JP2001060053A - Device for regenerating material to be recorded - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device for regenerating material to be recorded capable of preventing image forming substance removed from the material to be recorded from scattering. SOLUTION: A roller type edged tool member 31 is held by a casing 36a, and a waste image forming substance recovery container 32 in which the removed image forming substance 33 is recovered is installed in contact with the lower part of the casing 36a. Blades 35 and 37 are installed in such configuration that they come into contact with both surfaces of a belt 28 as a means for preventing the scattering of the image forming substance on the downstream side of the casings 36a and 36b in a belt carrying direction and that they scrape and remove the waste image forming substance stuck to the belt 28 again after the image forming substance is removed by the member 31, and eliminate gaps between the inside and the outside of the casings 36a and 36b.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording material reproducing apparatus for removing an image forming substance from a recording material and reproducing the recording material in a reusable state. The present invention relates to a technique for preventing an image forming substance removed from a belt-shaped peeling member (belt) provided in a reproducing apparatus by a cleaning unit from scattering in the apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Due to recent OA, printer paper and copy paper have been used in large quantities. Accordingly, a large amount of waste paper has been generated from offices, and most of the waste paper has been wasted.
At the same time, the disposal of these waste papers is very expensive, and the disposal of these papers can lead to a worsening of the local environment and, consequently, a global deterioration due to the deforestation of paper production. Has been raised as a major issue.

Heretofore, in order to solve this problem and recycle paper, measures have been taken to remove the ink from the paper once used, to make it again, and to use it as recycled paper. This treatment required a large-scale waste paper recycling facility, and had to go through a number of processes such as sorting, collecting, and transporting used waste paper before obtaining recycled paper.

Recently, paper has been developed which can remove a character image on paper used once by cleaning and reuse it for copying or printing. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-67043 discloses a paper. In addition, there is disclosed a sheet-like support in which the surface of the support is subjected to a release treatment, and the release-treated support is marked to be distinguished from plain paper. However, since this is a special paper, its fixability is difficult, and there is a problem in using it as general copying paper.

Further, for example, JP-A-1-101576 and JP-A-1-101577 disclose that an image forming substance (toner) on an image forming support is subjected to ultrasonic treatment in an organic solvent in which the substance is dissolved. Thus, a method for removing an image is disclosed. However, there is a problem in pollution, inflammation and toxicity due to the organic solvent, and there is still a problem in using this method in general offices and homes.

Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 1-297294 discloses that an image forming support is formed on a plastic, metal, paper having low liquid permeability or ceramic or the like, and is formed on the support. A cleaning method has been disclosed in which an image is heated with a heat-meltable release member interposed therebetween to release the image from the support. However, in the case of this method, it is necessary to use a special sheet whose surface has been subjected to a release treatment, and there is a problem in general use.

[0007] On the other hand, the present applicant has disclosed, for example, Japanese Patent Application No. 5-2.
No. 02557 and Japanese Patent Application No. 5-96619, a film-like image forming material for forming an image using a recording material provided with a layer swelling with a liquid at least in the vicinity of the surface on which the image is formed A liquid (image removal accelerating liquid) containing water that causes the swelling layer of the recording material to swell more than the recording material is applied to the recording material, and after the liquid is applied, the recording material is pressed against the belt or heated and pressed. There has been proposed a recording material reproducing apparatus relating to an image forming substance removing method and a reproducing method for transferring and separating the image forming substance from the recording material to the belt.
By this method, the image forming substance is removed from the recording material,
It was confirmed that the recording material could be reproduced again in a usable state.

The present applicant has also proposed a recording material reproducing method and apparatus capable of removing an image forming substance on a recording material without a step of applying an image removal accelerating liquid. In these reproducing apparatuses, it is necessary to provide a cleaning means for removing the image forming substance peeled and transferred to the belt and returning the belt to a surface state capable of peeling and transferring again.

Therefore, the present applicant has disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H8-3350.
In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 12, the cleaning means is provided with a roller-shaped cleaning member (roller-shaped blade member) having a spiral edge in contact with the surface of the belt on the outer peripheral portion, and a driving means for rotating and driving the cleaning member. An image forming substance removing apparatus (reproducing apparatus for a recording material) has been proposed, and in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-212049, various conditions for cleaning (contact pressure, relative speed, etc.) using this roller-shaped blade member have been proposed. ) Is presented.

