JP2000098842A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the idling of a roller when the projecting parts of this roller press partition walls of a belt in a drive direction and the projecting parts disengage from grooves by providing the downstream side in the drive direction held by the partition walls with the grooves. SOLUTION: The belt is provided with the grooves 52 fitting to the projecting parts 51 of a pinion 43 on the downstream side in the drive direction held by the partition walls 45a, i.e., near the upstream in the drive direction of the partition walls 45a. Further, the partition walls 45a are formed of an elastic member, for example, the same material as the material of the belt 45. The shortest distance A from the pinion 43 to the inside wall of a casing 45a is set lower than the height adding the height B of the projecting parts 51 and the height C of the partition walls 45a. The front ends of the projecting parts 51 are brought into contact with the partition walls 45a and are pressed in the drive direction of the belt 45 by such constitution and, therefore, the disengagement of the projecting parts 51 from the grooves 52 can be prevented and further, the idling of the revolving roller 43 can be prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus configured to transfer residual toner removed from a photoreceptor to a toner recovery container located above by a belt conveyor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as shown in FIG.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-116868 discloses an image forming apparatus which is configured to be able to be transferred to a toner collecting container 103 located above the photoconductor drum 101 by the method No. 02.

In this image forming apparatus, residual toner adhered to the photosensitive drum 101 is scraped off by a cleaning blade, and is conveyed to a position below a belt conveying member 102 by rotating a spiral spiral blade. The toner is collected by being conveyed to the upper residual toner collecting container 103.

[0004] A belt 10 is
The belt 104 is provided with a partition wall 104a so as to prevent the residual toner from falling during conveyance. The belt 104 is stretched by rollers 105a and 105b and driven to rotate, whereby the residual toner is removed. It is configured to be collected in the collection container 103.

[0005]

However, in the belt conveyor 102 of the conventional image forming apparatus, as shown in FIG. 6A, a diagram showing the belt 104, and FIG. 6B, a diagram showing the vicinity of the roller 105a. The roller 105a is provided with a protrusion 106, the belt 104 is provided with a groove 107, and the protrusion 1
The belt 104 is rotationally driven by the engagement of the groove 106 with the groove 107. However, when the driving torque of the belt 104 increases due to the adhesion of the residual toner to the roller 105a or the like, as shown in FIG. There is a problem that the roller 106a slips when the roller 106a comes off the groove 107.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has a belt for conveying residual toner removed from a photoreceptor in a housing to a toner collecting container, and a width direction on the belt. A plurality of partition walls provided upright at a predetermined interval in the longitudinal direction of the belt, a plurality of grooves provided at a predetermined interval in the longitudinal direction of the belt, and one or a plurality of protrusions; An image forming apparatus, comprising: a rotating roller that stretches the belt while rotating the belt while rotating the belt, and that rotates the belt and that holds the toner on the partition wall and transports the toner to the toner collection container. At
An image forming apparatus is provided in which the groove is provided on a downstream side in a driving direction of the belt between the partition walls.

[0007] With such a configuration, since the portion of the projection of the rotating roller projecting from the belt presses the partition wall in the driving direction, idling can be prevented.

Further, the groove is provided near the downstream side in the driving direction of the partition wall, and the shortest distance from the rotary roller to the inner wall of the housing is set to be shorter than the total length of the projection and the partition wall. This is a shortened image forming apparatus.

With such a configuration, even if the projection of the rotary roller is likely to come off the groove of the belt, the partition wall contacts the inner wall of the housing and presses the belt in the direction of the rotary roller.
Idling can be prevented.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. In the image forming apparatus 1, a belt conveying body 11 for conveying residual toner is rotated counterclockwise on the back surface of a frame 12 on which the belt conveying body 11 is placed. Photoreceptor drum (not shown)
Around the photoreceptor drum, along the direction of rotation,
A transfer roller 19, a cleaning blade, a charging unit, and the like are provided.

The developing device 10 is configured such that the toner container 31 can appropriately supply a predetermined amount of toner. At a position adjacent to the toner container 31, the residual toner collecting container 3
9 are arranged. An optical unit 5 for forming image dots on the surface of the photoconductor drum is provided above the photoconductor drum. Further, the conveyed paper is transferred to registration rollers 1.
After being conveyed to positions 8 and 30, the image is further conveyed at a proper timing, the image is transferred by the photosensitive drum and the transfer roller 19, fixed by the fixing rollers 23 and 24, and discharged to the discharge tray 6.

FIG. 2 is a view showing the belt transport body 11. The belt transport body 11 is surrounded by a transparent synthetic resin housing 15e, and has a pulley 46 rotatably fitted to a lower circulation shaft 47. A pinion 43 rotatably disposed above, and a partition wall 45a having a groove that meshes with the pinion 43;
A belt 45 having an endless orbit is set up, and the belt 45 is configured to be rotatable counterclockwise by a pinion 43 in the figure.
Then, the residual toner on the lower side B of the belt 45 is transported to the residual toner collecting container 39.

An opening 15b is opened above the lower circulation shaft 47, and a cover cylinder 42 extending from the photosensitive drum side and a spiral blade shaft 38 having a spiral blade 37 are formed in the opening 15b. The ends are fitted to allow for the reception of residual toner.

