JP2002277797A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming device whose assembling and maintenance are easily performed by adjusting the radiating direction or the like of a scanning beam in a state where an exposure unit 30 is still attached to a device main body. SOLUTION: The scanning beam emitted from a light source part 32 is reflected by a reflection mirror 34 so as to irradiate a photoreceptor drum. An aperture part 36 for performing the adjusting operation of a mirror adjusting part 35 for adjusting the attaching angle of the mirror 34 from the outside of the exposure unit 30 is provided in the housing 31 of the unit 30.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, and a facsimile machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine using an electrophotographic process, a charger for charging the surface of a photosensitive drum along the rotation direction of the photosensitive drum is provided.
An exposure device for forming an electrostatic latent image, a developing device for developing the electrostatic latent image to form a toner image, a transfer device for transferring the toner image onto transfer paper, etc., residual toner on the surface of the photosensitive drum after transfer, etc. A cleaner or the like for removing the water is provided.

In such an image forming apparatus, high accuracy is required for the mounting position of each part due to a demand for higher image quality. Particularly, in the exposure device, since the irradiation position and the focal position of the scanning beam irradiated on the photosensitive drum directly affect the image quality, the requirements for the mounting position accuracy are severe.

For this reason, in the conventional image forming apparatus, the exposing device is configured as an exposing unit that can be attached to and detached from the main body of the apparatus. The unit is assembled by strictly positioning and mounting the unit at a predetermined position such as a frame of the image forming apparatus main body.

[0005]

However, in such an image forming apparatus, minute mechanical distortion of a frame or the like to which the exposure unit is attached is unavoidable. In some cases, fine adjustment of the direction of the scanning beam emitted from the exposure unit is required. However, in such a case,
In the conventional image forming apparatus, the mounting portion of the exposure unit with respect to the frame or the like must be exposed and the mounting position and the angle must be adjusted. Therefore, there is a problem that a large amount of work is required for assembly and maintenance. Was.

In particular, when the exposure unit is disposed inside the image forming apparatus, it is necessary to temporarily remove another unit or the like in order to expose a mounting portion of the exposure unit to a frame or the like. It has become a major one.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide an image forming apparatus capable of easily performing assembly and maintenance.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides an image forming apparatus having an exposure unit for irradiating a scanning beam onto a surface of a photoconductive image carrier to form an electrostatic latent image. A light source unit that emits a scanning beam based on image data in a direction away from the image carrier, and a light source unit that reflects the scanning beam emitted from the light source unit to form the image carrier. It is provided with a reflecting mirror for emitting light to the body, and a mirror adjusting means for adjusting an attachment state of the reflecting mirror, wherein the mirror adjusting means is configured to be operable from outside the exposure unit.

According to such an image forming apparatus, the scanning beam emitted from the light source unit in the exposure unit is reflected by the reflecting mirror and then radiated to the image carrier. The mirror adjusting means attaches the reflecting mirror. Since the state can be adjusted from outside the exposure unit,
At the time of assembly and maintenance, the irradiation state of the scanning beam can be easily adjusted while the exposure unit is mounted in the apparatus main body.

In such an image forming apparatus, since the light source unit once emits the scanning beam in a direction away from the image carrier, a reflecting mirror for reflecting the scanning beam may be disposed near the exterior of the apparatus body. it can.

With this arrangement, the mirror adjusting means for adjusting the mounting state of the reflection mirror is disposed near the exterior of the apparatus main body, and the exposure unit is mounted near the exterior of the apparatus main body while the exposure unit is mounted on the apparatus main body. The irradiation state of the scanning beam can be adjusted particularly easily using the provided mirror adjusting means.

Also, since the reflecting mirror can be arranged at a position distant from an operating portion such as an image carrier,
It is possible to reduce blurring of the reflection mirror due to the influence of vibration or the like when the image carrier or the like is driven, thereby achieving high image quality.