In the recording material reproducing apparatus proposed by the applicant of the present invention, the image forming material (waste image forming material) removed by the cleaning member partially forms powder and partially forms lump. ing. The removed waste image forming substance is stored in a waste image forming substance collection container and discarded.
Part of the powder is scattered from the cleaning means and floats inside the reproducing apparatus, and adheres to the surface of each component constituting the apparatus. In order to prevent this problem, the present applicant has proposed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-204128, a mechanism for preventing the waste image forming material from scattering when the waste image forming material collection container is attached or detached, and the like. By these mechanisms, the amount of the waste image forming substance adhering to the components of the apparatus could be reduced.

[0011]

However, with the above-described mechanism, the amount of scattering while the apparatus is actually operating has not yet been sufficiently suppressed.
In other words, if these scattered waste image forming substances adhere to each part in the apparatus, there is a risk of malfunction such as ineffective correction of the deviation of the belt, and in the case of electric parts, there is a risk of heating and ignition. there were. Further, if it adheres to the reproduced recording material, it contaminates the surface of the reproduced recording material, thereby deteriorating the reproduction quality. Further, a part of the waste image forming substance may be scattered outside the reproducing apparatus, and in this case, it may contaminate surrounding articles or harm the human body. Thus, it has been a very important task to suppress the scattering of the waste image forming substance from the cleaning means.

The waste image forming substance is scattered outside the cleaning means as a factor when the cleaning means and the waste image forming substance collecting container have a gap, and the waste image forming substance is scattered from there by convection generated during cleaning. It has been confirmed that the image forming substance once removed may reattach to the belt due to static electricity or the like, and may be carried out of the cleaning unit as the belt is conveyed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-described circumstances, and provides a recording material reproducing apparatus capable of preventing scattering of an image forming material removed from the recording material. It was made for the purpose of.

[0014]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sheet-shaped recording material on which an image-forming substance is formed in the form of a film and the recording medium. The image forming material is peeled and transferred from the recording material to the peeling member in the process of being transported in contact with a belt-shaped peeling member that peels and transfers the image forming material from the recording material, and the peeled and transferred image is printed. In a reproducing apparatus of a recording material having a cleaning device for removing an image forming substance from the peeling member, a scattering preventing means for preventing the removed image forming substance from scattering from the cleaning device is provided. It is what it was.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the scattering prevention means is in contact with any one of the front and back surfaces of the peeling member on the downstream side of the cleaning device in the transport direction of the peeling member. Arranged in state,
The image forming apparatus further includes a removing member that fills gaps inside and outside the cleaning device and rubs and removes the removed image forming substance that has reattached to the peeling member.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect, the removing member is made of a woven or non-woven fabric.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, the removing member is constituted by a blade made of an elastic body.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to fourth aspects of the present invention, the scatter prevention means includes a pressure reducing means for lowering the air pressure inside the cleaning device to be lower than the air pressure outside the cleaning device. It is characterized by having.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 3 is a main part configuration diagram for explaining an example of a recording material reproducing apparatus to which the present invention is applied. The recording material 1 on which an image has been formed by electrophotography and which has become unnecessary is manually inserted into the paper feed roller 3 along the guide plate 2. The recording material 1 is fed to the reproducing device 61 by a recording material sensor (not shown).
When it is detected that the recording material 1 is inserted into the printer, the recording material 1 is driven and rotated by a driving device (not shown), and operates so as to convey the recording material 1 to the liquid supply unit.

The liquid supply section includes an image removal promoting liquid container 13 for holding the image removal promoting liquid 11 therein, an image removal promoting liquid applying roller 12, a squeeze roller 15, a recording material pressing roller 14, It is composed of The image removal accelerating liquid applying roller 12 has, for example, a so-called gravure roller having a large number of holes on its surface, so that the amount of liquid retained on the surface by changing the size and depth of the holes is changed. Can be changed. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, a part of the image removal accelerating liquid applying roller 12 is disposed so as to be immersed in the liquid, and the driving system (not shown) controls the linear velocity of the paper feed roller 3. The recording material 1 is rotated in the same direction as the conveyance of the recording material 1 so as to be equal.

