JP2003072969A - Cleaning device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cleaning device of a sheet conveying roll capable of easily cleaning the sheet conveying roller, and surely preventing a cleaning sheet from being fed in. SOLUTION: The cleaning device is provided with a cleaning device main body 10, a fixing means 17 for fixing the cleaning device main body 10 in the upstream in the conveying direction relative to the sheet conveying roller, a slide member 14 provided on the cleaning device main body 10 for sliding in the conveying direction, the cleaning sheet 4 held on the slide member 14 for cleaning a surface of the sheet conveying roller, and a locking member 12 for regulating slide of the slide member.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet-conveying roll cleaning device for conveying a sheet-like material.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various types of devices for cleaning a sheet conveying roll that conveys a sheet-like material (such as paper) have been known. For example, in Japanese Patent No. 2696038, as a sheet feeding roller cleaning sheet of a printer, a sheet body detachably attachable to a sheet cassette and deformable, a plurality of cleaning members attached to the sheet body, and the sheet body are printers. It has been proposed to provide a locking portion that prevents the material from being fed into the main body. According to such a sheet feeding roller cleaning sheet, the sheet feeding roller can be easily cleaned without disassembling the printer.

[0003]

However, the patent No. 269
In the cleaning device (paper feed roller cleaning sheet) described in Japanese Patent No. 6038, since the locking portion is provided on the deformable sheet body, the locking portion itself is deformed or the position of the locking portion is displaced, The seat body may not be locked at the desired position. The present invention has been made in view of such a technical problem, and an object thereof is to be able to easily clean a sheet transport roll and reliably prevent a cleaning sheet from being fed. It is an object of the present invention to provide a cleaning device for a sheet conveying roll capable of performing the above.

[0004]

According to the present invention, there is provided a cleaning device main body, fixing means for fixing the cleaning device main body to an upstream side in a conveyance direction with respect to a sheet conveying roll (cleaning target), and a cleaning device main body. A slide member that is provided and slidable in the transport direction (upstream side and downstream side), a cleaning sheet that is held by the slide member (the upstream end) to clean the surface of the sheet transport roll, and a member that regulates sliding of the slide member And a stop member.

This cleaning device can be applied to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printing machine and its peripheral devices. For example, in the case of being applied to a printer, a facsimile, a printing machine, or the like, this cleaning device can be used by being arranged in a paper feed tray that stores print paper (recording paper). Image reader (scanner)
In the case of applying to such a case, the cleaning device can be used by arranging it in a document tray on which a read document is placed. Further, in the case of being applied to a copying machine or the like, the cleaning device can be used by arranging it in the paper feed tray or by arranging it in the document tray on which the read document is placed.

The sheet conveying roll to be cleaned by this cleaning device may be a single sheet or plural sheets. In the case of a plurality of sheets, two sheet conveying rolls may be pressed against each other to form one roll pair, or a plurality of sheet conveying rolls may be sequentially arranged from the upstream side to the downstream side in the conveying direction. Well, a combination of these may be used. The cleaning device main body, the fixing means, the slide member, and the locking member each have at least rigidity such that they do not deform when the cleaning sheet is conveyed by the pair of sheet conveying rolls, and are made of various resins and metals. You can

Further, the cleaning device may include a load means for applying a load that prevents the slide member from sliding in the carrying direction. The load means may include an elastic body (for example, rubber or spring) that exerts an elastic force in the conveying direction reverse direction with respect to the slide member, or may be configured in the conveying direction reverse direction with respect to the slide member. It may be configured to include a torque limiter that expresses the resistance force of.
Further, the locking member can be configured so that the sliding distance of the sliding member can be set arbitrarily.

The slide member may detachably hold the cleaning sheet. Further, the slide member can hold a single cleaning sheet or a plurality of cleaning sheets. Here, in the configuration of holding a plurality of cleaning sheets, during cleaning, some of the plurality of cleaning sheets may be conveyed or all of the cleaning sheets may be conveyed.