Further, since the scanning beam emitting portion of the exposure unit can be disposed at a position distant from the image carrier or the like, the scanning beam emitting portion is provided at the emitting portion to prevent toner and dust from entering the unit. It is possible to reduce the adhesion of toner and dust, which are likely to be generated from the periphery of the image carrier, to the translucent portion, whereby the cleaning mechanism and the like for the translucent portion can be omitted or simplified.

Further, in such an image forming apparatus, the mirror adjusting means can be configured to be capable of adjusting the mounting angle of the reflection mirror. This makes it possible to easily adjust the irradiation direction of the scanning beam.

[0015] The mirror adjusting means may be configured so that the mounting position of the reflection mirror can be adjusted. For example, if the reflection mirror is adjusted so as to move in the direction of contact and separation with respect to the image carrier, the optical path length of the scanning beam is adjusted so that the focal position of the beam and the scanning length of the beam on the image carrier are easily adjusted. Can be adjusted.

Preferably, the mirror adjusting means is provided in a housing of the exposure unit, and the housing is provided with an opening for opening and closing the mirror adjusting means from outside the housing.

With this arrangement, the mirror adjusting means can be made small and simple, and the opening can be closed at the time of non-adjustment, thereby preventing toner and dust from entering the exposure unit. it can.

A developing device for developing the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the image carrier with toner to form a toner image; a toner container for replenishing the developing device with toner; A transfer unit that transfers the toner image onto the transfer sheet at a transfer position on the side of the sheet, and a sheet that conveys the transfer sheet from substantially below the image carrier through the transfer position to substantially above the image carrier Conveying means, wherein the toner container is disposed above the developing device via a predetermined gap, and the exposure unit is disposed so as to irradiate the image carrier with a scanning beam through the gap. It is desirable to be installed.

With this configuration, the exposure unit irradiates the image carrier with the scanning beam through the gap between the developing device and the toner container. From the periphery of the image carrier with respect to a light-transmitting portion provided at the emission portion to prevent toner and dust from entering the unit. Adhesion of easy-to-use toner and dust can be reduced, and the mechanism for cleaning the light-transmitting portion can be simplified.

Further, since the scanning beam passes below the toner container, a large toner container is disposed in the space above the scanning beam path without interfering with the exposure unit and the scanning beam path. can do.

[0021]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a schematic configuration of a copying machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in this figure, in this copying machine (an example of an image forming apparatus), a photosensitive drum (image carrier) 10 rotating in the direction of the arrow in the figure is uniformly charged by a charger 11. An electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive drum 10 by a scanning beam emitted from a laser scanning unit (exposure unit; hereinafter, referred to as “LSU”) 30 based on the document image data read by the document reading unit 20. The electrostatic latent image is formed and developed by the developing device 40 to form a toner image.

On the other hand, the transfer paper is conveyed from the paper feed cassettes 21 and 22 at the lower part of the apparatus or from the bypass tray 23 provided below the exposure unit 30 to the transfer position on the side of the photosensitive drum 10. The transfer unit 12 transfers the toner image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 10 to transfer paper. The residual toner on the photosensitive drum 10 is removed by the cleaner 13.

The transfer paper on which the toner image has been transferred is fixed on the transfer sheet by the fixing device 14 above the photosensitive drum 10 from the transfer position, and is discharged to a discharge tray 24. Reference numeral 25 denotes a two-sided conveyance path used when images are formed on both sides of the transfer sheet. In order to form an image on the remaining surface, the sheet is conveyed upstream (below) of the transfer position.

A toner container (toner container) 41 is disposed above the developing device 40 with a predetermined gap 42 interposed therebetween. The LSU 30 is disposed beside the developing device 40,
A scanning beam is applied to the photosensitive drum 10 through the gap 42. The LSU 30 is located at the outermost position on one side (the right side in FIG. 1) of the image forming apparatus, and an outer plate 39 is detachably attached to the outer side (the right side) with screws 391. By removing this, one side surface (the right side in FIG. 1) of the LSU 30 is exposed to the outside. Also, this LSU30
Are mounted diagonally so as to have an upward slope toward one side outside the apparatus. This allows the bypass tray 2
3 to secure a large space above the bypass tray 2
Excellent operability can be obtained in setting transfer paper to No. 3, jam handling, and the like.

