JP2002091270A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming device that prevents discharges of hot air, ozone, toner dust, and so on by cooling or purifying air within the device, in an image forming device that fixes a toner image onto a transfer material by a heating means. SOLUTION: An air drawing section and an exhaust section are provided on both sides of the heating means or both sides of an image forming device main body. A circulation path for an air current is formed in the device. An air cooling section or an air purifying filter is provided in the circulation path. Thus, air is cooled or purified. Accordingly, the hot air, ozone, toner dust, and so on are not discharged out of the device.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention has been devised for the purpose of improving an office environment in which heated air in an apparatus can be cooled in a circulation path provided in the apparatus and contaminated air in the apparatus can be reduced as much as possible. And an electrophotographic image forming apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in order to cool the inside of a copying machine and purify air, an exhaust fan is provided at an exhaust port in the vicinity of a heating element to remove heated air around the heating element and ozone and toner dust generated in a specific portion. A method has been generally employed in which the contained air is discharged out of the machine through a filter at an exhaust port.

[0003]

However, in the above method, although air inside the apparatus is exhausted to the outside of the apparatus through a filter, ozone and toner dust cannot be completely removed, but are dispersed outside the apparatus. There was a problem that the office environment was deteriorated because of being scattered.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus configured to minimize the occurrence of the above-mentioned problems, and in particular, to provide an image reading apparatus in an upper part of the apparatus, which has a restriction in an in-machine cooling unit. Used in an image forming apparatus.

[0005]

The object of the present invention can be achieved by the following constitution.

(1) In an image forming apparatus in which a toner image formed on an image carrier is transferred to a transfer material and the toner image is fixed on the transfer material by a heating means, an air suction unit and an exhaust unit are provided. An image forming apparatus provided on both sides of the heating means, forming a circulation path of an air flow, and having an air cooling unit in the circulation path.

(2) In an image forming apparatus in which a toner image formed on an image carrier is transferred onto a transfer material and the toner image is fixed on the transfer body by a heating means, an air suction unit and an exhaust unit are provided. An image forming apparatus provided on both sides of an image forming means, forming a circulation path of an air flow, and having a filter in the circulation path.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Note that the description in the present application does not limit the technical scope of the claims and the meaning of terms, and the following description of the embodiments of the present invention indicates the best mode, and It does not limit the meaning of the terms or the technical scope.

In the following description of the embodiments,
The image transferred from the intermediate transfer member to the transfer material is referred to as a first toner image (back surface image), and the image transferred directly from the photosensitive drum to the transfer material is referred to as a second toner image (front surface image).

FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment,
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram for explaining the overall configuration of the image forming apparatus, and purifies air in the apparatus by removing a suction unit (hereinafter referred to as a suction fan) and an exhaust unit (hereinafter referred to as an exhaust unit) provided on both sides of the image forming unit. Further, air cooling is performed by suction fans and exhaust fans provided on both sides of the fixing device.

In this embodiment, "provided on both sides" means that fans are mounted on the left and right with the image forming means in between as shown in the figure, and that the fans are mounted on the upper and lower sides with the fixing device in between. Means that

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes an image carrier (hereinafter, referred to as a photosensitive drum), 11 denotes a scorotron charger, 12 denotes an exposure optical system serving as image writing means, 13 denotes a developing device, and 14 denotes a photosensitive drum. A cleaning device for cleaning the surface,
15 is a cleaning blade, 16 is a developing sleeve, 2
Reference numeral 0 denotes an intermediate transfer member, and reference numeral 100 denotes an image forming means, which includes a photosensitive drum 10, a scorotron charger 11, an exposure optical system 12, a developing device 13, a cleaning device 14, and the like.

The photoreceptor drum 10 has a conductive layer a-
A photosensitive layer such as an Si layer or an organic photoreceptor (OPC) is formed, and is rotated clockwise as indicated by an arrow in the figure with the conductive layer grounded.