Excess liquid adhering to the image removal promoting liquid applying roller 12 is removed from the image removal promoting liquid applying roller 12 by a squeeze roller 15 driven by the image removal promoting liquid applying roller 12. Image removal accelerating liquid applying roller 1
2 applies the image removal accelerating liquid 11 to the recording material 1 by coming into contact with the recording material 1. The recording material pressing roller 14 is, for example, a disk having a protrusion like a spur on the circumference thereof, and is configured to press only the end of the recording material 1 toward the image removal promoting liquid applying roller 12. I have. When a roller having a smooth surface is used as the recording material holding roller 14, the image removal accelerating liquid 11 easily adheres to the back surface (the surface on which no image is formed) of the recording material 1, which is not preferable. Therefore, the amount of the image removal accelerating liquid 11 applied to the recording material 1 is adjusted and applied so as not to be absorbed by the swollen layer of the recording material 1.

The peeling / transferring section has a heater 22 such as a halogen lamp installed therein and is capable of heating, a metal heating drum 21, an inlet roller 23, a separation roller 24, and a tension roller 25. , A cleaning backup roller 26, a metal pressure roller 27 whose surface is covered with an elastic member such as silicon rubber, and rollers 23, 24, 25, 26, 27. And an endless belt 28. The heating drum 21 is rotated in the direction of arrow A by driving means (not shown). A pressure is applied between the pressure roller 27 and the drum heater 21 by a biasing means (not shown) such as a spring or a hydraulic pressure, and a nip is formed between the roller 27 and the drum 21. Have been. The tension roller 25 is configured to apply tension to the belt 28 by an urging means (not shown) such as a spring or a hydraulic pressure.

The belt 28 is a peeling member for peeling and transferring the image forming substance from the recording material 1 and is selected to have a high adhesiveness to the image forming substance. In order to prevent the components of the image removal accelerating liquid 11 from evaporating, characteristics that do not allow the vapor of the components of the image removal accelerating liquid 11 to pass therethrough are required.

Specific examples of the belt 28 include synthetic rubbers such as isoprene rubber, neoprene rubber, chloroprene rubber, silicon rubber, butadiene rubber, and fluororubber; natural rubbers; epoxy resins such as bisphenol-epichlorohydrin condensates; Resins, urea formaldehyde resin, butyl urea formaldehyde resin, amino resins such as butylated melamine formaldehyde resin, benzoguanamine formaldehyde resin; phenolic thermosetting resins such as terpene phenol resin, phenol ether resin, and phenol resin; polyvinyl chloride, polyvinylidene chloride , Vinylidene chloride-acrylonitrile copolymer, vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer, ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, ethylene-tetrafluoroethylene copolymer, Vinylidene fluoride, vinyl copolymer polyvinyl butyral, polyvinyl formal, polypropylene, vinyl polymers, such as polyethylene; polybutyl acrylate, polymethyl methacrylate, acrylic resins such as polymethyl methacrylate; polyimides, 6,6
Polyamides such as nylon and 6-nylon; polyesters such as polycarbonate, polyether sulfone, polyether ether ketone, polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene naphthalate, and aromatic polyester;
Thermoplastic or thermosetting synthetic resins such as polyphenylene sulfide, polyparabalic acid, polyether nitrile, and aramid; metals and oxides thereof such as nickel, stainless steel, and aluminum; and ceramic materials.

These materials can be used alone, but can also be used in combination by laminating, alloying, or adding other additives such as glass fiber, whisker, carbon, silica, and titanium oxide. . The optimal belt material should be selected according to the type of the image forming substance to be peeled and the image forming substance removal process, but repeated use of the belt is advantageous in various points such as lowering the reproduction cost, In that case, relatively high heat resistance and surface stability are required.

Preferred examples of the belt from the viewpoint of image removal characteristics and durability include polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene naphthalate, polyether ether ketone, and the like.
Examples include polyphenylene sulfide, polyparabalic acid, polyether nitrile, aramid, polyimide, polyether imide, stainless steel, nickel, and alumite.