Next, the LSU 30 will be described in detail.
FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the internal configuration of the LSU 30, FIGS.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an internal configuration of the LSU 30, and FIG.
It is an enlarged perspective view of 30 mirror adjustment parts.

The LSU 30 is composed of a housing 31, a laser transmitter 32 for emitting a laser beam based on document image data read by the image reading section 20, and a polygonal mirror. A polygon mirror 33 that reflects the light, a reflection mirror 34 that reflects the scanning beam incident through the fθ lens 331 toward the photosensitive drum 10, and a mirror adjustment unit 35 that adjusts the mounting angle of the reflection mirror 34 are provided. ing.

Laser transmitter 32 and polygon mirror 3
Reference numeral 3 denotes a light source unit that emits a scanning beam in a direction in which the scanning beam is once separated from the photosensitive drum 10.

The reflection mirror 34 is disposed on the outermost side in the housing 31 of the LSU 30 and, as shown in FIG. 1, also in the apparatus main body, near the apparatus exterior.
More specifically, the reflection mirror 34 is composed of two mirrors 341 and 342 attached at substantially right angles to each other, and is supported by a mirror support 343 erected on the housing 31 on both sides thereof. As shown in FIG. 5, the upper reflection mirror 342 is a support plate 3 made of an elastic body partially fixed on the mirror support portion 343.
The support plate 344 is elastically deformed, so that the mirror adjustment unit 35 can adjust the mounting angle.

In the LSU 30, the laser transmitter 3
2 emits a laser beam from the polygon mirror 33
To form a scanning beam, which is reflected from the lower reflecting mirror 341 to the upper reflecting mirror 342. The scanning beam reflected by the upper reflecting mirror 342 is transmitted to the light transmitting portion 3 provided on the upper portion of the housing 31.
7 (see FIGS. 1 and 2), passes through the gap 42 between the developing device 40 and the toner container 41 as a beam path, and irradiates the photosensitive drum 10.
The light transmitting portion 37 is made of a transparent resin or the like, and prevents toner, paper powder, and the like scattered from the vicinity of the photosensitive drum 10 from entering the LSU 30.

As shown in FIG. 5 and the like, the mirror adjustment section 35 is disposed on a substantially horizontal base fixed to the mirror support section 343 of the support plate 344 on the rear side of the upper reflection mirror 342. The mirror adjusting section 35 is mounted to be rotatable around a support shaft section 352 provided on the substantially horizontal platform, and the support plate 34 to which the reflection mirror 342 is mounted.
4, and an adjusting screw 354 that is screwed through a screw hole wall 353 provided in the substantially horizontal base portion and abuts on the pressing lever 351. I have.

The mirror adjusting section 35 is provided with the adjusting screw 3
By adjusting the screwing amount of the screw 54, the amount of deformation of the support plate 344 of the reflection mirror 342 is adjusted via the pressing lever 351, whereby the reflection mirror 34 is adjusted.
2, the mounting angle can be finely adjusted.

The housing 31 of the LSU 30 is provided with an opening 36 at a position corresponding to the adjusting screw 354 of the mirror adjusting unit 35 for adjusting the adjusting screw from outside the housing. 36 can be closed by an adhesive tape or the like. Further, as described above, one side of the LSU 30, ie, the reflection mirror 3
4 and the mirror adjustment unit 35 are disposed on the side of the exterior plate 3.
By removing 9, it is exposed to the outside.

With this configuration, during assembly or maintenance, the exterior plate 39 is removed while the LSU 30 is mounted and fixed in the apparatus, and the adhesive tape or the like at the opening 36 is removed. By inserting a driver or the like into the LSU 30 through the opening 36 and adjusting the adjusting screw 354 of the mirror adjusting unit 35, the mounting angle of the reflecting mirror 34 can be easily adjusted.

The reflection mirror 34 is provided on the photosensitive drum 1.
Since it is arranged in the vicinity of the exterior of the device sufficiently distant from 0, vibrations and the like caused by driving of the photosensitive drum 10 and the like affect the reflection mirror 34 and reduce the possibility of the reflection mirror 34 being shaken. Thereby, high image quality can be achieved.