The intermediate transfer member 20 has a volume resistivity of 10 ⁶ to 1
It is an endless belt having a thickness of 0.1 to ¹² Ω · cm. This is a seamless belt having a two-layer structure in which a 1.0 mm semiconductive film substrate is coated with a fluorine coating having a thickness of 5 to 50 μm, preferably as a toner filming preventing layer. As the base of the belt,
In addition, a semiconductive rubber belt having a thickness of 0.5 to 2.0 mm in which a conductive material is dispersed in silicon rubber, urethane rubber, or the like can be used.

The traveling of the intermediate transfer member 20 is performed by rotation of a drive roller 21 by a drive motor (not shown). 22
Is a tension roller, 23 is a first transfer roller for transferring the toner image on the photosensitive drum 10 onto the surface of the intermediate transfer member 20 and the transfer material P, and 25 is a separation / removal assisting separation of the transfer material P from the intermediate transfer member 20. An electric device, 26 is a driven roller, 27 is a second transfer device for retransferring the toner image on the intermediate transfer member 20 to the back surface of the transfer material P, and 30 is a device for sucking dust, ozone, odor, etc. around the photosensitive drum 10. Suction fan for 31
Is a filter for removing the dust, ozone, odor, etc., 3
2 is the suction fan 30 with the photosensitive drum 10 interposed therebetween.
The exhaust fan 39a and 39b provided on the opposite side are air circulation paths, have the suction fan 30 at the inlet, the exhaust fan 32 at the outlet, and include the partition wall 33 and the exterior wall 59. Have been. The air sucked from the suction fan 30 flows through arrows a, b, c, d, and
Circulates like Numeral 34 denotes an outside air inlet provided on the exterior wall 36 for regulating the path of the air discharged from the discharge fan 32. Reference numeral 35 denotes a barrier plate, which is an extension of the partition wall 33 on the suction fan 30 side, and plays a role of guiding the flow of air around the image forming means 100 to the suction fan.

In the flow of air, air containing ozone, toner dust, and the like on one side of the image forming means 100 is washed through the filter 31 and the suction fan 30, and is cleaned by the exterior wall 59 and the partition wall 33. And is discharged to the other side of the image forming means 100 by the discharge fan 32, and further mixed with fresh air from the outside air intake 34 which can take in 10 to 30% of the amount of circulated air. As a result, the air flows indicated by arrows a, b, c, and d are formed, and the purification process can be performed inside the machine without discharging the polluted air outside the machine.

A first fixing roller 41 is a heating means.
And a fixing device having a second fixing roller 42, a conveying unit 43, a suction fan 50 for sucking heated air from one side of the fixing device 40, and a suction fan 50 with the fixing device 40 interposed therebetween. Is a discharge fan provided on the opposite side, and 58a and 58b are air circulation paths, having the suction fan 50 at the inlet and the discharge fan 51 at the outlet,
It is composed of a partition wall 55 and an exterior wall 53 (preferably a metal plate such as an aluminum plate having a high thermal conductivity). The air sucked from the suction fan 50 is cooled by the exterior wall 53 provided with the radiating fins 54 and mixes with the outside air from the outside air inlet 52 which can take in the outside air of 10 to 30% of the circulating air amount.
It circulates through the discharge fan 51 as shown by arrows e, f, g, and h. Thus, the cooling process can be performed without discharging the hot air out of the machine.

Reference numeral 70 denotes an image reading device (hereinafter, simply referred to as a reading device). An electric signal of the read image is recorded on the surface of the photosensitive drum 10 by the exposure optical system 12 as an electrostatic latent image. 62 is a paper feed cassette, 60 is a feed roller, 61 is a timing roller, 63 is a transfer material transport roller, and 64 is a paper charger.

A DC voltage having the same polarity as the toner is applied to the paper charger 64, and the transfer material P is charged with the same polarity as the toner.

The cleaning device 47 has a cleaning blade 48. After the toner image on the intermediate transfer member 20 is transferred, the transferred toner remaining on the peripheral surface is removed.

Next, an image forming process (image forming step) will be described with reference to FIG. When the image recording starts, a photoconductor driving motor (not shown) starts rotating, and the photoconductor drum 10 rotates clockwise as indicated by an arrow. At the same time, the application of a potential to the photosensitive drum 10 by the scorotron charger 11 is started.