The recording material 1 to which the image removal accelerating liquid 11 has been applied to the image forming surface by the liquid supply unit is inserted between the heating drum 21 and the belt 28 in the vicinity of the entrance roller 23 and the recording material 1 The image holding surface and the belt 28 are overlapped. The recording material 1 having the surplus image removal promoting liquid 11 on its surface is heated by the heating drum 21 in a path from the entrance roller 23 to the separation roller 24. By this heating, the image removal accelerating liquid 11 is absorbed into the swelling layer located below the image forming substance formed in the form of a film, and the adhesive strength between the image forming substance and the recording material 1 is reduced. Since the adhesive force between the image forming material and the recording material 1 is significantly reduced, it is easy to remove the image forming material from the recording material 1, and the operation of removing the image forming material can be performed at high speed. Become.

Further, by heating as described above,
Even when there is a black solid image having a large area, the removal of the image forming substance is easily performed. Furthermore, there is no hole in the solid image,
Even when a film that is almost perfect is formed, the image forming substance can be removed. Therefore, images recorded by various commercially available image forming apparatuses and images recorded in various patterns can also be removed.

A longer heating path length is more effective, but it is difficult to completely prevent the image removal accelerating liquid 11 from evaporating. Therefore, it is preferable to set the heating path length in a range of 10 to 1000 mm. Further, the path length should be appropriately selected depending on the desired processing speed, the properties of the image forming substance to be removed, and the state of adhesion of the image forming substance to the recording material 1. Generally used electrophotographic images are 10 to 12
When processing at a linear velocity of 0 mm / sec, the path length is 2
It is particularly preferable that the distance is set to 0 to 250 mm.

In the peeling section, the image forming substance formed on the recording material 1 is heated by the heating drum 21,
Before reaching the pressure roller 27, the on / off of the heater 22 of the heating drum 21 is controlled so as to reach a temperature equal to or higher than the softening point. The heating temperature should be selected at an appropriate level according to the temperature characteristics of the tackiness of the image forming substance to be used. When a general dry toner for electrophotography is used, the temperature is preferably from 60 to 130 ° C., and particularly preferably from 70 to 11 ° C.
It is preferable that the recording material 1 is set to be heated to 0 ° C.

At a temperature lower than this temperature range, the fluidity of the image-forming substance is insufficient, so that the image-forming substance does not sufficiently adhere to the belt 28, so that peeling and transfer of the image-forming substance hardly occur. At a temperature higher than this temperature range, the fluidity of the image forming material becomes too high, and cohesive failure occurs inside the image forming material when the recording material 1 and the belt 28 are separated. It becomes difficult to completely remove the image forming substance. When an appropriate fluidity is generated in the image forming material, the pressure roller 27 presses the image forming material and the belt 28 to generate an adhesive force between the image forming material and the belt 28.

The belt 28 and the recording material 1 are separated near the separation roller 24. While the belt 28 is conveyed along the separation roller 24, the recording material 1 tends to move in a linear direction due to its rigidity.
The recording material 1 from which the image forming substance has been removed in the peeling / transferring section is separated from the belt 28, and then discharged to the discharge sheet tray 46 by the discharge sheet rollers 42 and 43 and is stocked.

At least the surface of the discharge sheet guide plate 44 is made of a soft material such as felt, cloth, sponge or the like, which has a liquid absorbing property and does not damage the surface of the recording material 1. . Excessive image removal accelerating liquid 1
1 is absorbed by the guide plate 44. When the surplus image removal accelerating liquid 11 is remarkably large, a heater can be provided on the guide plate 44 to dry the surface member. When the recording material 1 passes through the discharge sheet guide plate 44, the recording material 1 slides on the guide plate 44. At this time, dirt remaining on the surface of the recording material 1 is removed. As described above, the pressing force between the guide plate 44 and the discharge rollers 42 and 43 is adjusted by a pressing means (not shown).