In order to emit the scanning beam reflected by the reflection mirror 34 at a position distant from the photosensitive drum 10 from the LSU 30 toward the photosensitive drum 10, the LSU 30
The light-transmitting portion 37 from which the scanning beam is emitted from the photosensitive drum 10 can also be disposed at a position distant from the photosensitive drum 10. Can be reduced. Therefore, the cleaning mechanism and the like for the light transmitting portion 37 can be omitted, and the device can be simplified and the cost can be reduced.

Further, an opening 36 is provided in the housing 31 of the LSU 30 so that the mirror adjustment unit 3 can be provided from outside the LSU 30.
5, the mirror adjustment unit 35 can
Since it is disposed in the SU 30, a small and simple configuration near the reflection mirror 34 can be achieved.

Since the opening 36 is closed with an adhesive tape or the like at the time of non-adjustment, it is possible to prevent toner and dust from entering the LSU 30 beforehand.

Next, the developing device 40 and the toner container 4
1 will be described in detail. 6 is a perspective view of the toner container, FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the toner container viewed from below, FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the vicinity of a toner supply port of the developing device, and FIG.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a toner supply path from a toner container to a developing device.

The toner container 41 is located in the front direction X of the apparatus.
A toner supply path 42 for supplying toner from the toner container 41 to the developing device 40 is provided on the lower surface on the front side.

This toner supply path 43 is provided with a toner delivery section 43 which is formed on the lower surface of the toner container 41 so as to protrude downward.
1 through the toner outlet 432 (see FIG. 7).
Receiving portion 43 formed so as to protrude upward on the upper surface of the side.
The toner is supplied to the toner receiving port 434 (see FIG. 8) of the toner container 41.
The shutter 31 is provided with a shutter unit 435 (see FIG. 7) for opening and closing the toner outlet 432.

The shutter portion 435 is urged in the depth direction (-X direction) with respect to the toner container 41 by urging means (not shown), and as shown in FIG. When the shutter unit 43 is slid in the depth direction (−X direction) and mounted,
5 engages with an engagement piece 437 (see FIG. 8) provided on the toner receiving portion 433 of the developing device 40, stays on the front side of the apparatus, and automatically outputs the toner. 432 is opened so that toner can be supplied.

With such a configuration, the toner container 4
Since the toner supply path 43 from the printer 1 to the developing device 40 is formed on the front side of the apparatus, the toner container 41 and the developing device 40
And a toner supply path 4 on the front side in the depth direction of the apparatus.
The gap 42 can be provided except for the three portions. Then, the LSU3 is used as a beam path using the space
Since the scanning beam is passed from 0 to the photosensitive drum 10, the toner container 41 can easily adopt a relatively large size by utilizing a space above the beam path.

The toner supply path 43 is a part which is liable to be contaminated with toner around it when toner is supplied from the toner container 41 to the developing device 40. The toner container 41 is provided on the front side of the apparatus, and the toner container 41 is configured to be slid to the front side of the apparatus so as to be removed. It is possible to prevent the toner from being fed into the apparatus and contaminating the inside of the apparatus with toner.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiment, the image forming apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and may be configured as follows.

(1) In the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to a copying machine. However, the present invention is not limited to an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic process provided with an exposure unit, such as a printer or a facsimile machine. Applicable to the device.

(2) In the above embodiment, the photosensitive drum 10 is used as the image carrier, but any image carrier such as a photosensitive belt may be used.

(3) In the above embodiment, the exposure unit is configured as a laser scanning unit.
The exposure unit may adopt various configurations as long as the exposure unit reflects the scanning beam on the reflecting mirror and irradiates the image carrier with the scanning beam, such as irradiating the image carrier with the scanning beam reflected by a reflecting mirror.

