(12) United States Patent
`Yamada et al.
`
`(10) Patent No.:
`
`(45) Date of Patent:
`
`US 8,909,094 B2
`*Dec. 9, 2014
`
`US008909094B2
`
`(54) SEALING MEMBER, TONER
`ACCOMMODATING CONTAINER AND
`IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS
`
`(75)
`
`Inventors: Yusuke Yamada, Ibaraki-ken (JP);
`Yutaka Ban, Tokyo (JP); Katsuya
`Murakami, Ibaraki-ken (JP); Fumio
`Tazawa, Chiba-ken (JP); Hironori
`Minagawa, Ibaraki-ken (JP)
`
`(73) Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo (JP)
`
`( * ) Notice:
`
`Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
`patent is extended or adjusted under 35
`U.S.C. 154(b) by 0 days.
`
`This patent is subject to a terminal dis-
`claimer.
`
`(21) Appl. No.: 13/617,050
`
`(22)
`
`(65)
`
`Filed:
`
`Sep. 14, 2012
`
`Prior Publication Data
`
`US 2013/0011159A1
`
`Jan. 10, 2013
`
`Related U.S. Application Data
`
`(60) Division of application No. 13/231,388, filed on Sep.
`13, 2011, now Pat. No. 8,290,394, which is a division
`
`(Continued)
`
`(30)
`
`Foreign Application Priority Data
`
`Feb. 19, 2001
`Jun. 28, 2001
`
`(JP) ............................... .. 2001-042536
`(JP) ............................... .. 2001-197546
`
`(51)
`
`Int. Cl.
`G03G 15/08
`(52) U.S. Cl.
`CPC
`
`(2006.01)
`
`G03G 15/0837 (2013.01); G03G 2215/0678
`(2013.01); G03G 2215/0668 (2013.01); G03G
`15/0839 (2013.01); G03G 15/0834 (2013.01);
`G03G 2221/1657 (2013.01); G03G 2215/0692
`(2013.01)
`USPC ........................................................ .. 399/106
`
`(58) Field of Classification Search
`CPC ........ .. G03G 15/0834; G03G 15/0837; G03G
`15/0839; G03G 2221/1657; G03G 2215/0678;
`G03G 2215/0692; G03G 2215/0668
`
`USPC ....................... .. 399/106, 262, 119, 120,260;
`222/DIG. 1
`
`See application file for complete search history.
`
`(56)
`
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`(Continued)
`
`FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`CA
`CN
`
`2300202
`1237405 C
`
`2/1999
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`
`(Continued)
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`Defendant Color Imaging, Inc.’s Invalidity Contentions Pursuant to
`Local Patent Rule 4.3, dated May 8, 2012, in Case No. 1:11-cv-
`03855-RLV in the United States District Court, Northern District of
`Georgia, Atlanta Division.
`
`(Continued)
`
`Primary Examiner — Susan Lee
`(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm — Fitpatrick, Cella, Harper &
`Scinto
`
`ABSTRACT
`(57)
`A toner supply container includes a rotatable container body
`and a sealing member provided at its axial end portion. The
`sealing member is movable in an axial direction and includes
`a sealing portion to seal and unseal an opening of the con-
`tainer body when in first and second relative positions,
`respectively, and a coupling portion positioned to receive a
`rotational drive force for rotating the sealing member and the
`container body. The coupling portion includes an elastically
`displaceable supporting portion, an engaging portion, and a
`displacing force receiving portion, which are integrally
`molded. The engaging portion includes a rotational force
`receiving portion for receiving a rotational drive force for
`rotating the sealing member and the container body, and a
`locking portion. The displacing force receiving portion is
`provided on the supporting portion at a position closer to the
`container body than the engaging portion.
`
`53 Claims, 34 Drawing Sheets
`
`
`
`GPI EXHIBIT 1001
`
`GENERAL PLASTIC V. CANON
`
`|PR2016-01359
`
`GPI EXHIBIT 1001
`GENERAL PLASTIC v. CANON
`IPR2016-01359
`
`1
`
`

`
`US 8,909,094 B2
`Page 2
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`filed on May 6, 2003, now Pat. No.
