JP2002311767A - Cleaning device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cleaning device which does not exert influence on the image quality of an electrostatic recorder by changing the shape of a scraping roller so that the variance of load imposed on the scraping roller by a scraper is reduced and the load is made stable. SOLUTION: In this cleaning device where residual toner on a photoreceptor or a transfer body is scraped off by a cleaning blade and the residual toner scraped off is carried to a recovery part by the scraping roller 22 and the scraper 23 abutting on the roller 22, the roller 22 is formed to consecutively change the shape of its cross section perpendicular to the shaft direction of the roller 22 in the shaft direction of the roller 22 and constituted to consecutively change the load by the abutting of the roller 22 and the scraper 23 in the shaft direction of the roller 22.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a laser printer,
The present invention relates to a cleaning device that collects residual toner used in an electrostatic recording device such as a copying machine and a laser fax.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional electrostatic recording apparatus, a toner is attached to an electrostatic latent image formed on a photoreceptor and developed, and the toner image is transferred to transfer paper, or the toner image is temporarily transferred to a transfer member. The recording is performed by transferring the image onto the transfer paper and fixing it to transfer paper.At this time, a small amount of residual toner remains on the photoconductor, and this residual toner is cleaned before the next image formation. It is necessary to do.

As disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-223773, a cleaning device for cleaning the residual toner includes a cleaning blade for scraping the residual toner on the photosensitive member, and a scraped waste toner (residual toner). Collection rod (scraper roller) that transports the toner to the collection section, and a collection blade (scraper) that abuts the toner collection rod and scrapes off waste toner attached to the toner collection rod.
And formed.

[0004] The collecting blade is made of an elastic film such as a thick and stiff polyester film and a thin and soft elastic film. And are integrally formed so as to protrude from the end portion by an appropriate length. The thin and flexible elastic film is divided into a plurality in the longitudinal direction. On the side of the collecting blade that is attached to the toner collecting case, the two are attached to the toner collecting case in a superposed state.

As described above, the portion adhered to the toner collecting case is formed by laminating the elastic film of the thick polyester film and the thin elastic film so that the collecting blade has a stiffness to prevent the toner from flowing backward. In addition, since the tip of the collecting blade is flexible, it is easily deformed following the rotation of the toner collecting rod, and the load applied to the toner collecting rod is reduced.

As shown in FIG. 9, a conventionally used toner collecting rod has a rectangular cross section perpendicular to the axial direction of the toner collecting rod 124, and the collecting blade 125 is 124 were pressed in parallel to the axial direction. In some cases, a toner collection rod is formed in a hexagonal shape.

However, in the above-described prior art, one end of the collecting blade 125 is pressed against the toner collecting rod 124 in parallel with the axial direction thereof, so that the collecting blade 125 rotates every time the toner collecting rod 124 rotates. A periodic load is applied to the toner collecting rod 124, and this load fluctuation causes jitter and banding.

Accordingly, the applicant of the present application has disclosed in
No. 3323, the tip of the scraper 123 that contacts the axial direction of the scraping roller 122 is
A scraper 123 formed obliquely with respect to the axial direction and a scraper 123 having a cutout groove 127 formed in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the scraping roller from its tip are disclosed (FIG. 8). According to this, in the former, scraper 1
The fluctuation of the load applied to the raising roller 122 by the roller 23 is reduced. In the latter case, the load applied to both ends of the raising roller 122 and the load between them is substantially stabilized, so that a deterioration in image quality can be prevented.

[0009]

However, with the miniaturization of the electrostatic recording apparatus, the cleaning apparatus must also be miniaturized, and it is necessary to reduce the length of the scraper. By doing so, it is impossible to reduce the fluctuation of the load applied to the scraping roller by the scraper and to stabilize the load.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and reduces the fluctuation of the load applied to the scraping roller by the scraper and stabilizes the load by changing the shape of the scraping roller. It is an object of the present invention to provide a cleaning device which does not affect the image quality of an electrostatic recording device.

[0011]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the flat cable according to the present invention employs the following means.

A first gist of the present invention is to remove residual toner on a photoreceptor or a transfer body with a cleaning blade,
In a cleaning device that conveys the scraped residual toner to a collection unit by a scraping roller and a scraper abutting the scraping roller, the scraping roller includes:
It is formed by continuously changing the cross-sectional shape perpendicular to the axial direction of the lifting roller in the axial direction of the lifting roller, and continuously applies the load when the scraper contacts the lifting roller in the axial direction of the lifting roller. The present invention relates to a cleaning device characterized in that the cleaning device is changed in terms of quality.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, the scraping roller is formed by continuously changing the cross-sectional shape perpendicular to the axial direction of the scraping roller in the axial direction of the scraping roller. Since the load when the scraper abuts on the raising roller is continuously changed in the axial direction of the raising roller, the fluctuation of the load applied to the raising roller by the scraper due to the rotation of the raising roller is reduced.

