JP2000267462A - Cleaning device for endless belt body and image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a good cleaning device for a carrying belt with a good cleaning ability. SOLUTION: The cleaning device 3 is provided with a roll 32 and a back up member 31 and is installed so as to extend in a width direction of the carrying belt 25. The backup member 31 is provided with a plate metal 31a in a flat state and a sponge state soft material members 31b and 31c divided into 2 by a space L in the moving direction of the carrying belt 25 and attached to the plate metal 31a and a film 31 d with one surface adhered to the soft material members 31 b and 31 c and the other surface in a sliding contact with the carrying belt 25. When the roll 32 is abutted to the carrying belt 25, the roll 32 and the carrying belt 25 can be uniformly abutted due to natural elastic force imparted to the carrying belt 25 by having the roll 32 pushed to the space L between the soft material members 31b and 31c and the carrying belt 25 can be uniformly cleaned regardless of precision of the backup member 31.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cleaning device for an endless belt, and an image forming apparatus equipped with the cleaning device such as an electrophotographic or electrostatic recording type copier, printer or ink jet recording device. About.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As an example of a conventional color image forming apparatus, first, second, third, and fourth image forming sections are arranged in series, and a transfer material is contacted to all image forming sections. A transport belt which is an endless belt body made of a dielectric film for transport is provided, and each image forming unit has a rotating cylindrical image carrier which is arranged opposite to the transport belt, and a periphery thereof. A charging means for uniformly charging the surface of each image carrier, and applying an image signal such as reflected light from a document and an image-modulated laser beam to these charged surfaces to form an electrostatic latent image. Latent image forming means, developing means for applying toner to the toner image to form a toner image, transfer means for transferring the toner image to a transfer material carried and conveyed on a conveyor belt, and toner remaining on the image carrier Equipped with a cleaner for cleaning Color image forming apparatus is known a. Each developing unit contains toner of each color of magenta, cyan, yellow, and black.

In the above arrangement, the transfer material is taken out of the cassette and supplied to the conveyor belt, and the transfer material is used as the first transfer material.
When the image reaches the image forming section, an image forming operation is performed by an image carrier or the like at this position, and a magenta toner image is formed on the transfer material.

Then, as the transfer material is conveyed to the second to fourth image forming units, in each image forming unit, an image of cyan toner, yellow toner, and black toner is sequentially superimposed and formed. The transfer material carrying the image is separated from the transport belt and reaches the fixing device,
Each color toner image is melted and fixed to form a color image and is discharged outside the apparatus.

At each transfer site where the transfer means is disposed, the residual toner remaining on the image carrier without being transferred to the transfer material is removed by each cleaner, and each image carrier enters the next image forming step. It becomes a state that can be.

[0006]

As the image formation proceeds as described above, scattered toner generated inside the apparatus main body, paper dust due to the transfer material, or image formation on the back surface of the transfer material once formed with the image. In such a case, an appropriate cleaning device is provided on the transport belt because the transport belt is gradually contaminated by oil or the like adhering to the first surface, which may contaminate the transfer material transported in the subsequent process. Therefore, it is necessary to prevent contamination of the conveyor belt.

For this reason, various types of cleaning means for the above-described cleaning device have been conventionally proposed. For example, a means having a relatively flexible material such as a cleaning web is used, but it is difficult to sufficiently exert a function of retaining stains of the web, and this is a factor that increases the web feed amount. As a result, the consumption of the web increases and the web has to be changed regularly.

As another example, a means such as a cleaning blade is suitable for a rigid member such as an image carrier because it presses the surface to be cleaned. Some departments need strong backup means. In this case, the accuracy of the backup means is required, and the configuration must be complicated by providing the backup means with an equalizing function to uniformly contact the blade.

Further, as shown in FIG.
When the surface of the belt is ground, the back-up means 102 required to have the same precision as above when grinding the belt surface using the roller 101 as a cylindrical member instead of the blade.
Need.