The cleaning sheet may have one surface as a cleaning surface and the other surface as a non-cleaning surface or both surfaces as cleaning surfaces. Here, in a configuration in which only one surface of the cleaning sheet is a cleaning surface, and the plurality of cleaning sheets are held on the slide member, the plurality of cleaning sheets are stacked one above the other to clean the upper cleaning sheet. The surface may be held overlaid with the non-cleaning surface of the cleaning sheet thereunder.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiment 1 FIG. 1 illustrates a cleaning device 1 according to this embodiment, a paper feed tray 2 and a printer device 3 to which the cleaning device 1 is applied. The printer device 3 includes a paper feed tray 2 and a discharge port 3.
1, a discharge tray 32 and the like. Inside the paper feed tray 2, a metal bottom plate 21 for lifting a recording paper (not shown) to be placed is arranged. Further, a paper transport path (not shown) from the paper feed tray 2 to the discharge port 31 is formed inside the printer device 3, and a pickup roll (not shown) from the upstream side to the downstream side along the transport path. A feed roll (not shown), a retard roll 24, and the like are provided.

When forming an image on a recording sheet, a plurality of recording sheets (not shown) are placed in the paper feed tray 2,
The paper feed tray 2 is slid in the direction of arrow A ′ in the figure and is housed in the printer device 3. When the paper feed tray 2 is accommodated in the printer device 3, the feed roll and the retard roll 24 are pressed against each other to form a pair of transport rolls. Then, from the paper feed tray 2 to the bottom plate 2
The uppermost recording sheet pushed up by 1 is conveyed one by one, and the toner color image formed by a known electrophotographic process is finally transferred onto the recording sheet, and is discharged from the discharge port 31 through a fixing process.

Here, when the printer device 3 is used for a long period of time and image formation is repeated, foreign matter such as paper dust on the recording paper adheres to the surface of the pickup roll or the like, and the frictional resistance thereof decreases. , Misfeed may occur. Therefore, in the case where misfeeds occur regularly or frequently, the cleaning device 1 according to the present embodiment can be used to easily clean the pickup roll and the like.

FIG. 2 illustrates the cleaning device 1 according to the present embodiment in more detail. FIG. 2A shows the front side of the cleaning device 1 and FIG. 2B shows the back side of the cleaning device 1. Shown respectively. On the front side main body 10 (10A) of the cleaning device 1, B-
A linear slide groove 11 extending in the B'direction is formed.

A stopper 12 is provided in the slide groove 11.
Are slidably mounted along the slide groove 11. Here, the stopper 12 engages with a convex portion (not shown) provided on the stopper 12 and an uneven portion (not shown) provided along the slide groove 11 so that the stopper 12 has a BB in the slide groove 11 in the drawing. It is configured so that it can be fixed at any position in the'direction. Further, an arrow is attached to an upper portion of the stopper 12, and the front side (10
A) is provided with a scale group 13. By fixing the stopper 12 onto the slide groove 11 by aligning this arrow with each scale, the holder 14 is slid according to the position of the transport roll (pickup roll or the like) to be cleaned and the type of the printer device 1. The amount can be regulated appropriately.

In addition, in this slide groove 11, the holder 1
4 is slidably attached along the slide groove 11. The holder 14 slides smoothly along the slide groove 11, and the stopper 12 restricts the slide in the B direction in the figure, and the spring 15 and the fixing member 16
As a result, the slide in the B'direction in the figure is restricted. This holder 14 has a clip mechanism,
The cleaning sheet 4 shown by the dotted line in the figure can be held and released. Then, in this holder 14, the spring 1
5 is attached. The other end of the spring 15 is attached to the fixing member 16. Therefore, when the holder 14 slides in the direction of arrow B in the drawing and the spring 15 exceeds its natural length, the spring 15 exerts an elastic force that pulls the holder 14 back in the opposite direction of sliding (the direction of arrow B ′ in the drawing).

On the other hand, a protrusion 17 for mounting is formed on the base body 10 (10B) on the back surface of the cleaning device 1. The protrusion 17 is configured to have substantially the same size and shape as the mounting hole 22 formed on the bottom plate 21 in the paper feed tray 1. Therefore, by fitting the protrusion 17 into the mounting hole 22 as shown by the dotted arrow in FIG.
The cleaning device 1 can be reliably fixed to 1 (paper feed tray 2).