As in this embodiment, since the belt 45 obtains the rotational driving force from the pinion 43 located above, the heavy residual toner transfer chamber 50 on the upper side A of the belt 45 is pulled up, and the empty space on the lower side B is raised. Is driven so as to push the residual toner transfer chamber 50, the belt 45 can be driven satisfactorily and has good responsiveness even if a thin and light belt 45 is used. Further, since the residual toner is dropped onto the belt 45 from the opening 15b and the lower circulation shaft 47 is disposed below the opening 15b, the residual toner discharged from the opening 15b is solidified. Even if you do it, it will be loosened by its own weight. Further, when the dropped residual toner rises on the upper side A and is conveyed, the opening 15
The solidified residual toner is also loosened by the collision with the residual toner falling from b. Thereby, solidification of the residual toner can be prevented.

Further, as shown in FIG.
1 is provided with a light receiving / emitting element 17 (light emitting element 17a and light receiving element 17b), and FIG.
Shown in As shown in FIG. 3, the housing 1 of the belt transport body 11
The inner wall 5e has a wide portion 15m and a narrow portion 15n, and the light emitting element 17a and the light receiving element 17 sandwich the narrow portion 15n.
b is provided. As a result, the residual toner is
When it is not at the position of n, light is received by the light receiving element 17b,
When the toner is present at the position of the narrow portion 15n, since the light receiving element 17b does not receive light, it is possible to detect whether the residual toner remains at the position of the narrow portion 15n.

FIG. 4A shows the belt 45.
FIG. 4B is a view showing the vicinity of the pinion 43. The projection 51 is provided on the pinion 43, the groove 52 is provided on the belt 45, and the belt 45 is rotated by fitting the projection 51 and the groove 52. Drive. In the present invention, FIG.
As shown in (b), the groove 52 is provided on the downstream side in the driving direction between the partition walls 45a, that is, near the upstream in the driving direction of the partition wall 45a.
Is formed of the same material as the elastic member, for example, the belt 45, and the shortest distance A from the pinion 43 to the inner wall of the housing 15e is
The height B of the projection 51 and the height C of the partition wall 45a are lower than the combined height. In the present embodiment, the case where the projection 51 is provided on the pinion 43 has been described. However, the same applies to the case where the projection is provided on the pulley 46.

Since the groove 52 is provided on the downstream side in the driving direction between the partition walls 45a, the protrusions 51 contact the partition wall 45a and press in the driving direction of the belt 45. Detachment from the groove 52 can be prevented, and idling of the rotating roller 43 can be prevented.

Further, since the partition wall 45a is formed of an elastic member and A <B + C, the driving torque of the belt 45 increases due to toner adhesion to the pinion 43 and the like.
Even if the protrusion 51 is going to come off the groove 52, A <
Since there is a relationship of B + C, the partition wall 45a is
And the belt 45 in contact with the inner wall of the
Is pressed in the direction of the pinion 43, the protrusion 51 can be prevented from coming off the groove 52, and the rotation of the rotating roller 43 can be prevented.

[0019]

As described above, according to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the groove is provided on the downstream side in the driving direction between the partition walls, and further, the partition wall is formed by an elastic member. Since the shortest distance from the surface of the rotating roller to the inner wall of the housing is shorter than the combined length of the projection and the partition wall, the projection can be prevented from coming off the groove, preventing the rotating roller from spinning. An image forming apparatus that can be used.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a belt conveyance body of the image forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 2;

4A is a diagram illustrating a belt of the image forming apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 4B is a diagram illustrating the vicinity of a rotating roller.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a conventional image forming apparatus.

6A is a diagram illustrating a belt of a conventional image forming apparatus, and FIG. 6B is a diagram illustrating the vicinity of a rotating roller.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1: Image forming apparatus 11, 102: Belt conveyor 15b: Opening 15e: Housing 15m, 102b: Wide section 15n, 102a: Narrow section 17: Light emitting / receiving element 17a: Light emitting element 17b: Light receiving element 37: Spiral blade 38: spiral blade shaft 39, 103: residual toner collecting container 43: pinion 45, 104: belt 45a, 104a: partition wall 46: pulley 50: residual toner transport chamber 51, 106: protrusion 52, 107: groove 101: photosensitive Body drum 105a, 105b: rotating roller

Claims (2)

[Claims] A belt for transporting residual toner removed from the photoreceptor into a housing to a toner collecting container; and a plurality of partition walls erected in a width direction on the belt and provided at predetermined intervals in a longitudinal direction of the belt. A plurality of grooves provided at predetermined intervals in a longitudinal direction of the belt, and one or more protrusions, wherein the belt is stretched while the protrusions are fitted into the grooves, and the belt is driven to rotate. An image forming apparatus having a roller and a belt conveying body that holds the toner at the partition wall and conveys the toner to the toner collection container. The image forming apparatus, wherein the groove is formed on the downstream side in the driving direction between the belt and the partition wall. An image forming apparatus, comprising: 2. The partition wall is formed of an elastic member, and the shortest distance from the surface of the rotary roller to the inner wall of the housing is shorter than the total length of the projection and the partition wall. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1.