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`~
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`
`* cited by examiner
`
`3
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`Dec. 9, 2014
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`8
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`U.S. Patent
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`U.S. Patent
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`F!G. 9
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`10
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`10
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`11
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`

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`U.S. Patent
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`Dec. 9, 2014
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`Sheet 9 of 34
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`US 8,909,094 B2
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`12
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`*3
`31113‘?!nficfi
`
`.“““uvun.u 1
`
`
`
`1“:
`
`12
`
`

`
`U.S. Patent
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`Dec. 9, 2014
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`FIG. I2
`
`13
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`13
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`

`
`U.S. Patent
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`US 8,909,094 B2
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`1
`SEALING MEMBER, TONER
`ACCOMMODATING CONTAINER AND
`IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS
`
`FIELD OF THE INVENTION AND RELATED
`ART
`
`This application is a divisional application of application
`Ser. No. 13/231,388, filed Sep. 13, 201 1, which issued as U.S.
`Pat. No. 8,290,394 on Oct. 16, 2012, which is a divisional
`application of application Ser. No. 12/981,785, filed Dec. 30,
`2010, which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,045,901 on Oct. 25,
`2011, which is a divisional application of application Ser. No.
`12/615,012, filed Nov. 9, 2009, which issued as U.S. Pat. No.
`7,890,027 on Feb. 15, 201 1 ; which is divisional application of
`application Ser. No. 12/169,895, filed Jul. 9, 2008, which
`issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,647,012 on Jan. 12, 2010; which is
`a divisional application of application Ser. No. 11/200,179,
`filed Aug. 10, 2005, which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,430,384
`on Sep. 30, 2008; which is a divisional application of appli-
`cation Ser. No. 10/429,741 filed May 6, 2003, which issued as
`U.S. Pat. No. 6,990,301 on Jan. 24, 2006; and which is a
`continuation-in-part application of application Ser. No.
`10/076,430 filed Feb. 19, 2002, which issued as U.S. Pat. No.
`6,879,789 on Apr. 12, 2005.
`The present invention relates to a toner accommodating
`container, a sealing member therefor and an image forming
`apparatus, suitably usable with an image forming apparatus
`such as a copying machine, a printer, and a facsimile machine.
`In a conventional electrophotographic image forming
`apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying machine or
`a printer, fine particle toner is used as a developer. When the
`toner in the main assembly of the electrophotographic image
`forming apparatus is used up, the toner is supplied into the
`main assembly of the image forming apparatus using a toner
`accommodating container (toner supply container).
`Here, the electrophotographic image forming apparatus is
`an apparatus which forms images on a recording material
`through an electrophotographic image formation type pro-
`cess. The electrophotographic image forming apparatus
`includes an electrophotographic copying machine, an elec-
`trophotographic printer (laser beam printer, LED printer, for
`example), a facsimile machine, word processor or the like.
`Since the toner is a very fine powder, it is known to place,
`upon toner supplying operation, a toner supply container
`inside the main assembly ofthe image forming apparatus and
`to gradually supply the toner through a small opening to avoid
`scattering of the toner.
`Any one of the above-described toner supply containers
`receives a driving force from the main assembly of an image
`forming apparatus to drive the feeding member in the toner
`supply container or the main body itselfto discharge the toner.
`As for such a drive transmitting means, there are some meth-
`ods. For example, Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model Appli-
`cation Hei 05-75768 discloses that a gear portion is provided
`on an outer surface of the toner bottle (toner supply con-
`tainer), and the gear is engaged with a driving gear, by which
`the toner bottle is rotated.
`
`Japanese Laid-open Patent Application Hei 10-63084 dis-
`closes that an end surface of the toner bottle is provided with
`a projection, which is engaged with a recess formed in a
`driving portion of the main assembly of the image forming
`apparatus, thus transmitting the driving force.
`Japanese Laid-open Patent Application Hei 10-63076 dis-
`closes another type. A rotating force transmitting portion of a
`main assembly of an image forming apparatus has an inner
`diameter which is provided with a plurality of engaging
`
`2
`
`grooves, and the toner container is provided with projections
`engageable with the engaging grooves. The rotational driving
`force is transmitted through the engagement therebetween.
`As described, various drive transmission methods are pro-
`posed for driving the toner supply container.
`However, the conventional structures involve some prob-
`lems.
`In the case of Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model Applica-
`tion Hei 05 -75768, when the toner bottle is inserted into the
`main assembly ofthe image forming apparatus, it is necessary
`to make the gear portion on the outer surface of the toner
`bottle properly engage with the driving gear portion in the
`main assembly of an image forming apparatus. This requires
`the user to be careful for the proper engagement. In addition,
`since the toner bottle is rotated through the meshing engage-
`ment between gears, the toner bottle receives forces tending
`to deviate the bottle in a direction perpendicular to the axis.