Therefore, in order to deal with such a situation,
There has been a demand for a cleaning device that uses backup means that can be used for all types of cleaning means to clean or polish the transport belt and that can sufficiently exhibit a cleaning function by utilizing the elasticity of the transport belt.

Accordingly, it is a main object of the present invention to provide an endless belt cleaning device having good cleaning properties and an image forming apparatus provided with the cleaning device.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning function by utilizing the elastic force of an endless belt by using a backup means which can be adapted to any kind of cleaning means for cleaning or polishing the endless belt. An object of the present invention is to provide an endless belt cleaning device that can be sufficiently used and an image forming apparatus provided with the cleaning device.

[0013]

The above object is achieved by an endless belt cleaning apparatus and an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. In summary, the present invention provides an apparatus for cleaning an endless belt having cleaning means for rubbing the surface of the endless belt, and backup means opposed to the cleaning means via the endless belt. , Wherein the backup means has a soft member provided with a space extending in the width direction of the endless belt member, and a flat hard member supporting the soft member. Cleaning device.

It is preferable that the cleaning means presses the endless belt body into a space of the soft member. The backup means preferably has a film member between the soft member and the endless belt.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the cleaning means is a cylindrical member, a blade-like member, or a brush-like member.

[0016] It is preferable that the cleaning means can be retracted from the surface of the endless belt body.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an endless transport belt for transporting a transfer material, and a cleaning device for cleaning the transport belt, wherein the cleaning device is provided on a surface of the transport belt. In the image forming apparatus having a cleaning unit that rubs against the cleaning unit and a backup unit that faces the cleaning unit via the endless belt body, the backup unit includes a space extending in a width direction of the transport belt. An image forming apparatus comprising: a soft member provided with a soft member; and a flat hard member supporting the soft member.

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an endless belt cleaning apparatus and an image forming apparatus according to the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.

Embodiment 1 First, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

The image forming apparatus of this embodiment has first, second, third, and fourth image forming units Pa,
Pb, Pc, and Pd are arranged in series, and an endless belt body made of a dielectric film for transporting the transfer material P so as to be in contact with all the image forming units Pa to Pd is illustrated below these components. A certain conveyor belt 25 is provided and runs in the direction indicated by the arrow. The transport belt 25 is stretched between the two rollers 11 and 12, and is driven to rotate by a drive source such as a motor (not shown).

Each of the image forming units Pa to Pd has a cylindrical image carrier 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d facing the conveyor belt 25 and rotating in the direction of the arrow in FIG. Charging means 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d for uniformly charging the surfaces of the carriers 1a to 1d, formed by applying image signals such as reflected light from an original and an image-modulated laser beam to these charged surfaces. Developing means 6a, 6b, 6c, 6 for applying toner to the electrostatic latent image to form a toner image
c, transfer means 7a, 7b, 7c, 7 for transferring the toner image onto the transfer material P carried and conveyed on the conveyance belt 25
and cleaners 9a, 9b, 9c and 9d for cleaning the toner remaining on the image carrier.
In the apparatus of the present embodiment, each of the developing units 6a to 6d contains magenta, cyan, yellow, and black toners, respectively.

In the above configuration, the transfer material P is taken out of the cassette 11 and supplied to the conveyor belt 25 at a timing by the registration roller 13, and when the transfer material P reaches the first image forming portion Pa, At this position, an image forming operation is performed by the image carrier 1a or the like, and a magenta toner image is formed on the transfer material P.

Next, as the transfer material is conveyed to the second to fourth image forming units Pb to Pd, in each image forming unit, an image of cyan toner, yellow toner and black toner is sequentially superimposed and formed. Thereafter, the transfer material P carrying the toner image is separated from the transport belt 25 and reaches the fixing device 30, where each color toner image is melted and fixed to be a color image and discharged out of the apparatus.

At each transfer site where the transfer means 7a to 7d are arranged, residual toner remaining on the image carriers 1a to 1d without being transferred to the transfer material P is removed by the cleaners 9a to 9d, and each image is removed. The carriers 1a to 1d are ready for the next image forming step.