Next, a specific method of using the cleaning device 1 will be described. First, the paper feed tray 2 is pulled out from the printer device 3 in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 1, and the recording paper inside the paper feed tray 2 is taken out. Next, the protrusion 17 and the bottom plate 21 of the base body 10B (cleaning device 1)
The cleaning device 1 is attached to the paper feed tray 2 by fitting the mounting holes 22 of the (paper feed tray 2). Then, the paper feed tray 2 is pushed back in the direction of arrow A ′ in FIG.

FIG. 3A shows an initial state of the cleaning device 1 attached to the paper feed tray 2. The bottom plate 21 and the like are omitted in FIG. In this state, the spring 15 has a natural length, and the cleaning sheet 4 has one end held by the holder 14 and the other end reaching the pickup roll 33. However, the other end of the cleaning sheet 4 has not reached the feed roll 34 and the retard roll 35.

By driving the pickup roll 33 or the like from this state for a predetermined time, the pickup roll 33 or the like can be easily cleaned. First, the other end of the cleaning sheet 4 is pulled and conveyed by the pickup roll 33. At the same time, cleaning sheet 4
The holder 14 holding one end of the holder is also pulled, and the holder 14 slides along the slide groove 11 (in the direction of arrow B in FIG. 2). Here, the fixing member 16 and the holder 14
The spring 15 provided between and extends along with the slide of the holder 14 beyond its natural length, and exerts an elastic force in a direction opposite to the slide direction of the holder 14 (direction of arrow B in FIG. 2). Since the cleaning sheet 4 is conveyed while being pulled in the direction opposite to the sliding direction in this manner, the friction resistance between the cleaning sheet 4 and the pickup roll 33, the feed roll 34, and the retard roll 35 increases, and these rolls 33, 34 and 35 can be cleaned more effectively.

When the pickup roll 33 or the like is further driven for a predetermined time, the holder 14 slides along the slide groove 11, and the slide is locked by the stopper 12 fixed on the slide groove 11 in advance. Figure 3
(B) shows a state in which the holder 14 is locked by the stopper 12. In this way, the stopper 12
By adjusting the fixing position of the cleaning sheet 4, the other end of the cleaning sheet 4 surely reaches the downstream side of the feed roll 34 and the retard roll 35 on the conveyance path, and the cleaning sheet 4 is mistaken on the downstream side of the conveyance path. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent the sheet from being transported.

Modification 1 In the cleaning device 1 according to the first embodiment, the holder 14
Holds a single cleaning sheet 4, and the clip mechanism causes the cleaning sheet 14 to move to the holder 1
It is configured to be removable with respect to 4. Therefore, when the cleaning sheet 4 is contaminated by cleaning and the cleaning performance is degraded, only the cleaning sheet 4 can be replaced, and the cleaning performance of the cleaning device 1 can be maintained easily and economically. The modification 1 is the same as the cleaning device 1 according to the first embodiment.
The configuration of the cleaning sheet 4 is modified.

FIG. 4 illustrates the holder 14 and the cleaning sheet 4 of the cleaning device 1 according to the first modification. As shown in the figure, the holder 14 of the cleaning device 1 holds a plurality of (here, three) cleaning sheet groups 41 to 43. The upper surface of each of the cleaning sheets 41 to 43 is a cleaning surface C that cleans the pickup roll 33 and the like, and the lower surface is a non-cleaning surface N that contacts the lower cleaning sheet.

This cleaning device 1 can be used in the same manner as the cleaning device of the first embodiment, but when the cleaning sheet 41 on the uppermost surface is contaminated, the holder 1
Only the contaminated cleaning sheet 41 is removed (or ruptured) from the cleaning sheet groups 41 to 43 held in No. 4, and the remaining cleaning sheet groups 42 to 43
Can be used again.