`Therefore, there is a possibility that the toner bottle is raised
`or is laterally deviated with a result of improper rotation. In
`order to avoid such a deviation, it is required that the entire
`outer circumference of the toner bottle be enclosed. This
`
`imposes difficulty in the toner bottle mounting and demount-
`ing operations. Additionally, the supplying system becomes
`complicated and expensive.
`In the methods disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent
`Application Hei 10-63084 and Japanese Laid-open Patent
`Application Hei 10-63076, when the toner bottle is inserted
`such that projection (or recess) provided at the end surface of
`toner bottle is properly engaged with the basis (or projection)
`of the main assembly side driving portion (main assembly
`driving portion), an indexing operation in the rotational direc-
`tion is required. This degrades the developer supplying oper-
`ativity, and even a slight deviation may result in inoperability.
`In order to avoid such an improper engagement,
`it is
`required that toner bottle is provided on its outer surface with
`a guiding rib so as to determine the position ofthe toner bottle
`in the rotational direction upon the insertion thereof, or that a
`rotating operation of the engaging recess of the main assem-
`bly driving portion is controlled to stop at a predetermined
`rotational position whenever it stops. This also results in
`complications and a cost increase.
`In most of the coupling drive transmissions using projec-
`tion/recess engagement, when the phase deviation occurs
`between the toner bottle and the main assembly driving por-
`tion, it is required that the main assembly driving portion is
`retracted against a spring force, and the engaging position is
`established when the phase becomes aligned. With such a
`structure, even if there is a phase difference when the toner
`bottle is inserted,
`the main assembly driving portion is
`retracted, and when the bottle is rotated in this state, the phase
`differences are eliminated sooner or later, and therefore, the
`engagement is established. However, the structure ofthe main
`assembly driving portion is complicated. In addition, the
`main assembly driving portion has to be movable toward the
`rear side, which requires additional space and therefore hin-
`ders downsizing of the main assembly of the apparatus.
`In the conventional example, it is not disclosed as to how to
`disengage the projection from the recess. Assuming that the
`operator uses force to pull the toner supply container out, or
`the operator pushes the small projection with a finger, the
`usability is not good, or the driving portion of the image
`forming apparatus or the toner supply container may be dam-
`aged.
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`Accordingly, it is a principal object ofthe present invention
`to provide a sealing member in which a sealing member is
`
`5
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`

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`US 8,909,094 B2
`
`3
`locked with an image forming apparatus in order to open or
`unseal a toner discharge opening of a toner accommodating
`container, and yet the sealing member can be released from
`the image forming apparatus with a simple structure.
`It is another object of the present invention to provide a
`toner accommodating container in which a locking portion of
`the toner accommodating container is locked with an image
`forming apparatus, and the locking of the locking portion
`with the image forming apparatus can be released with a
`simple structure.
`It is a further object of the present invention to provide a
`toner accommodating container in which a sealing member is
`locked with an image forming apparatus to open or unseal a
`toner discharge opening of the toner accommodating con-
`tainer, and yet the sealing member can be released from the
`image forming apparatus with a simple structure.
`It is a further object of the present invention to provide an
`image forming apparatus in which a locking portion of a toner
`accommodating container is engaged with a portion to be
`locked of a mounting means, and the locking portion can be
`released from the portion to be locked with a simple structure.
`It is a further object of the present invention to provide an
`image forming apparatus in which a locking portion of a
`sealing member is engaged with a portion to be locked of the
`mounting means to open or unseal a toner discharge opening
`of a toner accommodating container, and yet the locking
`portion can be released from the portion to be locked with a
`simple structure.
`These and other objects, features and advantages of the
`present invention will become more apparent upon a consid-
`eration of the following description of the preferred embodi-
`ments of the present invention taken in conjunction with the
`accompanying drawings.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an image forming apparatus
`according to an embodiment of the present invention.
`FIG. 2 is a perspective view ofthe image forming apparatus
`shown in FIG. 1.
`
`FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating mounting of a toner
`supply container into an image forming apparatus.
`FIG. 4 is a front view of an image forming apparatus of
`FIG. 1.
`
`FIG. 5 is a side view of the image forming apparatus of
`FIG. 1.