At this time, the corona discharge of the scorotron charger 11 generates ozone having an odor peculiar to the periphery of the electrode, and diffuses around the photosensitive drum 10 into the apparatus.

On the photosensitive drum 10 after the potential is applied, image writing of an electric signal corresponding to the image data from the reading device 70 is started through the exposure optical system 12, and the original is placed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 10. An electrostatic latent image corresponding to the image is formed, and the electrostatic latent image is reversely developed by the developing device 13.

At this time, when the developer and the toner are stirred in the developing device 13 by the rotation of the developing sleeve 16, dust mainly composed of fine powder such as toner is generated and tends to be diffused into the apparatus.

The toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 10 is transferred to the intermediate transfer member 20 by a first transfer roller 23 to which a DC voltage having a polarity opposite to that of the toner is applied, and becomes a first toner image. After that, the photosensitive drum 10 is cleaned by the cleaning blade 15 of the cleaning device 14 and enters the next image forming cycle.

On the other hand, the transfer material P is sent out by a feed roller 60 from a paper feed cassette 62, is conveyed to a timing roller 61 via a transfer material conveying roller 63, is sent out by driving the timing roller 61, and is sent by a paper charger 64. The intermediate transfer member 20 is charged to the same polarity as the toner,
The first toner image is synchronized with the upper toner image, is superimposed on the first toner image, and is fed to the area of the first transfer roller 23 in a state of being adsorbed on the intermediate transfer body 20 (toner and toner). By charging the transfer material to the same polarity, the transfer material is prevented from being attracted to the first toner image on the intermediate transfer body 20 and the disturbance of the toner image is prevented).

After the first toner image is transferred to the intermediate transfer material 20, a second toner image is formed on the photosensitive drum 10 in the next image forming cycle. The second toner image is transferred onto the surface of the transfer material P by the first transfer roller 23 to which a voltage having a polarity opposite to that of the toner is applied in synchronization with the transfer material P superimposed on the toner image.

Further, the transfer material P is supported and conveyed by the intermediate transfer member 20, and a voltage having a polarity opposite to that of the toner, which is provided opposite to the ground roller 28 grounded with the intermediate transfer member 20 interposed therebetween, is applied. The operation of the second transfer unit 27 is performed. As a result, the first toner image on the intermediate transfer body 20 is
Is transferred again to the back surface of the substrate, thereby completing the transfer process on the front and back surfaces.

Thereafter, the intermediate transfer member 20 is located in a cleaning device 47 provided opposite to the drive roller 21 with the intermediate transfer member 20 interposed therebetween, and can be brought into and out of contact with the intermediate transfer member 20 by a blade 48. The toner remaining on the surface of is removed.

The transfer material P on which the toner images are placed on both the front and back sides is subjected to the charge removing operation of the separation charge removing device 25 for separating the transfer material, and then easily separated from the intermediate transfer body 20.
1 is separated from the intermediate transfer body 20 by the KT section and the transport section 4
It is sent to 3.

The transport section 43 has a spur 44 as a spur member, and is provided between the fixing device 40 and the curvature portion KT at the end of the intermediate transfer body 20 on the fixing device 40 side.

The spur 44 of the transport section 43 has a plurality of projections 45 on the peripheral surface, and is provided rotatably about a rotation support shaft 46. The spur 44 guides the transfer material P on the back surface side of the transfer material P to convey the transfer material P to prevent disturbance of the back surface toner image of the transfer material P having a toner image on both sides, and
Of the transfer material P while keeping the direction of entry into the fixing device 40 constant.
Is stably conveyed to the fixing device 40.

The fixing device 40 melts the toner image on the transfer material P by applying heat and pressure while nipping and conveying the transfer material P at a nip portion T between the first fixing roller 41 and the second fixing roller 42. After the fixing, the image formation on both sides of the transfer material P is completed.

Since the fixing device 40 has the first fixing roller 41 and the second fixing roller 42 which are heated, the temperature inside the apparatus may be increased more than necessary. Cooling is desired.

FIG. 2 is a view for explaining a circulation path which is a second example of the configuration around the fixing device shown in FIG. 1. Members having the same functions as the above-mentioned members (means) are the same. Reference numbers are attached.