Specific examples of the remaining dirt include an image and a fingerprint recorded with a writing instrument such as a felt-tip pen, a pencil and a ball-point pen. When removing stains on the back surface of the recording material 1 as well, the surface of the discharge sheet rollers 42 and 43 is made of a liquid absorbent material such as felt, cloth, sponge, etc., like the discharge sheet guide plate 44. And that it is made of a soft material that does not damage the surface of the recording material 1;
It is preferable that the driving is set so that the peripheral linear speed of the rollers is different between the rollers 42 and 43, and the back surface of the recording material 1 is also rubbed on the surfaces of the rollers 42 and 43. It is preferable that members such as felt, cloth, sponge, and the like on the surface of the guide plate 44 are configured to be easily detachable so that they can be easily replaced when they become dirty.

In the peeling / transferring portion of the image forming substance, the image forming substance of the recording material 1 is transferred to the belt 28, and the image forming substance on the belt 28 is transferred by a roller-shaped blade member 31 which is a cleaning means. Removed, belt 2
8 is used repeatedly. The cleaning device will be described later.

When the reproducing device 61 is tilted, for example, when the reproducing device 61 is transported, the image removal promoting liquid 11
Although there is a possibility of spillage, the playback device 6 shown in FIG.
In 1, a liquid absorbing pad 51 containing a gelling agent is arranged at a position corresponding to a position below the container 13 at the bottom of the regenerating device 61. The liquid absorbing pad 51 containing the gelling agent is small and lightweight, and can absorb a large amount of liquid. Therefore, by disposing the liquid absorbing pad 51, compared with a method of providing an outer container for receiving the spilled liquid, etc. Cheap, and
It is possible to realize a small reproducing device 61. The amount that the gelling agent can absorb depends largely on the components of the liquid. Since the image removal accelerating liquid 11 used in the method for reproducing the recording material 1 in the example shown in FIG. 3 is almost composed of water, the absorption amount of the gelling agent is large. In the recording material reproducing apparatus 61 of the illustrated example, it is effective to use a liquid absorbing pad containing a gelling agent.

As described above, in the example shown in FIG.
The recording material 1 is manually inserted into the paper feed roller 3 along the guide plate 2. If the front and back are mistaken during this insertion, the heated and softened image forming substance is
There is a high risk of adhesion to When the recording material 1 has adhered to the heating drum 21, the recording material 1 near the separation roller 24 does not separate from the heating drum 21, and a jam occurs. In order to prevent such troubles, an image removal accelerating liquid 11 such as a fluorine-based material such as polytetrafluoroethylene is formed on the surface of the heating drum 21.
It is also effective to provide a layer of a material that is difficult to adhere to to prevent adhesion.

However, when the front and back are mixed up, FIG.
As shown in (1), in an apparatus that can only remove an image on one side, the image cannot be removed. Therefore, in order to reproduce the sheet, the recording material 1 discharged to the discharge sheet tray 46 must be re-used. Need to be inserted into the playback device 61, which is not preferable. At least the occurrence of this defect
This can be prevented to some extent by making the surface of the guide plate 2 in contact with the recording material 1 white or pale.
This is because, in the case of the translucent recording material 1, when the lower part of the recording material 1 is white or light color, the visibility of the image recorded on the recording material 1 becomes extremely high. This is because the operator can easily recognize the front and back sides of the recording material 1 from the image thus obtained.

When a sheet having no swelling layer on its surface is used as the recording material 1, when this sheet is inserted into the reproducing device 61, the adhesive force between the image forming substance and the recording material 1 is reduced. Even if the image removal accelerating liquid 11 is applied to the recording material 1, the recording material 1 does not decrease. Therefore, the recording material 1 sticks to the belt, and separation does not occur in the vicinity of the separation roller 24. As one method for preventing this, it is effective to print a mark indicating that reproduction is possible on the recording material 1 to which the swelling layer has been applied. At least, by making the surface of the guide plate 2 that is in contact with the recording material 1 white or light-colored, the visibility of the mark indicating the reproducibility is increased.
It is also possible to prevent an erroneous operation of introducing a non-reproducible recording material 1.

In the example shown in FIG. 3, the image removal accelerating liquid 11
Is applied to the recording material 1 as an example of transferring the image removal accelerating liquid 11 attached to the roller 12 to the recording material 1, but other methods such as an immersion method and a jet flow method may be used. It is valid. However, in the case of the recording material 1 in which the swelling layer is provided on the non-liquid absorbing substrate, the swelling layer generally swells, so that the recording material 1 significantly differs from the case where the recording material 1 such as paper is used. The adhesive strength with the recording material 1 decreases.

