insertion port in the mounting of the toner cartridge;
the support member and the toner bottle respectively have a projection and a recess serving as a locking portion and a to-be-locked portion for restricting rotation of the toner bottle with respect to the support member when the toner cartridge is not mounted in the image forming apparatus. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. An image forming apparatus comprising a cartridge insertion port for receiving a toner cartridge which includes a toner bottle containing toner and a support member supporting the toner bottle in an axially rotatable manner, the toner bottle having a toner outlet port provided in a portion thereof supported by the support member, the support member having an outlet port shutter provided slidably on an outer surface thereof for opening and closing the toner outlet port and a projecting engagement portion for positioning the toner cartridge with respect to the cartridge insertion port in mounting the toner cartridge, the support member and the toner bottle respectively having a projection and a recess serving as a locking portion and a to-be-locked portion for restricting rotation of the toner bottle with respect to the support member when the toner cartridge is not mounted in the image forming apparatus,
wherein the cartridge insertion port includes a toner inlet port provided in an inner wall surface thereof for receiving toner supplied from the toner cartridge, an inlet port shutter provided slidably on the toner inlet port for opening and closing the toner inlet port, a resilient member which biases the toner cartridge in a direction opposite from a toner cartridge insertion direction, and a disengaging member which acts on the locking portion to disengage the locking portion from the to-be-locked portion in the mounting of the toner cartridge, and has a pivot groove in which the engagement portion is pivoted, a to-be-engaged portion to be engaged with the pivoted engagement portion, and a latching portion which latches a part of the outlet port shutter; -
when the toner cartridge is inserted into the cartridge insertion port, the inlet port shutter is pushed and slid in releasable engagement with a part of the support member to open the toner inlet port, and the part of the outlet port shutter is latched by the latching portion of the cartridge insertion port;
when the toner cartridge is pushed into an innermost end of the cartridge insertion port against a biasing force of the resilient member and the support member is rotated by a predetermined angle in a predetermined direction with respect to the cartridge insertion port, the disengaging member acts on the locking portion to disengage the locking portion from the to-be-locked portion, whereby the outlet port shutter latched by the latching portion is moved relative to the support member to open the toner outlet port and the engagement portion is pivoted in the pivot groove of the cartridge insertion port to a position associated with the to-be-engaged portion;
when the toner cartridge is moved in the direction opposite from the insertion direction by the biasing force of the resilient member, the engagement portion is engaged with the to-be-engaged portion to position the toner cartridge in the cartridge insertion port. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12)
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Specification