Next, a cleaning device for an endless belt, which is a feature of this embodiment, will be described with reference to FIG.
The cleaning device 3 includes a roller 32 which is a cylindrical member as cleaning means and a backup member 31 as backup means for the roller 32. The cleaning device 3 extends in the width direction of the transport belt 25. Further, on the upstream side of the cleaning device 3 as viewed in the traveling direction of the transport belt 25, static elimination chargers 17c and 17d are disposed so as to sandwich the transport belt 25 up and down.

By the operation of the charge eliminators 17c and 17d, charge-up of the transport belt 25 is prevented to prevent defective transfer of the transfer material P to the transport belt 25 and transfer failure. The toner on which the toner or the floating toner is electrostatically adhered to the conveyor belt 25 is neutralized to make it easy to clean.

The roller 32 includes a core bar 32a provided therein, and a sandpaper-like film 32b wound and adhered to the core bar 32a. A spring member (not shown) is provided so as to press the transfer roller 32 against the transport belt 25.

Further, the backup member 31 is a roller 32
Are provided slightly wider than the length in the longitudinal direction.

The backup member 31 is made of a flat metal member 31a and a soft member 31b, 31c such as a sponge attached to the metal plate 31a. and,
One surface is in close contact with the soft members 31b and 31c, and the other surface is a film member 31 that rubs against the conveyor belt 25.
d. The film 34 is optimally made of, for example, ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene having the least resistance. When the roller 32 abuts on the conveyor belt 25 as shown by the solid line, the roller 32 is pressed against the space L between the soft members 31b and 31c of the backup member 31 so that the elastic force of the conveyor belt 25 originally 32 and the conveyor belt 25 can be uniformly contacted. That is, a nip is formed between the roller 32 and the transport belt 25 due to the presence of the space L, so that the transport belt 25 can be uniformly cleaned regardless of the accuracy of the backup member 31.

According to the structure of the cleaning device 3,
For example, it is effective for a thin and weak belt such as a conveyor belt 25 having a thickness of 70 to 200 μm.

As described above, the cleaning device 3 of this embodiment has good cleaning properties.

However, if the cleaning device 3 is used in a state where the cleaning device 3 is fixed, that is, when the roller 32 is pressed against the conveyance belt 25, if the cleaning belt 3 is present at the seam, the seam is also cleaned at the same time. Therefore, the joints were cut too much and the conveyor belt 2
5 may be damaged.

Therefore, in order to eliminate the above-mentioned concerns, an avoiding mechanism 100 as shown in FIG. 3 for avoiding the cleaning device from the joint of the conveyor belt is provided.

In the avoiding mechanism 100, the roller 32
The transfer belt 25 is supported by a support member 47 extending in the width direction, and is pressed against the transfer belt 25 by the urging force of a pressing spring 45 attached to the support member 47. One end 4 of the arm member 42 is provided at the center of the support member 47.
2a is rotatably mounted, and the other end (fulcrum portion) 42b is rotatably supported by the apparatus body as a fulcrum.

Further, the cam 41 is positioned close to the arm member 42.
The cam 41 is driven by a motor 43 as a drive source via a transmission means 48 such as a cam shaft 41a, a gear or a belt.
It is connected to. The driving force of the motor 43 is transmitted through the transmission means 48 and the camshaft 41a as indicated by the arrow in the figure, and the cam 41 is rotated.

A control ring 44 is provided at an end of the camshaft 41a as a part of a transmission means 48, and a solenoid 40 is connected to a not-shown claw attached to the control ring 44.

When the solenoid 40 is turned on and retracts in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG.
Is transmitted to the cam shaft 41 to rotate the cam 41 in the direction indicated by the arrow. Then, the arm member 42 is pressed against the urging force of the pressing spring 45 by the rotational force of the cam 41,
The support member 47 is moved downward in the figure by rotating about the fulcrum portion 42b in the direction of the arrow in the figure, and at the same time, the roller 32 is separated from the transport belt 25.

The separation timing is determined by the transport belt 25.
Marking etc. is provided at the joint of the sensor (not shown)
Can be set by reading.

When the solenoid 40 is turned off and extends in the direction opposite to the arrow shown in the figure, the transmission of the driving force from the transmission means 48 to the camshaft 41a is interrupted by the action of the control ring 44.
The rotation of the cam 41 is stopped. At this time, the rotation angle of the cam 41 is an angle at which the arm member 42 is not pressed by the cam 41. That is, at this time, the roller 32 is pressed against the transport belt 25.

Further, the roller 32 is configured to be slightly rotatable in one direction by pushing a one-way clutch lever 46 disposed at an end thereof in the direction shown by an arrow in FIG. It can be changed and always good polishing, that is, cleaning can be performed.

Embodiment 2 Next, a second embodiment of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the first embodiment, the configuration in which the cleaning device 3 for the transport belt 25 is provided with the roller 32 as the cleaning means has been described. In the present embodiment, a soft rubber blade is used as the blade-shaped member as shown in FIG. 50. In this case, as the material of the rubber blade 50, urethane rubber, nylon rubber, or the like can be suitably used.

Also in this case, similarly to the first embodiment, when the rubber blade 50 is brought into contact with the conveyor belt 25, the soft sponge 31b attached to the backup member 31 is used.
By pressing the space L between the spaces 31c, cleaning can be performed by utilizing the elastic force of the transport belt 25.

In this embodiment, similarly to the first embodiment, the rubber blade 50 can be avoided from the conveyor belt 25 by the avoiding mechanism.

Third Embodiment In the first embodiment, the roller 32 is provided in the cleaning device 3 for the conveyor belt 25, and in the second embodiment, an example in which the rubber blade 50 is provided has been described. In the third embodiment, FIG. As described above, the soft brush-like member 60 is used.

Also in this embodiment, the soft sponges 31b, 3b
1c, the brush-like member 60 is pressed into the space L, and the elasticity of the conveyor belt 25 is used to move the conveyor belt 25.
Can be satisfactorily cleaned.

Although the first to third embodiments have described the case where the present invention is applied to a color image forming apparatus having a plurality of image forming units, the present invention is not limited to this. Needless to say, the present invention can be similarly applied to an endless belt for transferring a transfer material and a monochrome image forming apparatus provided in a single image forming unit disposed in the vicinity of the endless belt.

Embodiment 4 Next, a fourth embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an ink jet recording apparatus will be described with reference to FIG.

As shown in FIG. 6, the ink jet recording apparatus of this embodiment includes a scanner section 171 for reading a document D and converting it to an electric signal, and a recording section 172 located below the figure.

A document D placed on a document table 173 at the top of the scanner unit 171 has a lens array 176, a separation line sensor (hereinafter, referred to as a "reading sensor") 177 as a color image sensor, and exposure means 179. When the reading unit 175 travels in the direction of the arrow shown in the figure, the light is emitted by the exposure unit 179, and the reflected light is condensed on the reading sensor 177 by the lens array 176. The reading sensor 177 detects the color image information of the document D for each of red R, green G, and blue B, and converts these into electrical digital signals. These signals are transferred to the recording unit 172 as recording data.

The recording section 172 includes yellow, magenta,
A recording head unit 180 having a head having a discharge port over the entire width of the transfer material P is provided for each of the cyan and black inks, and each of the heads has a heat pipe (not shown) for adjusting the temperature thereof. It is located in.

A recovery cap 181 is provided in the vicinity of the recording head section 180.
The ejection opening is closed by moving relative to 0, preventing drying of the ink when not in use, and performing preliminary ejection to maintain good ejection characteristics. At the time of uncapped during recording, the recording head unit 180 moves the transfer path P of the transfer material P as shown in FIG.
87 will be located.

A transfer material P is stacked on a cassette 183 disposed below the recording unit 172, and the uppermost sheet is taken out of the cassette 183 by a paper feed roller 185, and a pair of transport rollers 186a and 186b is provided. To the conveyance path 187, and further, a pair of registration rollers 189a,
The transport timing is adjusted by 189b, and the print head unit 180 is transported to the transport path 120 facing the ejection port of the print head unit 180.