Therefore, a part of the image forming substance is separated from the recording material 1 in the liquid supply means by the movement of the recording material 1 in the liquid and the flow of the liquid by the jet flow. In particular, an image having a small area is easily peeled off. Therefore, in a method such as an immersion method or a jet method, the image removal accelerating liquid 11 is contaminated with an image forming substance when applied to the recording material 1. For this reason,
It is often necessary to replace the liquid 11 or to provide a means for removing the image forming substance in the liquid.

On the other hand, in the system in which the image removal accelerating liquid 11 attached to the roller 12 is transferred to the recording material 1, the image
The image removal accelerating liquid 11 adhering to the recording medium 1 is transferred to the recording material 1 almost quantitatively, and the contact time between the liquid supply means and the recording material 1 is short. Trouble is less likely to occur.

In the example shown in FIG. 3, a roller-shaped blade member 31 is provided as a cleaning means. While being in contact with the belt 28 with a predetermined load, the roller-shaped blade member 31 is rotated at a surface speed different from the transport speed of the belt 28 by a driving device (not shown), and peeled and transferred from the recording material 1 onto the belt 28. The image forming substance is scraped off. As for these cleaning conditions, conventionally presented conditions, for example, those described in JP-A-9-212049 may be used. The image forming substance 33 scraped off by the roller-shaped blade member 31 is accumulated in the waste image forming substance collecting container 32 and is disposed of as appropriate.

As the blade member material of the roller-shaped blade member 31, among metal materials containing chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), and iron (Fe), martensite stainless steel, tungsten (W) High-speed steel containing tungsten, chromium (Cr), carbon (C), vanadium (V), molybdenum (Mo), cobalt (Co), iron (Fe), tungsten carbide (WC) or titanium carbide (Ti)
C), zirconia (Zr)
O ₂ ), alumina (Al ₂ O ₃ ), titanium nitride (Ti
N), titanium carbide (TiC), silicon nitride (SiN), silicon carbide (SiC), a ceramic material containing at least one or more components, diamond-like carbon (DLC) or cubic boron nitride (CBN) And the like.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a main part for explaining an embodiment of a recording material reproducing apparatus according to the present invention. The roller-shaped blade member 31 is held by a casing 36a surrounding the roller-shaped blade member 31. A waste image forming substance collecting container 32 for collecting the removed image forming substance (waste image forming substance) is provided below the casing 36a. It is installed closely. On the downstream side of the casing 36a in the belt conveyance direction, a blade 35
Are provided in contact with the surface of the belt 28. After the image forming substance is removed by the roller-shaped blade member 31, the blade 35
A member that scrapes and removes the waste image forming substance that has re-attached to the casing 36a, and also has a role of filling a gap between the inside and the outside of the casing 36a.

The roller-shaped blade member 31 is pressed with a predetermined load from a backup roller 34 opposed thereto via the belt 28, and while being in contact with the belt by this load, the driving device (not shown) drives the belt-shaped blade member 31 to contact the belt 28. It rotates at a surface speed different from the conveyance speed, and scrapes off the image forming material on the belt 28 that has been peeled and transferred from the recording material 1. The backup roller 34 rotates following the rotation of the belt 28. The backup roller 34 is also provided with a casing 36b, and a blade 37 for scraping and removing the waste image forming material wrapped around the back surface of the belt 28 is provided downstream of the belt 28 in the transport direction. When a blade is used as a member for removing abrasion, the member can be configured at a lower cost than when a woven or nonwoven fabric described later is used, and the member has high durability.