`
`FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the image forming apparatus in
`which a toner container front cover is shown as being in an
`open position.
`FIGS. 7(A) through 7(C) are sectional views illustrating a
`toner supply container mounting operation, wherein FIG.
`7(A) shows an initial stage of the mounting operation, FIG.
`7(B) shows the state in the process ofmounting operation, and
`FIG. 7(C) shows the state after the completion of the mount-
`ing operation.
`FIG. 8 is a partly broken perspective view of a toner supply
`container according to an embodiment of the present inven-
`tion.
`
`FIG. 9 is a partly enlarged sectional view of a drive trans-
`mitting portion according to an embodiment of the present
`invention in which a driving shaft is provided on the main
`body side of the toner supply container.
`FIG. 10 is a partly broken perspective view of a toner
`supply container according to another embodiment of the
`present invention.
`
`4
`
`5
`
`10
`
`15
`
`20
`
`FIG. 11 is a partly enlarged sectional view of a drive trans-
`mitting portion according to another embodiment of the
`present invention in which a driving shaft is provided on a
`sealing member side.
`FIGS. 12(A) through 12(C) are side views of a sealing
`member according to an embodiment of the present inven-
`tion, wherein FIG. 12(A) is a front view, FIG. 12(B) is a side
`view as seen in the direction X of FIG. 12(A), and FIG. 12(C)
`is a side view as seen in the directionY of FIG. 12(A).
`FIG. 13 is a sectional view of a sealing member taken along
`a line Z-Z of FIG. 12(B).
`FIG. 14 is a perspective view ofa driving force transmitting
`portion and a driving force receiving portion according to an
`embodiment of the present invention.
`FIGS. 15(A) through 15(C) are partially sectional views
`illustrating engaging action of a drive transmitting portion of
`a toner bottle, in which FIG. 15(A) shows a state before
`insertion of a toner bottle, FIG. 15(B) shows a state in the
`process of insertion, and FIG. 15(C) shows a state after the
`completion of an inserting operation.
`FIG. 16 is a perspective view of a driving force receiving
`portion according to another embodiment of the present
`invention.
`
`25
`
`FIG. 17 is a sectional view of the sealing member of FIG.
`16.
`
`FIGS. 18(A) through 18(C) are illustrations ofphase align-
`ment when the toner bottle is inserted into the main assembly
`ofthe apparatus wherein FIG. 18(A) shows a state in which an
`engaging rib and an engaging projection are aligned with each
`other, FIG. 18(B) shows a state in which they are not aligned
`after rotation to a certain extent, and FIG. 18(C) shows a state
`in which the engaging rib is abutted to the engaging projec-
`tion to enable drive transmission.
`
`FIGS. 19(A) through 19(C) show a sealing member
`according to an embodiment ofthe present invention, wherein
`FIG. 19(A) is a left side view, FIG. 19(B) is a front view, and
`FIG. 19(C) is a right-hand side view.
`FIG. 20 is a perspective view ofa driving force transmitting
`portion and a driving force receiving portion according to a
`further embodiment of the present invention, in which phase
`control operation is not necessary.
`FIGS. 21(A) through 21(C) illustrate the drive transmitting
`portion of FIG. 20 during a toner bottle inserting operation,
`wherein FIG. 21 (A) shows a state before insertion ofthe toner
`bottle, FIG. 21(B) shows a state in the process ofthe inserting
`operation, and FIG. 21(C) shows a state after completion of
`the inserting operation.
`illustrate disengagement
`FIGS. 22(A)
`through 22(C)
`action at the drive transmitting portion of the toner bottle,
`wherein FIG. 22(A) is before disengagement, FIG. 22(B) is in
`the process of disengagement, and FIG. 22(C)
`is after
`completion of the disengagement action.
`FIGS. 23(A) through 23(C) are sectional views of a sealing
`member according to a further embodiment of the present
`invention, wherein FIG. 23 (A) is a side view, FIG. 23 (B) is a
`front view, and FIG. 23(C) is a sectional view.
`FIG. 24 is a sectional view illustrating engagement of the
`sealing member of FIG. 23 with a driving portion.
`FIGS. 25(A) through 25(C) are illustrations of disengage-
`ment action at the drive transmitting portion of the toner
`bottle, wherein FIG. 25(A) is before disengagement, FIG.
`25(B) is in the process of disengagement, and FIG. 25(C) is
`after the completion of the disengagement action.
`FIGS. 26(A) and 26(