In the air circulation path, a flow of air is formed by a fan 50 that serves both as a suction and a discharge of heated air near the fixing device 40. Reference numeral 58 denotes an air circulation path, which is composed of an exterior wall 53 (preferably a metal plate such as an aluminum plate having a high thermal conductivity) having a large area provided with the intake and exhaust fans 50 and the radiation fins 54, and a partition wall 55. The formed and heated air is supplied to the exterior wall 53, which is an air cooling unit.
Is cooled while crawling, and the amount of circulating air
It is mixed with fresh air taken in from the outside air inlet 52 which can take in 30% and circulates as shown by arrows e, f, g, h.

FIG. 3 is a view for explaining a third example of the form of the air circulation path around the fixing device 40 and the image forming means 100 shown in FIG. 1, and has the same functions as the members (means) described above. The same reference numerals are given to members having the same.

In the embodiment, in the embodiment, 50 is a suction fan for sucking heated air, 51 is a discharge fan for sending cooled air, and 53 is an exterior wall (heat conductivity) provided with a radiation fin 54. A metal plate such as an aluminum plate having a high height is preferable), and 55 is a partition wall for regulating the flow of air. 5
Reference numeral 8 denotes a circulation path of heated air, which has the suction fan 50 on one side and the discharge fan 51 on the other side, sandwiching the fixing device 40, and is constituted by a partition wall 55 and an exterior wall 53. The heated air sucked by the suction fan 50 is cooled along the exterior wall 53 and is mixed with fresh air taken in from the outside air inlet 52 which can take in 10 to 30% of the circulating air amount. Then, air is circulated in the axial direction of the fixing roller as indicated by arrows f, g, h, and i discharged through the discharge fan 51.

In the figure, reference numeral 30 denotes a suction fan for sucking contaminated air through a filter 31; 32, a discharge fan for discharging purified air; and 33, a partition wall for regulating the flow of the purified air. Reference numeral 39 denotes an air circulation path, which has the suction fan 30 on one side and the discharge fan 32 on the other side, sandwiching the image forming unit 100, and includes a partition wall 33 and exterior wall sections 36 and 37. The air sucked in from one side of the image forming means 100 via the filter 31 passes through the circulation path 39 and the amount of circulated air of 10
The image forming unit 100 is mixed with the outside air from the outside air inlet 34 into which the image forming unit 100
And the air circulates in the axial direction of the photosensitive drum 10 and the developing device 13 as indicated by arrows a, b, c, d, and e.

Here, the suction fan 30 and the discharge fan 3
2. The reason why the suction fan 50 and the discharge fan 51 are attached obliquely as shown in the figure is to make the air flow smooth.

FIG. 4 is a view showing an example of a structure in which cooling of heated air near the fixing device 40 and cleaning of air near the image forming means 100 can be performed in the same air circulation path 78. is there.

In the figure, a circulation path 78 is provided with a suction fan 30 on one side via a filter 31 and a discharge fan 32 on the other side with the image forming apparatus 100 interposed therebetween. 73 (preferably a metal plate such as an aluminum plate having a high thermal conductivity).

The heated air in the vicinity of the fixing device 40 and the dirty air in the vicinity of the image forming means 100 are sucked into the suction fan 30, the filter 31 absorbs ozone, toner dust, etc., and the radiation fin 74 is provided. It is cooled by a circulation path 78, which is an air cooling section, formed by an exterior wall 73 having a large area and a partition wall 75.
Arrows a, b, c, d, and d, which are mixed with fresh air taken in from the outside air inlet 76 into which 0% can be taken, are discharged from the discharge fan 32, and flow to the vicinity of the fixing device 40 through the vicinity of the image forming means 100. It circulates like e, f.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing another example of a structure in which cooling of heated air near the fixing device 40 and cleaning of air near the image forming means 100 can be performed in the same air flow. It is.