The waste image forming substance collecting container 32 is detachably installed. When the waste image forming substance accumulates in a predetermined amount or more, a sensor (not shown) detects the waste image forming substance and displays "waste required". You. The waste image forming substance collecting container 32 includes the entire cleaning device (the casings 36a and 36b).
And the waste image forming substance collecting container 32)
An exhaust fan 38 is installed as a pressure reducing means for maintaining the pressure at a level lower than that of the inside 1. The reason why the pressure is kept low is to prevent the waste image forming substance from being scattered from the inside of the cleaning device to the outside through the gap, and to always generate a slight airflow from the outside of the cleaning device to the inside in these gaps. It is. Therefore, the pressure may be weak enough that the collected waste image forming substance does not flow outside the cleaning device. Naturally, a filter for preventing the passage of the waste image forming substance is attached to the ventilation opening between the exhaust fan 38 and the waste image forming substance collecting container 32.

The material of the blades 35 and 37 is preferably an elastic material such as stainless steel or a hardly corrosive metal or resin material. When the blades 35 and 37 are in contact with the belt 28, the belt 28 is appropriately pressed by the tension of the belt 28. Is preferably obtained. Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the pressure may be applied such that the belt 28 is sandwiched between the two blades 35 and 37. In this case, by setting the positions where the two blades 35 and 37 are in contact with the belt 28 substantially on the same line, the gap can be further reduced. Since the adhesive force of the waste image forming substance adhered to the belt 28 is a force of the order of static electricity, the blades 35, 37
Of the pressing force in the width direction of the belt 28 is 10 g /
cm is sufficient.

By disposing the blades 35 and 37, the waste image forming substance does not re-adhere to the front and back surfaces of the belt 28 after passing through the cleaning device and is conveyed. The waste image forming substance is passed through the gap between
Since no waste image forming substance is scattered in the component 1, the waste image forming substance does not adhere to each component, and the reliability of the reproducing apparatus 61 is further improved.

FIG. 2 is a view showing the construction of a main part of another embodiment of the apparatus for reproducing a recording material according to the present invention, in which a nonwoven fabric (felt) is used as a scraping removing member on the downstream side of the belt transport of the cleaning apparatus. It is provided. The abrasion removing member shown in FIG. 2 has a felt provided on the surface of a metal cored roller, and has a pair of felt rollers 39 with a belt 28 interposed therebetween. These felt rollers 39 are in contact with the belt 28 with a constant load by being pulled by a spring or the like (not shown).

As a member for removing abrasion, a woven fabric or a nonwoven fabric may be used in addition to the blade. The belt 28 slides with the woven fabric or the nonwoven fabric as the belt 28 travels. It is possible to wipe off the waste image forming substance on the front and back surfaces. When a woven or non-woven fabric is used as the member for abrasion removal, the removal rate is significantly higher than that of the blade, and the residual image forming substance on the belt is hardly left behind.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, a blade 35 is provided on the upstream side of the felt roller 39 in the casings 36a and 36b, and the image forming material removed by the roller-shaped blade member 31 is felt. The waste image forming material that has re-adhered to the belt 28 is primarily removed. As described above, by combining the blade and the abrasion removing member made of a woven or nonwoven fabric in multiple stages, it is possible to more effectively remove the waste image forming substance.

The felt roller 39 shown in FIG.
Is normally stationary even when the belt 28 rotates, and slides with the belt 28. However, every predetermined processing time,
The belt 28 rotates slightly in the direction opposite to the moving direction of the belt 28 to prevent the waste image forming substance from accumulating in the contact portion between the felt roller 39 and the belt 28.

By installing the felt roller 39, the front and back surfaces of the belt 28 after passing through the roller-shaped blade member 31 as the cleaning means are prevented from being conveyed due to the reattachment of the waste image forming substance to the belt 28. Since the waste image forming substance does not scatter into the reproducing device 61 through the gap between the cleaning devices (the casings 36a and 36b), the waste image forming material does not adhere to each part, and the reliability of the reproducing device 61 is improved. Even better.

[0055]

(1) Effects of the invention of claim 1 A scattering prevention means for preventing the image forming material (waste image forming material) removed in the cleaning device from scattering from the cleaning device into the inside of the reproducing device is provided. Thereby, it is possible to suppress a malfunction that occurs when the scattered waste image forming material adheres to each component in the reproducing apparatus, or a danger such as heating and ignition in the case of an electric component. In addition, the quality of the reproduced recording material is reduced when it adheres to the reproduced recording material, and furthermore, the contamination of surrounding articles and the adverse effect on the human body when a part of the waste image forming material scatters outside the reproducing apparatus are suppressed. be able to.