Second Embodiment The cleaning device 1 according to the present embodiment is for cleaning the pickup roll and the like in the printer device 3 similarly to the cleaning device 1 according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 illustrates the cleaning device 1 according to this embodiment in detail. FIG. 5 (a) shows the front side of the cleaning device 1, and FIG. 5 (b) shows the back side of the cleaning device 1. Shows. The base body 10 (10A) on the front side of the cleaning device 1 is formed with a linear slide groove 11 extending in the BB ′ direction in the drawing.

A stopper 12 is provided in the slide groove 11.
Are slidably mounted along the slide groove 11. Convex portion provided on the stopper 12 (not shown)
The stopper 12 is configured so that it can be fixed at an arbitrary position in the slide groove 11 in the BB ′ direction in the figure by meshing with a concave-convex portion (not shown) provided along the slide groove 11. An arrow is attached to the side of the stopper 12, and a scale group 13 is attached to the front side (10A) of the base body 10. By fixing the stopper 12 onto the slide groove 11 by aligning this arrow with each scale, the holder 14 is slid according to the position of the transport roll (pickup roll or the like) to be cleaned and the type of the printer device 1. The amount can be regulated appropriately.

Further, the holder 1 is provided in the slide groove 11.
4 is slidably attached along the slide groove 11. The holder 14 slides smoothly along the slide groove 11, the stopper 12 regulates the slide in the B direction in the figure, and the end of the slide groove 11 regulates the slide in the B ′ direction in the figure. . The holder 14 has a clip mechanism and can hold and release the cleaning sheet 4 shown by a dotted line in the drawing. A spring 15 is attached to the holder 14. The other end of the spring 15 is attached to the stopper 12. Therefore, the holder 14
Slides in the direction of the arrow B in the figure and the spring 15 contracts from its natural length, the spring 15 exerts an elastic force that pulls the holder 14 back in the opposite direction to the slide (the arrow B'direction in the figure).

On the other hand, the base body 10 (10B) on the back surface of the cleaning device 1 is provided with a mounting projection 17 as in the first embodiment. The protrusion 17 is configured to have substantially the same size and shape as the mounting hole 22 formed on the bottom plate 21 in the paper feed tray 1. Therefore, by fitting the protrusion 17 into the mounting hole 22 as shown by the dotted arrow in FIG.
The cleaning device 1 can be securely fixed to the bottom plate 21 (paper feed tray 2).

FIG. 6 illustrates the holder 14 and the cleaning sheet 4 of the cleaning device 1 according to the second embodiment. As shown in the figure, the holder 14 of the cleaning device 1 holds a plurality of (here, three) cleaning sheet groups 41 to 43. The lower surface of each of the cleaning sheets 41 to 43 is a cleaning surface C that cleans the pickup roll 33 and the like, and the upper surface is a non-cleaning surface N that contacts the lower cleaning sheet. In this respect, the cleaning sheets 41 to 43 of Modification 1 have an opposite relationship.

When the cleaning sheet 41 on the uppermost surface is contaminated, this cleaning device 1 removes (or tears) only the contaminated cleaning sheet 41 from the cleaning sheet groups 41 to 43 held in the holder 14 and leaves the rest. The cleaning sheet groups 42 to 43 can be used again. Furthermore, this cleaning device 1
((Unlike the cleaning device 1 of Modification 1 (see FIGS. 4 and 6)), the cleaning surface C of the unused cleaning sheets 42 and 43 does not come into contact with the outside air, and its cleaning performance is maintained for a longer period of time. It will be possible to maintain

Next, a specific method of using the cleaning device 1 will be described. First, similarly to the cleaning device 1 according to the first embodiment, the paper feed tray 2 is pulled out from the printer device 3 in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 1, and the recording paper inside the paper feed tray 2 is taken out. Next, by fitting the protrusion 17 of the base body 10B (cleaning device 1) and the mounting hole 22 of the bottom plate 21 (paper feed tray 2),
The cleaning device 1 is attached to the paper feed tray 2. Further, of the cleaning sheet groups 41 to 43, the uppermost cleaning sheet 41 is peeled off and set so that the cleaning surface C of the cleaning sheet 41 is the upper surface. Then, the paper feed tray 2 is pushed back in the direction of arrow A ′ in FIG.

FIG. 7A shows an initial state of the cleaning device 1 attached to the paper feed tray 2. The bottom plate 21 and the like are omitted in FIG. 7. In this state, the spring 15 has a natural length, and the cleaning sheet 41 has one end held by the holder 14 and the other end reaching the pickup roll 33. However, the other end of the cleaning sheet 41 has not reached the feed roll 34 and the retard roll 35.

By driving the pickup roll 33 or the like from this state for a predetermined time, the pickup roll 33 or the like can be easily cleaned. First, the other end of the cleaning sheet 41 is pulled by the pickup roll 33 and conveyed. At the same time, the holder 14 holding one end of the cleaning sheet 41 is also pulled,
The holder 14 moves along the slide groove 11 (arrow B in FIG. 5).
Slide). Here, the spring 15 provided between the stopper 12 and the holder 14 is
Shrinks from its natural length along with slide 4 and holder 1
The elastic force is developed in the direction opposite to the sliding direction of 4 (direction of arrow B in FIG. 2). Since the cleaning sheet 41 is conveyed while being pulled in the direction opposite to the sliding direction, the cleaning sheet 4 and the pickup roll 33,
The frictional resistance between the feed roll 34 and the retard roll 35 is increased, and these rolls 33, 34, 35 can be cleaned more effectively.

When the pickup roll 33 or the like is further driven for a predetermined time, the holder 14 slides along the slide groove 11, and the conveying force of the pickup roll 33 or the like and the elastic force of the spring 15 are balanced so that the holder 14 is preliminarily placed on the slide groove 11. The slide is locked by the fixed stopper 12. FIG. 7B shows a state in which the holder 14 is locked by the stopper 12. By adjusting the fixing position of the stopper 12 in this manner, the other end of the cleaning sheet 4 surely reaches the downstream side of the feed roll 34 and the retard roll 35 on the conveyance path, and the cleaning sheet 4 is on the conveyance path. It is possible to reliably prevent the sheet from being erroneously conveyed further downstream.

In both the first and second embodiments, the cleaning device 1 is mounted in the paper feed tray 3 of the printer device 3 to clean the transport roll of the printer device 3, but other modes are also possible. For example, the cleaning device 1 may be mounted on an automatic document feeder of a copying machine, a facsimile, or a scanner to clean the transport roll of the automatic document feeder.

[0036]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, the sheet conveying roll can be easily cleaned and the feeding of the cleaning sheet can be surely prevented. The cleaning device can be provided.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 illustrates mounting of a cleaning device according to a first embodiment on a printer device.

FIG. 2 illustrates the configuration of the cleaning device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a usage state of the cleaning device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 illustrates a cleaning sheet (group) held by a cleaning device according to a first modification.

FIG. 5 illustrates a configuration of a cleaning device according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 6 illustrates a cleaning sheet (group) held by the cleaning device according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a usage state of the cleaning device according to the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Cleaning device, 10 ... Base body (cleaning device body), 11 ... Slide groove (slide member), 1
4 ... Holder (slide member), 4 ... Cleaning sheet, 12 ... Stopper (locking member), 15 ... Spring (loading means, elastic body), 16 ... Fixing member, 17 ... Protrusion (fixing means), 2 ... Feed Paper tray, 21 ... Bottom plate, 22
... Mounting holes (fixing means), 24 retard rolls (sheet conveying rolls), 3 ... Printer device (image forming device),
33 ... Pickup roll (sheet transport roll), 34
… Feed roll (sheet transport roll)

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A cleaning device main body, fixing means for fixing the cleaning device main body to an upstream side in the transport direction with respect to a sheet transport roll, and a slide member provided on the cleaning device main body and slidable in the transport direction.
A cleaning device comprising: a cleaning sheet held by the slide member for cleaning the surface of the sheet transport roll; and a locking member for restricting the slide of the slide member. 2. The cleaning device according to claim 1, further comprising a load unit that applies a load that prevents the slide member from sliding in the transport direction. 3. The cleaning device according to claim 2, wherein the loading unit includes an elastic body that exerts an elastic force on the slide member in an opposite direction to the conveying direction. 4. The cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the locking member is capable of arbitrarily setting a slide distance of the slide member.