(4) In the above embodiment, the mirror adjusting section is configured to adjust the mounting angle of the upper reflecting mirror among the reflecting mirrors. However, the mirror adjusting section adjusts the mounting angle of both the upper and lower reflecting mirrors. You may. Alternatively, only the lower reflecting mirror may be adjusted. Also,
This mounting angle may be adjusted with only one reflecting mirror. Further, the mirror adjustment unit may be capable of adjusting the mounting position of the reflection mirror by sliding the mounting position of the reflection mirror in a direction of approaching or separating from the photosensitive drum, for example, in addition to the mounting angle of the reflection mirror. This makes it possible to easily adjust the focus position of the beam and the scanning length of the beam on the photosensitive drum by adjusting the optical path length of the scanning beam.
Further, only the mounting position of the reflection mirror may be adjusted.

(5) In the above embodiment, the mirror adjustment unit 35 is disposed inside the LSU 30 and the mirror adjustment unit 35 is configured to be adjusted from outside the housing 31 through the opening 36 provided in the housing 31 of the LSU 30. However, an adjustment operation part (for example, an adjustment screw) of the mirror adjustment unit 35 may be drawn out to the outside of the housing 31 so that the adjustment operation part can be operated from outside the housing 31.

[0051]

As described above, according to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the scanning beam emitted from the light source unit in the exposure unit is reflected by the reflecting mirror and then irradiated on the image carrier. The mounting state of the reflection mirror can be adjusted from outside the exposure unit by the mirror adjustment means, so during assembly or maintenance, the irradiation state of the scanning beam can be easily adjusted while the exposure unit is installed inside the apparatus main body. can do.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a schematic configuration of a copying machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an internal configuration of the laser scanning unit.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an internal configuration of a laser scanning unit.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an internal configuration of the laser scanning unit.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration of a mirror adjustment unit.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the toner container.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the toner container as viewed from below.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the vicinity of a toner supply port of the developing device.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a toner supply path from a toner container to a developing device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 10 photoconductor drum (image carrier) 11 charger 12 transfer device 21, 22 paper cassette 23 bypass tray 24 discharge tray 30 laser scanning unit (LSU; exposure unit) 31 housing 32 laser oscillator (light source unit) 33 polygon mirror 34 reflection Mirror 35 Mirror adjustment unit (mirror adjustment means) 36 Opening 37 Translucent unit 40 Developing unit 41 Toner container (Toner container) 42 Air gap (Scanning beam path) 43 Toner supply path 50 Image reading unit

Continued on front page F-term (reference) 2C362 AA43 AA48 BA83 BA87 BA90 DA03 EA00 2H045 DA02 DA04 DA46 2H071 BA16 BA23 BA27 DA02 2H076 AB05 AB12 AB18 AB22 AB81 EA06 EA24 5C072 AA03 DA04 HA02 HA13 HB08 XA05

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An image forming apparatus comprising: an exposure unit configured to irradiate a scanning beam onto a surface of an image carrier having photoconductivity to form an electrostatic latent image, wherein the exposure unit is based on image data. A light source unit that emits the scanning beam in a direction away from the image carrier,
A reflecting mirror for reflecting the scanning beam emitted from the light source unit and emitting the scanning beam to the image carrier; and a mirror adjusting unit for adjusting a mounting state of the reflecting mirror, wherein the mirror adjusting unit is provided outside the exposure unit. An image forming apparatus characterized in that it is operable from a device. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the reflection mirror is disposed near an exterior of the apparatus main body. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the mirror adjustment unit is configured to adjust a mounting angle of the reflection mirror. 4. The mirror adjusting means is provided in a housing of the exposure unit, and the housing is provided with an opening for opening and closing the mirror adjusting means from outside the housing. Claims 1-3
The image forming apparatus according to any one of the above. 5. A developing device for developing an electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the image carrier with toner to form a toner image,
A toner container for replenishing toner to the developing device, a transfer device for transferring the toner image onto transfer paper at a transfer position beside the image carrier, and a transfer device for transferring the transfer paper from substantially below the image carrier. A sheet conveying unit that conveys substantially above the image carrier through the transfer position, wherein the toner container is disposed above the developing device via a predetermined gap, and the exposure unit is 5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is arranged to irradiate a scanning beam to the image carrier through a gap.