In the figure, a partition wall 82 is provided on the front exterior wall 80 (preferably a metal plate such as an aluminum plate having a high thermal conductivity) of the apparatus, and a rear exterior wall 81 (an aluminum plate or the like having a high thermal conductivity) is provided. The partition wall 83 is provided on the side of
A space for air circulation is provided between each panel and the partition wall, and ducts 86 are provided in the notches 84 and 85 of the partition wall 82 and the partition wall 83, respectively. Duct 8
The suction fan 30 is provided on the side of the partition wall 82 and the discharge fan 32 is provided on the side of the partition wall 83, and a replaceable filter 31 for removing ozone and toner dust is inserted between the suction fan 30 and the discharge fan 32. ing. Radiation fins (not shown) are provided on the front exterior wall 80 and the rear exterior wall 81, respectively, to contribute to cooling of the air inside the machine.

The heated air near the fixing device 40 and the contaminated air near the image forming means 100 are guided by the suction fan 30 located on one side in the axial direction of the fixing device 40 and the image forming means 100. The front exterior wall 8
It is cooled in the process of crawling the space which is the air cooling section between the zero and the partition wall 82 and is taken in from the outside air intake 87 provided in the front exterior wall 80 and capable of taking in 10 to 30% of the circulating air amount. It mixes with the outside air, is sucked into the duct 86, and the ozone, toner dust and the like are absorbed by the filter 31 in the duct 86, and are discharged by the discharge fan 32 into the space between the rear exterior wall 81 and the partition wall 83. The discharged air is
In the process of crawling the space between the rear exterior part 81 and the partition wall 83, which is an air cooling part, the air is further cooled and flows to the other side in the axial direction of the fixing device 40 and the image forming body 100.

In the present system, the heated air near the fixing device 40 and the dirty air near the image forming body 100 are separated from the front exterior wall 80 and the rear exterior by the flow of air by the suction fan 30 of the duct 86. As shown by arrows j, k, q, m, n, and p, the large area of the wall 81 is used for the cooling process, is purified by the filter 31 in the duct 86, and is returned to the image forming unit 100 via the discharge fan 32. It is characterized by the form of circulation.

The present invention is preferably used for an image forming apparatus having an image reading device in the upper part of the apparatus, which has a restriction on a cooling section in the apparatus.

[0049]

According to the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus for transferring a toner image formed on an image carrier to a transfer material and fixing the toner image on the transfer material by heating means. , An air suction unit and an air exhaust unit are provided on both sides of the heating unit or the image forming unit to form a circulation path of an air flow, and an air cooling unit or a filter is provided in the circulation path; The image forming apparatus has an outside air intake capable of taking in 10 to 30% of the amount of circulating air therein, as well as air heated around the heating element and ozone and toner dust generated in a specific portion. Can be prevented from being discharged outside the machine.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a first embodiment and illustrating an overall configuration of an image forming apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a second example of air circulation related to thermal cooling near a fixing device in the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a third example in which, in the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1, a flow of air near a fixing device and an image forming unit is circulated in an axial direction.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example in which processing of air near a fixing device and an image forming unit is performed in the same circulation path that flows in a lateral direction.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing another example in which the processing of air near the fixing device and the image forming means is performed in the same circulation path flowing in the axial direction.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 10 photoconductor drum 11 scorotron charger 13 developing device 14 cleaning device 20 intermediate transfer member 23 first transfer roller 25 separation static eliminator 27 second transfer device 30 suction fan 31 filter 32 discharge fan 40 fixing device 43 transport unit 60 feed roller 64 Paper charger

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An image forming apparatus for transferring a toner image formed on an image carrier to a transfer material and fixing the toner image on the transfer material by heating means, wherein the air suction unit and the exhaust unit are connected to each other. An image forming apparatus provided on both sides of a heating means, forming a circulation path of an air flow, and having an air cooling unit in the circulation path. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the circulation path is configured using an exterior wall of the image forming apparatus. 3. An image forming apparatus in which a toner image formed on an image carrier is transferred to a transfer material and the toner image is fixed on the transfer material by a heating unit. An image forming apparatus provided on both sides of a forming means, forming a circulation path of an air flow, and having a filter in the circulation path. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the circulation path is provided on an exterior wall of the image forming apparatus. 5. An outside air intake which is capable of partially sucking outside air is provided in the circulation path.
5. The image forming apparatus according to 2, 3, or 4.