A second gist of the present invention is that a residual toner on a photoreceptor or a transfer member is scraped by a cleaning blade.
In a cleaning device that conveys the scraped residual toner to a collection unit by a scraping roller and a scraper abutting the scraping roller, the scraping roller includes:
It is divided into a plurality of blocks with different cross-sectional shapes perpendicular to the axial direction of the lifting roller, and a notch groove is formed between each block of the scraper in the direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the lifting roller. Further, the present invention relates to a cleaning device characterized in that a load when a scraper comes into contact with each block of a scraping roller is made different.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the scraping roller is formed by dividing into a plurality of blocks having different cross-sectional shapes perpendicular to the axial direction of the scraping roller. The notch groove is formed in the direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the lifting roller, and the load when the scraper comes into contact with each block of the lifting roller is different, so the rotation of the lifting roller causes the scraper to rotate. The load applied to the lifting roller is distributed to each block to stabilize the load.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the cleaning device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the lifting roller is rotated from a drive source of the photosensitive member or the transfer member.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the scraping roller is rotated from the drive source of the photosensitive member or the transfer member, it is not necessary to provide a drive source in the cleaning device, and the cleaning device is downsized. You.

[0018]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the cleaning device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

1 to 7 illustrate an embodiment of the cleaning device according to the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing a laser printer using the cleaning device of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the laser printer includes a supply unit 1 for stocking and supplying a recording sheet on which an image is formed, a transfer unit 2 for transferring a toner image to the recording sheet, a developing unit 3 for forming a toner image, and a recording sheet. And a fixing unit 4 for fixing the transferred toner image.

The paper supply section 1 includes a paper supply cassette 5 for stocking recording paper, a pickup roller 6 for feeding out the recording paper one by one, and a PF roller 7 and a PF for transporting the recording paper sent out by the pickup roller 6. A pre-curl roller 8 is provided to curl the recording paper conveyed by the roller 7.

The transfer unit 2 is provided with a transfer body 9.
The grounding roller 1 around which the recording paper conveyed by the pre-curl roller 8 is conveyed to and attracted to the transfer body 9
0, peeling claw 1 for peeling off the recording paper adsorbed on transfer body 9
1 is installed.

The developing unit 3 is provided with a photoreceptor 12, around which developing units 13, 14, 15, and 1 containing yellow, magenta, cyan, and black toners, respectively.
6, a toner image is formed on the photoconductor 12 for each toner, and each time the transfer body 9 makes one rotation, the toner image is transferred onto the recording paper one color at a time.

Further, around the photoreceptor 12, there are provided a static eliminator 17 for eliminating the charged electric charge, and a cleaning device 18 for scraping residual toner on the surface of the photoreceptor. Further, an optical system 19 is provided on the upper part.

In the fixing section 4, the recording paper peeled by the peeling claw 11 is fixed by the fixing device 20, and the recording paper is discharged outside the laser printer main body.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the cleaning device 18 in detail. The cleaning device 18 includes a cleaning blade 21 that scrapes residual toner on the photoconductor 12, a scraping roller 22 that scrapes the scraped residual toner to a transport unit, and a scraping roller 22 that scrapes the scraped residual toner. A scraper 23 for scraping off, a screw 28 for conveying the residual toner scraped off by the scraper 23 to a collecting section, a toner receiving blade 29 for preventing the residual toner to be collected from spilling, and a cleaner case 2
6.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a driving section of the scraping roller 22 of the cleaning device 18. As shown in FIG. Roller 2
A lifting roller gear 32 is fixed to one end of the lifting roller shaft 22a.
Numeral 2 is connected to a photoconductor gear 30 fixed to one end of the photoconductor 12 via an intermediate gear 31. Photoconductor gear 3
Numeral 0 is driven from a drive source (not shown), and this driving force is transmitted to the lifting roller gear 32 via the intermediate gear 32 to rotate the lifting roller 22. Thus, the cleaning operation is started at the same time as the rotation operation of the photoconductor 12 is started, and is ended at the same time as the rotation operation of the photoconductor 12 is completed.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the scraping roller 22 and the scraper 23 of the cleaning device 18. The scraper 23 is made of, for example, stainless steel and has a thickness of 15 μm.
Alternatively, a heat-resistant sheet is formed to a thickness of 100 μm, one end of which is fixed to the cleaner case 26, and the other end (tip)
Is brought into contact with the lifting roller 22, and the entire width thereof is formed to be substantially the same length as the entire width of the lifting roller 22 in the axial direction.

The lifting roller 22 (FIG. 4A) has, for example, a triangular cross section at one point perpendicular to the lifting roller shaft 22a as shown in FIG. 5 (AA in FIG. 4). It is formed by continuously changing the cross-sectional shape around the raising roller shaft 22a by 60 ° from the one end 22b to the other end 22c of the raising roller 22 in the direction of the raising roller shaft 22a.

The lifting roller 22 (FIG. 4B) has a substantially triangular cross section at one point perpendicular to the lifting roller shaft 22a, for example.
A plurality of blocks 22 are moved up in the 2a direction.
d, 22e, and 22f, and each block 2
2d, 22e, and 22f are formed by sequentially rotating by 30 degrees around the roller shaft 22a. In the scraper 23, a notch groove 27 is formed between each of the blocks 22 d, 22 e, and 22 f to divide a portion that comes into contact with the scraping roller 22 from the tip of the scraper 23 to one end fixed to the cleaner case 26. ing.