(2) Effects of the Second Invention The belt surface (belt surface) on the side at which the image forming substance is peeled and transferred from the recording material at least on the downstream side in the transport direction of the belt which is the peeling member of the cleaning device. Alternatively, by installing the scattering prevention means in a state of being in contact with one of the belt surfaces (belt back surface) that does not contact the recording material,
It is possible to scrape and remove waste image forming substances that have reattached to the belt due to static electricity or the like. In addition to this,
By providing the scattering prevention means so as to fill gaps inside and outside the cleaning device, it is possible to suppress the scattering of the waste image forming substance from the cleaning device.

(3) Effect on the invention of claim 3 By using a woven or non-woven fabric as a member for removing abrasion and disposing the running belt (peeling member) and the woven or non-woven fabric so as to slide, Waste image forming substances on the front and back surfaces of the belt can be efficiently wiped and removed. When a woven or non-woven fabric is used, the removal rate of the waste image forming substance is increased and the scattering prevention effect is higher than when a blade is used.

(4) Effect on the Invention of Claim 4 A blade made of an elastic material is used as a member for removing abrasion, and the running belt (peeling member) slides on the blade, thereby forming images on the front and back surfaces of the belt. The substance can be wiped off. By using the blade, the durability of the member can be improved and the production cost can be suppressed as compared with the case where a woven or non-woven fabric is used.

(5) Advantageous Effect of the Invention According to Claim 5 As a means for preventing scattering, a pressure reducing means for lowering the air pressure inside the cleaning device from the outside is provided in the reproducing apparatus of the recording material, so that the inside of the cleaning device to the outside is removed. Scattering of the waste image forming substance can be suppressed. In particular, the problem that the waste image forming substance is scattered by the convection generated at the time of cleaning from a small gap between the cleaning device and the waste image forming substance collection container can be effectively suppressed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a main part configuration diagram for explaining an embodiment of a recording material reproducing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a main part configuration diagram for explaining another embodiment of the recording material reproducing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a main part configuration diagram for explaining an example of a recording material reproducing apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Recording material, 2 ... Guide plate, 3 ... Feed roller, 11 ... Image removal promotion liquid, 12 ... Image removal promotion liquid application roller, 13
... Image removal accelerating liquid container, 14 ... Recording material pressing roller,
15: squeeze roller, 21: heating drum, 22: heater, 23: inlet roller, 24: separation roller, 25 ...
Tension roller, 26: cleaning backup roller, 27: metal pressure roller, 28: belt,
31: roller-shaped blade member, 32: waste image forming substance collecting container, 33: image forming substance, 34: backup roller,
35, 37 ... blade, 36a, 36b ... casing,
38: exhaust fan, 39: felt roller, 42, 4
3: Discharge sheet roller, 44: Discharge sheet guide plate, 4
6 ... Discharge sheet tray, 51 ... Liquid absorption pad, 61 ... Regeneration device.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A process in which a sheet-shaped recording material on which an image-forming substance is formed in the form of a film and a belt-shaped peeling member for peeling and transferring the image-forming substance from the recording material in a contact state are conveyed. In the recording material reproducing apparatus having a cleaning device for peeling and transferring the image forming material from the recording material to the peeling member and removing the peeled and transferred image forming material from the peeling member, An apparatus for reproducing a recording material, comprising scattering prevention means for preventing scattering of an image forming substance from a cleaning device. 2. The recording material reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the scattering prevention unit is provided on one of the front and back surfaces of the peeling member on a downstream side of the cleaning device in a transport direction of the peeling member. Arranged in contact with each other to fill gaps inside and outside the cleaning device,
An apparatus for reproducing a recording material, comprising: a removing member that rubs off the removed image forming substance that has reattached to the peeling member. 3. The recording material reproducing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said removing member is made of a woven or nonwoven fabric. 4. A recording material reproducing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said removing member is constituted by a blade made of an elastic body. 5. A recording material reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said scattering prevention means reduces a pressure inside the cleaning device to a value lower than a pressure outside the cleaning device. An apparatus for reproducing a recording material, comprising: