Conveying nozzle with pivot joint

1 . An image forming apparatus comprising:

a housing to accommodate toner;

a conveying nozzle having an inlet to receive the toner from the housing, and an outlet to discharge the toner; and

a bracket to couple the inlet of the conveying nozzle with an opening of the housing, wherein the bracket forms a pivot joint disposed adjacent to the inlet to impart a rotational movement of the conveying nozzle around the pivot joint,

wherein the conveying nozzle includes a ball end including the inlet, wherein the ball end has a substantially spherical shape, and

wherein the pivot joint includes a socket formed by the bracket to rotatably accommodate the ball end of the conveying nozzle.

2 . The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 ,

wherein the conveying nozzle has a cylindrical shape,

wherein the image forming apparatus comprises a shutter to cover the outlet of the conveying nozzle, and

wherein the shutter is slidable in an axial direction of the conveying nozzle and is rotatable in a circumferential direction around the conveying nozzle, to expose the outlet of the conveying nozzle.

3 . The image forming apparatus according to claim 2 , comprising:

a spring disposed between the shutter and the bracket to bias the shutter in the axial direction and in the circumferential direction of the conveying nozzle, to a closing position where the shutter covers the outlet.

4 . The image forming apparatus according to claim 3 ,

wherein the shutter includes a tubular body that surrounds the conveying nozzle, and a lever arm that protrudes radially from the tubular body to rotate the shutter around the conveying nozzle in response to a force applied on the lever arm in a tangential direction of the tubular body, and to slide the shutter in the axial direction of the conveying nozzle in response to a force applied on the lever arm in a direction parallel to the axial direction.

5 . The image forming apparatus according to claim 4 , comprising:

a toner bottle having an opening, wherein the toner bottle contacts the lever arm to bias the shutter to an open position that exposes the outlet of the conveying nozzle, when the opening of the toner bottle is aligned with the outlet of the conveying nozzle to receive the toner from the conveying nozzle.

6 . The image forming apparatus according to claim 3 ,

wherein the bracket includes a base portion mounted on a wall surface of the housing, and a support portion that forms a contact surface to contact the spring,

wherein the contact surface is disposed along a support plane that is angled relative to the wall surface of the housing, to orient a center axis of the spring in a non-orthogonal direction relative to the wall surface, and

wherein the spring is coupled to the shutter to bias a distal end of the conveying nozzle opposite the pivot joint, according to the non-orthogonal direction of the spring.

7 . The image forming apparatus according to claim 6 ,

wherein the support portion includes a plurality of ribs arranged in the circumferential direction to form the contact surface,

wherein the plurality of ribs extend from the base portion in a height direction that is orthogonal to the wall surface of the housing, and

wherein the plurality of ribs have varying heights in the height direction according to the support plane, to orient the center axis of the spring in the non-orthogonal direction.

8 . The image forming apparatus according to claim 6 ,

wherein the outlet is disposed adjacent to the distal end of the conveying nozzle, and

wherein the spring biases the conveying nozzle to position the outlet at a lower position than the inlet of the conveying nozzle.

9 . The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , comprising:

an intermediate transfer belt; and

a cleaning device to collect the toner from the intermediate transfer belt, wherein the cleaning device includes:

the housing to accommodate the toner collected from the intermediate transfer belt; and

a conveyor disposed inside the housing to convey the toner collected toward the opening of the housing.

10 . A toner conveying device comprising:

a conveying nozzle having an inlet to receive toner from a housing, and an outlet to discharge the toner; and

a bracket to couple the inlet of the conveying nozzle with an opening of the housing, wherein the bracket forms a pivot joint located adjacent to the inlet to impart a rotational movement of the conveying nozzle around the pivot joint,

wherein the conveying nozzle includes a ball end including the inlet, wherein the ball end has a substantially spherical shape, and

wherein the pivot joint includes a socket formed by the bracket to rotatably accommodate the ball end of the conveying nozzle.

11 . The toner conveying device according to claim 10 ,

wherein the pivot joint is coupled to the conveying nozzle to impart the rotational movement of the conveying nozzle along a plurality of planes that intersect the pivot joint.

12 . The toner conveying device according to claim 11 ,

wherein the conveying nozzle includes a tubular body extending from the ball end, and wherein the outlet is formed in a circumferential surface of the tubular body at a position adjacent to a distal end of the conveying nozzle opposite the ball end,

wherein the toner conveying device comprises a shutter having a tubular shape to cover the outlet of the conveying nozzle, and

wherein the shutter is slidable relative to the tubular body of the conveying nozzle in an axial direction and is rotatable in a circumferential direction of the conveying nozzle, so as to expose the outlet of the conveying nozzle when the shutter is offset from the outlet the axial direction and when an opening of the shutter is aligned with the outlet in the circumferential direction.

13 . The toner conveying device according to claim 12 , comprising:

a spring that is coupled between the shutter and the bracket to bias the shutter in the axial direction and in the circumferential direction of the conveying nozzle, to a closing position where the shutter covers the outlet,

wherein the shutter includes a tubular body that surrounds the conveying nozzle, and a lever arm that protrudes radially from the tubular body, to rotate the shutter around the conveying nozzle in response to a force applied on the lever arm in a tangential direction of the tubular body, and to slide the shutter in the axial direction of the conveying nozzle in response to a force applied on the lever arm in a direction parallel to the axial direction.