In the present embodiment, the width of the scraper 23 is slightly shorter than the width of the scraping roller 22. However, even if the scraper 23 is slightly longer, both lengths are the same. There may be. In FIG. 4A,
The other end 22c of the scraping roller 22 is formed by rotating the other end 22c by 60 ° with respect to the one end 22b. In FIG. 4B, each of the blocks 22d, 22e, and 22f is divided into three.
Are formed by being rotated, but these values are changed by the cleaning device 18 and are not limited to these values. Further, the cleaning device 18 of the present invention is not limited to the collection of the residual toner on the photoconductor (including the photoconductor belt), but can be applied to a transfer belt, a transfer roller, and a transfer drum as a transfer body. is there.

Next, a description will be given of the load fluctuation of the cleaning device 18 configured as described above.

FIG. 6 shows the rotation trajectory of the scraping roller 22 and the scraper 23, and FIG.
FIG. 6B shows the rotation trajectory of the scraping roller 22 and the scraper 23 according to the present embodiment (FIG. 4A). Is shown. 6B shows one end X, the center Y, and the other end Z of the scraping roller 22.

FIG. 7 shows a change in load according to the rotation locus of the scraping roller 22 and the scraper 23, and the solid line in FIG. 7 shows a conventional cleaning device 18 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-143323). 7 shows the load fluctuation, and the broken line in FIG. 7 shows the load fluctuation of the cleaning device 18 of the present embodiment (FIG. 4A).

In FIG. 6, the rotation of the scraping roller 22 and the change of the scraper 23 associated therewith are shown in FIGS.
(E) is shown in five stages. In FIG. 7, the scraper 23 rotates when the lifting roller rotates.
The figure shows the load fluctuation given to.

FIGS. 6A to 6E show FIGS. 7A to 7E.
This corresponds to the point (e). The load of the cleaning device 18 of the present embodiment shown by the solid line is smaller than the load of the conventional cleaning device 18 shown by the broken line (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Is also small.

At the point where the load changes from an increase to a decrease, the load greatly fluctuates in the conventional method (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-143323), but fluctuates smoothly in the present embodiment. The large fluctuation of the load at this point most affects the image quality, but in the present embodiment, the smooth fluctuations reduce the adverse effect on the image quality.

[0038]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the lifting roller has a sectional shape perpendicular to the axial direction of the lifting roller and is continuously formed in the axial direction of the lifting roller. Because the load when the scraper comes into contact with the lifting roller is continuously changed in the axial direction of the lifting roller, the load applied by the scraper to the lifting roller due to the rotation of the lifting roller is formed. Can be reduced, and a decrease in image quality can be prevented.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the scraping roller is formed by dividing into a plurality of blocks having different cross-sectional shapes perpendicular to the axial direction of the scraping roller. Is formed with a notch groove in the direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the lifting roller, and the load when the scraper contacts each block of the lifting roller is different. The load applied to the lifting roller is distributed to each block, so that the load can be stabilized, and there is an effect that a decrease in image quality can be prevented.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, in the cleaning device according to the first or second aspect, the scraping roller is rotated from the drive source of the photosensitive member or the transfer member. Therefore, there is no need to provide the cleaning device, and the cleaning device can be downsized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of a laser printer using a cleaning device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the cleaning device of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing a driving unit of the lifting roller of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a scraping roller and a scraper of FIG. 2;

5 is a side view (AA in FIG. 4) of the lifting roller of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a rotation locus of a scraper and a scraper in FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a load variation according to a rotation locus of a scraper and a scraper in FIG. 4;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a conventional cleaning device.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a conventional cleaning device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 9 transfer body 12 photoreceptor 18 cleaning device 21 cleaning blade 22 scraping roller 23 scraper

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A cleaning device for scraping residual toner on a photoreceptor or a transfer member by a cleaning blade, and conveying the scraped residual toner to a collection unit by a scraping roller and a scraper in contact with the scraping roller. The lifting roller is formed by continuously changing the cross-sectional shape perpendicular to the axial direction of the lifting roller in the axial direction of the lifting roller, and lifts the load when the scraper contacts the lifting roller. A cleaning device characterized by a continuous change in the axial direction. 2. A cleaning device for scraping residual toner on a photoreceptor or a transfer member by a cleaning blade, and conveying the scraped residual toner to a collection unit by a scraping roller and a scraper in contact with the scraping roller. The scraping roller is formed by dividing into a plurality of blocks having different cross-sectional shapes perpendicular to the axial direction of the scraping roller, and a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the scraping roller is provided between each block of the scraper. Wherein a notch groove is formed in the scraper, and a load when the scraper comes into contact with each block of the lifting roller is varied. 3. The cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the lifting roller is rotated from a drive source of the photosensitive member or the transfer member.