The conveyance path 120 has an endless conveyance belt 125 running opposite to the discharge port of the recording head section 180. The endless conveyance belt 125 runs by a driving source (not shown) to move the pair of registration rollers 189a and 189b. The transfer material P that has passed through and fed to the transport belt 125 is suction-transported, and during this time, image recording is performed with each color ink.

After the image recording, the transfer material is transport belt 1
25, and proceeds to the left in the figure.
0 is blown by the fan 91 to dry the ink and fix it, and then discharged by the pair of discharge rollers 191a and 191b to form the tray 19.
2 is placed.

Even in the image forming apparatus having such a configuration, it is inevitable that a part of the ink ejected from the recording head unit 180 generates fine ink droplets (ink mist). Since the ink mist is extremely lightweight, the ink mist floats in the apparatus main body and adheres to a transport function section such as the transport belt 125, thereby causing contamination of the transfer material P and deterioration of image quality in the future.

Therefore, in the apparatus of this embodiment, the cleaning device 3 is disposed so as to abut on the transport belt 125.

As shown in FIG. 6, the cleaning device 3 of this embodiment is of a type including the roller 32 shown in FIG. 2 described above. Of course, the cleaning device 3 shown in FIGS.
Rubber blade 50 or brush member 60 of the third embodiment
May be provided.

Thus, as described above, the transport belt can be cleaned with high efficiency, which can also contribute to improvement in image quality.

[0059]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the backup means of the cleaning means comprises a soft member provided with a space extending in the width direction of the endless belt member and the soft member. By having a flat hard member to support, it is possible to obtain an endless belt cleaning device having good cleaning properties, and by applying the cleaning device to a transport belt of an image forming apparatus. In addition, dirt on the conveyor belt can be effectively prevented, and a high-quality image can be obtained.

Further, according to the present invention, the cleaning function can be sufficiently achieved by utilizing the elastic force of the endless belt by using a backup means which can be adapted to any kind of cleaning means for cleaning or polishing the endless belt. Can demonstrate.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a color image forming apparatus according to first to third embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side cross-sectional view illustrating a cleaning device of the transport belt according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing an avoidance device of the cleaning device.

FIG. 4 is a side sectional view showing a conveyor belt cleaning device in a second embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a side sectional view showing a conveyor belt cleaning device in a third embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram illustrating an inkjet recording apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a side sectional view showing an example of a conventional conveyor belt cleaning device.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 3 cleaning device 31 backup member (backup means) 31a sheet metal (hard member) 31b, 31c sponge (soft member) 31d film 32 roller (cylindrical member / cleaning means) 50 rubber blade (blade member / cleaning means) 60 brush Member (cleaning means)

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. An endless belt cleaning apparatus, comprising: a cleaning unit that abuts and rubs on a surface of an endless belt; and a backup unit that faces the cleaning unit via the endless belt. An endless belt cleaning device, wherein the backup means includes a soft member provided with a space extending in a width direction of the endless belt, and a flat hard member supporting the soft member. . 2. The apparatus for cleaning an endless belt according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning means presses the endless belt into a space of the soft member. 3. The apparatus for cleaning an endless belt according to claim 1, wherein said backup means has a film member between said soft member and said endless belt. 4. The apparatus for cleaning an endless belt according to claim 3, wherein said cleaning means is a cylindrical member. 5. An apparatus for cleaning an endless belt according to claim 3, wherein said cleaning means is a blade-shaped member. 6. An apparatus for cleaning an endless belt according to claim 3, wherein said cleaning means is a brush-like member. 7. An endless belt cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said cleaning means is capable of retracting from the surface of said endless belt. 8. An endless transport belt for transporting a transfer material, and a cleaning device for cleaning the transport belt, wherein the cleaning device contacts and rubs the surface of the transport belt. And a backup unit facing the cleaning unit via the endless belt body, wherein the backup unit is a soft member provided with a space extending in a width direction of the transport belt, and An image forming apparatus comprising: a flat hard member that supports a soft member.